Punsho wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2019 2:54 pm
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SirCake wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2019 3:33 pm
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OpenRA has several balance shortcomings, but if you ask me, early vehicle design is not amongst them.
All four light vehicles have their clear use case and counterplay; they are all viable in their own way.
Let's examine them a bit more closely in the context of a non-mirror match where each player builds double ref into one light vehicle:
Ranger:
Pros:
-Great mobility and line of sight make it an amazing scout
-Excels at picking off single infantry, especially rocket soldiers
-Cargo slot can be used to sneak an engineer or spy behind enemy lines
Cons:
-Has no other use case
-Poor scaling into mid - and lategame, where tanks and and blobs push it into a pure scout role
Counterplay:
-Blob your infantry. The weapon has low range, it can not fight a 5-stack of rifles on its own.
-Hide rocket soldiers behind rifles.
Light Tank:
Pros:
-Good at disrupting early rifle blobs
-Great at warding off other light vehicles
-Can easily catch out unprotected MCVs
Cons:
-Horrible scaling, becomes obsolete as soon as combat tanks hit the field
-Damage output against anything other than light vehicles is underwhelming
Counterplay:
-Easily countered by 1-2 rocket soldiers.
-Other light vehicles have better mobility, so always keep them moving versus a LT.
Flak Truck:
Pros:
-Can easily poke infantry from outside their range with no relatiation thanks to its high range
-Great catch/chase potential against infantry and MCVs
-Great mid - and lategame scaling, where it becomes a feared HIND/artillery hunter
Cons:
-Low DPS gives the opponent more time to react before his units die
-Takes some time in combat to impact the battlefield
Counterplay:
-Provide line of sight support for your infantry to avoid being poked for free.
-Build medics to negate the bleed damage on your infantry.
APC:
Pros:
-The bane of all rifle blobs; great health pool and heavy armor make it nigh impervious to bullets
-Five cargo slots give it high potential for creative plays at all stages of the game - Hijacker heists, rocket harrassment, flamer drops...
-Good scaling into the lategame as a valuable Iron Curtain target for infantry crushes
Cons:
-Fixed MG makes it horrible at chasing
-Terrible turn rate makes retreating from bad positions very unlikely
-Very expensive for an early vehicle
Counterplay:
-Warded off by 3-4 rocket soldiers
-Can be baited into bad positions with no chance of escaping
In conclusion: All light vehicles have their niche, and I don't feel this aspect of the game needs tinkering or fixing!