Please judge after playing rather after just reading patch notes. Alien evolution now made enemies rather weak, so soldier skills and weapons could be also toned down.
In the time yes, but evolution now works significantly slower than in previous builds.
Because you probably didn’t knew how to exploit it earlier. With previous mobility it was just ridiculous what player could do, and how it was unfair for player’s enemies.
Movement is an action. Proper positioning is part of tactical engagement. Previously your soldiers could be anywhere so there was acually no meaning where you are or where enemies are. You just tweaked your position to any other on those small maps. It was like “magical teleport” in non magical game.
This should be re-designed by devs, but it has nothing to do with lack of speed and need to increase it.
No, no, I definitely knew how to exploit it. It’s not about the power of movement. It’s about… There’s a lot of things things which, when they do something, but don’t do enough (such as when you fail to kill an enemy you were expecting to) aren’t… Annoying, like it’s something that exists only to aggravate you. Movement is not one of such things.
I guess in general the maps are simply far too large to have mobility less than 25 and feel good, they’d need to be half to a third of the size.
It’s two use per turn now. What whole map run you are talking about? Cost in AP was made to make soft cap for Dash. It didn’t work. Now we have hard cap. Ok, but return to initial cost in WP only. Cause it looks now useless.
Too large ? Wow, that’s a first I always felt the opposite, especially with the amount of movement. You could cross to the other side and back when fully geared up. At least.
The Panda evolution seems a really cool concept. But is the panda’s research static, like in every game is always the same, random, or does it respond dinamically to the player’s strategies?
I’ve just tested Dash extensively (with multiple builds and rookies).
I definitely still have full use for this. It no longer feels so absurd and the maps now feel bigger.
I really like the change to Dash as this particular skill was what made so many other skills really OP. There really needed to be some break on general movement, the fact that you felt that almost every soldier needed to be a cross breed of Assault allays felt wrong to me.
If the current version of Dash is enough to bring me to cross class with other classes more now they have done a really good job.
Movement in a turn based game is really powerful so you need to take great care in how it can be used.
The nerf to Dash probably will make other skills that before was OP now become a bit more tune down as well even if not directly changed. It alwas was the combination of certain skills that posed the problem.
The hard cap at two is really what I think is a good change as you can no longer run around killing everything in one turn. The change to speed is also good as you now will put more faith in positioning. If it also makes you cross class with assault less it gives an even more depth to overall squad tactics and perhaps even give Vehicles a reason to exist to taxi people around a map.
In my opinion it is more about making multiple strategies viable rather than the game being fast paced or not. Dash have been continually nerfed because of how it badly have interacted with other skills and scaled with really high speed characters.
If you make it less obvious you can get away with running up and shoot at point blank one or two times and then run away and hide to work every time it adds strategy. Now that light armour suddenly can become a liability so using characters with lower speed and better armour is more viable as an alternative or compliment strategy.
This is what it is all about… not the general pace of combats. If you were required to use allot of high movement dash soldiers to win haven defences to save civilians there is something wrong with those scenarios.
You say that light armor can be a liability now but I don’t… See anything that indicates that?
There really isn’t anything that heavy armor helps with at all, which is honestly part of the problem mind. The armor values at best let them take one hit more than light or medium armor, which is absolutely valueless since they’re too slow to get into positions where they CAN draw fire (nor can the game actually allow you to draw enemy fire, since they always go for the head in the softest targets available).
Plus, I wouldn’t say it adds strategy, if anything it removes one particular tactic of hit-and-run. It doesn’t even remove it, it just makes so it takes longer to come online anyway. The two-use-limit is the big key part, which stops the map wiper moves (hah, as if, you don’t need more than the first Dash, if even, but anyway).
Actually, I have in fact just started a game proper and am playing and i’ll how it works since the game was kind enough to effectively give me a prime shotgun assault right in my starting roster, so i’l going to see how he fares with the changes. Probably nothing is going to change, other my assault/sniper riflemen getting even slower while the shotgunner is as powerful as ever.
Though, i’m noticing a few inconsistencies in my soldier stats that might throw a wrench in my comparisons (my heavy with default gear is at -8 speed, my units with Sniperist are suffering -2 Max Will and -4 Starting Will which is weird).
But! The game requiring a slow crawl before you get to the fight IS a problem, and what my ultimate issue with speed is about.
No matter how you try to sugar coat it your assault shot gunner will not be able to cause as much mayhem anymore so you will have to be more careful and you will run into more problems where you need to cover them.
Being able to take an additional hit or two can be extremely vital so have a greater mix of heavy, mid and lightly armoured soldiers will be more viable than before for that very reason. Glass cannons only work when you are extremely certain to remove threats before you are shot at in the first place.
The reduce on speed and utility of Dash have made this more possible. How much so remains to be seen. Wasn’t shotguns nerfed too a bit as well?!?
Nope!
Shotguns were unreasonably buffed, actually! Which is interesting, the entire shotgunner build is almost completely untouched!
Full mobility equipment (speed leg mutation, anu body armor, +5 Will head mutation), Rapid Clearance, Ready For Action, Adrenaline Rush (you get dazed the next turn, there’s no next turn), Shotgun (pref. Harrower to eat through armor, it just got a damage buff), Frenzy, Dash.
That’s the build, with maxed Will and Speed. The nerf to Dash? You only use Dash once, do dart from the back of the formation to the first enemy. From there you hit Rapid Clearance and Adrenaline Rush, and start chaining kills. You don’t use Dash anymore after that. All that the current changes to mobility does to that is make so you need to be a little closer to start it off.
Hopefully, that’s just a typo and the damage per pellet has been reduced, without the number of pellets increasing.
As to the rest, sadly you are right.
The basic Dash + Rapid Clearance + Adrenaline Rush still works. It needs a little more dedication though - you will want Bloodlust and someone to cast Frenzy, because dash has been reduced to give an extra AP of movement, not 2.
To be honest I don’t want that gone, mind. Given the sheer numbers of pandorans you face and particularly at that endgame you really need some good area clearing, plus it’s fun.
It just need to be… Less of itself. Some way to cap at three or thereabouts kills would be perfectly fine (maybe just a unique interaction between Adrenaline Rush and Rapid Clearance where RC only triggers up to three times under AR).
Like, it definitely needs to be WAY less than it is right now, but the shotgunner as the “Delete Button” for any particularly annoying enemies (like anything that hides in tiny nooks and crannies) is a thing deserves to exist.
Shotgun guy definitely need to stay strong, but combining skills where one makes actions cost less AP and and second replenish AP is just game breaking. Voland will probably elaborate more on this subject.
I always felt the opposite, especially with the amount of movement. You could cross to the other side and back when fully geared up. At least.