[RA Balance] Radar Dome + Allied Radar Jammer
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 12:47 am
Allied Radar Jammer
Cost: $800
Health: 220HP, Heavy Armor
Speed: 85 (Same as Medium Tank)
Unarmed
Visibiliy range: 6 cells
Requires Tech Center
Abilities:
Jams enemy radar domes (range: 15 cells)
Deflects enemy missiles (range: 4 cells)
Can detect cloaked units (range: 6 cells)
This so called "late game" unit is rarely seen. With few exceptions (holding off Destroyer missiles) the unit is pretty much useless and lacks distinction.
Radar jamming, losing the minimap for a few seconds is nothing more than a nuiscanse. With a 720p, 1080p screen you're not losing that much oversight, if using the minimap at all.
Deflecting enemy missiles at range 4 isn't really working if you want to use it together with a standard army you can bet it'll be targeted quick by enemy tanks - you always pull in your tanks past your infantry. For the Radar Jammer to have an impact it's gonna have to pull in closer towards the enemy rocket soldiers who are positioned with tanks with their 4/4,75 ranged turrets. The radar jammer has health on par with the light tank and it's not gonna take long for enemy air and armor to pick it off. The lack of Allies' field AA doesn't help.
Cloak at range 6: Meh. By the time you have a tech center up you likely have much of your critical structures protected by defensive structures with 6/8 cloak detect range and the Radar Dome wih 10 range which together is quite the detection grid.
So let's amp it up a little bit:
Cloak detection 6 -> 8 and let's push that missile deflection range up 4 -> 5.
But that's probably not enough to make it fun or attractive right? So let's mess around a bit with its' jamming ability vs the Radar Dome. To make it more interesting let's envision the Radar Dome does more than simply unlock your tech tree:
Radar dome...
...unlocks cloak detection ability for your defensive structures (destroyed or powered down Radar Dome does not remove the cloak detection ability for existing defensive structures but new ones won't have the ability until the Radar Dome is rebuilt or comes back online).
...drops vision range by 2 for air units when powered down or destroyed.
So at this point the Radar Dome is more of a liability against spies and general power downs for both for Allies and Soviet. Granting cloak detection ability through the Radar Dome allows the Phase Transport a window of opportunity in the event the opponent skips Radar Dome tech altogether, possibly making Phase Transport Rush a thing.
Ok whatever. Now, let's give the Radar Jammer the ability to disrupt this new Radar Dome by 1) disabling defensive structures' cloak detection ability (by sending false signals through the Radar Dome if you wish) and 2) losing the minimap. As a counter measure one would have to destroy the Radar Jammer(s), chase it out of disruption range and/or power down the Radar Dome to regain cloak detection ability, temporarily trading in 2 vision range for your air units. A true tringle affair.
An issue is the range of the radar jam ability which at range 15 might sound like a lot but depending on the map the Radar Dome is easily packed behind lots of structures making it hard for the Radar Jammer to get in range and do its' jam. The disruption range is adjustable.
Otherwise, perhaps up the Radar Jammer price ($900-$1100) and HP (260-320) a little and add a CustomTimeValue so that it doesn't take longer to build than, say, a Medium Tank. Perhaps this piece of clunk can start working for us.
I'll admit, it's a tall order but it's just thought experiment. If we truly want an Allied late-game that means something then it might be neccessary to think a little more outside the box.
Thoughts? Other suggestions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsj9ZVh0WWA
Cost: $800
Health: 220HP, Heavy Armor
Speed: 85 (Same as Medium Tank)
Unarmed
Visibiliy range: 6 cells
Requires Tech Center
Abilities:
Jams enemy radar domes (range: 15 cells)
Deflects enemy missiles (range: 4 cells)
Can detect cloaked units (range: 6 cells)
This so called "late game" unit is rarely seen. With few exceptions (holding off Destroyer missiles) the unit is pretty much useless and lacks distinction.
Radar jamming, losing the minimap for a few seconds is nothing more than a nuiscanse. With a 720p, 1080p screen you're not losing that much oversight, if using the minimap at all.
Deflecting enemy missiles at range 4 isn't really working if you want to use it together with a standard army you can bet it'll be targeted quick by enemy tanks - you always pull in your tanks past your infantry. For the Radar Jammer to have an impact it's gonna have to pull in closer towards the enemy rocket soldiers who are positioned with tanks with their 4/4,75 ranged turrets. The radar jammer has health on par with the light tank and it's not gonna take long for enemy air and armor to pick it off. The lack of Allies' field AA doesn't help.
Cloak at range 6: Meh. By the time you have a tech center up you likely have much of your critical structures protected by defensive structures with 6/8 cloak detect range and the Radar Dome wih 10 range which together is quite the detection grid.
So let's amp it up a little bit:
Cloak detection 6 -> 8 and let's push that missile deflection range up 4 -> 5.
But that's probably not enough to make it fun or attractive right? So let's mess around a bit with its' jamming ability vs the Radar Dome. To make it more interesting let's envision the Radar Dome does more than simply unlock your tech tree:
Radar dome...
...unlocks cloak detection ability for your defensive structures (destroyed or powered down Radar Dome does not remove the cloak detection ability for existing defensive structures but new ones won't have the ability until the Radar Dome is rebuilt or comes back online).
...drops vision range by 2 for air units when powered down or destroyed.
So at this point the Radar Dome is more of a liability against spies and general power downs for both for Allies and Soviet. Granting cloak detection ability through the Radar Dome allows the Phase Transport a window of opportunity in the event the opponent skips Radar Dome tech altogether, possibly making Phase Transport Rush a thing.
Ok whatever. Now, let's give the Radar Jammer the ability to disrupt this new Radar Dome by 1) disabling defensive structures' cloak detection ability (by sending false signals through the Radar Dome if you wish) and 2) losing the minimap. As a counter measure one would have to destroy the Radar Jammer(s), chase it out of disruption range and/or power down the Radar Dome to regain cloak detection ability, temporarily trading in 2 vision range for your air units. A true tringle affair.
An issue is the range of the radar jam ability which at range 15 might sound like a lot but depending on the map the Radar Dome is easily packed behind lots of structures making it hard for the Radar Jammer to get in range and do its' jam. The disruption range is adjustable.
Otherwise, perhaps up the Radar Jammer price ($900-$1100) and HP (260-320) a little and add a CustomTimeValue so that it doesn't take longer to build than, say, a Medium Tank. Perhaps this piece of clunk can start working for us.
I'll admit, it's a tall order but it's just thought experiment. If we truly want an Allied late-game that means something then it might be neccessary to think a little more outside the box.
Thoughts? Other suggestions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsj9ZVh0WWA