Been a while since I played, so...

Are carrier tactics still viable

from Sins Forums

Last time I played the game, carrier spaming was going on like crazy, and I loved it :grin:  Anyway, so there were several updates that looked like they killed carriers. I just want to make sure, are carrier tactics dead? I've seens several people comment about it, but I just wanted to make sure, and get a second opinion before I take on six hard AI

16,801 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Carrier tactics aren't dead, but don't expect carriers to beat a balanced LRF/flak army in a straight fight.  You'll have to actually micro them heavily to get results now.  Late game you'll still often see huge swarms of bombers, though.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

No. they aren't dead.. Darvin3 said enough.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Good to know. Was afraid carriers were obsolete. Glad they just balanced them out

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Lol. Balanced? They're very iffy to buy at best. Flak were buffed to the point that fighters go down faster than a saigon prostitute. Flak can sufficiently take down bombers, but the only time you'll see massed bombers is against HC rushers (you're playing _|~Sire), or someone needs to take down a starbase (because all of the anti-starbase units suck : Orky, Ogrov, Starfish).

Oh, and an added dinkleberry on the crap sundae? The Devs slowed down carriers, so LRFS, the early game tank, can now chase down carriers and destroy them easily.  

 

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

God damnit. I liked it when carriers were the main things in the game

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Truth be told this game never has been balanced. It sounds like you left during 1.1, which is probably the closest we had to being balanced, but then again, it sounds like carriers were the backbone of every fleet. Balanced? Nah.

There are mods out there attempting to balance the game. It's disappointing though. The devs are the only people with the power to easily balance the game, yet they haven't. Smart money says its summer so that's why, but I have to wonder why Stardock/Ironclad haven't done anything.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

but I have to wonder why Stardock/Ironclad haven't done anything.
End of quote

Indeed; big companies have the excuse of corporate red tape, that every patch has to pass stringent QA even if it just tweaks unit stats.  Obviously those are policies established by people that have no understanding of multiplayer RTS and the need for small tweaking patches.  On the other hand, it's very true that even small changes can have catastrophic effects on game balance and that takes a lot of time to iron out.

I personally think the carrier changes were in the right direction, even if they did overnerf the carrier.  Now the task is to bring them back up to strength somehow.  I don't think rolling back the recent nerfs is the way to go; they added character to the carrier.  Instead, I think new strengths (or perhaps new weaknesses for the flak/lrf) are the way to go.