Improving Moderator

Now we all know the Moderator is suck and doesn't synergise well.

My suggestion for future change:

quote: Moderator would be fine if it had 1) much lower weight so losing it early game is not such a disaster(~120m)? higher alpha/ lower RoF to compensate for lowered 'damage' output 2) jump, so putting the fac on a cliff dosn't prevent you using it 3) a little bit of damage as per venom (8?), so the fac finally has an answer to fleas at cheaper than 220m

low weight moderator would be MUCH more useful and easier to keep alive, and jump should be considered a mandatory property of anything expected to be used alongside pyros and jacks.

I thought it would be kinda cool to launch a sort of disruption mortar that's inaccurate and has a low AoE. Right now the moderator sees limited use as you're paying a large sum to handicap the enemy. That's all well and good, but once you lose some pyros the moderator sort of loses it's function. Making it work more as a proper skirmisher with slight (slight!) damage, mild AoE to work with the new black hole gun or against assault hordes, and then an inaccurate projectile so as to not murder raiders would likely make it see more use.

That neonstorm aside, I can agree with the three points above with perhaps an exception that a moderator of too low weight won't be able to slow down heavy units very well. I don't think this will happen at the 120m mark with slight nerfs so I can agree with that as well.

Zzzt.


Zzzt.


Zzzt.

Neon somewhere else please.

lower weight moderator with higher alpha/lower rate of fire should still work fine vs heavier units

Venom-esque damage output will never effect unit relationships beyond vs the very lightest raiders. it takes even a group of venoms a long, LONG time to kill a single scorcher.

to be clear, this thread concerns changing stats of existing moderator - balance changes, not conceptual changes, not changes to different units in the factory, not dribble-specked neon dreams of changing sweeping game mechanics.

Please. refer to original posts proposal with structured agreement or disagreement, or post your tangenting spray of ideas IN A DIFFERENT THREAD. That should be a forum rule, but since it isn't, just show some courtesy and stay on topic.

^ already implemented iirc

[offtopic]Isn't that gif from the IGG marathon?[/offtopic]

I agree with lightening the jumpies. Currently it is very hard to win 1v1 as jumpies, especially against a bot player. If most of the factory was lightened jumpies would be able to raid better and there would be less frustration from not having any expansion or raiders because everything is so expensive. The only good use of heavyweight jumpies I have found is lategame teams. I think that if the moderator was lightened it would be out of place in the factory. Another silly image:

Although I agree that jumpers don't do very well in current status, I sort of like the idea of having a "heavy bot" factory. I like how the heavy tank factory plays differently but can pay off if played well, and I'd like to see that in a bot factory somewhere. I'd like to see the jumpfac act as the "heavy bot" factory but I also understand that it's frustrating to only have a few pyros against an army of enemies.

> not dribble-specked

Classy.

quote: Saying that moderator doesn't synergize with anything is a gross exaggeration. In the opposite I'd say it synergize with basically everything. Slowing down the enemy and making them fire less is pretty much good with all unit combinations. But yes, you can argue that the moderator needs a balance change.

It cant viably be used with Pyros in many situations because of its high weight, low health and inability to jump. It struggles to function with the jack, which often obscures its shot and likewise can jump up cliffs where the moderator cant follow.

I agree its damage type synergises with everything, but the actuall unit less so.

I would not want to see the fundamentals of the fac (pyro/jack) changed, I think its just moderator rebalance that is needed to really make the cheap units of the fac stand up to eg. sheildbots.