Controlling the Chaos

Work In Progress

Introduction

The battlefields of Auraxis are chaotic and while this is unique it is one of the reasons many players get frustrated. For example infantry players get frustrated when air or ground vehicles impact on their infantry vs infantry fights, air to air pilots get frustrated by ground based AA and tankers get frustrated by C4 Light Assaults using Valkyries or jump pads to hit them out in the field.

Many players quit before gaining enough experience to be able to manage the myriad of threats to give them a good time. One core example is the love of many infantry players for the Biolab; a play space where there is no threat from enemy vehicles which gives them a safe, predictable infantry experience. Another is that of tankers for the north Indar plains where the lack of bases and flatter terrain make it harder for infantry to sneak up on them.

In this piece I will detail some major changes to reduce the impact of separate domains (infantry, air, armour) on each other, both through balance and world changes.

Balance Changes

To separate the domains the following balance changes would be instigated:

Aircraft vs Infantry

To give aircraft their own play space ground based AA would have limited range, but higher damage up close. Lock on weaponry would also lock on faster if the aircraft was closer or larger.

To shift the ESFs away from ground pounding infantry AI weaponry (rocket pods, PPA/Airhammer/Banshee) would be repurposed to act as A2A weapons. This would make the Liberator the go to air to ground aircraft as it was originally intended.

Ground Vehicles vs Infantry

Tanks would be given the AP main cannons as default, instead of HESH. This would encourage new tank drivers to fight other vehicles, and also give them an easier entry into tanking.

The Rocklet Rifle would be changed to be a primary weapon rather than a secondary weapon for the Light Assault, reducing the impact of Light Assaults on vehicles and thereby making Sunderers more survivable and infantry fights last longer.

World Changes

Bases would be infantry centered, like those of PS1 with sufficient cover to prevent vehicles from impacting more than the fringes of the built up area. Infantry would have attacker spawns available within the urban environment.

Ground vehicles would run LLUs between every base, making them required to advance the front line. More bases would be removed from the map and replaced with vehicle capture points to guide vehicle fights through interesting terrain as they carry the LLU.