You know how you can select any one of multiple commanders before the match starts, along with customizing them in advance? Well, what if the same could be done for starting factories, where players have a limited amount of unit slots (such as, say, 11) that they could fit into their custom factories' build lists? Imagine what kinds of unit combinations players could come up with. (Also, this could be useful for collecting data on which units players tend to prefer over others.)
Personally, this would be my main custom factory's build list (with a focus on early raiding, and fighting with light unit densities):
[Spoiler]- Conjurer: Chosen for its ability to remain cloaked while doing anything other than building, reclaiming, or repairing, allowing it to scavenge on the battlefield relatively safely, or even spot for artillery.
- Glaive: Serves as both a fast scout unit and a more lightweight raider for dealing with enemies with high damage-per-shot weapons (such as Lances, Moderators, or Grizzlies).
- Blitz: Serves as my custom factory's primary combat unit, for its mix of speed, durability, and firepower that's optimized for taking on other medium and heavy units.
- Kodachi: Serves as my custom factory's primary answer to Zerg rushes by enemy Fleas, Glaives, and the like, thanks to its high speed (for responding to attacks) and ability to lob napalm bombs at crowds. Plus, like the Blitz, it's also reasonably durable.
- Knight: Serves as an answer to rushes of high-weight raiders or fast assault units (such as Blitzes, Scorchers, Ravagers, Pyros, and Kodachis to name a few). Can also be used for assaults when used alongside Aspis and/or Iris.
- Fencer: Serves as a more economical replacement for Picket creep, since they have equivalent range, decent durability, and can actually reposition themselves. Can also be used as a decent substitute for anti-air units.
- Badger: A cheap fire-support artillery unit for kiting skirmishers, along with slow riots and assaults, into oblivion.
- Lance: Chosen for its flexibility as a long-range artillery unit, being hard-hitting enough to be good against striders and other heavy units, but also being able to instantaneously hit enemies to the point where it could also reliably target mobile units, including fast-moving aircraft.
- Outlaw: Useful for deterring enemy stealth units (and Fleas) from sneaking up to my own units, and also for slowing groups of light raiders down enough for my Kodachis, Fencers, and Badgers to better deal with them.
- Iris: Hides nearby units from sight and radar, allowing them to sneak close to enemies without getting targeted by long-range artillery.
- Owl: Acts as a VERY mobile radar station that isn't easy to detect (since it jams radar), making it invaluable as both a scout and as a spotter.
If players are allowed to design multiple custom factories that they could optionally build within a single game, then this would be my tier 2 factory's build list (for expanding upon the starting factory's tier 1 build list, with a focus on fighting higher-densities of enemy units, especially artillery and shields):
[Spoiler]- Athena: Chosen not so much for its ability to build a wide variety of units anywhere, but more for its ability to quickly and stealthily fly to any location to perform all manner of tasks, from building radar towers and caretakers to quickly reclaiming, or even resurrecting, wrecks on the battlefield.
- Dominatrix: Capable of skirmishing many riots and assaults, capable of quickly dealing with tanky units (since their capture dps is matched against enemy cost instead of HP), and capable of wreaking havoc against shielded foes (since their capture beams ignore shields), although these advanced skirmishers are lacking in HP, they can be protected from artillery through the use of Aspis and/or Iris.
- Ogre: A heavier anti-swarm unit than the lighter Kodachi, yet cheaper than the Crab, and still reasonably tough.
- Jack: A very dangerous unit if allowed to move within melee distance of its enemies, even striders like the Dante and Funnelweb should fear this unit in numbers, especially when they use an Iris to sneak past any enemy artillery that could've otherwise deterred them from assaulting the enemy.
- Crab: Chosen for its ability to decimate groups of smaller units with its skirmisher-ranged aoe cannon, as well as for its high durability when stationary.
- Firewalker: Harasses groups of enemy units from a long distance, and can reveal any cloaked units caught within its line of fire (which is useful to know if it's up against enemies that are hiding underneath the veil of an Iris).
- Tremor: Chosen primarily for its ability to quickly flatten terrain from a long distance, especially any terraformed walls or ditches the enemy might've created, though it also works well at depleting enemy shields and weakening dense clumps of enemy units.
- Toad: A tougher, more dedicated anti-air unit than either the Fencer or the Lance.
- Ettin: A more reliable anti-air unit than the Toad, yet still a tougher and more dedicated anti-air unit than either the Fencer or the Lance.
- Thunderbird: Could turn the tide of a drawn-out battle thanks to its disarming lightning.
- Ultimatum: Designed to quickly assassinate problematic striders.
- Aspis: Helps prolong the health of the other, more fragile units in this list, and in the previous factory's list, including heavily-damaged units that are retreating for repairs.
Of course, players could still be given the option of building any of the stock factories in addition to their custom factories (in the event that they need a certain unit that's not found in one of their custom factories).
