Map Design makes Naval units less useful One issue is that the maps are designed much more for 2v2 than 1v1. This isn’t usually a problem, except when it comes to Naval units. On all the maps I’ve seen, half of them do not allow for naval combat. Two of the ones which do are islands. This is of course only a beta, and hopefully we’re only seeing a few of the final version’s maps, but the ratio of maps where Naval units are useful is troubling.
This makes investing Research Points into naval power on the strategy map and playing naval cards on an unknown map questionable, when you don’t even know if the map will have water, or if it will be USEFUL water.
Recommended Solution: More maps in which it’s possible to go from base to enemy base in 1v1 via the water (Island maps don’t count).
We also need bridges that land units can cross over and water units can pass beneath, just like Swen’s “
Land Ahoy” blog said.
After playing only a few combat sessions, it was clear that this was the key. Protecting a bridge on which you’ve stationed some troops with a battleship far in the sea and some bomb-dropping-balloons hovering over feels so much better than just having aerial units duke it out, and the ability to turn into a dragon takes on an entire new dimension when you’re flying so close to the ground.
Thinking about that, bridges could help a lot. As Swen noticed, bridges are natural choke points, which will help force units together into a potential kill zone, cutting back on the usefulness of mindless unit spam and providing a focus for action. That will force players to seek alternate means of attack, which is a good thing.
Those choke points will suddenly make naval and land mines easier to place and thus immediately more useful.
Fallen Moon is a well-balanced map for naval use. Both main bases can be reached from water, and the center of the map has a lot of resource points that the water can cover, but there’s also a strong land-locked area which allows an advantage for those who can control the land.
Dragon’s Pass would be an almost perfect map if the isthmus in the center had one or two bridges and channels to let water units cross to the other side.
Falcon’s Rocks is really just… ugh. Half the map is taken up by these huge lakes. In theory, that general idea could let you shell enemy bases with a Juggernaut, keep the skies clear of air units with Ironclads, send Transports to any key point you want, they let you control the center of the map… but the execution of the water is really bad, in two reasons. The first one as I said above is that the two lakes are isolated from each other, which is bad. The other reason is that the only Shipyard building points are in the exact center of the map, and the one who controls the map can control both at once. Lose control of the center and you have no way to save any ships in the lakes, no way to build more. That map needs to be opened up, it needs bridges and connections between the lakes, and each of the four bases needs a place to build a shipyard – one that units can board transports on, please.
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): What do you think about the usefulness of water units?
Watser: well
Watser: zeppelin over a juggernaught when possible isnt a bad idea
Watser: besides from that, transports are pretty useless
Watser: ironclads for taking down enemy juggers
Watser: so all in all, not much action in the sea
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): yeah, I'm about to post a big complaint in the balance argument thread.
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): and posted.
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): The problem I think, is the map design doesn't support naval units in 1v1
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): very well, at least
Watser: usually a big island in the ocean, instead of ocean in the islands..... that didnt make sense but you know what I mean
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): no, could you explain, please?
Watser: the maps which do have water are far more land focused because it's basically one big island surrounded by water, making naval units more or less redundant
Watser: now there are maps where naval units are handy like dragon's pass and the last one I forgot the name of
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): Frost Islands?
Watser: yeah
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): there needs to be more maps where you can go from base to base in 1v1 by the water.
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): Bridges, we need bridges and channels.
Watser: what I mean is that there is very little mix in the landscape
Watser: it's either all water or all land
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): or that terrible Falcon's Rocks map which is both at the same time
Watser: yeah
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): Two huge lakes eating all the real estate, but the only place to build ships is in the middle
Watser: the idea of falcon's rocks is what I want more of... but it's just very poorly executed
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): It really is.
...
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): you can't even use transports because troops have to travel a long way form your base to be able to board the ship.
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): and all they can do is go a little way up the coast, which they could have done by land
Watser: Dragon's Pass isn't a bad map, there naval is pretty important
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): yes, it is a nice map
Watser: you can have a juggernaught freely bombarding your base if you dont do something about it
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): but it would have been better with a bridge or two to let naval units cross the other side
Watser: yeah
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): well, in 1v1, a Juggernaut can kill your secondary base, but the primary one is a bit out of reach.
Watser: need more bridges, completely agree
Watser: zeppelin solves?
Stabbey (Everyday I'm Zeppelin): probably not, it's a long way. Zeppelins will work on Falcon's Rocks to let juggernauts hit the entire base.
