Romulan Ships - Balance Issues

[RCIX]

posted on June 20th, 2009, 9:35 am

Last edited by RCIX on June 20th, 2009, 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

First, something vaguely offtopic: [sarcastic]i intend that this topic become as popular as the Sovereign class - Durability Issues thread, so let the good times roll![/sarcastic]:rolleyes:

I have been playing the romulans for a while (kind of my favorite race) but i find that they were underpowered. I had played a couple of LAN and plenty of IA games in 3.0.5a and find that i just couldn't leverage any (supposed) advantages in order to win. Now in 3.0.7 i find that they're the same: i build a fleets work of small ships and a half a fleets worth of larger ships then get steamrolled because A: other players are capable of building so much more power for their cost, and B: those ships can just overwhelm my fleet even when i use specials like stealth field, shield recharge, and such.

Is this primarily an AI problem (it over-spams ships of other races better) or a romulans problem (the provided ships cannot quite be built in sufficient quantity to appropriately defend)? i think its a bit of both.

For instance, i just played a 2vs2vs2 match with me and a hard ai as romulans vs 2 klingon and 2 federation hard ais. The first AI to get wiped out was my romulan pal, then the klingons, then finally they charged at me with what must have been 50+ ships. I had a reasonably well defended secondary base (4 turrets + a starbase with defensive upgrades) and a fleet and a half of high variety. I managed to make my fleet survive for about 15 seconds to half a minute before the massive number of federation ships overwhelmed my fleet (at that point i quit).

I see a few options here:
* increase the turret's power or decrease the turret's cost.
* drop costs on all romulan ships slightly.
* offer a better selection of special weapons (i don't use things like combat cloak, spying, mines, etc.)

Ya know, you federation people have it good; i have to pay more for the Cehaler than you do for a sovereign!

*braces for impact of posts*

posted on June 20th, 2009, 10:01 am

I´m not sure if the rommies need a boost, just let me say i agree on the ship cost and indeed some specials are dumb, the combat cloak for example. The turret is the worst of all the races turrets, and i build them only with the female avatar, as the other version sucks even more. Though one has to admit with that defense upgrade they cost almost nothing.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 10:25 am

first of all, they are not that weak, like you feel they are. to be honest, if they are played right, they become pretty nasty.
try it out for yourself, with rhienn refits in the beginning and later on switch to generix supports and warbirds, for example. well, depending on the enemy its a bit different every time, but so you can get an idea.

and get the hitchhikers guide in the strategy section. its described pretty well in it how to play them without getting your ass handed to you.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 5:00 pm

Not sure against AI, but in MP they are quite powerful imo 

Their harassment capabilities are second to none, and their staying power is incredible due to shield recharge. Along with the Feds, they are one of the more powerful of the factions at the moment.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 5:16 pm

I only agree that their turrts are too weak for their costs. Other, the rommies are excellent at their tasks. Only thing is that they need a game without lags, as they rely on microing.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 5:22 pm

Yes their turrets are quite weak at the moment, but their ships generally make up for it. However, as mentioned before, after researching prefabrication, the costs drop remarkably.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 6:22 pm

Not to mention they can be fitted with a cloak.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 6:50 pm

Oh yes 

posted on June 20th, 2009, 8:04 pm

But that cloak is rather useless, given the fact that it drains special energy, also you can´t make a "fleet" out of them so cloaking each turret manually isn´t very effective.

Maybe we should create a turret thread..... 

posted on June 20th, 2009, 8:11 pm

It is effecitve. Just clock the turret that is under attack when its shields are low and the enemy will target anoter one.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 8:25 pm

I would have to disagree also with the OP. First off, this game isn't balanced vs AI though it is very winable as romulans. 4 turrets btw isnt much of a defense.... 20 or 30 maybe if you are talking about a base defense. rom turrets are weak but dont cost near as much as most other races so that is balanced. You should read the hitch hikers guide to fleet ops, that guy gives some great romulan advice, even vs AI.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 8:48 pm

First, something vaguely offtopic: [sarcastic]i intend that this topic become as popular as the Sovereign class - Durability Issues thread, so let the good times roll![/sarcastic]:rolleyes:


Is this primarily an AI problem (it over-spams ships of other races better) or a romulans problem (the provided ships cannot quite be built in sufficient quantity to appropriately defend)? i think its a bit of both.

For instance, i just played a 2vs2vs2 match with me and a hard ai as romulans vs 2 klingon and 2 federation hard ais. The first AI to get wiped out was my romulan pal, then the klingons, then finally they charged at me with what must have been 50+ ships. I had a reasonably well defended secondary base (4 turrets + a starbase with defensive upgrades) and a fleet and a half of high variety. I managed to make my fleet survive for about 15 seconds to half a minute before the massive number of federation ships overwhelmed my fleet (at that point i quit).


*braces for impact of posts*

a small FYI::

The AI cheats!

So any balancing observations you make that include the AI are void and wrong.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 9:06 pm

I know the AI cheats. That's why i also said its partially the AI's fault. However i had everything from tavaras to norexans to generix supports to generix spectre refits in my fleet -- still got slaughtered. BTW i also got pummeled in an MP game vs my brother - he was fed. I had built like 20 defense turrets and a decent size fleet and he plowed through it like it was hardly there.

posted on June 20th, 2009, 10:23 pm

Care to play me online sometime: I might be able to help rectify the Romie issue for ya... hopefully

posted on June 20th, 2009, 10:44 pm

Sorry nope, i only play on IA and occasional lan game with my brother.