Dawn of War II Podcast Commentary

Because maybe you only want the hard data and don’t want to listen to all of the little fluff pieces that make up this 35 minute podcast.

Anyone who’s spent any sort of meaningful time with DoW II will agree that the balance is buggered to hell and back.  And if you disagree, that probably means you play Tyranids and you need to GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN.  I’m not going to go into all of the balance problems here; you’re aware of them if you’ve played the game, and if you’ve been holding off buying it then the only thing you’re really interested in is whether things are going in the right direction.  You latter types should probably just skip down to the conclusion.

Relic has been…struggling?  Trying really hard?  I don’t know, they’ve been doing something for months now trying to get their game back on track.  They must have eventually come to the conclusion that the very fundamentals are flawed and beyond tweaking, because the upcoming patch, 1.4, otherwise known as the There is Only War Update(because you see in the 41st millennium, there is only war), promises to completely revamp the core game.  So far we know from the random info dumps and battle reports that most units are having their roles rethought, with others moving up or down the tech tree, and at least one unit being stricken almost completely from the game.  It’s crazy man, it’s like totally insane.

Things between apostrophes are paraphrases, things in parentheses are my thoughts on their comments.  Let’s jump in:

~2:15-The general philosophy behind the changes seems to be: give units more nuance and synergy (which I can get behind.  They say that a big problem was that people were fast teching and units were becoming obsolete.  Which is funny to me, because the first tier is basically where all of the bullshit was, and the bullshit didn’t become obsolete upon upgrading.  But their heart is in the right place, so, I’ll save the befuddlement)

New faux-tier, 1.5, comprised of t1 units that require energy.  Power costs seem to have been increased across the board, and it’s been mentioned that upgrading to t2 is now way more expensive.  (The idea being, I guess, to provide a more ambiguous choice in whether or not to tech to t2 or stay in t1)

Banshees specifically mentioned as ‘not having been good in their role’

~4:00 relic shamefully admits that they spent hours on end playing their own game for ‘testing’ purposes.  One can only assume spirits and jazz cigarettes were also involved

‘Originally going to make more conservative patches, this update was originally planned for the fall but then we realized that the prospect of 3v3 teams comprised entirely of Ravener Alphas wasn’t…entirely favorable’

~5:00 ‘This update…be for the community, yo’

‘Rippers: Oh god we are sorry.  We’re really sorry about that, guys’

~7:00 Upgrading to T2 costs 300 req, 125 power, 70 second research time

Banshees are now considered ‘t1′ units, they only cost req.  Platforms and Rangers are considered t 1.5, they have power costs

‘Suppression weapons weren’t as useful in retail because people didn’t make very many squads before jumping to t2, now there will be more squads, and thus more of an opportunity for platforms’.
(I’m not really sure that a dearth of targets was ever the problem with platforms, but I guess we’ll see how that settles.   Most decent anti platform strategies start in t1 anyway, so they’re going to need to either make it easier to protect them, or make them beefier)

~9:00 ‘Jump troops way more expenseive’

‘Public Beta coming…soonish.  General feedback appreciated’

~12:00 FAN QUESTIONS!

Are there any hero or hero abilities that have been changed in the update?

‘A lot of the wargear has changed cost, some abilities changed a lot’

The Ravener gear has been nerfed to fairness(about.fracking.time.)

Kommando’s gear buffed.  Techmarine gear generally buffed

~14:00 War gear less expensive in general

How does the concede option in multiplayer work?

In team games, teams need to unanimously vote to concede.  Individuals can only vote to concede once

~16:00 Any changes to rangers/eldar in general?

