The Official Phalanx Thread

posted on May 4th, 2009, 9:39 pm

Well, the TacticalCube exceeds every other races specs so therfore it shouldn't be allowed to spam either: right guys? Of course not: it is balanced into the game. Strawman <-- If you wanted the Phalanx to be less limited, it would have to cost more. Plus you cannot do one on one comparisons ever in any RTS. The Phalanx does not have the same role as the Neg'Var: for instance, the Neg'var relies on torpedoes to do major damage while the Phalanx relies on phasers. Hence a completely different role (capital ship mop up vs. destroyer/cruiser mop up). I agree that the Phalanx is perhaps weak (I can't figure out how to use it yet... but doesn't mean it is underpowered per se), but the argument you have chosen to use is not useful in Fleet Operations. Likewise Risner's late game seems rather limited (no pun intended) because all she gets is plus 5 (?) to system value for Eraudi yard and a offensive boost for the Akira and Intrepid... which makes for cruddier late and early game then Mayson. I/Mal/Mark are/am still testing her, so I can't really state one way or the other whether she truly is broken... but I definitely am having a hard time figuring her out.

On another note... hehe "Rinser" 

posted on May 4th, 2009, 10:55 pm

One way or another Mayson clearly exceeds her, this could mean one of three things.

Mayson is broken (yeah probably... the Norway is insane... Excelsior Mark II is very capable... all round defense bonus to the first shipyard ships...)

Risner is broken (Possibly, though perhaps i'm being premature in stating this and should spend more time playing with her)

Both are broken (This one is perhaps less likely however with the strength of Mayson, quick station build, torpedo turrets, Excelsior Mark II and all round defensive boost to early ships AND the Norway of doom... Plus Risners far more limited single boost to the Akira and Intrepid.... as well as having to tech up quickly for somewhat more "plain" bonus ships from the Avatar than the ones any other avatar gives you.... i donno, perhaps it is)

I'll play a few more games with the Phalanx over the next couple of days and get back to people on how it is. Perhaps we are wrong and the ship is okay Dominus_Noctis....

However i still have a niggling sensation that having 2 restricted bonus ships on an Avatar, that aren't actually that powerful (im taking strategic power to the actual race here not the units power in individual situations) just doesn't seem to cut it compared to the other avatar's around.

posted on May 20th, 2009, 5:41 am

i think risner is broken, you can win with mayson, you cant with risner, mayson is fine, risner just needs to be brought up

posted on May 22nd, 2009, 4:00 pm

The phalanx, with it's special weapon on is wonderful if you're trying to defend against ships coming into your wormhole.

It's got area damage, and by firing it a whole load of times at once, a fleet of 8 Phalanx's + 8 whatever else (usually monsoons, canavarels since) are bloody effective at destroying Destroyer spam.

Admittedly, it's no use against a fleet of Battleships, but if you're in a position where you need to camp, chances are you're pretty screwed anyway. One time I've found it useful is on Nivarna II when it's 4v4, and you're constantly fighting over the middle bit. Most of the time, your fighting fleets are going to be other fighting fleets, but it's quite effective against your 'neightbours' sneaking a couple of fleets of destroyers over and popping them down your whole when you're not watching.



That said, it could do with a tweak or two. When you've got access to a miranda II, the phalanx seems positively useless, since spam-munching is the only use I've found for it, and the MII beats it hands down. The central issue with improvement is trying to work out what you want it for.

I firmly believe, in line with cannon etc, that the Sovvie should be /the/ Battleship for the feds, with the Descent class being a nominal flagship. The main problem people have got with the phalanx is they assume it will replace the Sovvie as the ship of the line, the big (albeit limited) BB that will go toe to toe with the enemy warbirds etc.. (admittedly, the sovvie could do with a few tweaks too, but nevermind).

In my opinion, before you tweak the phalanx, you need to carve a role for it. Given the fact it's got an Area of effect weapon, it's naturally lent towards fighting fleets, so I'd designate it some kind of "assault ship", designed not as a battleship, but to ensure your battleships can do their job, i.e, taking out other battleships.

To that end, I'd switch the weapons as follows:

-Increase the range and damage of the fire for effect by a factor of 1.5

-Give it two Maghana (whatever) phaser arrays, give it a firing arc that's roughly "Binocular" (i.e., target ship gets hit twice, and there's a large segment of the beam that is firing to either side

-Replace pulse phaser with light quantum pulses (ala Canarvarel, not MII)

-Give it some sort of shield bonus against cruisers and DD's

-Change the special weapon so it switches from being a DD killer to a BB killer. i.e "Focus Beams", so the Fire for Effect shrinks to 1/4 of the size and does 4 times more damage, and give it a mobility bonus. Might be worth tweaking it's range so it's short range not medium and the shield bonus switches to BB's. Doing so would also turn off the quantum pulses.