The Third Offensive

I wonder if we can expect - with the new offensive and additional CA resources coming through to the Human Sphere - some kind of increase in CA tech. As is, the game is a little lacking in unique CA technology. It feels like, beyond Plasma and Mnemonica, we're either on par or lagging behind our human/Tohaa equivalents.

MAF introduced the first K1 weapon - then Tohha got loads of them, Aleph got one, Onyx got a couple, and the Vanguard MSR was "upgraded" to one.
Plasma is the domain of CA - but Aleph have it on Hector.
Mnemonica is the signature EI ability, and it is good... but at the same time sub-par to Jumper/Proxies.
EI hacking devices all have 1 or 2 upgrade programs, yet we still have no availability of non-character KHDs.

Fluff to rules translation seems to be failing us a bit here.

 

@paraelix judging by some stuff in N2 Aleph is actually meant to be superior to the EI techwise; stuff like Netrods just having more ph than Imetrons etc.

 

I'd say I dare to dream that the Yaogat harris gets revised to 0.5 SWC, however as a certain other thing didn't change I'm not that optimistic.

Perhaps as raktorak are getting tweaked they may have a 0 or 0.5 swc haris option.

Also Tactical sense carrying over to the Duo in Onyx is hopefullly a thing.

 

The Yaogat one is 0.5 swc. The Kurgat and Suryat ones are 1 SWC.

 

I disagree.

• K1 is relatively common (five different units) in Combined Army forces, and almost non-existent in the Human Sphere (two ALEPH units). Tohaa have more then the humans, but with three units it's still substantially less than the Combined Army.
• Hector's Plasma Rifle is the only known battlefield-ready plasma weapon in the entire Human Sphere (and Humans trying to reverse-engineer plasma weaponry has been in the background since N1).
• Mnemonica being sub-par to G: Jumper is not something you'r going to get many players to agree with. The only bit that makes G: Jumper more powerful is that several of the Proxies are too cheap.
• Non-character KHDs is largely because we haven't seen a Shasvastii update yet, as they're the main source of sneakier hacking for the Combined Army. Annoying, but it's got no relevance to the relative tech levels. It's also worth bearing in mind that Exile is unique to CA, while Maestro only appears on a single Human Sphere unit (EDIT plus one character), and it's only recently that all Human Sphere factions together got more Hacking Device Plus units than Combined Army have as a single faction.

 

So you finally agree with me, Danavas don't exist.

 

On average CA hacking is just better due to the upgrade programs (sucker punch, maestro and stop all rock) the proliferation of white noise from the HD plus, the only aspect where they kinda lack is the super optimised and cheap info-war profiles like the interventor whiuch are terrifying for the points, although kermit the frog and Bit have done a lot to level the playing field in that regard. Also having a cooler basic hacking device doesn't stop you being skullf***ed by KHDs

Still wouldn't mind a couple of hacking profiles with the best of both worlds options like Mary problems or some nasty edge upgrade programs, especially as the actual aspect HD's are actually pretty bland.

Also on the advanced tech side the E-drone: just the best EVO rem before it gets Exile

 

On a pure rules part, I hope not: Tohaa has its own "hacking" and some stuff, and that tends to make people run from playing with/against them. The same could happen to the CA, taking a toll on new players.

 

KHds isn't about the marker state or the programs so much as its about ignoring Firewalls. Ignoring EI constructs we have avg wip (13s with a couple 14s) and no higher than bts 3 on any hacker. Something that is further compounded when you go into the MAF and Shas sectorials.

Yes, getting Sucker Punch on a vanilla device is nice - but its for nought when an enemy plonks a repeated on you and you're struggling to fight back through a Firewall vs the hugely abundant Human KHD options.

 

Bit has BTS 6.

 

True but is now unavailable in MAF. Which is my focus right now. Consider also, though, that she's probably the only KHD in the game with an SWC cost.

Edit- Mary Problems has an AHD as well - doesnt count.

 

Still showing in Army for me...

 

Please review my posts being about hopes and expectations for 3rd Off. Sarcasm unnecessary.

 

I didn't mean for anything to seem sarcastic, apologies if that's the case.

Looking up, I'm not sure what specifically you're getting me to look for. I just wanted to point out that there is a BTS 6 hacker available to CA and sectorials.

Edit: Unless you're concerned that Bit & KISS will go under the new revision. There's no indication they will given that they were never added to sectorial availability for Onyx, SEF or MAF to being with.

 

Bit & Kiss dont even exist in tge profile pdf, last i checked - so that doesn't mean much either way.

But given this is the new, revised MAF ava chart and she isn't there - it is seeming like a given she's been pulled.

Yes, there were errors in the ASA chart shown off recently - but they were numbers of troops, not whole troop entries missing.

 

I don't get the issue here. Onyx is part of Combined army, them getting K1 weapons is completely fine and boosts CA's power overall. I would like to see more K1 rifles in MAF, of course, but I'm not sure if that's a reasonable request.

Mnemonica makes CA nearly immune to loss of lieutenant. How is that even comparable to Ghost:Jumper? They're very different skills.

We are the only army in the game with a hacking program that hits non-hackable targets. That's stupidly powerful.

I'm not saying that CA and MAF don't need buffs, but in this case specifically (the tech department) I actually think CA is doing a good show.

As of now the Yaogat Haris costs 0 SWC (remember, the model has a panzerfaust and those cost 0,5 SWC). So if they increase the cost of the yaogat haris to 0,5 SWC we will be paying 1 SWC for that model, which might actually be dangerous unless they revise Suryat and Kurgat haris options to cost 0,5 as well. Hell, I'd even make Suryats cost 0 swc so choosing between a suryat and kornak feels less obvious.

However, my optimism for this update is very cautious. I don't like the idea of tactical sense in an non-lieutenant HMG option, but I'm willing to wait until the full thing drops before I even complain about that, as I can see at least 2 situations where I would use that model.

 

I'd like to see something in Onyx and Shas to compensate for a vulnerability to having Lt's killed, maybe.

 

Excluding Spotlight, Blackout, and White Noise. (and further ignoring Hack Transport Aircraft, or TeamPro which boosts your own non-Hackable targets)

Yes, Exile is a solid program. But, it is on one Hacker profile and is only effective against Fireteams - so it's usefulness varies from "not at all" vs Vanilla factions to "Amazing" vs Tohaa. Exile needs a repeater net to be effective though - which makes your Evo vulnerable to abundant enemy KHDs. Creating a repeater net is easy in Vanilla/Onyx - less so in Shasvastii - and MAF is losing it's only Pitcher option.

 

As has been stated multiple times, let's not jump to conclusions about Bit/Kiss's availability in MAF. They're currently not listed in the sectorial chart (but are still available) so there's no reason to assume the preview videos were implying a change.