Rangers less expensive.  ‘Eldar have received a lot of attention’.  Brightlances, and once again Banshees are mentioned.  (Again, they mention vehicles as a reason units become obsolete.  Who is this mystery race that suddenly only has vehicles in t2 such that all specifically anti-infantry units are useless?  Really now, Relic)

“Not necessarily any new (Eldar) abilities”

Banshee wail is in t1.  Wraithlord Shuriken cannon “much better now”.  Warp-spiders mentioned.  Eldar now “working as intended”

Meltas and Haywire bugs fixed(thank you jesus)

‘Brightlance fires twice as fast, but not at patch 1.3 damage’

Do we have to use brightlances?

‘Seriously guys, brightlances are more effective now.  Stop thinking about them as they are in 1.3′

‘Banshees fully upgraded can fight the t2 canifex 1v1 and are “maybe” able to take it down(subject to the normal deviations present in any fight, I guess.  Which means that defending platforms is a much more viable option.  It’s mentioned later on, but Banshees are now particularly good against things like ASMs and other units that may try interrupting the platforms)

~20:05 Ethereal Slash has not been modified.

Do Tyranid Warrior Broods still have all the synapses?

‘Synapse has changed quite significantly.  Gaunts are now 300 req.’  They are a bit unclear here, but I think they are saying that hormas, once upgraded, go faster and can leap attack at enemies, whereas they need to be synapsed to leap over cover.

‘Warriors have their own support role now instead of only providing synapse’

Warriors only have one synapse now

Gaunts can work now without warrior backup

~23:00 What do Tyranids get at t3 other than the ranged carnifex?

A supposedly very buffed lictor.  Zoanthrope changed,’is now basically anti-infantry and artillery.  Also has vehicle stun ability, but neither the ability nor their regular attack does damage against vehicles now’

New tyranid unit, venom brood, is a t2 tyranid warrior squad, comes with 3 venom cannons, and is strictly A-V, costs 400 req.  Adrenal gland is a t2 upgrade for the vanilla warriors.  ‘more expensive, turns them into melee beasts’.

‘t3 lictor way more of a lone hunter, more scary, can cloak without energy drain with upgrade’

~26:00 spore mines can now either explode and stun units instantly, or build up to an explosive detonation over a period of seconds for massive damage (but can you actually shoot them now?)

~28:00 Hey let’s talk about Space Marines

‘Space marines seen as a good all around race, so not as many changes have been made.’

’shotguns streamlined, no longer randomly knockdown but have a triggerable knockdown ability’

~29:00 Let’s talk about Orkz!

What sort of a creature is Ork?  What is Orky?  Do the red ones really go faster?

‘Stikkbommaz never intended to instagib generators.’  Squad size increased to 4.  Can lob up to 8 grenades.  Are now ‘long range disruption unit/artillery unit’

‘deff dreds now cost half as much as the dred, about half as effective’

‘Lootas can hide when they set up their weapon’

‘Kommandos much more exciting in t3′

~32:00 LET’S TALK AGAIN ABOUT SPACE MARINES

Many SM units now have heavy infantry armor(resistant to ranged weaponry, weak against power weapons{ie banshees})

‘Tac blobs a little bit overpowered but not really over powered.  But don’t try to blob too much because things like D-Cannons or Plasma Devs will wreck you with your new weak against power weaponry armor’

‘Flamer much more devastating weapon, so now you can try to keep opponents in t1 with it instead of holding out for rockets/plasma to deal with t2 threats’

‘Terminator cost tweaked, it can hit the field a lot more often now.  Predator now has armor upgrades( but does it still suck?)’

EXCITING CONCLUSIONS:  Relic has at least addressed every single major issue from OP things like Ravener Alphas (or at least their wargear) to Stikkbommaz to tac blobs.  They’ve also taken good looks at UP stuff like Banshees and Brightlances and Platforms and…Eldar in general.  It’s still hard to say at this point whether or not 1.4 will ‘fix’ the game, but these are all very much steps in the right direction.

What’s most important is that it’s got a lot of people excited about playing again, and if you are reading this and considering whether or not to play the beta DO IT BRAH.  I don’t want the community to be reduced to former Ravener Alphas

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