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Change Scallop/Archer for more Amph unit diversity?

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Since Scallop is quite overrepresented in the Amph lineup, I am proposing that Scallop and Archer split the rioting roles up a bit better. If torpedoes are removed from scallop it should, in theory, do the following:

1) Reduce the power of lobsterscallop combo by preventing scallop from getting increased dps and aoe damage during lobs.

2) Reduce the number of roles that are taken up by the Scallop in the factory, and allow it to be balanced around just one weapon system.

3) Give another unit the ability to take up the torp riot role. My preference being archer as this unit is basically not used in sea right now and more or less doesn't have a role there.


Googlefrog was contemplating giving amph bots some form of janky artillery, suggesting ducks as the artillery platform. If Archer were made into a torpedo riot, they could perhaps be given this role as well, firing a "torpedo" at low artillery ranges on land. The water beam is cute and all but a bit janky and is mostly useful for pushing things down cliffs. Which is fun, but it's hard to say that archer is as good on land as scallop.



Shaman mentioned removing the shotguns from scallop and balancing it just around the torpedo system, which I could see working as well and maybe scallop could take the artillery role then. But Archer would still need to be changed to be more useful in water and/or land.
+5 / -0
3 years ago
imo the scallop is more closely associated with the shotgun than the torpedo. Lobster throw followed by bang-bang-bang = scallops.
+1 / -0


3 years ago
quote:
Since Scallop is quite overrepresented in the Amph lineup

Is this true at the moment?

Moving torpedoes to Archer does not sound terrible, however the model does not fit. Are you going to replace the water push with a smaller sonic weapon that only fires when above water?
+0 / -0


3 years ago
I said removing shotguns from scallops was a bad idea because it would ruin amph's land game play in a similar vein as the last range nerf hurt it.
+0 / -0
3 years ago
Nobody uses archer except on gimmick maps, so if it could be given a role that would add some variety to amph factory sea play, that would be swell.
+0 / -0
3 years ago
In the games that I've seen and played, yes. I'm still seeing primarily scallops and lobster with some grizzlies, with some ducks raiding. A lot fewer lobsters than before at least, it's usually maxing out at 2. I have never seen any amph player other than myself build a single archer, at least that I have noticed in an mp game.

I'm not set on torpedoes per say for archers (though I do think you could probably do something like fast firing small torpedoes out of each arm). The idea is to have just one weapon that can hit any one thing though, and avoid the double weapon problem scallops have. If possible I was thinking to use the trajectory fire feature that Shogun has to give it the artillery option. The conception was to stay with the current method scallop+archer work under, and force it to bob up to the surface to fire so underwater shenanigans.

If it doesn't go for torpedoes but instead goes for the current weapon or a sonic blaster or such it probably gives up artillery duty to the ducks. Which is probably okay. A small sonic weapon does sound kind of interesting and if kept for land as well kind of makes more sense than the current water jet I think. I'm not sure I like the idea though because it feels easy to end up with a too samey vibe going between archers and scallops. I guess if archer's range was reduced somewhat then it could be even more like venom/redback with archer being a closer ranged dpsdisable and scallop being longer ranged dpsdps.





The specifics of weapon type aside, I think I do kind of like Archer being the lower range unit, with a moderate AoE and relatively constant unavoidable damage and the Scallop longer max range and more variable damage. I think I also prefer Archer as the artillery lite over ducks, because spammable artillery is kind of sling.


Shaman: If Scallop was going to lose its shotgun, the archer would be buffed significantly for land damage so that it could be a real riot unit. The purpose is to share roles, not remove them. I think archer being the riot for subsurface water is more likely though.



This thread is open to suggestions as to whether anyone actually likes my ideas or thinks they have better ideas as to what to do with archer/scallop/amph.
+0 / -0
The basic idea of the archer, a unit that shoots a water jet at enemies, references the archerfish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archerfish which is a fish that shoots insects with droplets of water. So the water jet is iconic, and shouldn't be swapped for a torpedo. But it could use a buff because it's not being used.

A straight buff would just make it compete with the duck. It needs a role of its own. Perhaps it should be switched over to something like an artillery role.

The archerfish specifically is able to shoot land-based targets while the fish itself is underwater. Perhaps the archer could be given that ability, together with a skirmisher-like range (and nerfed dps to compensate). As a straight skirmisher it would be weaker than the buoy, but its strength would be that you need anti-sub to fight it, so that it could be used to safely attack land targets that can't shoot back, similar to artillery.
+0 / -0


3 years ago
The loss of the water jet archer name would be a shame. 'Pistol' could be a replacement for a sonic Archer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheidae

It would be nice to have a water jet that both makes sense and can fulfill the antisub riot role in sea. I don't see how to do it though.
+0 / -0

3 years ago
So archer model needs to be redesigned to be used with torpedos? Archer with torpedo + water gun and scallop with riot gun is interesting idea. It could prevent scallop to be monospam both in land and sea at same time so amphs cant make easy desant. It sound fair because nor ships nor hovers have such capability. But still if scallop can float up and shoot at ships then this will still is strong. But in same time if scallop is useless at sea then it make other problems.
+0 / -0


3 years ago
quote:
Pistol' could be a replacement for a sonic Archer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheidae

I would rather suggest Shrimp.
+2 / -0


3 years ago
I think this is a great area of focus and could lead to further steps towards amph being an all-round viable factory. Their land game suffers a lot due to slow speed, slow con, large unit models making them easier to hit, and the scallop shotgun nerf, lobster nerf.

A bit more about the units being easy to hit and slow, did you know that mono-ronins can be highly effective against amph?
+1 / -0
I think Amph land game mainly suffers currently due to Duck losing quite a lot of its power with the conversion from alpha glaivebuster into a source of continuous dps.

It feels wrong to expect it to go toe-to-toe with e.g. on flats, while Rover can't even cause harm to submerged enemies, much less enter the domain.

On medium to small maps where Amph can use their mobility advantages even to a small extent (ex: middle pool on Dune Patrol) while not being excessively punished for slowness, they are quite strong IME.
+1 / -0
3 years ago
USrankDregs yeah I've done that matchup before, it definitely felt painful.

I think AUrankAdminGoogleFrog has me convinced on a sonic weapon. I'll try to make a viable version of Archer using a sonic weapon and do some playtesting to see if it does anything anyone could actually desire. Since the torpedo version would probably be a bit awkward and looks like more work than I want to do :P


EErankAdminAnarchid I've had my best success with amphs on Dune Patrol, the pond in the middle definitely does make a big difference. If we had a few more smallish maps with some small ponds that would definitely increase the overall viability of the factory.
+0 / -0
3 years ago
why are so many high alpha units like kodachi and duck being smoothed into slow dps units? =(
+0 / -0
3 years ago
High alpha (high damage low ROF) units are hard for game balance. They're not fun to play against because they don't need nearly as much time to get a kill as low alpha units do, even if they have lower DPS.

High alpha Kodachi can drive by within range of a mex/lotus for 0.01 seconds, drop a flame ball, and head out. There's not much the opponent can do if they can't chase it down or kill it in that 0.5 seconds that it's in range, and the Kodachi's already killed a structure. High alpha Duck can always kill at least its cost in glaives even if insanely outnumbered, and will dominate in even trades often taking no losses because there's nothing left that can fight back after the first volley.

This kind of damage is hard to fight into and hard to avoid taking attrition from. Even if you lower the rate of fire and thus the DPS, they'll still kill the same amount of stuff and just retreat for longer. This is alright for some things, but unhealthy for a raider unit that's supposed to be countered by sustained low-overkill DPS.
+3 / -0