Balance issues

[crimzonsky2]

Novus super weapons charge way to quick, as does the Massari, and are achieved at lightning speeds compared the third faction. The resource gathering of the other two factions almost seems to dictate a slow methodical build, both in base building and tech tree advancing. The Novus just blows right through them.

The Hierarchy, despite their size, are easily taken down, especially by super weapons as they just can’t get out of the way in time. Their build time is also substantially longer then the other factions, or at least seems that way.

After playing for three or four hours straight, not a single one lasted longer then 15 minutes. Which is fine if your looking for a fast paced game, but sometimes you would like to get in a little deeper, and really take advantage of all each faction has to offer. Much like C&C 3 the focus seems to be on speed rather then tactics, which is a shame for people who enjoy turtling and taking their time. You can’t pander to the turtling crowd, but you can’t ignore them either. Games of attrition can be just as fun as a quick rush.

Also the Novus Field Inverters, and the Masari Skylords seem unnaturally powerful. Particularly the Novus Field Inverters as their high cost doesn’t effect play as much since the Novus, if teched right, can gather resources at an astounding rate.

As for the beta in general, the lack of any tutorial seems a shame. Its hard to ask balancing questions about factions you can't figure out how to really play. My first go as the Herarchy, I spent ten minutes just trying to figure out what did what, and how to gather resources. Same with the Novus. It wasn't until three hours in, and probably 15 games under my belt that I realized how to patch

[victorvndoom]

i played against novus a hour long game with the masari
just ask your opponent not to rush you and say you are a newbie player then he might be soft on you

[AsTheRuinsFall]

you might want to play more games if you can't comment on balance due to not knowing how to play the factions.

[ChessRules]

Hierarchy non-walker units are getting a large buff in this next patch. For example, the Grunt's cost is being cut almost in half, and Cost Optimizers/Teleport Accelerators are becoming cheaper.

[Omni^]

you might want to play more games if you can't comment on balance due to not knowing how to play the factions.

I might add that you shouldn't play with medals turned on, since it screws everything up.

There are balance issues, yes, but it's mostly between Hierarchy and everyone else ('cause Hierarchy sucks at this point) and Novus can destroy either of the other factions with a good rush. Masari is close to Novus, and I would even call the two balanced if there were a reliable way of killing off a Vertigo rush, but there isn't really, so that needs a fix.

I think when Variants get nerfed, hierarchy non-walker units get buffed, and medals get fixed the game will be much more even. It'll also be a lot more fun with the lethality boost.

As a last note, I think we'll see some better gameplay on the whole once the UI is debugged, just 'cause the game will be easier to learn once you don't have to wrestle with the UI so much. I don't notice the UI lag very often anymore personally, since I've kinda gotten used to it, but whenever I'm in a tight spot, or I just want to do something quickly and smoothly without paying a lot of attention to it, I realize the issue persists.