- Nerf the lethality of mortar/howlitzer autoattack.
- MAYBE buff barrage rate-of-fire/cooldown to compensate.
The micro tax argument
I have the feeling that autoattacking indirect fire units have simply too much wipe potential in this game. Especially so for a no-micro unit.
When you buy 1-2 mortars/leigs/pits you benefit from the following:
- This imposes a micro tax on your opponent, as they have to keep their infantry moving at all times
- This reduces the accuracy of their infantry, as all infantry (apart form shocks) suffers from reduced DPS while on the move
All of this is perfectly fine.
However, what's not fine is that there is no micro-tax placed on the guy that bought the mortars/pits:
- You only need to screen your mortars with an MG (for suppression) or an infantry unit (for vision)
- Then, as you spot your opponent, you have enough time to retreat/brace your mortars
Enter the UKF mortar pit barrage bug
If you've ever used the barrage ability on the UKF mortar pit, you would immediately notice that it's not that great.
The reason behind this is that one of the mortars is bugged and deals LESS damage while it is barraging than when it is auto-attacking.
You can read more about this here:
https://www.coh2.org/topic/47514/ukf-mortar-emplacement-barrage-bug-mortar-inconsistency
This is wrong in so many ways:
- People expect the barrage to increase the DPS on your mortar (not decrease it!)
- Barraging incurs a micro tax on the player, whereas autoattack doesn't
- If autoattack is almost as good (or better in the UKF mortar case) as barrage, why would you ever spend your time barraging? Just let your enemy do the dodging instead!
A modest proposal
1. Swap the damage profile of UKF mortar pit autoattack and barrage
2. Apply a similar damage pattern to all indirect-fire weapon teams
3. (Maybe!) in order to compensate, increase the rate-of-fire / reduce the cooldown of barrages
What will this achieve?
- Mortar autoattack will still be able to soften enemy targets; only very slightly worse than before.
- However, it will be almost impossible to get filthy full-squad wipes with autoattack; you will need to (consciously) use barrage for that.
- Autoattack will still be almost as good at clearing garrisons.
- Barrage will be as potent as ever, so that you can use your mortars offensively.