Combined Arms

Combined Arms

Infantry in proximity to friendly vehicles will gain -20% Reload, +30% Accuracy, and +35% sight.

Vehicles in proximity to friendly infantry will gain +35% sight, -30% Reload, and +5 range.

Does anyone actually use this ability for USF?

At 125 munitions, it asks a lot for what it gives, which looks nice if not for the (according to the COH2 Ability guide) fact that it apparently overwrites any and all other bonuses, and it requires the player to keep his infantry alive and on the field next to his tanks, which he cannot push far without severing the dual aura (infantry are no more durable or mobile).

I was trying it a few days ago with light vehicles, but too often I need to retreat my infantry units or the vehicles in question, as there is no durability bonus, and doing this obviously removes the aura for the remaining unit. Trying it later in the game, with tanks, is even more difficult, at least in 2v2, which was the mode I was playing, because of the greater saturation of heavy weaponry on the map.

Has anyone had more success with this ability? In 1v1, maybe? I haven't really seen it used effectively except for a funny video of it being used in what I assume is a now-patched exploit:


If you have any tips or interesting experiences with this ability, please share them here, thanks.

It would also be cool if anyone knows whether this ability also works on team weapons, though I somewhat doubt that it does.

It's got great bonuses (especially -30% reload for vehicles lul) but IMO it's way too expensive. Every other global "fuck shit up harder" ability is like 70 mu and you have stuff like valiant assault and for the motherland that give sprint too. IMO it should just be cheaper.

It used to be my go to squad wipe button when I had a cav rifle squad inside a WC51 because it would affect them both. WC nerf kinda took the thunder out of it.

Generally? Buy a WC or two when playing as mechanized. They are super replacable, don't even need to give them a gun. Just slap them behind your lines and use them as buff beacons! Which can mark targets and call down artillery if you need.

Yes, you will almost certainly want an MU cache to facilitate this. I also think 1v1s will struggle because maps are less unit dense in that mode.

I also think that it is overprized.
Most straight up buff abilities are 70 mun but only effect infantry usually. I would like this to be 90-100 mun and adjust performance accordingly. That's still an investment, but it makes it easier to use since it gets less "all or nothing".

Slightly off topic:
I once read that this ability can actually worsen your troops under some circumstances. If I remember correctly, this was when you have vet 3 squads, because the ability allegedly overrides other buffs.
I don't know if this is true and it seems pretty weird and unique. But then again it's CoH2, so it might be possible. Does anyone know more about this?

It's good if your tanks aren't vet 3, is it 125 munitions good? Probably not.

I just saw that the the combined arms modifiers are exclusive, meaning all other similar modifiers are removed. That's pretty shitty

It used to be my go to squad wipe button when I had a cav rifle squad inside a WC51 because it would affect them both. WC nerf kinda took the thunder out of it.

Generally? Buy a WC or two when playing as mechanized. They are super replacable, don't even need to give them a gun. Just slap them behind your lines and use them as buff beacons! Which can mark targets and call down artillery if you need.

Yes, you will almost certainly want an MU cache to facilitate this. I also think 1v1s will struggle because maps are less unit dense in that mode.

I wasn't aware that this ability worked even if the infantry were mounted in vehicles.

I wonder if this opens new possibilities for M3 Halftrack play, even if that also suffers somewhat from the new accuracy changes. By the time Combined Arms is available, it should probably be producible.

Another idea:
Combined arms is now not a clickable, timed ability, but unlocks an infantry upgrade for 30-50 mun per squad (call it "mechanized training" or something) that grants stat bonus when near vehicles. Like Panzergrenadiere.

I wasn't aware that this ability worked even if the infantry were mounted in vehicles.

I wonder if this opens new possibilities for M3 Halftrack play, even if that also suffers somewhat from the new accuracy changes. By the time Combined Arms is available, it should probably be producible.

