rocko needs buff

its a skirm but it has less range then a lotus.....

Nope it has 10 less range then lotus, and if there is 4 lotus against 4 rocko, which require 3 rockets to kill one, you lose one every time against a lotus even if you kite for example and this issue is doubled if you have 8 lotus vs 8 rockos while other classes have no issues with using skrim to take out a simple lotus.

Rockos are like sucicide units.

pro tip - dont start commenting on balance until you are elo 1800+, as low elo = dont understand the game mechanics sufficently to win.

rocko has always been a top notch skirmisher

Nerf aoe.

Some things now have AoE which destroys the usability of many cheap units. It is mostly Phoenix and due to the pathfinder change.

what about no ignition at all? The ammount of damage will depend on the speed, and reaction time of the units hit.

No ignition at all would work too. Or make the fireball start small and grow over time up to its full size. That would make it into an area-denial tool and useful against static targets, but weak against mobile targets, because bombing a moving army would be ineffective... but you could use it to block their advance. That might not actually be useful, though.

Thinking it over, gradually-expanding fireballs would let you crank up the accuracy on the Koda too, since it would no longer be able to riot a whole group of mobile raiders in one shot - it could take out a single raider, or it could deny an area by shooting well-in-advance, but it wouldn't be able to instantly put a full-sized fireball right where you need it when you need it.

quote: Why is GBC talking about nerfing "area bombers"? in a rocko needs buff thread?

Units don't exist in a void. They're all connected to each other. A plane player making napalm is a common scenario, and in that scenario groups of Rockos are in serious trouble.

In fact there is no clear anti-heavy-veh unit for the claoky factory. Rocko could be one of those, but dies way too easily to levelers, and can not hit shit.
* scorcherers can rape a pack of rockos without even getting hit
* missile trucks outrange them enough to kite
* ravagers, reapers and gollies have way too much HP to care
* Banisher outranges and rapes them, just as leveler does.

So, in the end, the only real anti-heavy combo that cloakies have is tick + alot of glavies. There is just no unit to deal damage without being massively expensive or having to get super-close. For example, reculses have no problem killing veh due to extra mobvility and massive range (outrange banisher).
Suggestions:

• Make rocko missiles tracking (but still slow so raiders can outrun them)
• Give them 1.5x more damage
• Increase reload time

That will make rocko a very useful semi-suicide unit (especially in combo with cloak - shoot - cloak tactic), and also a decent ambusher. For that part they could use cloak-when-static policy just like fleas, so they can actually ambush heavy units and rape them from behind without the need for sneaky pete.