because new character is dissapointing. zhuyong hmg is 35p, gao is 43. Why do we need him? its just another hmg
Well, Gao is a Captain. That's quite a high rank there. We're talking about an officer rank that commands a full company of infantry. Therefore no wonder he's labeled as Invincible Officer and his logo is based on the sectorial's logo. He's not a Zuyong nor a Shangji, he's beyond that. My guess and I hope, he's just a wildcard, thus being able to join any fireteam in the sectorial. For an officer of his rank it makes sense and it would make him an interesting option despite it feels like a sidegrade option.
But it's not like he gains nothing for the points +7pts. +2 CC, +1 WIP, +1 ARM, +3 BTS, Fatality L1, Vet L1, Nanopulsar. He's much better than a regular Zuyong HMG. The 38pts. Tactical Awareness HMG however makes it a hard choice. If anyone is made useless by him, it’s the Shang Ji Spitfire that’s 42pts. I’ve added him to my spread sheat and you can do an easier comparison of him to other HI troops with heavy weapons. To me he’s not bad at all. Not fantastic but not bad. He’s certainly not as disapointing as Krit. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GoD936b6EYmAJXI7uCsH0OuDA6GyclsF/edit#gid=805421093
Just a reminder that there is a game design philosophy called horizontal progression. I really enjoy this type of game design. It's where the game offers you more ways to play. This being instead of vertical progression aka power creep and flavor of the month. In vertical progression you are tunneled into playing the best of the best. In my experience I don't need to play an "optimized" list with the best in slot profile to win or have fun. I enjoy being able to combo different units together and not play a stale list that I will eventually get board with. I have had a lot of fun with a Guija + Krit duo and have won with them on the table. If you where to listen to these threads about those units you would certainly think its an auto lose if you put them in your list. These are the most defecated on profiles on these forums for Yu Jing. A BS14 Damage 16 Multi HMG will still kill the shit out of things. I would agree IA lacks flexibility and tools which makes it a low tier army. But Yu Jing as a whole is a great contender in ITS. Let's see what the replacement for berserk is. This will probably be a "side grade" unit. I'm good with that. I enjoy that kind option.
I understand that providing Yu Jing, the faction with the highest number of HIs, with different, performing and balanced profiles, is not an easy job. What I don't understand is how special rules (equipments, skills, etc) are not fully exploited to provide variety to a profile, that would otherwise become almost a copy of many others; especially in a game like Infinity, where there's a wiki full of rules with different levels and shades. I also understand that each faction has its own sale points, but we could really use some tricks from Vanilla into IA (just 1 profile with madtraps?), without creating an OP sectorial, while still being able to have more variety in lists. I don't find useful to talk about Yan Huo. Unfortunately it has a very old profile, that's all. Salt apart, and speaking of the Profile, I see many contradictions in using him a Lt2, apart from some missions; however Fatality1 and Veteran1, +1ARM and +3BTS from a Zuyong, I will gladly try him as a cheap beater to backup the Mowang in some lists.
when i have hmg guy - i dont look at arm or bts, i look on bs. He has the same bs as simple zuyoung. And why i should take him to link? Veteran is the only thing. And if he was the bsg guy on <30p price or has msv1 he could be more useful every time when i facing Varuna with Kamau sniper i will think how good horisontal progression is.
Direct template on a fireteam pointman is a pretty big deal and well worth the points. As is BTS increase to survive flashpulses. Berserk being a mistake is disappointing, could have been fun to fight off warbands or an easy solution against, like, Nagas over the corner. LT2 profile may be ok for brews with Haidao CoC - like an attack harris with Quing, haris Zuyong and Tai Sheng - with SWC discount that you can spend on, like, a Rui Shi and a slot freed by not taking Daioying.
I mean at least he's not as shit as Krit.... Can't really see a purpose to him in IA but I guess I could make something happen in Vanilla. A Mowang/Gao tag team for 2 SWC maybe? I think people underestimate SWC discounts in vanilla, does open some interesting options for other guns that normally you can't find room for like double TR bots and stuff. I guess a meta dependant point but he is immune to oblivion which is pretty strong if you play in an area that leverages the hacking game. He is pretty boring though. Nothing really flashy on the profiles and dunno what's with CB constantly releasing YJ profiles with the wrong rules/stats on them.
That's all fine and dandy, except that's not what's offered here nor in Yu Jing. When was the last time Yu Jing got offered more ways to play? I guess it was when Uprising took away a third of our profiles, and from then on all releases have been just "point guns at enemies and roll dice" which kinda makes lots of profiles redundant and boring, as is the case here.
I'd have liked to KEEP Berserk, but even without it Qiang still seems a solid option. Not broken must-take maybe, but if you're playing the StateEmpire you've made peace with not getting those options.
Eh... probably ok. Pretty bland more of the same though. Krit really lowered the bar on what's acceptable and what's dog shit.
Even if Berserk would have been breaking the budget way too much, it still wouldn't have been OP or must-take simply because that it is Skornergy within the profile itself, something CB's pricing system doesn't really account for. I agree, it would've been fun to have that left in there, but I'd rather have seen it be something unique like Counter-Intelligence or useful such as Forward Observer or even Specialist Operative to make use of the increased WIP on the non-LT profile.
Is this a joke post? YJ has the best LT option in the game now (Daiyoing, added after uprising, centerpiece of most vanilla lists)
Which changes your playstyle how? Offers you new playing options how? We also got TA, which is good but doesn't change playstyle nor opens new options, it just gives you more Orders to keep doing what you've doing for a long while. Compare to what Varuna did for PanO. Please bother to read the posts before jumping for the throat.
IA delegates. They have the cheapest and best protected LT2 and arguably one of the best, if not the best, NCO so far in Tai Sheng. CoC and EXO has become a niche way of playing for IA and YJ as a result. It is a new way to play, even if you get reductive. It doesn't provide tools to get past obstacles, but it does allow you to use the (imo) limited tool set you have more and safer.
