Just copying the idea from Eigenscape’s post here. These kinds of community posts could be useful for developers to look at.
As of 5.0.3:
Talent 1: Heavy Weapons Specialist
Adv:
- Laser Drill splash damage increased from 50% to 100% of base.
- Laser Drill movement speed reduction increased from 50% to 70%.
- Laser Drill lock-on time reduced by 70%.
Dis:
- Laser Drill abilities are unavailable
Thoughts: A major upgrade from the previous iteration, actually worth giving a shot. Becomes super powerful if your ally has good vision control of spawn points.
For a suggestion to have this kind of power without ally reliance I would have it so when Wraiths cloak, they gain a largely increased vision radius for the laser to do its work. That or Cyclone lock on results in a massively increased radius.
Talent 2: Grease Monkey
Adv:
- Turret upgrades are 100% more effective.
Dis:
- Combat units cost 50% more vespene gas.
Thoughts: Mutation specific, I wouldn’t choose this on random maps.
I remember seeing on the forums that this upgrade doesn’t apply to the Fire Suppression Systems ability (where buildings are always healed slowly to 50%) and should be up to 100%. I would like that applied if this prestige is solely on turret defense and specifically mentions all upgrades being 100% more effective (Maybe even the healing speed of the mentioned ability?).
I have seen a suggestion by Dehakaburger on giving the SCV’s +3 more range to build. Would be cool for aggressive mass turret push/ salvage.
Talent 3: Payload Director
Adv:
- Hercules has twice the cargo capacity and unload units instantly. Science Vessels can use Tactical Jump and its cooldown is reduced by 50%.
Dis:
- Top bar cooldowns increased by 50%.
Thoughts: Really good. Our prayers have been answered. Science Vessel no longer trails behind sadly in order to catch up to mass dropship. Cooldown for top bar isn’t that bad as you can drop tank nukes with that increased pickup range, cargo capacity, and instant unloading/loading.
In short: I now feel motivated to actually prestige Swann. P2 is a bit bland, but Swann should be ok with these prestiges. I by no means am a Swann expert. Thoughts?
3 Likes
Improved but I’ll wait on some in game analysis from people before diving into this.
From the way it’s designed, the P1 laser drill isn’t meant for killing off enemy waves, it is meant for slowing them down (70% speed reduction is a lot) until your army is ready to engage it.
P2 is nothing special, it’s like Karax P1.
To be honest, Science Vessels should be able to tactical jump in vanilla Swann but without the CD reduced.
1 Like
Honestly i still see no real reason to use P1 in any regular brutal games.
The downside of P1 is both massive and really lame, making Swann a lot more boring.
As i said before i would much more prefer it to be switched, disabling the drill attack but giving a big cooldown reduction on Swann calldowns.
P2 is still bugged with some of the turret upgrades not being boosted properly.
And overall its not all that impressive of an upgrade.
Even its penalty is not all that relevant since you will be heavily mineral starved as P2 so extra gas prices are meaningless.
P1 prestige actually seems really amazing now. When your base is being attacked it can take out huge chunks of the enemy attack wave, without having to rely on a top bar ability.
1 Like
I liked P1 even before. Like it even more now. You can push out as soon as the drill is up with minimum forces - enemy is slowed to death.
The drill abilities are powerful, but not necessary to win.
P.S.
For example on Oblivion, I place turrets and tanks when two trains meet. Now the wave is approaching, it is 70% slower, it takes shot after shot slowly approaching turrets. I could clear the wave with 1 drill ability or now I just let them die slowly.
P1 prestige actually seems really amazing now. When your base is being attacked it can take out huge chunks of the enemy attack wave, without having to rely on a top bar ability.
The lock on time reduction is the main reason why P1 is real good now, though I haven’t seen any Swann players yet on clearing an enemy attack wave with the drill alone AND constant vision before they start tearing up your base.
Personally, it’s refreshing to see a commander have a unique wave clearing ability that isn’t just a big explosion, AND can be used constantly without downtime.
