Profile of Sander93

To me it seems very strange that there would be a bent towards streamlined unit statistics when so many of the last few patches have involved unorthodox solutions like more received damage modifiers for vehicles and infantry, infantry_discount tweaks, and the multitude of requirement_action changes infantry sections underwent when they were nerfed.

Received damage modifiers for vehicles change nothing for the experience of the enemy player, as damage that needs to be dealt in order to kill them remains the same as it would've been with regular hitpoints. It only benefits the user with faster repairs. This is not comparable to, say, the invisible received damage modifier that Rangers had that made them immune to certain explosives that would otherwise kill regular infantry models in one hit, which does negatively affect the enemy player's experience.

Grenadiers had a received damage modifier added because it was the only solution left we saw fit for the huge and unique problem that was incredibly vulnerable late game 4-men mainline infantry that was plaguing the entire faction, and because this is somewhat communicated to players via the veterancy tool tip. The same is true for Infantry Sections. Their cover bonuses are not hidden modifiers, they are displayed in the game to the player via the cover bonus icon tooltip.


I specifically said we want to move away from hidden modifiers whenever we can, so that means that it is highly preferable to look at other solutions, although never definitively so.

Complex meta balance issues are not as simple to fix as people often think. There are many more factors to consider when looking at proposals like this.

1. Move all call-in heavy tanks back to CP-12 (with the current tech requirements). This artificially delays their arrival and was the original position for many of these units. It is no coincidence that the majority of the heavy anti-armor commander abilities are also unlocked at this command point window. This is a simple solution that does not modify the actual capabilities of these units and so may not be seen as the correct solution, but it would in my opinion benefit the meta tremendously regardless. Being a simple fix it would also be easier to determine competitive impact.

Heavy tanks at 13 CPs came way too late for teamgames, where resources are inflated and CP gain is deflated. This meant that they arrived at a time when there were already 1-2 vet 2-3 TDs around per every enemy player, making them mostly unviable to use. Moving heavies back to 12 CPs may benefit 1v1s, but it would not benefit 3v3s and 4v4s.

It'd likely be much better to do some small adjustments (to a variety of primary, but mostly secondary stats) over 1-2 patches rather than bring out the nerfhammer and slap on 3 CPs. There have been numerous examples over the past year where we've been able to keep overperforming units powerful by making smart and small adjustments to their secondary stats and availability (for example Jaeger Light Infantry) as opposed to nerfing them back into oblivion (as many players requested/demanded). It's always a delicate balancing act and usually a very small adjustment can already push something in the right direction.

2. A more radical solution, but still one that does not involve much stat changing, would be to require heavy tanks be physically built from tech structure and with a long production time. Preferably this would be done via end-tech T4 building on each side, which may have the side effect of making Ostheer T4 preferable, though it could also be argued it makes the Tiger less accessible. I would like to see this implemented at some point in the future, given how stupid it is that heavy tanks can be called in instantaneously but not very basic medium tanks or TDs, but it is a more difficult solution and thusly not one I see as realistic at this time.

A possible solution, but not very intuitive, since they'd need to have both a CP requirement, a tech requirement, and a build requirement.

1. A 75% or so decrease in TD accuracy via the target-table when being used on medium tanks via type medium_tank. Note this type is also applied to the Panther; in this case the Panther should have it replaced with the heavy_tank target type, or otherwise lose the medium_tank type, so as not to be effected by this change (given that the allied rosters have no other armored counters to the Panther)

Not a very elegant solution either. We are specifically moving away from invisible modifiers as much as we can to make the game more straightforward to everyone. Introducing artificial accuracy modifiers (on top of the natural accuracy modifier that is target size) is not a good direction to take.

These two maps are below anything I've seen since Caen and need to be removed.

like i said: im pretty sure most people wouldnt miss 4v4 when 3v3 is available. the 4v4 crowd would be pleased with 3v3 as well.

How so? Roughly 40% of total players plays 4v4, with 3v3 (~30%) being available alongside it. That shows 4v4 is not only the largest mode but also that the majority of teamgames players seems to prefer it over 3v3.

I think if they had scrapped the 4vs4 mode from scratch and do 3vs3 max. it would ve been much better for the game - more map variety, better balanced maps, better for the playerpool and skill gap, less chance of an idiot in your team or a dropper

And the battles are almost as big and equally exciting as in 4vs4 but less confusing and also better performance-wise

Probably true. But 4v4 is fan service if nothing else. It's by far the largest mode with ~40% of the playerbase (if the old statistics are still somewhat accurate).


The biggest problem is that it's pretty obvious that 3v3 and 4v4 were simply never/rarely thought about during the core design process and it has left the modes with some glaring issues (resource inflation, small maps, balance problems, matchmaking problems, etc.). The dynamics could've been a lot better if Relic had had more development time/resources to invest into finetuning the framework for teamgames more, rather than developing the game for 1v1 and a bit of 2v2 and just slapping on 3v3 and 4v4 at release.