7 years ago

Hand of Nod (opinion!)

Hi all!

Just wanted to dump an opinion here about basic (Barracks/Hand of Nod) infantry. Please note that I do like this game; I will play it any day and I am not somehow DEMANDING these changes from the devs. It's just my opinion on infantry! I'd really like to hear what you guys think, and especially dev input, on this.

My opinion is this: The Barracks/Hand of Nod situation is imbalanced, and does not do justice to flavor/lore/faction differences.

Hand of Nod has 5 units. GDI Barracks has 6. Some production buildings have more units than the other factions; that's fine per se. But in this case, Hand of Nod options are troublingly limited.

Both factions have your basic rifle/militant and missile/laser. That's sensible. It's when we get into mid/advanced infantry that we have a problem, in my opinion.

CORE ISSUE: Nod has Flame Troopers. Great! A classic, time-tested, flavor-appropriate Nod unit. Fills a very useful, commonly needed role. Problem is, now GDI fills that role as well. Shockwaves are a functionally identical unit. They have become almost universally recognized as a mainstay of GDI decks. They've taken away that advantage from Nod - an advantage that they've always had, game after game. Flames now have "nothing on" GDI. Their thunder is stolen.

Moreover. Scarabs might look like a one-up on GDI, an advantage they don't have. Except that Scarabs are easily dealt with by players with a little experience. They're nowhere near as competitve as the powrful and useful Jump Jet Trooper. So where's Nod's powerful, efficient, competitive anti-vehicle (Hand of Nod) infantry?

Chem Warriors. Almost just a redundant Flame Trooper. Don't get me wrong, they have alternative uses, but special attacks aside, they do the same infantry-melting thing as Flames.

Nod lacks flexibility, at least compared to GDI. GDI has three powerful anti-infantry Barracks units: Shocks, MG Squads, Snipers. AND they have Jumps, which are what Attack Bikes should have been - murderous little highly mobile anti-vehicle harassers. GDI's Barracks saturates nearly every counter, every role, with multiple infantry units. While Nod's Barracks lacks a proper anti-vehicle counter-infantry outside of the Laser Squad. And it's character-appropriate, lore-friendly classic infantry-melting specialty has been stolen.

I don't honestly know what could be done to fix this - I'm not a dev! Lol. I personally would have voted against Shockwaves being added in the first place - maybe they could have been functionally different from Flames? I know a lot of highly meta GDI decks rely on shocks now, so I wouldn't want to take that from them as it is. But I don't think limiting a factions arsenal/capabilities is a bad thing. I think it should be done to preserve flavor. Nod should feel different, play different from GDI. They shouldn't have a unit for everything, an identical unit to match the other side.

I'd like to see more Hand of Nod units, units that give them their character back.

Sorry for the exhaustive post - thanks for your time! Would love to hear feedback, especially dev feedback. Rock on devs, thanks for a fun game!

11 Replies

BattaIia
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
Good post! And yea, NOD lacks an early game advanced infantry unit. While this gap may not be addressed right away, I have heard a few rumblings about NOD units on the way, and one sounds like it may fill that role. But take that with as much salt as needed, after all, I'm not a reliable source.

I'll also agree with you that scarabs have lost their flavour. They are kinda like MG squads right now. Sounds great in theory, but it's a pain getting them into position, and they are entirely too easy to remove. So for now, Nod has to splash the infantry and rely on it's more robust middle-game to take the wind out of their opponents sails, where GDI has a MUCH stronger starting game, but seems to flounder in the mid-game. So GDI needs to set the tempo for the game, and ensure it's not stolen by the NOD player.

Good post, was a good read.
Odigitria5
7 years ago
Thanks, glad you agree! Lol, yeah, I thought my post was pretty disorganized. I had all these thoughts in a jumble.
Personally even MG Squads are better/competitive than Scarabs, once they're set up the MG usually has to be double-teamed (if you're talking barracks/war factory units) to be taken out. With a blocker in place they're even more survivable. The scarabs can't use blockers to help them, not typically anyway, and can't provide fire support from a distance.
PremierVenoth
7 years ago
Agreed - I wrote elsewhere that Nod needs a beefier anti-vehicle unit - the classic cyborg. And the current cyborg in game needs to be called the reaper... not sure how they got the names messed up. But whatevs.
Classic cyborg should get the reaper gun, shoots only ground, and hits like the JJT's. They should also be slow and heal in TIB - making them the plodding JJT answer.
I'd also like to see an alt unit for NOD - like the mutant hijacker (complete with music!) that can, if you let it, take over a Sandstorm/juggy/even a wolverine if the enemy's not paying attention. The Mutant hijacker was the ultimate gamble - take a unit for yourself - but the hijacker could do nothing unto-himself.
Then - maybe pulling from Renegade - Nod could use the Stealth soldier (or chameleon soldier) - as a kind of answer to snipers. They get stealth - obviously - and can move through enemy unit spaces. Special attack should be like +50% damage on the first shot coming out of stealth (assassinate or surprise attack, or whatever) then the damage goes down as they shouldn't be good holding a space - they're hit and run units.
BattaIia
Seasoned Ace
7 years ago
interesting idea on the stealth soldier, but every infantry unit in the game (including snipers) are stealth detectors. Only exception is a scarab, but are you really going to test a scarab with your stealth unit? =p
PremierVenoth
7 years ago
That's true - a stealth infantry would have to be anti-vehicle to make any sense in game... so I guess scrub that, I'll stick to my Mutant Hijacker request.
Can I just get Natasha Volkova in the game? How'd GDI get the snipers and Nod didn't? I'm so confused.
Odigitria5
7 years ago
Snipers for GDI goes back to Tiberium Wars, where GDI was given Snipers as an advanced infantry. They're a reasonable addition to GDI flavor - much more expensive/higher tech level than Flames, slower at killing infantry, but of course long range. It makes some sense.
That said if there had been a thematic redesign of the factions from the top, snipers would fit much better with Nod's modus operandi, alongside flames. Generally speaking, as a whole, I always felt that Nod was/should have been mildly themed/balanced towards dealing with infantry, whereas GDI was/should have been mildly balanced against vehicles.
xrmiao4
7 years ago
Yeah Nod has disadvantage on pure infantry fights but chembuggy can come out very quickly.
I don't think it has to be balanced since handOfNod is just an option to start. You can start with warfac and airtower as well.
Odigitria5
7 years ago
True enough, Hand of Nod could simply be a weaker starter/less options for carrying the game. I'd still like it to be more viable, however. Three basic ideas: keep the units it has, (remove/heavily modify Shockwaves!) and add one more competitive unit option.
Odigitria5
7 years ago
Incidentally regarding Chem Warriors: I used to think that they were only worth it for Jade builds. Surprisingly, the tib chemical damage effect (plus a mild health/dps boost over equally leveled flames) is still worth the xtra tib when used right, even without the Catalyst Missile. I like using them a lot now even though I never run Jade.
Odigitria5
7 years ago
As suggested above, Air Tower is a legit alternative start for Nod. The more I think about it, Nod Air is robust and flexible (despite still being less tanky and more expensive than ground) in a similar way to GDI Barracks being robust and flexible, covering nearly all counters. Whereas GDI Helipad build isn't nearly as flexible - it's good but more flimsy/situational/specialized. I've never seen a GDI air deck work right but seen plenty of all-air Nod decks. I use one myself on occasion.