Don't feel bad. The Changelog was in the lobby and not in the, um, balance section, as it probably should be.
http://www.coh2.org/topic/23804/patch-september-9th-2014 |
This was an over due adjustment.
Agreed. |
|
Interesting to hear. I am also a bit curious about vehicle crews with SMGs now since Thompsons were buffed. |
|
i5 2500k
GTX 680
8GB DDR3
Windows 8.1
I run the game on a mix of medium and high. At a stable 50-60 FPS. I haven't run fraps in a long time to check but I get no stutter or jerkiness. I've been gaming since the late 80s and I'm attuned to frame rate, and the game runs great for me.
AA, shadows and texture resolution seem to be the biggest FPS killers, as well as snow detail. I think I have AA off, shadows to medium or high, texture resolution to 100% and snow detail to medium or low.
Texture quality on "Highest" also slows FPS, but on "High" still looks good and runs well. |
|
I only got through the first page so far, but I plan on reading the rest since it's an interesting thread, but I do agree with the general sentiment here.
It feels like the current team doesn't quite understand the conceptual underpinnings that made vCOH so fun and dynamic to play.
For a concrete example, I'll call out the soviet tech system. In T3 you have the T70, halftrack, and T34. In T4 you have SU-85, SU-76, and Katyusha.
So you have 3 units in T3 competing for anti-infantry duties, one of which is more armored for just a bit more fuel.
In T4 you have a TD and 2 units competing for anti-blob duties, one of which is clearly better at its job for just a bit more fuel.
This kind of system is inane and discourages using a wide variety of tactics.
Look at how USF is pigeon-holed into spamming riflemen in the early game no matter what.
In vCOH, US could spam rifles OR they could take a more balanced approach.
Little things like the Supply Yard upgrade cutting manpower upkeep, which allowed riflemen to scale better.
The fact that the doctrines all felt very distinct and well thought out, and virtually no ability was useless.
Whereas CoH1 felt like a one or two people's very clearly defined vision brought to life, CoH2 feels like a hodge podge of ideas agreed upon by committee, where some work and some don't and nobody feels compelled to fully accept the responsibility to say they made a mistake and change the design.
My 2 cents. |
|
It needs a bit more range, a bit more speed, or a bit more armor, but probably not any combination of those three.
Firefly in CoH1 had superior range so it was truly a sniper unit. Jackson feels like the Diet Coke version of the Firefly. Less range, but just about equal speed and armor.
If they're going to keep the range as it is such that you have to babysit it to the extreme to get in range to do damage and take none, then it either needs faster acceleration/top speed to GTFO when Panthers come charging or a bit more armor to absorb the AT fire resulting from minor mistakes that are sure to result sometimes from pathing.
It is a strong unit, but they never feel truly intimidating or like they hard counter they should feel like. It feels like you're praying to god they don't trip over the invisible line of their max range and wind up getting crippled by incoming AT fire. |
|
The Stuart "stun crew" ability or w/e gives it a decent edge against the Puma if you can close the range, but on the whole I agree. The range on the thing is insane and the smoke lets it escape easily from danger. |
Blitzkrieg causes so many problems in everything from 1v1 to 4v4. Soviets have no infantry based AT, and Bazookas don't work against anything bigger than a Panther. AT guns don't penetrate enough and the only non doctrinal AT there is for Allies is SU-85 and Jacksons. SU-85 is incredibly flimsy due to it's lack of rotatable turret, weak armour and lack of anti infantry. The Jackson on the other hand is quite fast and mobile, but is very weak and also has no Anti infantry.
The only thing Allied tanks have over Germans is their speed and range, except this balance is completely thrown out the window when they pop Blitzkreig, then all of a sudden the super strong Tigers are literally able to out speed Jacksons and SU-85's and close in for the kill effortlessly. For both regular Wehrmacht Tigers and the King Tiger, it makes absolutely no sense at all to give these tanks Blitzkrieg, a means of absolutely and effortlessly countering everything that either Soviets or Americans can field. Tigers, and especially King Tigers have lots of health, lots of armour, a rotable turret, strong anti infantry and strong anti tank. Their only weakness is their lack of speed, so why give them an ability that not only negates it, but also makes them faster and able to chase down Jacksons/SU-85's. It's breaking the late game balance so hard.
A possible solution would be to remove the Top MG Gunner as a munitions upgrade, but instead put it on for free upon reaching Vet1. In fact, that's probably a good idea for the IS-2 as well, capture point is deadful and not needed but losing the abiltiy to build the MG gunner would be a small nerf to it.
I really, really agree. These massive heavy tanks were notorious for their engines failing for no reason. Yet in this game, a Dale Earnheardt pit crew just got done modifying them so that they can put the pedal to the metal and close in. It breaks balance late game and looks completely stupid. As far as survivability goes, if a giant coat of armor and massive HP can't save you, you don't deserve to have Blitzkrieg as a life-raft to save you from being a nub. |
|
Pathfinder arty is probably the best off-map cost for cost, and the cannister shot is a blob destroyer. It's a good doctrine. People just misuse it and try to make pathfinders mainline combat units. |
|
Thanks for this. Good thread.
This ability makes Mechanized one of the most versatile doctrines in the game. You can theoretically build Jacksons to down some armor, refund them, and then back-tech.
Or get early map control with the jeeps, then presto, you have fuel for T1-T2.
I used to think rather lowly of this doctrine, but this ability is insanely good as long as you can keep your vehicles alive long enough to get refunded. |
0
ZombieRommel
Relic Entertainment
cblanco ★ 
보드카 중대 
VonManteuffel 
Heartless Jäger 
