Profile of Clarity

Alright, with Master League coming up in August I was curious to see how people generally perceive factions power level at the moment. If somebody wants to make a follow up thread talking about other game modes feel free.

I would currently rank the 5 factions in the following order and my reasons for why:

1. USF
I think USF in 1v1 is definitely one of the major driving forces behind the meta being the way it is. Most of there tech tree is composed of strong units that have good timings and do their jobs extremely well. The only unit I can think of that isn't at least good in the current meta is the M20. 50 Cal is probably the best HMG in the game, Riflemen scale incredibly well with 2x Bars and the free officers are great with Bars as well. Pak Howitzer is extremely strong as well and is probably the best Heavy mortar type unit in the game for its cost and performance. Sherman is probably the best anti-infantry medium in the game and the Jackson is still pretty good overall. The commanders are what pushes USF over the top though as Recon Support and Mechanized are the two main commanders. Recon Support is great because it provides USF with Pathfinders for Ost Snipers, Pak Howie and Paratroopers without having to tech Captain and Cluster Bombs which are amazing against team weapons. Mechanized is a commander stuffed to the gills with abilities. Cav Rifles are pretty good. The 76mm Sherman is good against armored targets for its cost and the bulldozer on the Sherman also allows it to punch above its weight. You also get the Mortar HT and Combined Arms which are both good if a bit underused. Then the cherry on the cake is the WC51 which is absurdly difficult to kill without a vehicle or AT gun of your own, even then its extremely elusive with the free "step on it" ability. Plus Bazooka Bus is also something you can do with this commander. The only strategies I have struggled against as USF has been 5-man Grens and Falls with Valiant Assault.

2. UKF
I think Brits before the most recent mini-patch were probably the strongest faction in the game but the slight decrease in power of the timing of Bolster and Vickers upgrade on the UC has made a difference at the highest levels of play. Tommies are still extremely strong and I would say they are probably the best mainline infantry in the game even if Double Bar Rifles at Vet 3 are borderline stronger due to be able to fire on the move. Due to bolster coming earlier and being better than a single Bar. AEC is amazing for its timing and is essentially a slightly worse, but cheaper version of the Puma. Cromwell is a good medium and having the Comet non-doctrinal is really good. Team weapons are ok but the UC is to me just a WC51 with less utility and a higher price point. But with it being non-doc it's seen pretty consistently. I don't think Brits have as deep of a commander pool as USF does but their top commanders are nearly just as strong with Commando Regiment and Royal Artillery being the top picks. Brits are weaker to buildings and team weapons than USF though do to lack of flexible indirect fire options outside of commander picks.

3. OST
This is faction that will probably have the most variance in how its perceived by most people. Ostheer in my opinion is the faction that relies the heaviest on their meta commanders. Ostruppen, Assault Grens, and 5-man Grens being essentially must picks for the faction otherwise they really struggle. Their top commanders are definitely too strong especially against Soviets but I feel without them Ostheer would be one of the worst if not the worst faction in the game. Grens are generally I think the largest issue with the faction as they currently crutch on the slightly too fast timing of the Panzergrenadiers to compensate and also rely on the overtuned Flamer HT to apply large amounts of pressure in the early game with its brutally fast timing if you skip Tier 1. I find LMG Grens to be good on specific maps and in very specific situations but inflexible and cost inefficient which is why 5-man is so prominent with them because it makes them very cost efficient and gives them some side utility. The top tier Ostheer stuff is strong enough to compete with USF and UKF's meta but anything outside of that I feel Ostheer falls flat due to having a generally mediocre early game and an average late game, in which I would actually prefer playing OKW in that sense. Team weapons are good but I wouldn't consider any of them to be overpowered.

