@harzer99 Hahaha, touche! That was epic.
Thanks for the shout out ... Lmao! X-D

@FtXCommando Sorry mate, didn't mean to shitpost.

My suggestion was to make it something other than a glorified Mercy. Obviously that footage doesn't exist. Just a lot of footage of it being a glorified Mercy. Conceptual changes won't be supported by statistical analysis.

Based on your response, compared to everyone else's, I probably won't post again. Again, thank you for the work that you do. And thanks to everyone else for constructive responses. Feel free to close and/or delete this thread.

@advena No need. BRNK has a good video on YT titled "It's raining Ahwassas" showcasing ctrl k snipes and bombing a naval choke.

@Resistance Yeah, you're right. It's useful against clustered armies and navies due to its massive AOE. And it's useful as a glorified Mercy/suicide experimental. Outside of those two situations, it feels weak against heavily shielded bases and less fun compared to the newly balanced CZAR and the Soul Ripper.

@FurudeRika You're also correct. I could make a case that it has been indirectly nerfed during that time due to the removal of hover bombing and buffs to T3 shields. But realistically, I think the removal of hover bombing was a good thing and the buff to T3 shields was minor (aimed moreso at temporarily countering Mavor).

I guess my issue is that I shouldn't have to ctrl k my experimentals for them to be effective. But that's more of a personal preference.

I guess I could offer a solution instead of just complaining ...

What if Ahwassa did bonus damage to shields? Such that the first pass would consistently drop base shields and the second pass would consistently do damage. It would also open up other strategies like staggering 2 Ahwassas or coordinating snipes with T3 stationary artillery, T3 bombers/gunships, etc for a one-two punch.

Just a random idea after my initial rant.

First of all, thank you to the FAF team who have generally improved the fun and balance of the game over the years. I recognize the challenge of keeping things balanced ... at various levels of competition ... without being homogenized among the races is formidable. And I think they've done a fairly good job.

In the current balance patch, CZAR and Soul Ripper are both pretty fun to use. They can be used offensively or defensively, plus have an effective death nuke. In comparison, the Ahwassa feels like a joke. It is more expensive (both in terms of energy and mass) than the other two, but with less HP. I get that that the Ahwassa fills a fundamentally different role (high speed, high alpha damage, low HP) compared to the other two (low speed, high DPS, high HP). But I would argue it has become so bad at its role, that it isn't worth using anymore.

In the old days, an un-scouted Ahwassa was scary ... and often "gg". First pass would drop shields and second pass would drop commander. Now they don't do enough alpha damage to drop a single T3 shield on the first pass, nor enough damage to snipe a commander once shields are down (apart from an un-upgraded Cybran ACU). So you're looking at a minimum of 3-4 passes to snipe ... which isn't really a snipe anymore ...

In terms of alpha damage, the Ahwassa does less than 4x T3 bombers at over 22x the (mass) cost. In terms of raw dps, the Ahwassa is worth only 1.2 T3 bombers!!! So you would never use it to harass enemy resources or land experimentals either.

Yes, the Ahwassa can be a mass sink, punching bag that potentially forces an air engagement where the opponent has to either focus on the Ahwassa or your ASF. But the CZAR and Soul Ripper are better at that too ... while still being formidable experimentals.

Finally, I get there are some higher level players that suicide the Ahwassa just after dropping it's payload for a double strike. But it obviously wasn't originally intended to be a suicide weapon like the Mercy or Firebeetle. There are ways to address this tactic without nerfing an experimental into the ground (literally).

Disclaimer: I've played FAF (and FA before it) for a very long time. My friends and I mostly just comp stomp with very little competitive ladder play. So I'm not really sure if Ahwassa's are tearing it up at high ranks or something. My guess is that they are rarely used, if ever. But feel free to take this with a grain of salt.