Revisiting WZ2100

[themousemaster]

I wondered where that WZ2100 TvTropes page came from. Guess I shoulda read the credits.


The rescue mission can be accomplished with nothing but trucks and VTOLs, yes. It's going to involve a LOT of "defensive creep" though. And you will have to wall off that 1 area on the eastern edge that spawns constant cyborgs with AG defenses (or flashlights).

Once the "retreat" of the alpha units is underway though, being able to cover them via VTOLs actually makes it easier than trying to cover them with an MBG.

If you want to make some rookie tanks as well, it couldn't hurt... given the "mass recycle" that comes in what I like to call the "haha" stage, you can just tell yourself the rookies are unmanned drones, and then never rebuild them ;p

[Skrim]

You're right, G4 was possible with only trucks and planes. It was basically a lot of LZ-fortifying and Rearming Pad construction at the beginning, then an SAM-destroying session with my BB-VTOLs, and finally covering Team Alpha with bombers as they made their way home. I did lose a pair of trained Phosphor bombers to NEXUS Scourge fighters while they were covering Alpha's retreat, though, and both of Alpha's repair units, which were useless anyway.

G5 was exactly how it was in 2.0. I had built overkill defenses again and spammed AG-bunkers everywhere, so I just had to recycle the Alpha units and my remaining VTOLs and then keep rebuilding whatever NEXUS destroyed with my trucks. There was one VTOL Factory which got captured by NEXUS, destroyed and rebuilt by me 4 times. All in all, though, it wasn't too hard.

G6 was pretty much a straightforward curbstomp. My MBG, CB unit, mobile arty and ace VTOLs were back, and were now joined by a second commander battlegroup(or SBG) with the Team Alpha hero crews. The NEXUS Angels were defeated in an early CB exchange, their units didn't stand much chance against mine, my VTOLs were still able to go toe-to-toe with the enemy SAMs(albeit, just barely), and their stationary defenses got bombed or shelled into oblivion.

I don't think the Needle Gun is strong enough yet to be worth replacing my HCs, but I have used Flashlights instead of AGs for the SBG. The AGs are losing a bit of bite by now, and the extra range of the Flash is convenient. Still, with the Pulse Laser coming in the next mission, IIRC, I think I'll let my MBG stick with the AG for now.

[themousemaster]

I don't think the Needle Gun is strong enough yet to be worth replacing my HCs, but I have used Flashlights instead of AGs for the SBG. The AGs are losing a bit of bite by now, and the extra range of the Flash is convenient. Still, with the Pulse Laser coming in the next mission, IIRC, I think I'll let my MBG stick with the AG for now.

Ah yes... I forgot that the AG isn't QUITE as good, for QUITE as long, as it used to be. You should be rockin' your Scourges now though, so range in general isn't as much an issue as it was.

Have fun with the Ion Cann... er, LasSat!

[Skrim]

Finished G7, G8. The cutscenes make G8 soooo much better. As for the actual missions, G7's actual battle phase went pretty much like G6, eradicating all NEXUS presence on the map, nothing out of the usual. And the rest of the mission was setting up my new main base near the silos(but trying not to capture them), an airbase in the southwest (where NEXUS' airbase was), and a huge network of defenses.

I basically covered the southern edge of the map in air defenses, covered the northern half of the map, and a bit more, in a grid of RMG bunkers(each separated by 2 spaces so that 1 LasSat blast hit only 1 bunker), made two grids of artillery emplacements on each of the two centerline plateaus, and scattered various odd sensor towers and other defenses here and there.

The defense plan worked out surprisingly well. None of the NEXUS ground forces actually made it on to the map; they'd get blasted by a storm of artillery as soon as they spawned. Their air units didn't fare much better. And I had a group of basic trucks that kept rebuilding Gamma Base's structures and arty emplacements every time the LasSats tried to destroy them; and of course, with a factory in Gamma Base, I could keep rebuilding the trucks whenever they got blasted themselves. So the LasSats kind of got stalled or something and never actually managed to hit my main base, before they themselves got destroyed.
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I've been trying some stuff with my tanks and planes as well; I replaced the Tiger planes with Retributions as soon as I got them, and did the same with my tanks when I got the Rail Gun and Pulse Laser. The Rets are impressively quick; my veteran HEAP bombers are easily hitting 700, while the tanks are maxed out at 125, speeds which I haven't seen on main battle tanks since the early Alpha days. That too, for no loss in durability. Only thing is, it looks pretty ridiculous on anything other than a hover(but then, hey, most Warzone combos look ridiculous), and in the graphics, the body doesn't even touch the tracks - there's an annoying empty gap between them which I can't help but notice. The Cobra body suffers a similar problem, but the gap is nevertheless a bit smaller in its case.

As for the Scourge, it's been... ok. According to the unit design screen, after having researched all the upgrades I've got for it thus far, it does a bit more damage than the Lancer(380-25 for the Scourge, 348-26 for the Lancer), and a lot less than the TK(700-16). And that's pretty noticeable in-game too. Still, the extra range and homing gimmick makes up for the comparative lack of firepower. Sort of.

[Zarel]

Okay, there's definitely a bug here, then.

Fully upgraded Scourge should do 570 (300 +90% of upgrades).

Fully upgraded TK should do 400 damage (250 +60% of upgrades).

[Skrim]

Yeah, but my Scourge isn't fully upgraded yet. I haven't got the Archangel artifact yet, so I presume that whatever upgrades it brings, I don't have yet.

[Zarel]

Yeah, but TK is still doing way more than it should...

[Skrim]

Correction: I was trying to remember the numbers off the top of my head, and got them a little wrong. Here are the correct ones:

- Lancer: 448-25
- Tank Killer: 700-18
- Scourge: 480-26

So yeah, the Scourge looks like it's perfectly on track, with 60% upgrades so far. The two rockets look bugged.