Profile of Lago

I think it would be good if you had an "other" option for each of the polls - some people might have a different idea than either of the two options provided.

As for the point about bundling, I get the sentiment behind it. Some abilities are bundled or not bundled seemingly arbitrarily (ie: why is the dozer bundled with 76mm shermans in mech, but a stand alone ability in the new urban assault company?). But I do personally think that the raw "5 abilities per commander" design is restricting for no real purpose. Bundling allows more control over the commander's design. It allows relatively lackluster abilities that aren't worth a slot alone to be in doctrines (like vipper pointed out with tank traps), but it also allows the power level of a commander to be more finely tuned. If a commander is lacking, but the abilities in it are all interesting and thematically appropriate, then bundling serves as a way to put more power into the commander without getting rid of the other interesting abilities.

Basically, I think commander's having 5 and always 5 slots unnecessarily limits the design space (and I think a lot of people agree). With the dozer ability, I think it's clear the ability hasn't hit its mark, and now that there's a better idea of where sentiments are on that doctrine, we're less scared to put more power into the doctrine and have the commander's abilities do more.

I think that's fair. Soviet Tank Hunter Tactics is the best example, where almost the entire original commander got bundled into an upgrade package for Conscripts, essentially turning it into a new unit if you upgrade it.

However, removing that five-ability limit requires a lot of discipline from the team designing the commanders. If you've got limited slots, you're forced to evaluate what should be in the commander and cut the chaff. Without it, you have to discipline yourself against feature creep.

The original DBP commander revamp team refused to cut anything. They'd add new things to the commanders, but either bundled old abilites together or stuck them in strange places. That mentality resulted in the WC51, which for some bizarre reason still has two command tank abilities bolted to it.

The new commander revamp team had an amazing start, cutting stuff left right and centre to make way for new material. It was great, and they were making tight, polished commanders.

Then in the last iteration of the preview patch, they abandoned that and shoved almost everything they'd cut back in. Some abilities like Artillery Cover were bolted in strange places. Goliaths and Warning Flares, two abilites strong enough to carry the pre-revamp Overwatch commander by themselves, got bundled to make way for the buffed up Sector Assault.

Mechanized, Tactical Support and Overwatch aren't in scope, so there's nothing that can be done to trim those back now.

But please don't let feature creep get to the new commanders.

Straightforward QoL change for the USF Ambulance. As a QoL change, it doesn't change what the unit can do at all but makes it a bit more user-friendly.

USF Ambulance

• Add the Handbrake ability.

• The healing aura turns on automatically when the Ambulance is stationary.

The USF Ambulance currently has a toggle for its healing aura. You turn it on and the Ambulance heals everything around it but can't move. You turn it off to move it again.

I suggest separating these: the ambulance automatically heals if stationary, and the Handbrake ability is used to lock it in place.

• The Ambulance will automatically start healing when you build it, so you don't have to move you camera back to your base, tell it where to go, wait for it to get there and turn the aura on.

• The Ambulance has a clear visual indicator (a big green lock) when it's locked down, so you're far less likely to have it ignore an order to run away or decide to follow your troops onto the front lines.

• It's much easier to use the Ambulance on the front, as you don't have to constantly toggle the aura on and off to move it.

• You can tell the Ambulance to go somewhere and then focus on something else: it'll automatically start healing as soon as it stops. No more babysitting the Ambulance while you're trying to micro an engagement.

Maybe the problem is the buffs they recieve while retreating. Speaking out of my ass, but i think -75% RA is applied.

Maybe remove these buffs while retreating.

If that value is exposed, you could swap that for received damage.

That'd make retreat wipes less inconsistent across the board. They're also incredibly random in their current form.

So I've got a solution.

Remove sniper.

If that were going to happen, it would've already.

The best we can hope for is to remove as much frustration from the unit as possible. The sheer randomness of countering it without a sniper is one thing that can realistically be changed.

I see an issue with tank shells here. Snipers would survive direct hits from tanks. Unless a modifier was put in place.

If you did it with received damage I'm fairly sure you could make it only work for small arms. PTRS rifles do different damage outright depending on the target.

And if not, snipers not getting randomly wiped by stray shells in the late game might not necessarily be a bad thing.