Mortar Overpowered?

Is it just me or does it seem like the mortar's Area of Effect/Splash Damage has just a slightly too big of a radius? I had some brutes well in front of a handful of gunners and the brutes were being targeted by the mortar and still the mortar's splash reached the gunner's even though they seemed to be well enough away.

Thoughts?

 

That's what i was thinking they should nerf about the mortar.

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having my mortar plow my enemies! But, when it comes to pillaging for plunder, those mortars just knock me senseless even when I give what seems to be plenty of distance from my Brutes attracting them.

 

Yeah they should decrease the radius of the splash damage because I had some gunners atleast 2 seconds away from the mortar shell but it still hit them

 

Mortars also blast troops over walls which is kinda weird , they are a pretty strong defense and they might need to be nerfed.

 

I don't hekked, post: 3061, member: 858"]Mortars also blast troops over walls which is kinda weird , they are a pretty strong defense and they might need to be nerfed.[/QUOTE]

I don't have any qualms against that per se, however wouldn't you agree that the splash damage is rather overly-wide?

 

I don't have any qualms against that per se, however wouldn't you agree that the splash damage is rather overly-wide?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it is overly-wide. Another solution would be just to keep the wide splash radius and decrease the amount of damage it does per bomb shell. So troops will still takes damage within the same radius, but just less of it. As of now, the mortar is a scary defense and I ALWAYS look for where its placed when attacking because of how scary it is , but I love it when I'm playing defensive replays ;D.

 

so with all this being said those of us that spent our Gold on upgrading should get that back right? I mean, I have been up against some heavy mortar action and I have won the battles. Training Brutes and Jugs to deal with mortar fire. I guess it is all strategy. If you send 25 men in at one time same spot mortar is going to make you pay. Plus, with witch doctor it really decreases damage. I am not saying I know everything but I learn how to think tactical after losing a few battles.

So I disagree.

 

I disagree too, I think the mortar is great as it is. If you nerf the splash radius it would become like a cannon ball (not to confuse with a wrecking ball.. just saying) just from the sky. I don't have any problems with that splash when dropping my troops, and that is because I learned from my mistakes and time my attacks now. Also I spread the troops as much as I can

 

Personally I don't think they need a nerf, they're pretty easily defeated when you let a brute get targeted and send troops towards it from the OTHER side, so they don't catch up to the slow brute and get deded, or get some fast troops inside its inner radius.

 

I agree with Havel. Just put some brutes to distract it while you drop some other units. Imo all the other defenses are pretty weak, so it's good that we have a mortar.

 

I'm going to have to agree with the first few posters. And Edward if you read the OP, he did do that. I also send brutes in first to take fire from mortars yet my gunners, who are very far away from where the mortar is dropping are still being hit, and one hit takes nearly half health. We're not saying the damage should be reduced leaving troops unscathed, we want to see the splash radius decreased. It seems like the splash radius is like 4-5 tiles in every direction of the point of impact.

 

Good comments and suggestions above. Decrease the splash radius.

Mortar placement is the main thing I look at when deciding if I should attack an island. If I see good mortar placement I just move on to the next one because I know my troops will get slaughtered. If they're placed in vulnerable spots I can rush them with brutes.

 

IMO, the mortar's time of flight offsets the mortar round's impact. Attackers get an opportunity to move out of the way; attackers that get fixed in place get hammered.

Attacks that distract the mortar with "heavies" (Brutes and upgraded Buccs) combined with a fast moving attack from another direction work fine. If you get the timing right, you can get the fast movers to move through the heavies into the defense's innards - woohoo, what fun.

IMO, the game benefits from having pirates and defenses with really different capabilities (and shortcomings) so that winning defenses and attack strategies have to use a "combined arms" approach with an effective mixture of items/pirate types. Figuring that out through experimentation and failure is part of the fun.

One of the defenses and one of the attackers will be the "strongest"; too much "regression to the mean" in capabilities could make the game homogeneous and, thereby, boring.

 

I agree with the first part.

I don't agree with the second part because it works against the first part.

If you have attackers or defenders that are clearly stronger than the rest they'll be used too much and take away from the variety of the game.

 

Well said doble

 

The allowed number of a defender type prevents "too many" of that type; e.g., at my level I'm allowed 4 cannon, 2 towers, and 2 mortars. So, I cannot load up on mortars. In fact, I have to figure out how to protect my most effective defensive weapon (mortar) as well as the hall and resources. My current defensive strategy evolves around fixing the attacker in place so the mortars can hammer them.

Similarly, the cost of a pirate type and its number of tavern slots govern how many of a pirate type I can employ in an attack. My current attack strategy is a 4 phase attack: 1. fix mortars' attention on Brutes, 2. send in Buccs on same axis of advance to support Brutes, 3. open flank attack with Gunners, 4. send in bomber or thieves to maximize loot.

The developers have done a fine job in balancing these issues. IMO, we should adjust our strategies to current conditions rather than asking the game to be changed to better accommodate our preferences. Of course, if something is wildly out of balance, let's complain; but in this case, IMO the balance is fine.

 

i'm ok with the current balance too. a little (well a lvld up brute ain't little but you get the idea) distraction from one side and a good spread of troops with range (gunners) from a another or hold them until the brute has had a good crack at the mortar should suffice. imo choosing the "right" base to attack is pretty crucial here and given that you only get 15 seconds can be a nervous task. also not over estimating you're ability with the troop load out on hand can come into play (i know i was way over confident at first but have learned the hard way...). getting in under the mortar range is key for the brute then send in the gunners (other but range counts here i reckon although if anyone has another troop choice i'm all ears). in general i have found that getting to know your troops well may seem a no brainier but pretty crucial too. quite a lot of opportunity to practice on the map, all those 4 battle bases...

 

So I've given it some thought and I have to agree that the balance for mortars is a little offset. I think EITHER, the range should stay the same from level 1 on, OR the pushback should be reduced. It just seems like the two parts working together make it the most deadly defense available

 

On defense, the issue isn't "too many." The issue is that the mortars are the strongest, so they must be placed in the most protected positions. We end up with most high ranked islands looking pretty much the same, with mortars in harder to reach places where they can survive longer and do more damage.

On offense the most effective recent attack against me consisted of 2 juggernauts and 58 gunners. Gunners are overpowered.