It's pretty obvious, given Tom Schadle's beard in the videos, that they were filmed earlier, so they were probably final profiles while other, more sexy profiles were still in development.
My guess is because they were 1W HI, so they were shown early in order to inform us early that they're ''pseudo-HI'' so we wouldn't toss up too great a fit on release. :/
This. Plus I'm pretty sure they've expected more enthusiastic reaction. HI Lite are a cool concept, it's just that its execution looks a bit mixed right now. edit: Now that I think about it, I'm actually curious if this trend will spread. I can totally see Magisters getting this treatment, for example.
@Maksimas Agree absolutely, they certainly wanted to inoculate a bit there, to avoid an even bigger uproar later on when everything dropped. I can understand the logic. Still seems they made the wrong call going with those specific units, just comparing responses to those two units vs the half-profile tidbits @Koni has dropped... I don't think I'm imagining that people seem much more positive about the latter than they were for the former.
Gonna play Devil's advocate here for a second. Say they waited to reveal the Zhēncha and Liu Xing last. Would you totally dismiss them because the other units that have been revealed are far superior? Either way it was gonna be a hard case to make. Especially if Yu Jing is the only one to experience the 1.5W HI. I'm sure we'll come up with terms to designate these 1.5HI. Personally, I feel the Haidao, Mowang, and Hulang will more than make up for any misgivings. Plus the mixed links we are supposed to get are stellar.
No, it is NOT any kind of a cool concept. 1W Bioimmunity NWI is absolutely OK – it works as 2W in a majority of situations and it's even better than usual HI against a Viral weapon and ARM and BTS is on par with "normal" powerarmoured men-o-war – it's not "light", it's normal. But 1W Shock-assailable NWI is not "lite HI" because it's not HI at all. They'd better marked this "HI" as MI (as Yadu) or at least gave it Non-hackable if someone in CB is so fond of camo and sonofantipode staff. For this faction I can only welcome such a treatment, no problem :D
Just gallows humor riffing of what I assume was gallows humor. It was not meant to be taken seriously.
Introducing new ways the units are constructed gives creators more flexibility when it comes to unit design. LHI sit somewhere between MI and HI, both in durability and price. And it makes perfect sense that YJ is pushing the boundaries here, exploring new ways to tweak HIs. They should have Shock Immunity as standard, though.
Every time I hear someone say that they are designed the way they are for price purposes, I get a little angry. They are the designers, they made the "equations" (if there are any) and their free to change or just ignore them whenever they want. It's not like Disney told them they couldn't try to balance a model outside their magical equation. Bioimmune + NWI is sooooo clsoe to 2W it should be costed the same. Arwich even pointed out that it's better in some cases.
No argument there. "Light" HI could be an interesting concept, but the two profiles we've been given (especially the Zencha) feel like they aren't getting any kind of "hackable" + "E/M vulnerable" discount. If you strip away a lot of the assumed basic HI stats (BS13+, PH13+, ARM/BTS3+, 2W) then becoming HI (i.e. a hackable, E/M vulnerable trooper) is on the whole a downside. In the past, when the HI statline was just the whole package (even though all the above things are conventions rather than strictures) things seemed to balance out. There was a whole "greater than the sum of its parts" thing. But even then, a lot of HI feel overpriced unless they're saving points elsewhere. *cough*goddamnfuckingfrenzydiscount*cough* So when we see units stripped of basically all of those things, but still lugging around the weaknesses, it sort of lays bare a potential weakness in the system. It definitely feels like paying more (or even the same) for demonstrably less. Worst of all, I can't help but feel some things (like the Zencha's Infiltration or the Xiu Ling's AD) are actually getting charged at a premium that appears to assume the HI conventions hold true. Maybe it is just a handful of points, but they feel heavy even if we change their designation to LI, SK, or MI with the same stats. I think Shock Immunity or Bio-Immunity is 100% the easiest fix on the Zencha. Even if it costs points (and it shouldn't because it already feels like it is costed with some kind of Immunity attached as is) it would immediately be a ton better and also somewhat unique (I mean, Dart still exists of course...). The Liu Xing's problem isn't really being "Light" HI, but it goes a long way toward making it feel like every bit the pulled punch it was. We've already seen multi-wound AD troopers, so that alone isn't really unique. It has Zuyong level stats which are underwhelming considering this could have been the first AD unit to break PH12. Explosion LX feels... vestigial. It's like they wanted something cool and bombastic and just second guessed the thing to death before we ever got our hands on it. If the profile were good and it did something fun and unique, then 1W+NWI and Bio-immunity would be background noise, hell, might even be lauded. But the rest of the profile is so bloody dull that not even bothering to make it actually HI (according to the standard conventions of HI we've gotten used to for over a decade) just makes it feel like it should have stayed on the drawing board. But on the face of it, "Light" HI could be an interesting concept. But if they're going that light, then like Ariadna HI, anything with 1W should at least be packing Shock Immunity, because even CB should realize that Armor is grossly overpriced at this stage until it reaches high levels (and maybe not even then). Also very true, and a practice that is actively pushing me away from the game. Dump stats, discount rules like Frenzy for linkable units, SMGs, marker states and visual mods punching above their weight. This is shit I expect from munchkins when I GM a game, and it is 100% behaviour that I veto when it gets egregious. But CB made the fucking equations and now they're using them to skim points? If they find a weakness in their point system, then they should bloody well fix it not exploit it. I mean, they aren't even printing profiles in the book anymore. Army lists are 100% living. So fix the damn equation and fix the wonky arse point costs instead of reveling in them. It is even worse because there are 100% profiles where you can tell CB have hand adjusted the point costs or given something away for free. So it isn't even about using the equation with no exceptions, because they will totally tweak a cost if it suits them. It's bloody infuriating.
Pushing the boundaries managing to get WORSE HI? HI with all the drawbacks but almost none of the advantages! And the argument about making them that way so they are cheaper point wise is kinda ridiculous in the face of the Hospitaller/Raicho point drop because reasons.
Think of it as Spartan IIs versus the IIIs if you've ever read the Halo lore. Big difference in capability, but cheaper and easier to manufacture. I really like the concept of "Lite" HI. Though I agree Shock Immunity should be standard. Especially if we are still able to be vulnerable to enemy Hackers.
Yeah, I agree with you about most of this. It gets much easier to swallow once you realise it's cheaper, intended for higher availability. Then you look at Dart. Then you realise it's paying a fortune for powerful synergies with its classification's core feature, a feature that it doesn't have. Then you are angry again... Light powered armour sounds like something completely in-character for Yu Jing, MI armour levels with NWI replacing actual, obsolete MI, but if that's the case they probably should stop keying costs for certain rules off of unit classification now it's getting so arbitrary. And also give Sun V2 a set. And confiscate his sniper rifle before he has time to be a bad influence on the Daoyings.
It's funny because Yu Jing has never been known for it's MI despite the Tigers, old Aragoto, and Raidens. All great units, all MI. I welcome the shift. For Yu Jing, maybe MI are just obsolete. Dart to me is just an extreme case of power creep. Plus, she is a character, and they definitely get discounts on their gear/stats/skills.
