Hi!
I’m relatively new to Stetmann so I won’t claim to be an expert (lvl 15 + 65 mastery ATM), but I feel that he falls short compared to many other commanders. Although I feel I understand his place in the continuum the various commanders’ playstyles, it seems to me that, for all the effort one can put into properly positioning/micro’ing/macro’ing Stetmann’s armies, other commanders can perform at least as well, if not better, for less effort.
I have a few general issues with him that contribute to this perception (which is, admitedly, an opinion). I would love to hear what other players think of Stetmann, strategies that help him achieve his greatest potential as an ally, etc.
1. Many of his upgrades/abilities simply undo weaknesses that are “baked” in.
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Multiple simultaneous research
I first noticed these as I was levelling. His level 9 ability allows you to research two upgrades at once… but, every commander can do this by simply building more than one of that structure. By contrast, Stetmann is limited to only 1 of each structure (sans hatcheries). I propose that this unlockable passive upgrade would have little to no value if Stetmann didn’t have this innate weakness (which seems to exist for no reason other than to make Stetmann weaker?). -
His energy (purple) Stetzone can be seen in the same way-- as a mechanic that returns Stetmann’s units to baseline rather than truly “buffing” them. it would hardly seem as powerful if Stetmann’s units didn’t lack passive energy regeneration to begin with!
2. His Stetellite mechanic is admittedly powerful, but also very tedious.
- I thought my favorite part about Stetmann would be the Stetzone fields created by the Stetellites. I do like them, in concept: they are an interesting reimagination of creep and, in terms of gameplay, very versatile and powerful. What I do not like is having to deploy one every 5 seconds, especially if I am actively pushing with my main army, which quickly becomes nearly pwerless outside of a Stetzone. Stetmann’s units already require a high level of micromanagement in order to be effective, I simply do not like having to constantly drop creep tumors on top of my army mid-battle. Maybe the Stetzone radius should be larger, or maybe there should be a mechanic that causes them to gradually expand without player input, but deploying them as often as I’m required to do so is not a very fun mechanic, even if it is powerful.
Stetmann’s units require lots of pretty much every kind of investment (time, resources, micromanagement, …) and don’t really pay off that much.
- By the time I’ve made my first battlecarrier lord (BCL), I’ve spent 450M/300V on the unit alone. If I want this unit to have access to its abilities, I will have spent another 200M/200V on those (although the upgrade costs are theoretically spread across each BCL I make). The resource cost for this unit is tremendous. The time cost is also great: I need to have teched up to a greater spire, morphed at least one corrupter and then mutated it into a BCL, researched its abilities, etc. With all that investment, you would assume that this unit will be ready to dish out some pain, but that is hardly true: the BCL needs to be managed for its entire lifetime so that it doesn’t deplete it’s energy performing its basic attacks. Consider a single H&H wraith (400M/200V): this unit is available sooner, costs fewer resources, and is arguably more powerful than a BCL. I’t’s one thing to say that Stetmann isn’t an “a-click commander,” but are his units’ strengths enough to justify their immense level of investment?
- Given the extreme costs of his units/army, they are remarkably fragile: one wrong move or lazily managed skirmish can result in heavy losses. Even with his army at his peak, Stetmann rarely “feels strong” the way other commanders do at the height of their powers.
Since I would rather not make this seem like just a rant about Stetmann’s relative weaknesses, I thought of a few personal suggestions that, in my mind, might make Stetmann more enjoyable:
- Allow his “upgrade resource cost reduction” mastery to apply to unit-specific (ability) upgrades. Stetmann’s units are already expensive, why “nickle & dime” me on his masteries?
- Allow a way for players to expand the “Stetzone frontier” without spamming his topbar every ~5s. Even just making the Stetzone radius larger (possible mastery?) would go a long way toward reducing the “death by a thousand cuts”-style burden of constantly spreading Stetellites.
- Make Stetmann’s units less reliant on Stetzone bonuses for power–or, alternatively, make them more reliant on it but slightly more powerful when this condition is met. Currently Stetmann’s units have, at best, similar power as comparable units but require much greater investment (particularly in terms of micro). I propose that the greater skill floor required to be successful as Stetmann should be accompanied by a greater skill ceiling.
- Further explore the uses for Stetzones outside of simple passive bonuses. I enjoy the benefits of Stetzones a lot, such as boosting mineral speed in early game. However, I sometimes feel as though I’m not making strategic choices about which color field to use as much as I’m simply using the field that makes my kill (purple) or not die (green). I like the idea of an offensive component that can be activated (e.g., topbar) to apply to the Stetzones (think Lucio’s “reverse amp” ability from HOTS): for example, the green field could deal damage over time or reduce armor to enemies, blue could slow enemies, purple could deal a “feedback over time” damaging effect, etc. There are a lot of possibilities.
Phew! That’s all I have. Although I do think Stetmann is on the weak side, he has a lot of potential with solid gameplay. My biggest issues are his possession of frustrating mechanics (spamming Stetellites) and “weaknesses-disguised as buffs” (e.g., ‘purple Stetzone<->no passive regeneration’; ‘simultaneous research<->limited buildings’)
What are other players’ thoughts? Do you enjoy Stetmann? If not or if so, why? What are some reasonable changes that could make Stetmann feel better to play as or with?