Patch 3703 Beta

[JaggedAppliance]

http://content.faforever.com/patchnotes/3703.html

Beta patchnotes are released, Please leave your feedback and suggestions below.

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Overall, I like this patch so far. Because of its complexity I will only comment on the things I think are the most interesting.

Notha: It now also shows the bomb radius on the reticle when using groundfire.

This seems like a sensible change, though sadly it doesn’t work for me. I cannot see the bomb radius even when I make a new .pref etc.

Regen Aura: Restoration Field has a larger range and grants additional max hp. Thaams in the field's range will be bumped to 308 hp, requiring an extra shot from enemy ACUs to be killed.

I love the changes to the regen aura, I definitely seems like a useful tool now. Sadly, I only got to test it once because I never get sera in beta games, and I can confirm that it is really good when you have to defend against naval pushes.

I have a problem with the new visual, however. Don’t get me wrong including some form of animation to show you the upgrade’s effects are applied is a good change, but I feel the colour seems a bit misplaced. Green isn’t the colour of the faction and it generally looks weird, especially with how fast the mist is moving around. I think a more delicate glow in another colour would fit better.

Scathis: The Scathis is a gameender once again. It shoots a volley of 20 shells with a huge AoE every 20 seconds.

As I already mentioned, I really like the idea of it returning to its game ender role.

Even in its nerfed state I still have heard people say that it is very strong now, while others think it is quite bad after the changes. Overall, I think it is fine now. The damage nerf affected its effectiveness significantly, it now cannot 2 shot antis, nukes or nuke subs anymore for instance. Generally, the damage nerf results in it needing one more shot to connect in order to kill more fragile units, which is a good thing.

Ofc it still needs a lot of testing, and sadly I only had one real-game scenario where it was used, so I might be completely wrong about this.

T2 Engineer Speed: 1.7 → 1.9; T3 Engineer Speed: 1.5 → 1.9

This is a very good change. I never understood why higher tier engies had to be this slow, and it is fixed now. I tried it out in numerous games now, and it is a very nice quality of life change.

Torpedo Bombers: Mass cost: 240 → 300; Energy cost: 4800 → 6000

This was needed, they used to be throwaway units before which basically already payed for themselves if they hit one destroyer. This seems to be fixed now, without them turning into useless units. I also like how this is an indirect sub buff, because subs were and to an extent still are countered insanely easily by torps.

The swiftwind is getting a cost increase. The barrier to entry is low for this fast and powerful fighter.
Mass cost: 200 → 245; Energy cost: 6000 → 6750; Buildtime: 1600 → 1800

This doesn’t seem like a good change to me. The mentioned barrier of entry was increased by the t2 air HQ nerf and I fear with this additional nerf we will see much fewer swiftwinds now. I personally didn’t believe they were a problem to begin with.

Yes, they are strong because of their speed and beat inties because of their better micro abilities, but I didn’t think their strength actually caused problems. Or at least I couldn’t find any ladder replays where this is the case. Generally, aeon t2 air isn’t so great to begin with. Their gunship is statistically the weakest and they have no t2 bomber because they already have the swiftwind. The mercy is an extremely situational tool and even their transport is the second worst.

In any case even when it is concluded that the unit is too strong, you should wait this change out in my opinion and maybe introduce it later. The HQ nerf already indirectly nerfs the swiftwind.

Beacon: The torpedo defense of the aeon frigate works more effectively

I tried it out, and yes, the anti-torpedo is a useful tool now. Sadly, the rest of the unit is still extremely weak compared to any other frig, and I think this needs to be changed. After all it is the most used naval unit and it being so much worse than the other options is bad imo. I would suggest a cost and build time decrease, and maybe even a muzzle velocity increase so it can use its range advantage more effectively against moving targets. I noticed that at the edge of its range most of its shots simply miss even if my opponent doesn’t micro his frigs much, effectively removing some of the advantage.

Siren: The cybran cruiser now shoots its anti-air missiles in a faster and more effective way

This is a good change imo. The siren has always been a pain to use against air units, its projectiles were very slow and when they finally reached and killed the target all of the remaining shots would explode, giving it an insane dps nerf.

