Dominatrix vs. Tank

I made two Tank vs. Rover replays:

• https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/698344
• https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/698347

Post more.


The first game may have been over before noobula saw the first Domi. This doesn't discount how each player played due to the existence of the unit, but it is something to note.

I was Tank in the second game and it felt a lot closer. I am not so sure about this result though because I had a Kodachi kill many mexes and was able to kill the first Dominatrix with Blitz.

If Dominatrix is too good then I am leaning towards a speed nerf. A slower Dominatrix would be deployed later (see Buoy) and it would be easier to raid into or swarm with enough assaults. Currently it is approximately the same speed as a tank midgame army (Ogre and Minotaur) and fast enough to support Scorchers in Blitz/Kodachi battles. Perhaps a longer reload time would also be good, but this doesn't seem like it would affect the worst cases.

What I find weird about Dominatrix is that it allows the Rover player to force the game into particular paths. If the Tank player does not factory switch, it feels like they need to get an advanced HLT and probably an Emissary. This forces the Tank player into being slow. This is why I am considering a slower Dominatrix - it makes the Rover player similarly slow and gives the Tank player more opportunities to stay fast and try to go around it.

https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/698099
https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/698097
https://zero-k.info/Battles/Detail/698050

i find it weired that the dominatrix beam does not interact with shield...

cloak generator allows dominatrix to get pwned.. but if your enemy has brains they will send units in to expose your cloaked units. cloak still struggles on mass domi tho

i would love to be able to set an enemy ai to only be able to use 1 unit/lab so that i can practice countering.. is there an easy way to do this?

10 brutal ai's with dominatrix spam on a flat non deform-able map should tell me how easy it can be stopped.. if i cant beat an ai then that would be weird

Some random "facts" about tanks, rovers and domis:

The dominatrix player has to micro range hard or lose their gamble, the tank player just has to retreat or attack.

Kodachi is a fantastic unit against most rovers, and sent in numbers, will beat dominatrix.

A non babysitted dominatrix can be baited with nanoframes.

Most games I see tank players complain about dominatrix literally sent units headfirst into them, knowing full well it was on the cards. If you act like a (slow) raging bull, dominatrix will be used as an anti heavy. Similarly, if you send fleas into an outlaw, this does not make outlaw OP. This makes you silly.

Rovers have 0 lategame units. Dominatrix allows them to pretend that they do, and balances this problem out slightly.

Tanks are mostly lategame units. Their start is shakier as a result.

Tanks got a little more viable after the econ changes because they can afford their expensive units quicker.

During rovers vs rovers mirror clashes, the first player to switch to TANKS will win the clash hands down, it's a logical hardware upgrade. However, tanks unsupported by rovers don't roflpwn nearly as much.

And lastly, personal feeling. Dominatrix is a weird unit, a true gambler's choice. It's the only unit that will protect rovers from tanks (particularly rover killer king - Ogre) aside from dart. With darts met by kodachi, all we have left is dominatrix. I feel like people have played less carefuly and suicided to dominatrix where they could have easily facswitched fleas, roaches, phoenix, thunderbird, licho, glaives, daggers, blastwings, grizzly, firewalker, puppy.

@Sparkles: As a tank player I can't run from Dominatrix, its range is larger than the vision range of my Ogres. And once it's started attacking I have no way to retreat before losing my ogres.

I would love to know how Kodachi is a "fantastic unit against most rovers". In my experience it loses to most rovers pretty badly, particularly due to how their fire kills themselves.

Do you have a replay where you can demonstrate these anti-dominatrix tactics of yours?

Anarchid: Except I have no idea how to play Rover. :P
I play tank mostly, some cloak and some air.

My experience of Domi is also that it fails hard without careful micro. You've got to turn around at exactly the right time to avoid falling into range of your targets, especially if you're trying to whittle down a strong push of heavies. Yes, big, shielded, cloaked balls of them are devastating assimilation machines, but big balls of most things need special measures, especially if you've been suffering attrition and not gained anything from it.

Surely, unless tank has already more or less won in the raider phase, they'll probably plop Emissary regardless of Domis?

While Domi may force tank into particular strategies, tank usually forces Domi on rovers because Ogre eats everything else that Rover can throw at it. Why is curtailing the choices of your opponent a bad thing anyway? Isn't that just strategy? Also why does it matter that lowering reload time (presumably meaning slower captures) might not deal with the "worst cases?" What are the worst cases anyway? If it's the cloaked, shielded, escorted assimilation ball, surely you deserve to lose if you allow it to form without an answer, just as you deserve to lose for allowing the Minotaur push to build up, or the Recluse ball, or the Lance stack?

Yes, seeing a large domi ball snap up one's heavies is frustrating, but that's what they're purpose built for. So long as the game stays light and fast, they're not much good. As others have said, tank doesn't do very well at keeping it light and fast so it suffers disproportionately.

Then again, my experience is that rover often struggles vs shields, and shields vs jumps (or spiders for that matter). Most facs probably have a nemesis, all else being equal.

im not sure i agree that 10 brutal ai is very hard ~ in the context of only being able to spam 1 unit kind..

i think i could beat 10 brutal ai that could only spam dominatrix cons and eco
even if i had tanks.. i would cheese it with counter tactics.. or maybe i would loose.. probably your right i would loose.

I have an idea.. what if both enemy and ally could use the dominated unit and command it.. and it could shoot both teams still =P

quote: There is an attack, you are attacking the enemy and you suicide, thereby causing great damage. Convict+Felon destroys this idea completely, because it reclaimss the unit and converts it into more felon convict Okay, I attack with use the Ogre, let my the Ogre simply be destroyed, but instead I lose a expensive unit and now this unit will be reclaimed into more convict felon and I am not able to take it back, I will have to spend resources to defend against from the convict felone, while the convict felon is ​​nothing spends at all. And no need to offer options with thunderbird, the shieldball is always protected

Suiciding is bad even against Not Domi.


On topic, i have a rocket car model lying around. If a capturing skirmisher is that evil, give rovers a real damage skirm and/or antiheavy?