2007-09-06, 22:26:46
I don't know... I just don't find the alternate modes useful compared to stacking a bunch of 1,111-2,200 gold weapons that can attack everything. (and destroy everything at that)
I'm thinking why not make the alternate weapon modes attack normally at 75% damage, but whenever it hits something specific such as an enemy air tank, it hits at 200% damage? Because well, five seconds is a lot of time your weapon isn't doing anything, especially if an enemy notices your Rock Catapults have a habit of inflicting damage on their factories.
Or instead of a damage bonus, we could get a range bonus. Or perhaps even penalizing an aspect for an excessive benefit on another to change your playstyle without changing your weapons. Maybe even affect the intervals your damage is put out.
Examples...
Basic Magic (Normal)
Cooldown: 1.5 second(s)
Damage: 111
Range: 999
Changes mode to:
Basic Magic (Creeps Only)
Cooldown: 1.2 second(s)
Damage: 111
Range: 1111
___________________
Light Plasma Gun (Normal)
Cooldown: 1.5 second(s)
Damage: 105 (x2)
Range: 950
Changes mode to:
Light Plasma Gun (Normal)
Cooldown: 3 second(s)
Damage: 210 (x2)
Range: 950
___________________
Basic Cannon (Normal)
Cooldown: 2 second(s)
Damage: 310
Range: 860
Changes mode to:
Basic Cannon (Normal)
Cooldown: 3 second(s)
Damage: 310
Range: 1300
My math is off and would need to be adjusted accordingly, but you get the idea. More choices from the weapon your stuck with is what I'm shooting for here.
___________________
Onto another matter, I'd have to question the value of the Sky Tank at this point. By default they have 6,500 hit points which is hardly better than the Heavy Tank's if at all. Then you consider the Sky Tank's abilities are very close range (one of them being channeling, hello stun!) when they don't have the hit points and we have a tank I don't use anymore because the Heavy Tank is not only better but cheaper.
Flamestrike is of course, a problem in itself. Thanks to Blizzard, if there are more than five units in the area of effect that potential 5,000 damage is split between however many units there are. 10 units? 500 damage to each. 20? 250 damage to each. In late game where the upgrades and possibly factories/troop commands are really stacking, there are some situations where you would be better off casting the Light Tank's level 2 Cluster Rockets.
____________________________
One last thing... Summons, whether from a Heavy Tank, Ghost Tank, Demon Tank, Infernal Robot, Troop Command... In my opinion should not scale with automated and free upgrades. Where's my Blizzard that strikes for 3,000 damage per wave, or my Iceblock that deals 6,000 damage and stuns for five seconds? That is hardly even an exaggeration about the extent their summons are affected. Seeing these mini-Firelords with 4,000+ hit points and nearly a thousand chaos damage per strike... Yep, I think we have a problem.
Also I'd say the Demon Tank/Infernal Robot summon-on-kill abilities need to be reworked. If I've destroyed the majority of the enemy base, suddenly I can't use one of my most powerful abilities. With the aid of these same abilities on their side in addition to burrows for that time I actually manage to dispose of the real threats on their team, suddenly I can't finish them because of these extremely damage-resistant barriers that make their main base invulnerable when it's clear they can't actually do anything to win the game.
I'm thinking why not make the alternate weapon modes attack normally at 75% damage, but whenever it hits something specific such as an enemy air tank, it hits at 200% damage? Because well, five seconds is a lot of time your weapon isn't doing anything, especially if an enemy notices your Rock Catapults have a habit of inflicting damage on their factories.
Or instead of a damage bonus, we could get a range bonus. Or perhaps even penalizing an aspect for an excessive benefit on another to change your playstyle without changing your weapons. Maybe even affect the intervals your damage is put out.
Examples...
Basic Magic (Normal)
Cooldown: 1.5 second(s)
Damage: 111
Range: 999
Changes mode to:
Basic Magic (Creeps Only)
Cooldown: 1.2 second(s)
Damage: 111
Range: 1111
___________________
Light Plasma Gun (Normal)
Cooldown: 1.5 second(s)
Damage: 105 (x2)
Range: 950
Changes mode to:
Light Plasma Gun (Normal)
Cooldown: 3 second(s)
Damage: 210 (x2)
Range: 950
___________________
Basic Cannon (Normal)
Cooldown: 2 second(s)
Damage: 310
Range: 860
Changes mode to:
Basic Cannon (Normal)
Cooldown: 3 second(s)
Damage: 310
Range: 1300
My math is off and would need to be adjusted accordingly, but you get the idea. More choices from the weapon your stuck with is what I'm shooting for here.
___________________
Onto another matter, I'd have to question the value of the Sky Tank at this point. By default they have 6,500 hit points which is hardly better than the Heavy Tank's if at all. Then you consider the Sky Tank's abilities are very close range (one of them being channeling, hello stun!) when they don't have the hit points and we have a tank I don't use anymore because the Heavy Tank is not only better but cheaper.
Flamestrike is of course, a problem in itself. Thanks to Blizzard, if there are more than five units in the area of effect that potential 5,000 damage is split between however many units there are. 10 units? 500 damage to each. 20? 250 damage to each. In late game where the upgrades and possibly factories/troop commands are really stacking, there are some situations where you would be better off casting the Light Tank's level 2 Cluster Rockets.
____________________________
One last thing... Summons, whether from a Heavy Tank, Ghost Tank, Demon Tank, Infernal Robot, Troop Command... In my opinion should not scale with automated and free upgrades. Where's my Blizzard that strikes for 3,000 damage per wave, or my Iceblock that deals 6,000 damage and stuns for five seconds? That is hardly even an exaggeration about the extent their summons are affected. Seeing these mini-Firelords with 4,000+ hit points and nearly a thousand chaos damage per strike... Yep, I think we have a problem.
Also I'd say the Demon Tank/Infernal Robot summon-on-kill abilities need to be reworked. If I've destroyed the majority of the enemy base, suddenly I can't use one of my most powerful abilities. With the aid of these same abilities on their side in addition to burrows for that time I actually manage to dispose of the real threats on their team, suddenly I can't finish them because of these extremely damage-resistant barriers that make their main base invulnerable when it's clear they can't actually do anything to win the game.