Call MAC ability for Exosuits.
Stripetails
Join Date: 2013-01-30 Member: 182644Members, NS2 Playtester
Join Date: 2013-01-30 Member: 182644Members, NS2 Playtester
Just an idea I thought I'd throw up to see the general reaction of here on the forums.
The first part of this idea is to give Exosuits an ability we'll label as Call MACs. This ability would allow an Exosuit driver to way-point TWO nearby MACs to their Exosuit.
The second part would allow the Marine commander to prevent MACs they wish to use for building from being called by adding a toggle activated state. (Say, "On Duty / Off Duty" )
This would allow a commander to keep a force under their control behind the lines to build buildings when and where they want on their own time scale and prevent players from stealing all the MACs.
The idea is to also limit the number of MACs that can be way-pointed to and weld an Exo to two, or possibly three if people feel two is too little.
Now, this change is not really meant buff for Exosuits as much as it is meant to eliminate more of the micromanagement for the Marine Commander, while giving Exosuits a way to slowly repair themselves behind the lines or in combat. This would not allow an Exosuit to assault a well defended position alone, as it is countered with Bile bomb.
So, any thoughts?
The first part of this idea is to give Exosuits an ability we'll label as Call MACs. This ability would allow an Exosuit driver to way-point TWO nearby MACs to their Exosuit.
The second part would allow the Marine commander to prevent MACs they wish to use for building from being called by adding a toggle activated state. (Say, "On Duty / Off Duty" )
This would allow a commander to keep a force under their control behind the lines to build buildings when and where they want on their own time scale and prevent players from stealing all the MACs.
The idea is to also limit the number of MACs that can be way-pointed to and weld an Exo to two, or possibly three if people feel two is too little.
Now, this change is not really meant buff for Exosuits as much as it is meant to eliminate more of the micromanagement for the Marine Commander, while giving Exosuits a way to slowly repair themselves behind the lines or in combat. This would not allow an Exosuit to assault a well defended position alone, as it is countered with Bile bomb.
So, any thoughts?
Comments
They do, this would let the Exosuit waypoint them to himself like the Marine commander can already do. (Get the MACs to follow the Exo around)
I believe it still requires the commander to direct click on the Exo he want's to send the MACs to follow, which is easy enough when they're in the base, but can be an absolute pain if you have an Exo dancing around skulks, constantly spin strafing, etc. Any missed click will sent the MACs to an area where they'll only sit and heal objects/people nearby without moving.
It varies on each side, on the Aliens, commanding is very lax for the most part because directly, it's very hard for the commander to really influence the game in a direct, win/lose way. (For example, beacon.) They just don't have that much impact other than researching, building, and placing threat markers. In fact, if you're playing in an organized match where you know there's little risk of someone jumping into the hive to ruin the game, it's actually BENEFICIAL for the commander to hop out and join the fight.
On the Marine side it's a much different experience for the commander. The Marine commander can directly influence any fight, anywhere on the map, and often be the deciding factor on whether or not a battle is won or lost. A Marine Commander will have to not only pay attention to the front lines and cater to a flurry of medpack/ammo requests that they have to decide either to weigh the value of, grant / or ignore. They will need to focus on upgrading from various structures, be on the lookout for behind the lines attacks. (Skulks on power/RT's, valuable structure, etc.)
They will also have to focus on threats at their main base and decide if they're controllable or require a Beacon (Unable to be canceled.) which in itself can be a waste of resources, the loss of a solid push, or the end of the game.
While doing all of these things the Marine commander could also be dealing with his controllable units. (ARCs and MACs for Marines, Drifter for Kham.)
It does seem like a minor thing to have to do, but with the large volume of things that can be going on and that will be going on having something which is always going to be in high demand once Exosuits hit the field made into less of a chore would be well received. I do want to point out again though that this isn't just for the Commander's sake, it is also an idea to give Exosuits a way to sustain themselves in a minor way without having to rely totally on the charity of their team. Unlike an Onos or Fade, Exo's do not regenerate health on their own, and have no defensive abilities at all. They're light tanks with moderate to heavy firepower, mobile gun platforms with a driver that cost a very large sum of personal res that have no control over when they get healed.
The hope is to come up with a way to give Exos the ability to support themselves without relying "100%" on their team.
A dispatch command would be interesting, would allow you to be able to just drop MACs off when you want to push forward and expect bile.
It's just a shame the alien comm doesn't have a similar impact on individual fights; all they really have for this is drifters which, if used correctly and your team are well-off in terms of skill, can swing engagements massively in the aliens favour through use of drifter micro (distracting!) and enzyme.
It's already like the marine comm is needed to allow the marines to just stay alive, while the alien comm simply has the option to make his team OP if he wants.
http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/comment/2101008/#Comment_2101008 this thread is an alien stucture/NPC sort of like an marine ARC except its an area denial, well read the thread