Balance - Offence v Defence

The last few days have been a good opportunity to test whether this balance is working. It is way off in my opinion.

Over 5 days from a standing start, people who focussed on building defensively lost big to people who focussed on bomb building on our server. After 5 days, a raiding clan had enough bombs to blow through the 6 T3 doors that protected my inner base and destroy pretty much everything in the base. Not only that, they were able to wipe out two other bases much larger than mine on the same night. This raises two problems for me.

As it currently stands, T3 is not worth the time and effort. T3 doors in particular are pathetically weak. Yes, there are tricks to layer them, but not within 5 days from starting a new character. The same goes for defensive thralls. Hour for hour, the bomb builders are way ahead.

Secondly, what is the thinking behind T3 building pieces being so weak that raiders can go through 3 large bases in a couple of hours. Seriously, where is the reward for people who like to build and where is the challenge for the raiders?

As it currently stands, the game massively favours offence. Raiding should be more of a challenge and building should be more meaningful.

This problem is acute on the new map as it is much smaller and offers far fewer places to regroup undetected after a big loss.

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We didn’t set out to test the issue. This was just our game experience - but the circumstances tell their own story. 5 days. Everyone from a standing start. Everyone putting in considerable effort. In the end 6 layers of T3 went like butter. It shouldn’t be a surprise, as the health of T3 doors was nerfed some time ago to make raiding easier I believe. From memory, doors have only 25,000 health as opposed to foundations, walls, gates and door frames which have considerably more.

As to repeating the experience, please, it was bad enough the first time. If the devs plan to ignore feedback, that’s a matter for them.

Base building goes way beyond just upgrading building pieces to Tier 3. Base design for defense requires a lot of thought. Without seeing your design, I cannot comment on it. But I will say this. I am seeing a lot of new players come to Conan with this new expansion, and they are making a ton of mistakes with their base designs. This is a huge topic and I don’t have time to go into good base defense design.

But I don’t think your base getting tore through is necessarily a problem with the design of this game or even your base. I know it sounds cliche, but the old saying, “the best defense is a good offense” could apply here.

That above article is a good read on why aggressive strategies will often win out against defensive strategies. That being said, my clan often goes aggressive early in all games we play (not just Conan), and then shifts to a defensive strategy for the long game.

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Base was set into a narrow cave with a single entrance. Three T3 doors in a series at the entrance set into a tunnel of t3 foundations. Then three more t3 doors in succession dividing up the tunnel, again set into t3 surrounds. Not so bad for 5 days. They got in through the doors. All 6 doors were blown when I inspected the wreckage. It didn’t take long. By the time I rezzed to my bed, they were at the last door and the room was on fire, so gg.

Bearing in mind they had enough bombs to do this, basically wipe everything in my base, plus two much larger bases nearby (including a vault, though I don’t know the configuration of those bases), and that it didn’t take them long, I have to ask the question.

I like building with the aim of creating a structure that can take a toll on attackers. The game promises so much on this score, but doesn’t deliver. Unfortunately, the current hp for T3 doors is not competitive even if you invest in foundation stacking and the cost of explosives (and availability of mats on the new map) makes it a no contest.

Maybe it’s just not the game for me, but I look at all the building options and they seem so promising - and yet, in the end, your really wasting your time building stuff when the opposition are out collecting explosives mats.

First off, like I said, it isn’t the game. Offensive players will often have an advantage over defensive players like you. However since you gave some insight into your base, I have to say, you are running an ultra weak defense.

Ah ok. Any tips on where to look to improve?

I have a weird question. But was anyone in T1 hit just as bad?

Cause you know, a T3 Structure 5 days after launch is a tempting target IMO. If I’m loaded with bombs, am I gonna use them on Sandstone, or Reinforced Stone/Blackice/DLC buildings?

A good tip might be to camouflage a bit, be a less enticing target.

At this stage, many bases were still wholly or partly T1. Mine was hit as part of a raid that covered three bases in one area. They hit me second. The third base was T3 with a vault. The first had a lot of T1 - not sure what was inside though.

What’s the point in having 1000 bombs if you don have a suitable surface to place them?

Trebuchet

Well, sorry to break it down to you but thinking that 6 T3 Doors will keep you safe after 5 days of playing is incredibly naive. Takes 24 bombs and some poison arrows and 5 mins to melt through. If you are in those single entrance caves all you need is a drawbridge.

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Looks the guys who did the raid have been banned, so it looks like something else was going on. Thanks for all the comments.

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