As charger Crusher development continues, I have encountered a crossroads on whether to replace base Crusher or not. I need feedback to help me make a decision before next TM
Initially, I was convinced by Walter's argument on replacing base, which is pretty valid.
This is a copy and paste from the design doc that sums it up pretty well
Essentially......Both castes accomplish similar tasks, just with different ways to achieve them. Base is actually more powerful than charger due to better AoE abilities and not needing any distance to charge. Furthermore, doing this allows more design freedom as we can use some of the same abilities as base or base it off from them without needing to make it fill a differant role than base.
- conflicting purpose will lead to one being favored over the other
- harder to balance both at the same time
Here is the counter arguement..
Several people have come up to me and made several decent points that base should remain.
- Base's AoE abilities actually provide it a unique purpose compared to charger
- Base can be a tanky AoE machine that suppresses pushes while charger can be a bowling ball that rolls through marine lines
- Base charge is better at sieging, replacing would nerf xeno sieging
Here are my observations from testing
- There are few areas where base is better than charger. Notably big red north LZ1 caves. This is mainly due to "drifting" that chargers can do.
- Base has superior survivability while charger is more of a hit and run caste.
- Charger deals more damage while base's abilities make it a better team player. Notably are some valid strategies that use base to cover charger in a deadly combo.
- Base has a more versatile charge as they don't need to gain momentum
Keep in mind, the primary arguement here is if base is different enough from charger to give then separate purposes rather than one being better than the other at the same purpose and being chosen over the other.
I wrote this at the gym, so it's sloppy. Will update later.