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Zero-K v1.10.8.0 - Rogue, Reaver, Redback and Map Rotation

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19 months ago

The Rogue nerfs continue, Redback can now beat a Reaver, and Firewalker has its first change in years. Phantom slows to 66% speed to reload its gun (maybe the auto-loader broke?) to make them a bit easier to find, while Blitz and Pyro are a bit tougher in an attempt to bring them into the raider game. The skin swap 'easter egg' is gone, some animations are improved and some GC fiddling resulted in a performance improvement. A few new or remade maps now have start boxes, and the matchmaker map pool has been updated.

Balance


Ronin is a bit smarter.
  • Steps away from Lotus while reloading (with Hold Position disabled or Attack Move).
  • Updates aim direction more frequently to cut down on friendly fire.

Reaver has slightly less reach and manoeuvrability.
  • Turn rate reduced by 10%
  • Range 275 -> 270
  • Projectile velocity increased by 5.5% to compensate

Phantom is easier to catch.
  • Moves at 66% speed while reloading.

Rogue is costlier and a little easier to hit.
  • Cost 125 -> 130
  • Turn rate reduced by 10%

Thug requires more downtime between uses.
  • Shield regen 14/s -> 13/s

Redback kills Glaive in three shots.
  • Damage 70 -> 80

Pyro is tougher.
  • Health 670 -> 690

Firewalker deals less damage.
  • Direct damage reduced by 15%
  • Ground burn damage reduced by 5%

Blitz is tougher.
  • Health 1250 -> 1300

Emissary takes less time to pack and unpack.
  • Gun turns 14% faster.
  • Increased projectile velocity by 1.6%.
  • Slightly lower arc.

Lance is less likely to be overshot by inaccurate projectiles.
  • Lowered aim position.

Picket is no longer 1-shot by Rogue.
  • Health 300 -> 340.

Previous Changes


Zero-K v1.10.7.0 had some balance changes as well.

Rogue has a slower and less damaging weapon.
  • Damage 345 -> 330
  • Projectile velocity 190 -> 185 elmos/s

Outlaw is faster and deals more normal damage at the cost of slow damage.
  • Speed 57 -> 60 elmos/s
  • Normal damage 27 -> 30
  • Slow damage 81 -> 75

Map Rotation


The matchmaker map pool has been rotated and map bans have been reset. You can set your map bans by clicking 'Set Map Bans' in the matchmaker window or directly on the site here.

The following maps were added to the pool.
  • Reptilian Battlefield
  • Altair Crossing v4
  • Rainbow Comet
  • Eye of Horus
  • Aurelian

The following maps were removed from the pool.
  • Dune Patrol Redux
  • Sertaleina
  • Desert Rumble
  • Frosty Cove
  • Trojan Hills
  • Shimmershore

Features


  • Improved Impaler, Phantom and Tidal Generator animations.
  • Added a reload animation for Phantom (to give it a reason to slow down).
  • Added start boxes for Lava Highground and Pentos.
  • Added start boxes for remakes of Emain Macha, Flooded Valley, and Trefoil.
  • Fixed uninspired name for kamikaze award.
  • Fiddled with garbage collection settings to improve performance.
  • Optimised drawing for morph effects and removed some redundant tables.
  • Increased thickness of antinuke coverage indicator, so it is harder to miss.

Fixes


  • Removed the unintended easter egg where units would occasionally swap skins.
  • Blastwing cloak now breaks when the unit is launched.
  • Reduced the linger of the map erase effect.
  • Fixed the worst cases of units trying to shoot at underwater Amphibious Factories.
  • Fix lights on Mount Dustmore.
  • Fixed Spidermonkey web not rendering.
  • Fix a crash in outline shader error messages.
  • Fixed part of the cloak transition effect that had been disabled for engine compatibility reasons.
  • Fixed geothermal vents not reacting to terrain changes on some maps.
  • Fixed underscores causing issues for abuse reports sent via the ingame playerlist.
  • Fixed inconsistent colours on team endgame graphs for spectators.
  • Fixed ambiguous AI team names in AI vs. AI games.
  • Fixed Missile Silo missiles not being removed from control groups as soon as they are launched (technically they only die after landing).
  • Fixed a rare situation where command queues could be lost by adding a keybind to set units On or Off, then using the keybind with a selection of units that do not all have an On/Off toggle.
+11 / -0

19 months ago
my poor phantom :(
+2 / -0
19 months ago
Is Impaler supposed to have no friend fire on its rocket?
+0 / -0
Phantom based strategies like glave-imp-phantom (very powerful strategy for 3 units) or scythe phantom got hit bad. In general, there is not just retreating to avoid being caught but also pursuit, and shifting lanes and so on, an a formation moves at the speed of the slowest unit or there'd be unprotected units to kill. Hover seem necessary to escalate, and teams with bad fact choices are screwed.