Possibly, but the halftrack takes longer to hit the field, and the potential fuel loss makes it a bit of a sting if you flub. The WC was available early and, especially in 2v2, you could quite often use it to get some really solid field control too begin with. After you had the CP and MU banked for a combined arms, it was a pretty dirty way to pay a lot for total squad deletion, retreating or otherwise.

I just saw that the the combined arms modifiers are exclusive, meaning all other similar modifiers are removed. That's pretty shitty

It is. Assuming it hasn't been patched!

The modifiers are, however, really good. So only a vet 3 unit would get worse, more or less, anything else would see a solid improvement. Especially team weapons.

The modifiers are, however, really good. So only a vet 3 unit would get worse, more or less, anything else would see a solid improvement. Especially team weapons.

I just looked it up yesterday, it has not been patched out.
That is true, but with 125 mun the ability is rather mid-late game, so many units have gained ~vet 2.
Also it basically becomes more useless the better you are at the game/unit preservation. While it can help to vet new units that replaced whiped ones, I think it's not the best design choice. At least it should be stated in the text that something like this happens. If I'm used to other buff abilities that function "normally" for less mun, I would expect a big punch for 125 mun, especially if all my units are already high vet. Obviously I would be very disappointed and probably been better off if I planted 12 light mines just to screw Axis heavies over.

A cost decrease to 80 or 90 would be very reasonable on this ability... especially because the inflicted buffs do NOT stack with veterancy bonuses

I just looked it up yesterday, it has not been patched out.
That is true, but with 125 mun the ability is rather mid-late game, so many units have gained ~vet 2.
Also it basically becomes more useless the better you are at the game/unit preservation. While it can help to vet new units that replaced whiped ones, I think it's not the best design choice. At least it should be stated in the text that something like this happens. If I'm used to other buff abilities that function "normally" for less mun, I would expect a big punch for 125 mun, especially if all my units are already high vet. Obviously I would be very disappointed and probably been better off if I planted 12 light mines just to screw Axis heavies over.

Check the veterancy bonuses of each units to see the benefits
For instance Sherman needs vet 3 to get 20% reload and the ability would still grand a vet 3 Sherman:
+35% sight, -10% Reload, and +5 range.

Check the veterancy bonuses of each units to see the benefits
For instance Sherman needs vet 3 to get 20% reload and the ability would still grand a vet 3 Sherman:
+35% sight, -10% Reload, and +5 range.

I don't know the vet boni of every unit by heart, and maybe I worded to drastically, but the point still stands: The better your unit preservation is, the worse is the actual bonus of the ability. And the cost/performance ratio of the ability is already debatable.
I think the biggest bonus is also the reload, and many tanks and units gain 20-30 reload bonus with vet. At least for me the biggest reason to buy the ability diminishes with that.

By no means a bad ability, but it is too expensive. Slight cost reduction would be all it needs

Wait, does Combined Arms seriously not stack with vet?

Wait, does Combined Arms seriously not stack with vet?

From the ability guide:

"USF's Combined Arms and the British Command Vehicle accuracy bonus are unique in being the only exclusive modifiers in this guide. In the case of Combined Arms, exclusive means that when Combined Arms is active, only the Combined Arms reload and accuracy benefits would apply to the unit, not the veterancy bonuses or any others. This means that a veterancy 3 Pershing, along with many other veteran USF units, will fire slower if you use Combined Arms with them.

For the British Command Vehicle, only the +35% accuracy bonus is exclusive, so if used with a veterancy 3 Sherman Firefly or a veterancy 2 Comet, for example, the veterancy and accuracy bonuses would not stack with each other. Only the +35% Command Vehicle accuracy bonus would apply to these units.

All of the other auras and abilities in this guide stack with veterancy and other bonuses."

I think Combined Arms is a bit too expensive. The lack of synergy it has in Heavy Cavalry Company is also disappointing.

Speaking of exclusive modifiers, it appears that Ostheer Ambush Camouflage is also set to Exclusive: True. I haven't tested it yet, but it could mean that the ability does almost nothing at Vet 2 and above.

I think reducing cp to 3 and making it s bit cheaper could allow using it with light vehicles for some early game punch