Flame troops vs other troops

[zinc]

Flame troops are a good unit and have a nice niche as a powerful weapon for destroying buildings, in APC attacks or whatever else.

But they don't seem to be that great on the battlefield generally imo. Is it worth improving them vs other troops? e.g. they could work better defending against large numbers of enemy troops?

[netnazgul]

Wanted to vote "yes" because flamethrowers look underperforming when inf on inf fights are considered.
But flamers are very good against buildings, so that levels them a bit.

Anyway, if playtesting is considered, I'd suggest increasing their damage against infantry a slightly bit. That will be complicated though if damage is calculated as integer because flamers deal little damage in multiple bursts, and changing the overal damage output will be difficult then.

[Materianer]

i would say yes if the'd explode in a big big infernoflame, i need that feature from original RA hehe
Must be balanced of course but somehow it should work imo

[netnazgul]

No, please, no more explosions. That almost killed grens out of the game already.

[Materianer]

No, please, no more explosions. That almost killed grens out of the game already.

Thats why i said this must be balanced, i meant the explosion should of course not damage the nearby units so much but a bit with an optical effect would be nice.

Also the damage output against buildings should maybe be a bit reduced.
Loosing a mainbase against 5 flamers so fast is just annoying especially with the slower mcv speed.
That would justify a damage buff for them against infantry and other stuff imo

[AoAGeneral1]

Im assuming this is mainly about RA flamers?

[zinc]

Im assuming this is mainly about RA flamers?

Yes.

[zinc]

Also the damage output against buildings should maybe be a bit reduced.
Loosing a mainbase against 5 flamers so fast is just annoying especially with the slower mcv speed.

I used to think the same. Now I think that flamers have just the right amount of power vs buildings.

There are ways to counter them and just one pillbox can often be enough if you target it off the APC.

[Materianer]

I used to think the same. Now I think that flamers have just the right amount of power vs buildings.

There are ways to counter them and just one pillbox can often be enough if you target it off the APC.

You are right often you can counter them with a defensestrukture but sometimes you just have bad luck and it is not ready, also sometimes if the pillbox targets the apc and your not fast enough to get the flamers its over fast.
There is a carnadian player who like only uses this strat btw hehe i saved his ip in my brain because he often changes his name.
However i think it would be nice if this unit would be balanced a bit more and you are right that it should be stronger against infantry.
i made a map to see how a flamerexplosion could look like a while ago, you should test it it have a spread of 1c0.
the normal flamer makes 15 damage and the big flamer 20
That seems to be fair for me and would not breake the balance i think, doesnt even kill a dog.
http://resource.openra.net/maps/23762/
Please tell me what you think about the flame, maybe too big?
Maybe we can elaborate this unit together and enforce it if it works well, just give it a try.

[netnazgul]

You are right often you can counter them with a defensestrukture but sometimes you just have bad luck and it is not ready, also sometimes if the pillbox targets the apc and your not fast enough to get the flamers its over fast.

All that doesn't mean flamers are imbalanced. If you consider time and cost needed to do a flamer drop and compare that against any possible damage to you - most times you'd actually win this engagement.
Flamer drop is just a cheese build which is countered easier than implemented. I'd say grenadier rush is much more dangerous. And both of them are not overpowered, you just need to learn how to deal with them properly, not nerfing them.

[zinc]

Rocket troops, for the same price as flame, are pretty good vs buildings, but also are great vs tanks and have an anti-air role also.

I don't see why flame troops couldn't be given more of an anti-infantry role then, especially as dogs are very hit and miss, and only really work in the right circumstances.