Profile of Mr.Smith

TL;DR:
- A single QF-25lb shell will do LESS damage to infantry than a single Katyusha rocket.
- Unlike the ML-20 (which has 33% larger radius and deals 25% more damage), the penetration value of qf_25lb (120, same as the bazooka) will not allow it to damage tanks either.
- Airburst shells have the same stats as HE shells. However, they have pinpoint accuracy and definitely look prettier.

Pretty screenshots! (courtesy of Australian Magic)

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Raw damage

QF-25lb stats
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Comparison to the Katyusha
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Comparison to the ML-20
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Scatter

QF-25lb stats
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Comparison to the ML-20
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Airburst shells

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What needs to be done (personal opinion)

I will only make a suggestion about scatter. This will make the ability behave more predictably, like an off-map ability. IMO, this is what the players expect of the this unit.

Make it so that the scatter radius (horizontal and vertical) is the same REGARDLESS of how far the howitzer is barraging.

Current scatter is problematic because:
1) Scatter is affected by distance
2) The max scatter cap for Vertical scatter is too high for the number of shells fired
3) There is no cap on Horizontal scatter

What this means:
- Using the ability offensively is impossible, due to high inaccuracy
- Using the ability defensively, near your base is impractical: You don't want all shells to land on the same spot

How to implement this with stats
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I agree it needs a nerf but definitely not to the point it was at. Truth is that it was unusable before and if you find any posts from the time you will see that players thought about it as worst artillery unit in game. This was due to huge scatter, low AoE and prohibitive tech cost, with the latter one getting even higher during the process. Some even thought about removing that useless unit. That is why it took so much time for players to realise how good it is now. If it was to be nerfed to that levels it's tier should be changed to t3. Otherwise it can get only slight nerfs along all stats or cost increase.

Thanks to ferwiner I did a re-check of my calculations.

I realized I completely missed the max scatter value being buffed (from 20 to 17). This is a very noticeable change for max-range barrages (however, this only affects VERTICAL scatter).

Note that:
- All of the points I have made in the original cost still stand
- This includes my original point about scatter
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I have amended the original post with a breakdown of what that means.
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leave the panzerwerfer alone


and playercad pls

I understand that you have a habit of asking people to reveal their playercards. This is why I am not taking offense at your request.

However, if you want to be constructive, you also need to understand that you need to shoot the message; not the messenger.

The message I delivered contained 2 facts and 1 piece of personal opinion.

The OBJECTIVE FACTS are:
1) The Panzerwerfer currently performs orders of magnitude BETTER at clearing garrisons than any other unit in the game (range + cost + reaction time)
2) The old Panzerwerfer was on par with the current Katyusha. If the Panzerwerfer received a buf to its raw damage, shouldn't the Katyusha (and all other artillery) also receive a similar buff?

My PERSONAL SUBJECTIVE OPINION about how to resolve this imbalance:
3) The Panzerwerfer and the Katyusha should both perform at a level near the current Katyusha.

Now, if you can shoot down any of the two facts I presented, we can have an interesting conversation about our own SUBJECTIVE opinions.
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Just like we trialed suppression on light artillery (pak howlitzer/leig), I would really like to trial no forward retreat points for a month, and see how it works.

I fear that this change would greatly inconvenience OKW the most, though, since they lack the right suppression tools.
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I would suggest to allow every faction to set a retreat point inside their own base sector...

+1

This would also help make shifting battles in teamgames a lot more fluent when teams decide to focus on different areas of the map.

However, perhaps we should first try out one change at a time?

if they did remove all forward retreat points the major would need to be buffed/reworked.

The Major already provides non-doctrinal recon (which is great) and non-doctrinal artillery (which currently sucks). The only thing that would have to get reworked is the vet3 bonus (locking down territory).
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All other forward retreat points can, of course, still keep acting as forward reinforcement points, and can retain their other perks (healing, coordinated smoke barrage, garrison bonus).

I don't think anybody is going to defend the PW, i will say i want it better than it was before june though.

Don't forget that the Panzerwerfer also received a suppression buff since then.

I don't know how much damage a Panzerwerfer rocket should deal. However, given the firing patterns of the Katyusha and the Panzerwerfer, I cannot find any SINGLE reason why a Panzerwerfer rocket should deal more raw damage than a Katyusha rocket. The firing pattern difference alone should account for the squad size discrepancy (if it doesn't, then modify the pattern instead).