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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0002539AI War 1 / ClassicSuggestion - Unit Abilities And BehaviorsJan 19, 2011 5:00 pm
ReporterJMAnderson Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version4.071 
Fixed in Version4.072 
Summary0002539: Cloaked attritioners potentially game-breaking
DescriptionUsing a cloaker starship with Spirecraft attritioners can be extremely unbalancing. Due to the way aggressive ships pile up at a wormhole to mass for an attack, I can park a handful of attritioners one jump from my territory with a cloaker and the ships that pile up will generally be fully eaten before they can get a strong enough group together to go through, and even if they do a large number of their ships are badly damaged before they can attack. A 3,000+ ship cross planet attack by an Core personality AI was effectively dismantled by five mark I and two mark II attritioners before they felt brave enough to go through the wormhole.
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TechSY730

Jan 18, 2011 7:20 pm

reporter   ~0009129

Aren't stationary planetary attritioners already immune to cloaking for a very similar reason?

Sunshine

Jan 18, 2011 9:07 pm

reporter   ~0009142

Even if they're made uncloakable, a similar, more micro-intensive trick will be available by popping them in and out of a cloaked transport on the far end of the planet.

But yes, they probably should be made uncloakable, or "attrition" should be counted as an attack to keep them from cloaking.

Is attrition damage reduced if they're under a forcefield?

JMAnderson

Jan 18, 2011 10:03 pm

reporter   ~0009169

I don't think making them uncloakable is the right answer. The problem in my mind is that the ai behavior at chokepoints is exploitable this way. Also, this only feels like a problem when multiple attritioners are working together: one ship would only whittle away a bit of health but not kill everything while you wait. Diminishing returns for multiple attrition effects may be a more elegant solution without crippling the unique utility of the attritioner.

TechSY730

Jan 18, 2011 10:07 pm

reporter   ~0009172

They made some changes with how smart the AI is with dealing with human cloaked units on their planets and their decisions whether to keep moving or stay, so that is now less exploitable.

Sunshine

Jan 18, 2011 10:12 pm

reporter   ~0009179

They don't do diminishing returns for ships on same system anymore either, it didn't really work for Sentinel Frigates and Electric Bombers since it doesn't apply to the AI.

Chris_McElligottPark

Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm

administrator   ~0009274

Thanks!

* Ships that emit attrition effects are now immune to cloaking and camouflaging.

Prezombie

Jan 19, 2011 5:00 pm

reporter   ~0009279

I think that preparing strike forces by the AI are still pretty vulnerable if they pile up on the wormhole, if they don't consider themselves strong enough to attack, they really should be worried about a strike from the strong player planet, and hold back until the strike force is ready.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Jan 18, 2011 7:19 pm JMAnderson New Issue
Jan 18, 2011 7:20 pm TechSY730 Note Added: 0009129
Jan 18, 2011 9:07 pm Sunshine Note Added: 0009142
Jan 18, 2011 10:03 pm JMAnderson Note Added: 0009169
Jan 18, 2011 10:07 pm TechSY730 Note Added: 0009172
Jan 18, 2011 10:12 pm Sunshine Note Added: 0009179
Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0009274
Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => resolved
Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 4.072
Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Jan 19, 2011 4:01 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Jan 19, 2011 5:00 pm Prezombie Note Added: 0009279