4. Soviets
I think Soviets are in a similar state to Ostheer where they have really strong meta commanders at the top of their loadouts but really suffer once you stop playing those, although I still think they have more viable commanders than Ostheer overall. The biggest issue with Soviets is that they really suffer against the Ostheer meta game unless they play Airborne Doctrine. They are the faction most vulnerable to early light vehicles and with Ostruppen allowing extremely quick 222's or a Flamer HT. Ostheer often feels on the backfoot going into the mid-game in which Ostheer has the cheaper tech costs allowing them to put even more pressure on. If you can survive to first 20 minutes of the game, you gain the advantage in the late game with better mediums and a great tank destroyer in the SU-85. 7-man Cons are great but do take some time to get upgraded while Penals are the opposite in which they are good early game but drop off significantly over time in cost-efficiency. To me Soviets have a few overpowered crutches they are relying upon to completely carry them against Ostheer. The Zis-3, T-70, SVT Cons, and T-34 Ram + IL-2 strafe. These are all overperforming abilities but they feel necessary against some of Ostheer's most powerful commanders. In general I would like to see a tone down on both sides. With core units being made better instead of the game being balanced around commanders.

5. OKW
OKW was good when the Tiger was batshit overpowered but now I think their biggest flaws have been showcased. I think they can compete with both USF and Soviets but in general Ostheer's meta commanders are a much safer bet and generally chosen unless a player heavily prefers OKW. They have multiple gaping holes right now they struggle against mightily. The WC51 and UC are already a pain to deal with as Ostheer, they are oppressive against OKW generally in which you are praying for a misplay from the opponent otherwise you have very little chance. In theory, Raketen could work but its difficult to snare these units and its also expensive to spend 290 mp in the early just to have a counter to a cheaper unit. The M3 is more tolerable but still tough to deal with on certain maps. OKW also has major design flaws that negatively affect their power in 1v1 such as having to heavily rely on med crates sapping munitions if you go Mechanized or being bled to death by light vehicles if you go Battlegroup instead. Volks are also in a kind of meh spot, I find them better than Grenadiers due to more utility and flexibility in combat but I don't think they worth 260 mp for their current performance and scaling. This is probably due to power creep from the Allied infantry instead of Volks being UP. Obers who are supposed to compensate for Volks scaling falling off don't come early enough to be able to deal with the vetted infantry your opponent with often have. With most elite allied infantry coming at 2-3 CP often 5-10 minutes earlier than Obers who need vet to be powerful which is why they have a 40 mp reinforce cost. Being able to heal from the HQ would also be nice so the Battlegroup HQ becomes essentially a utility structure. JLI, Falls, and Fusiliers are being heavily crutched upon due to Obers and Volks struggling currently in 1v1, especially against UKF. I feel they are also one of the most inflexible factions as they almost always require back-teching at some point in the mid-late game for certain units or abilites that USF could backtech and get for a cheaper price.

Hey guys, wondering how you deal with bad RNG and prevent it from causing tilt and what you do to either prevent burnout or help with burnout and lacking the desire to play the game anymore. Deep down I still love the game but I just can't conjure the same feelings I used to have for it these days. Any suggestions?

OR maybe doctrine is too strong, as it was in the past with 100% of cases like that.



Muni is not an argument.
Every other faction spends more.

Yeah and every other faction has better mainline infantry, why do you think people are literally skipping Tier 1 constantly if they aren't playing 5 man Grens? You can get Double weapon upgrades as UKF and USF, they don't have to get them immediately but they can get them over the course of a game to scale. They also don't have light vehicles that can duel allied lights unless you build multiple of them, so they rely on Pak, Faust, and Teller play and when you have to spend muni to get healing and lay tellers so you can actually deal with a light vehicle you don't have the muni to spend on LMG's so your Grens are getting face-rolled by Rifles w/ 1 Bar and 5-man Tommies. Also don't forget USF gets free officer squads with tech. Soviets its not as much of an issue but early SVT's can be brutal to deal with sometimes but Cons are balanced as they are, with my only complaint being how late 7-man comes sometimes even though its a really strong upgrade that you don't have to pick a commander to get. These aren't big buffs I am suggesting but just something to open up early game strategy a bit so it isn't so 5-man Gren/Ostruppen/Ass Gren heavy.

Vanilla Cons are definitely fine, SVT upgrades probably come slightly too early and 7-man is probably still slightly too strong but the issue is Cons are awful against infantry with upgrades which is why they rely so hard on the T-70 to carry the mid-game. 7-man could probably come earlier if it was toned down a bit to compensate.

M5 quad - you easily can kill 222 with it and also keep PGrens away from your troops. And harrasing of mg-42 will be much easier.

In theory this would work but he is going to have his Flamer HT at about 5 minutes and is going to bleed the Soviet player far too hard.