Bomber Variants/Stealth Bomber

[latent socket]

Bomber has trouble right now, ngl. You can see it coming from a mile off and can easily counter it. The thing is really powerful but is too big, unwieldy, and visible.

I propose potential upgrades to the base bomber to increase its potential. Some upgrades/changes can be permanent or the new base version to increase its potential.

1. Stealth Bomber. Its not gonna get active camo or a stealth cloak. However, it will require units to be within 100 or 200 meters to spot it. The hope and goal is that the Stealth Bomber variant will fly at the flight ceiling of the game to maximize its distance from potential threats. It can fly by and drop bombs on targets. Or it can hover and constantly drop bombs. Because it is hard to spot its survivability will increase.

2. Heavy Gun Platform. Imagine the Specter Gunship and apply it to the Bomber model. Upgrade the Bomber's main cannons, to the point that they hit hard enough to kill HACs in 1 shot, maybe a Hover, not a Railgun tank though. Now add high quality machine guns to replace the bomb bay. Super high rate of fire, located on underside of the Bomber. Think Gunship machine gun, but add it to the Bomber. Maybe 1 auto machine gun on top of the Bomber. Majority of fire should be under the Bomber though.

3. Missile Cruiser. Scrap the bombs and replace them with the OG Fighter missiles. The super hard hitting ones from when it first got introduced. Give the Bomber a 6 missile magazine so it can pummel any target in sight. Keep the homing ability, maybe weaken it a little. Other weapon should probably be machine guns for light defense. Gunship quality, enough to spray and pray at whatever comes close.

4. Strike Bomber. Upgrade the armor and the speed of the Bomber. Add the ability to deploy a temporary, destructible energy shield for defense. Bomber should be able sprint into danger, drop bombs, and sprint out.

Feel free to offer opinions. Yeah, nah, meh, or changes.

@civic gorge @rigid plinth would love to get your thoughts on each variant

would also be nice if bombs could fall 2x as fast, do 2x as much damage, and have 2-3x more explosion radius

[autumn quarry]

I think it should have less health, slight faster and less bombs to make it fair to use.

[civic gorge]

Echo is just going to reject preserving the bomber entirely so he will be OK with 2 and 3 respectively and reject 1 and 4

[latent socket]

yeah, probably

[autumn quarry]

The problem with the bomber is too slow and useless when they have AA powerful than the actual use.

[latent socket]

yeah but none of that really fixes the issue that its a huge sitting duck for tanks or gets swarmed by wasps

it either needs to remain at range or it needs to be able to use speed or stealth to bypass those same threats

[autumn quarry]

Is a giant target like the colossus

[latent socket]

yeah but Colo gets to use range to do its thing, Bomber has to get directly above enemy base

[autumn quarry]

The bomber could use stealth once is hit or uses bombs it shows up out from the cloak

[latent socket]

granted, I think Colo range might have been nerfed a little too hard

[autumn quarry]

Colo is ok now.

[latent socket]

using stealth after you get hit is pointless since everyone still knows where you are.

Bomber isnt supposed to be invisible

just hard to spot on radar/map

[autumn quarry]

That's gonna be fixed with dram by setting the code.

It will fix the burrow crabbing too

[civic gorge]

1. Is like maybe as an upgrade buy not as the default.

2. Just get a whole new model.

3. The range might be an Issue, would need to have a Spherical Attack range so your not flying at the Cieling and a reverse of 1 it makes it super detectable.

4. No on the shield but upgrading the speed idk about armor it's got a Lot, add afterburners.

[autumn quarry]

Same with the cloaked hunter

[brave bay]

Until we get a proper radar signatures instead of vision range that we have now i think this is not nessesary. If there ever will be a working radar showing that something is moving on the ground/in the air beyond vision range, this could be a cool idea to have a strategic bomber that is not showing on radar blips

[latent socket]

my idea would be to limit the stats on the bomber's concealment, forcing enemies to be close to it to detect it, that way it works with the current system

[autumn quarry]

And then the radar building could be useful as to show hiding targets.

[civic gorge]

It is possible to plan around future updates we know that dram wants to do more with the Radar building and early warning is an obvious pick.

[brave bay]

Would work on AI, but as soon as a player spots it and he will see it beyond 100-300 meters - its of no use

[autumn quarry]

We can only speculate.

[latent socket]

thats the limiting factor. players would need to coordinate on it

plus, when we are dealing with a metropolis as big as yours, its entirely possible the bomber slips past your lines and bombs your harvs from the rear

COM would get a notification that harvs are under attack and where the attack is occuring, but cant see the threat. A unit within range would have to do that

[brave bay]

The one advantage metropolis bases have is vision, you have 50%+ of the map fully revealed with your buildings, so you see any flaking enemy forces in advace, same would go for the stealth bomber, even com will have enough time to react and dir control the spare fighter near hq to shoot it down

[autumn quarry]

The bomber is too big to go unnoticed

[civic gorge]

Concealment isn't the right mechanic for the bomber

[rigid plinth]

Oh boy do I have things to say.

[upper sphinx]

I think that making the bomber fast, ranged, or a flying armor block are the 3 fixes I’m not too unhappy with were it currently is because it is funny but it is not that useful

[rigid plinth]

Put your weight behind option 3!

[civic gorge]

Why haven't you voted?