Maybe it'd be the era of tank spam for carry players, for having valid raider and anti-unit artillery, just plate random fact for filler as needed. Just need to work out anti-impaler tactics (vision control and cloak should do it...but getting rid of a well placed owl without a free impaler food is TBD)
+1 / -0

19 months ago
I see that Impaler and Lance were deemed A-OK. So the AIDS continues.

No real objecting to the other changes other than phantom. Redback needed a buff and Ronin being able to fight-move vs lotus is good.

Phantom was a problem only for players who couldn't work out to use unit swarms against slow-firing enemies. After a certain point of unit congestion Phantom feels naturally nerfed in my opinion. But, as somebody pointed out, it's pretty sweet for shields not to get thrashed from range by snipers.
+2 / -0

19 months ago
Also the HP buff to picket is good. Picket is (was?) a garbage unit imho, and it was mainly because kittens could bully its HP total. It might become playable now.
+1 / -0


19 months ago
I am not sure how much impact the Phantom change will have, it just feels like a good direction to take the unit. Perhaps it will need a buff later to compensate. Impaler should be getting dodge AI for its missiles at some point, and Lance had a nerf recently.
+2 / -0

19 months ago
Merci for the time behind ZK.
+3 / -0

19 months ago
NICE PATCH THANKS FOR THE WORK !

BUT YEAH I AGREE WITH ASTRAN.... LANCE IS STILL WAAAAAAAY TOO STRONG !
+1 / -0

19 months ago
So I think that the Phantom nerf will greatly inconvenience new players using it and will probably have little effect on the pros. Good players keep Phantom at the longest range possible as is, and use a screen of cloaked troops in front of it both to protect and spot. new players tend to use un escorted Phantom at closer ranges where they invariably get swarmed. It's hard to chase down well-handled Phantoms because of their escort.
+0 / -0
19 months ago
Blaze of Glory! ;)
+0 / -0
ronin being able to beat llt is huge!
1 ronin will be able to safely amove into an llt, and beat it :D
+2 / -0
19 months ago
Huh rogue not being able to one-shot picket seems pretty counterintuitive.
+0 / -0

19 months ago
There is a slot being held open in the matchmaker pool for CrossRoads pending confirmation that the current version is stable.
+1 / -0
19 months ago
thanks for the update ! seems like it balance the game even more :)
+1 / -0
quote:
So I think that the Phantom nerf will greatly inconvenience new players using it and will probably have little effect on the pros. Good players keep Phantom at the longest range possible as is, and use a screen of cloaked troops in front of it both to protect and spot. new players tend to use un escorted Phantom at closer ranges where they invariably get swarmed. It's hard to chase down well-handled Phantoms because of their escort.

Well protected phantoms was more of a mid tier player thing. The advantage of phantom over lances is reduced cloak tax enabling independent action, and more importantly, difficulty in locating the shooter by the other side.

Good players used to do hold fire and do flanks on high value targets when the situation calls for it. Sniping out an early firewalker or lance can setback the other side a lot, compared to shooting at front line low cost raiders or tough assaults. If the cloak player have good Glaive imp micro +conj cloak it makes aggressive raider moveouts dangerous and waiting for heavier units lets phantoms get away often. Had been outplayed a few times, with things like firewalkers firing wildly at the wrong place hoping for a decloak. (both pyro and puppies lose to well controlled glaives too....)

Slowed phantoms makes chasing with heavy units much more viable. I wonder if jacks could "counter" phantoms with the right control, if you force the cloaky into a pitched fight with jacks, that is all good as well.
-----
Cloak was (is?) the strongest lobpot factory though, with pretty good options against everything up to dante while having great weakness exploiting potential when many factories live off two good units (though may still necessary if best in class). The entire cloak lineup is good with a few best in class units on top of that.
+5 / -0


19 months ago
ZArankAstran: Attack moving phantoms are an absolute nightmare for low rank players, particularly friend games or 1v1s.

There's also high level 1v1s to consider where Phantom was too strong (the lob pot isn't the only game mode, just the most popular multiplayer one).
+2 / -0


19 months ago
quote:
Attack moving phantoms are an absolute nightmare for low rank players, particularly friend games or 1v1s


I saw a dude CWC clan were introducing to ZK in the lobpot (right or wrong to be doing so) on his first ever games. This guy builds a dozen constructors, storages, 2 singus at once in his base leaving one at 99% and never finishing it, and carrying on with the other, hoarding glaives in his base doing nothing. But dude makes a small handful of phantoms who make it out the base, and suddenly motherfuckaz is putting in work. Phantom's movement speed never came into it.
+0 / -0

19 months ago
Whelp so it seems that Phantom is quite the danger. Who knew? I always found them more of a dangerous annoyance than a game turner. There's just too many ways to deal with them imho. Even terra is effective. A wall forces them to go around the obstacle to target you and then you have effectively channeled them into a kill spot because you know their location. I blame players that don't knwo how important flea is ...
+1 / -0


19 months ago
quote:
There's just too many ways to deal with them imho

It doesn't matter much if they deal with you first
+0 / -0
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