GK strike squads current state.

Issues dealing with gameplay balance.
saltychipmunk
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Re: GK strike squads current state.

Postby saltychipmunk » Fri 19 Apr, 2019 2:51 pm

Black Relic wrote:SS used to be a decent range and melee combatant with better melee but worse range. It was ok but not great.

I would like psy bolts change the range weapons of the units to kraken_pvp damage and then allow them to have their old psycannnon weapon upgrade back so OM can get some range sup again. But that role is now the purgation now i think.



The psycannon upgrade was one of the worst weapon upgrades in the game. Its existence in the place of something more specialized was a large part why SS were considered a garbage unit for so long.

it was around 13 sustained dps with no burst damage. it hit like a wet noodle, was terrible to kite with, terrible to chase vehicles with and traded unfavorably against the weapon upgrades of pretty much every other race. A classic case of trying to do everything only to end up being terrible at everything.

The result was a unit that scaled very poorly in to t2.

Honestly this is still true. I usually only purchase strikes begrudgingly because storm troopers really cannot hold ground at all and I still struggle to find a reason to invest in SS moving into t2. Their melee is good i suppose.... when fighting infantry armies.. But their lack of versatility in such a surprisingly expensive unit is a little vexing .
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Classy David
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Re: GK strike squads current state.

Postby Classy David » Wed 08 May, 2019 12:06 am

I wouldn't increase SS range damage as that'd overlap on Storm troopers and Purgations roles. Also, would make SS too strong imo as they would be a decent melee squad with good range capabilities. SS are fine in their current state with perhaps a small buff or change later on. Their range upgrade is useless as that's a role they perform poorly at given other squads can do it so much better. Their melee upgrade lets them tank for their squishier/range brothers while also being able to bully range units and slow or counter-attack melee units. Do they scale poorly? Mostly yes but their utility is excellent.

If the team decide to keep the range upgrade I would let them burn energy on hit with their range weapons but remove the energy burn from energy burst. Still would slow down the target and their energy burn on hit would be low to compensate they can shoot at range and at a faster rate.

That way they could scale as a threat through their utility and make the player decide if they want to either have a protector/bully melee unit with decent range damage or a unit that does "okay" range damage yet debuffs enemy units.

That'd also give more flexibility to a double SS build as one range and melee both offer something different enough to justify buying two expensive squads and upgrading them differently.
saltychipmunk
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Re: GK strike squads current state.

Postby saltychipmunk » Mon 13 May, 2019 2:47 pm

Classy David wrote:I wouldn't increase SS range damage as that'd overlap on Storm troopers and Purgations roles. Also, would make SS too strong imo as they would be a decent melee squad with good range capabilities. SS are fine in their current state with perhaps a small buff or change later on. Their range upgrade is useless as that's a role they perform poorly at given other squads can do it so much better. Their melee upgrade lets them tank for their squishier/range brothers while also being able to bully range units and slow or counter-attack melee units. Do they scale poorly? Mostly yes but their utility is excellent.


I strongly disagree with this. out side of early t1 storm troopers do not have nearly enough durability and range damage to be a front line unit. using them in that way requires several expensive upgrades. They make a poor core unit. They however make a great utility unit like scouts since they get quite a few disruptive upgrades. Unless you are spamming grenade launchers or something...

Purges are also not an amazing ranged unit to build around either. the flame throwers are cool for suppression against blobs of short range or melee infantry
and i have already made my very low opinion of psy cannons known. they are specialists you pick to fit the occasion.

Neither are good generalist units which is what is needed and what strikes should fill.


There also the rather large issue of redundancy. Gk already has purifiers. and in t3 interceptors. That is a ridiculous amount of melee focused heavy infantry.

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