@FtXCommando said in Points of Imbalance.:
I took it as the loya nerf where they can’t stun air units anymore since otherwise he coulda said t3 nerf but w/e.
The argument is more than loya (and harb) were the few units that could go in solo and crush everything (in old balance) since they countered all earlier tiers, were quick, and had decent kiting ability. They were also comparably cheap to other t3 units. Other than that specific use in early t3 stage, if you made a large t3 force, the game always came down to who will have the force that crushes the other and wins the reclaim field. Therefore, t3 was always defensive due to defender advantage.
The REASON T4 pushes are seen more often is because it’s easier to justify you having a competitive edge to win the game or win a huge reclaim pile if you just dumped 20-30k mass into some t4 that has a specific advantage in certain situations. It’s the support mixture that allows your t3 buildup, even if less numerous due to the t4, to either force enemy to move into you (and possibly donate mass) or retreat and give space.
That seems like a whole lot of shucking and jiving to avoid admitting that people aren't building T3 as much becasue it recieved a massive recent nerf with no corresponding nerf to competing units or defensive structures.
You're making this more complicated than it is. What is the specific advantage? Its the same for pretty much all assault experimentals other than the Fatboy.
Its a fast, mobile force concentration that gives you a defeat in detail advantage over your opponent.
The speed at which you can build them, along with the fact that its faster than T3 and can't be defeated by T3 without massive expenditures in production makes it super effective.
So effective that people wind up building them and only build a token T3 force. They needed T3 as they transitioned out of T2, so why not keep making them now that the factories are paid for?
The T3 assault unit should be the centerpiece unit at the heart of all land battles. In its current state, its not viable in that role, the massive nerf to T3 assault units two years ago is the reason why. It may not be the only factor holding T3 assault units back, but its certainly a major factor.
Being just good enough to tag along behind T4, or worthwhile as a stepping stone tier between T2 and T4 leaves the game in a lesser state.
But none of that really addresses your post.
You seem to be claiming that T4 is built because it is flexible and fast to build, so that you can quickly exploit a battleground weakness. You scout and see not enough land, so you build a Fatboy. You scout and see little air defense, so you build a Soulripper.
That is certainly true, but T3 land is also flexible.
You scout and find a block of Ravagers, you build T3 mobile arty. You scout and find a T4 starting to build, you go snipers.
There is flexibility in increased T3 production.
But we aren't seeing people take advantage of that flexibility through production increases. We're seeing them ignore that and predictably go Megalith + scattered bricks and T1 arty.
We aren't seeing that not because of T4 is more flexible. It isn't. You go Chicken or asswasher. You go Fatboy or tickle gun. You go ML if you're too broke for a Mega, or you go Soulripper. T4 is pretty damn predictable.
Its just too damn good relative to T3. Even if T3 units do kill some T4 mass for mass, T3 units are vulnerable to splash, so it just doesn't matter if 6k in mobile artillery ensures a win for your chicken or GC.
At the end of the day, people aren't building significant T3 because T3 isn't a good investment choice... its bad.
To fix that, you have to make it better relative to other competing options.
You're happy with where it is in relation to T2, fair enough, that means you can't buff it. I understand.
But that leaves another obvious option for fixing it... Nerf the assault experimentals. Doesn't need to be a massive nerf. You don't need to hit them as hard as you hit T3 assault units (probably), but when they crowd out other units its time for a nerf.
Also consider a nerf to defensive structures.