2 Likes
I personally feel Swann’s P1 is not only good, but unique as well. It is definitely a breath of fresh air, that’s for sure. The P1 cannon may not have as much burst damage as the other cannon abilities, but it more than makes up for it in utility.
Similar to Protoss stasis abilities, the P1 cannon cuts the number of units firing at you down. In particular if the terrain is very narrow like on TOTP. The slow effect allows for more attack salvos before the enemy reaches their attack range. Heavy weapon specialist (P1) also has stronger auto-attack damage when splash is factored in and locks on faster as well. Which over the course of a game may potentially add up to more damage than if you had the Concentrated Beam or Pulse Cannon.
My favorite thing about it though, is that it actively encourages different strategies. Rather than the same old mass Goliath or drop tank compositions, this ability really synergies with Cyclones, Hellions and to a lesser extent Wraiths. It just pairs so well with kiting units. It may not have the best damage potential, but it is a very fun style to play that is viable in brutal+ and perhaps beyond.
Swann P2 is a pure buff,it make the strongest stasis defense much more stronger, 50% more gas cost didn’t affect my troop building.(if you use Siege tanks and Thors well)
The style may be the same (mucho mucho towers), but Swann’s towers are still different enough for it to be a different type of fun. He can Salvage his. Also he covers different areas (most notable, AoE for ground and AA).
If nothing else, P1 Karax paired with P2 Swann should be a hoot!
I had some Stukov a game where I would save his Apocalisk and Aleksander CDs for when things really went south. To my delightful surprise, I ended up not needing either. It was all units and towers. Was a nice sense of progression to see that I was able handle things without having to rely on “panic buttons”.
For P1 Swann, I’ll still miss the Concentrated Beam and Pulse Cannon, but nice to see some of the preside completely work around staples in the toolbelt.
IMHO swann P2 needs a few improvements:
- cost and construction time of turrets reduced by 20%.
- regenerative biosteel upgrade (from armory) applies to ALL swann buildings and units (slow hp regen to full).
- Science Vessels can repair and cast shield on Swann buildings.
- Fire Suppression Systems upgrade makes the building take 30% less damage while active.
Also would be nice if Irradiate could be cast on allied structures and units to act as a carrier of the AOE damage cloud (it does not harm teammates).
1 Like
Swann P1
I’ve only tried it once since the new changes. It certainly feels better, but it still doesn’t scale too well in the later game. I’ve always been able to defeat the first couple attack waves with a turret or two, so it’s not much there, but it does help with pushing in the early game. I recommend all mastery points into drill upgrade, and use the first factory you build as an early unit to give vision on enemy encampments. Not much in the early game can shoot down a 2000hp flying building. Think of it as a way to buy you more time to get your death ball going.
Swann P2
Eh. If they ever buff/fix fire suppression, I might consider it again. But on defense maps, you usually want siege tanks so you can defend and push, not to mention they’re amazing. And as for stopping enemy waves, eh. Swanns turrets are either really good against certain enemy comps, or terrible against them. This prestige does not change that. I usually use turrets aggressively, camping enemy spawns, defending bots on Mist, protecting Auranas transport, building them at shuttles on miner evac… This prestige doesn’t really make them any different in those roles. His turrets are already really good due to two of them having splash.
Swann P3
I had fun with this prestige before the change. Sure, it was tricky, you had no detection, could only take out certain enemy waves due to the increased cool down, but it was fun dodging enemy projectiles and such with this prestige. Now though, it’s REALLY fun. It’s so easy to reposition your science vessels to either repair your Ally, give them detection, or to keep up with your teleporting army. Also, you can use them somewhat more offensive since it can cast a shield on itself, move in, irradiate some key targets, then teleport on out. And with the reduced cool down on top bar abilities, it truly gives Swann a global presence on the battlefield, responding to near anything at a moment’s notice. It’s fun, and I’m glad I already prestige to this before hand.
All in all, round boi is now rounder than ever.