Exodus: AoE: 1 → 2

I like this change as well. It is not a simple “the muzzle velocity sucks let’s make it better” change, the change directly punishes bad dodges, while still rewarding good dodges. Like this the micro abilities of the other units are not impacted much, apart from bad dodges resulting in more damage. Very nice.

I mostly agree with the other changes and I can’t wait to see this patch become the standard balance

[noobymcnoobcake]

Beacon: The torpedo defense of the aeon frigate works more effectively

I tried it out, and yes, the anti-torpedo is a useful tool now. Sadly, the rest of the unit is still extremely weak compared to any other frig, and I think this needs to be changed. After all it is the most used naval unit and it being so much worse than the other options is bad imo. I would suggest a cost and build time decrease, and maybe even a muzzle velocity increase so it can use its range advantage more effectively against moving targets. I noticed that at the edge of its range most of its shots simply miss even if my opponent doesn’t micro his frigs much, effectively removing some of the advantage.

I completely agree. Having to have two separate units to do the same job, that is more expensive and does one of the jobs horrible is really bad. Frigates are the backbone of a navy, and typically ~ 30% of the mass in your navy should be in frigates. Having such a huge weakness in the frigate really hampers aeon navy

Cost and build time decrease is the best way to go about this.

Otherwise, some very nice changes. Cant wait for some sentons with this balance.

[Mhad]

What about corsairs ? and thier ground attack ? once they are on patrol they avoid to attack land units ... they only shoot on thier straight path of patrol

[Elusive]

Looks like a good set of changes, im espcially interested for the Scathis. However I must remark on the changes to regen aura.

Regen aura was already an upgrade that was dificult to use. While not bad, per say, it was hard to find situations where it could provide any meaningfull bonus, so im very happy to see it recive some much needed love, in agressive acu play it was basically a complete dud, espeically when compared to getting a gun upgrade. However in the patch notes it is listed a sizeable nerf to not only the cost of the upgrade but also the hp boost it gives the ACU. I fear that may undo much of the buff and leave it still a lackluster upgrade.

[speed2]

I'm a bit of stickler Meeseeks, can we have a yellow-ish for the sera regen effect? Or something from the existing sera effect arsenal.

Also tune it down a bit, its kinda agressive.

[Puschkin]

I am a bit puzzled about the T4 changes. Am I reading those numbers right? Scathis Maximum Firing Range: 300 → 2000 !? The Disruptor has a range of 850 ... the defining gimmick of the Scathis is that it can move, why would it need to do that now with such a range? It was also labelled as a Rapid Fire Artilillery, which it isn't anymore either.

And the Novax!? It was the laughing stock among experimentals. It got a small damage boost (50 -> 60) and small buffs on vision but those are coupled with hefty increases in build cost and time. Why? That's essentially a nerf, not a buff!

I agree with most other changes. A few exceptions:
* Didn't know the Swiftwind was a problem. It is supposed to be a good fighter and lacks air to ground capabilities, which is imho enough of a setback.

* While I agree with the Mongoose buff, I wonder why Hoplite, Blaze and Yenzyne didn't get any of it. You rarely see any of these.

* I do see the point of reducing upkeep costs of T2 mobile shields, however, since it comes with a mass cost increase of up to 100% (!), I don't think this change will "allow shields be used more often and with more ease in the T2 stage". Remember, mass is the crucial and limited resource, not enegry.

[Ev1l_Soda]

I think patch is not bad at all, cause im trying to play aeon in ladder and now it seems more balanced to other factions, but to my mind you should give t1 land antiair its hp back, there were 2 reasons to build aa in ladder 1-st one is to kill air (it's ddirect application) and 2-nd one is that they were some sort of shield to auroras, it sounds crazy but when one mantis (been controled) can kill 2 auroras with scout it's sad (T_T) . But this patch is still good to my mind, btw uef t3 land is broken XD.

[stormbeforedawn]

I am stuggling to find the purpose and need behind the nuke, tml, t2 arty and swiftwind changes. The rest seems really good, but the others seems to be trying to fix problems that don't exist.

[ZLO_RD]

will OC damage be like in Vanilla? i don't even remember if it was 35k or 70k to everything except acu