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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0001157AI War 1 / ClassicSuggestion - Balance TweaksDec 15, 2010 9:28 pm
ReporterMalibu Stacey Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version4.028 
Summary0001157: Level 1 scouts are too fragile
DescriptionNot sure if this is intended behaviour but I find it very difficult to scout anything beyond the systems adjacent to my homeworld with level 1 scouts.
Even playing against Random Easier level 4 AI's (haven't tried anything easier as yet) there are so many Tachyon Guardians around that a whole group of 10 level 1 scouts will be dead by the time they reach the 2nd system & start trying to evade (or they die while evading since there's already ordanance tracking them from when they were decloaked).

Level 2 scouts are far more resilient since they have 6* the hitpoints of level 1's & this coupled with the 2* unit cap & the extra cloaking booster means they're pretty much the first tech you *have* to unlock so it's the same situation Transports were in pre-v4.

I'm not sure what a proper fix for this would be. My suggestions would be to either make ordanance stop tracking cloaked units once they've recloaked (makes sense thematically especially for missiles, can't see it, can't hit it), reduce the Tachyon Guardian spam or increase the HP of the level 1 scout.
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Moonshine Fox

Nov 6, 2010 6:33 pm

reporter   ~0002854

I'm both with you and not here. Mark I scouts are supposed to be weak, since they are free, and as such they shouldn't be able to penetrate deep into enemy territory. At the same time, I kinda feel they are a bit too weak.

Toll

Nov 6, 2010 6:35 pm

reporter   ~0002855

Dunno, I managed to scout six planets away with only Mk. I scouts. Then again, I was sending them en-masse at cap on an eight-home map...

Moonshine Fox

Nov 6, 2010 8:05 pm

reporter   ~0002857

Last edited: Nov 6, 2010 8:05 pm

Yeah that would probably be why. They are designed with a one homeworld start in mind, not eight.

DakaSha

Nov 6, 2010 10:17 pm

reporter   ~0002860

I really do not think they should be made stronger at all.
The point is that they are only supposed to get you so far.

The upgrades are already very cheap and upping the level 1 scouts would just ruin any incentive to upgrade up to level 3

KDR_11k

Nov 7, 2010 2:25 am

reporter   ~0002871

I can get at least a few systems far with them, are you playing against the gravity driller or something? The first systems around your homeworld don't have tachyon guards and even after that the cloaking booster limits the losses from each decloaking. I don't think more health would do much since they usually draw fire from the entire system anyway.

Malibu Stacey

Nov 8, 2010 9:13 am

reporter   ~0002908

The first systems don't have tachyon guards but the next ones do so that's 2-5 systems you can explore. In my current game that's only 3. By using blobs of the other 7 scouts I have left I can get into a couple more systems if I'm lucky. That leaves me with 4 or 5 useless level 1 scouts which I can't do anything with unless I unlock level 2 scouts & blob them together with them at which point I have 20 30k HP scouts so it's a moot point.

I'm not saying they should be uber hardcore & able to walk into the AI homeworlds without a scratch, they're just built like wet toilet paper now & the increase from 5k HP to the 30k HP of level 2 scout show how much of an issue it is. Either increase the HP to something slightly more reasonable like 10k or stop/reduce the chance for cloaked units to take damage from ordanance fired at them when they're decloaked.

KDR_11k

Nov 8, 2010 12:23 pm

reporter   ~0002938

You don't need to have the scout stationed on a planet for it to be useful, even just a peek two planets deep into the map will be very useful since it allows you to spot interplanetary devices before triggering them. Planets that aren't adjacent to your territory rarely need a live scout anyway since the AI doesn't reinforce there.

If you really want to get a scout somewhere raid the tachyon guards.

HitmanN

Nov 8, 2010 12:41 pm

reporter   ~0002947

I think the scouts are fine in a normal game setting. Granted, grav drillers and the like that reduce speed usually stop them, but without any special gimmicks a pile of mk1 scouts can usually get at least 3 hops away from home planet.

That's my experience anyhow. And I usually even play with unexplored planets hidden, so there's often microing involved even. Still, they do well enough, IMO.

Chris_McElligottPark

Dec 15, 2010 8:30 pm

administrator   ~0006280

Soooo much has changed since this report. Do people still see this as an issue? I don't particularly.

TechSY730

Dec 15, 2010 9:27 pm

reporter   ~0006288

Nope, I think they are fine. Okay for early game, as they are tough enough for at least one to make it reliably given a ship-cap of them sent to one planet of Mk. III or less. Plus, they can be nifty "stationary" scouts in the later game. They were never meant to be deep scouting in the first place.

Chris_McElligottPark

Dec 15, 2010 9:28 pm

administrator   ~0006289

Excellent. That was my read, too.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Nov 6, 2010 12:23 pm Malibu Stacey New Issue
Nov 6, 2010 6:33 pm Moonshine Fox Note Added: 0002854
Nov 6, 2010 6:35 pm Toll Note Added: 0002855
Nov 6, 2010 8:05 pm Moonshine Fox Note Added: 0002857
Nov 6, 2010 8:05 pm Moonshine Fox Note Edited: 0002857
Nov 6, 2010 10:17 pm DakaSha Note Added: 0002860
Nov 7, 2010 2:25 am KDR_11k Note Added: 0002871
Nov 8, 2010 9:13 am Malibu Stacey Note Added: 0002908
Nov 8, 2010 12:23 pm KDR_11k Note Added: 0002938
Nov 8, 2010 12:41 pm HitmanN Note Added: 0002947
Dec 15, 2010 8:30 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0006280
Dec 15, 2010 8:30 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Dec 15, 2010 8:30 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => feedback
Dec 15, 2010 9:27 pm TechSY730 Note Added: 0006288
Dec 15, 2010 9:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0006289
Dec 15, 2010 9:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status feedback => resolved
Dec 15, 2010 9:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed