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Countering Bolas

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3 years ago
Hi, I've been completely unable to counter Bolas as cloaky bots. It seems they are both fast and very deadly. What good units / combo of units works?
+0 / -0
Bolas aren't very fast. So you can walk around them.

Their main strength is a targeted slow; which means when you outnumber them (with 3 to 4 glaives) they easily die.

Lastly a Reaver has so much initial damage they still win.
+1 / -0
3 years ago
Reaver
+1 / -0
Lotuses are somewhat effective, but sadly the real answer is you can't play cloak vs hover on a map where hover is viable.

Bolas destroy Glaives and can even kill Reavers if they have a 2 to 1 advantage. And with their manoeuvrability you can avoid the Reavers unless you have that advantage.
Nothing in cloakbot fac is cost effective except Reavers.

Though...
Having said that...
Have you tried using Imps? Put an Imp where the Bolas will come and then sweep in with Glaives to kill the stunned Bolas.
Or you can activate the area cloaker on a Conjurer and have the imp walk right up to the Bolas swarm.
+0 / -0

3 years ago
Thanks for the advice. I will test out imps / ticks. Is there a factory that is particularly strong against hovers? I'm realizing now that I need to learn how to transition between factories situationally, but dont really know where to begin.
+0 / -0

3 years ago
Mix in imps and Conjurer. Bolas don't spread.
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3 years ago
I'd advise against an early transition (e.g. first 5 minutes) as the cost of a new factory is noticeable at your level (if you were playing at 2000 ELO it'd be viable, but you're in the big boy club now).

Against Hover both Rover and Tank are good. Kodachis and Scorchers can kite and beat Bolas *only when moving away from the Bolas*, so careful micro is needed. This works particularly well with a Fencer or two to force engagements or push back the Bolas (Fencers are almost cost effective against Bolas by themselves). When the Bolas numbers get high a Ripper or two will fend them off (Ripper AoE is absolutely devastating and Rippers are fairly fast).

One thing to note is that Bolas often do worse when fighting many units and NOT running away from them as their attacks will be targetting the lowest HP unit (which is probably the one maximally slowed), meaning most of the others will be unslowed. However, when Bolas are moving away from the enemy army the slowed enemy units will drop out of range quickly, removing them from the fight and making the Bolas target the unslowed ones, reducing their DPS.
So Bolas are much stronger and harder to kill when they are moving away from you.

And another thing, if facing Bolas as hover mirror it's important to note that Daggers are fast and have very high front loaded damage even if they can't take an equal mass of Bolas. So the best defence in that case can be offence, using your daggers to kill any expansions or isolated Bolas by going around and avoiding the Bolas swarm. You'll need to ensure you'll be able to react if the Bolas swarm goes straight for your fac, but the very high Dagger speed often ensures you can get there in time and your Commander+Lotuses should be enough of a home turf advantage to kill the Bolas swarm when the Daggers arrive.
If the Bolas swarm goes for your expansions? Meh, your Dagger swarm is much faster and can kill more mexes per unit time, you can also split your horde without worry (hitting multiple targets at once) because you're fast enough to recombine if needed.
If the Bolas swarm splits up to kill multiple expansions? Get your Dagger swarm to kill each isolated Bolas swarm! Though normally the mere threat of this will force your opponent to keep any splits within a short distance of eachother.
+3 / -0