Currently, most reinforcements arrive based on certain conditions. Once the player reaches a certain point, destroys enough turrets/convoy vehicles, or an allied convoy arrives at the evac, then enemy reinforcements spawn immediately. Personally, I would prefer to see more reinforcements based on time elapsed.
I see two issues with Condition Based Reinforcements :
Devalues player speed: Several missions recommend haste, but nothing in the actual missions makes it more advantageous to go faster. In fact, if a player rushes and prioritizes objectives they can be penalized by triggering reinforcements before they have finished off existing enemies. Players gain no advantage using faster mechs or completing objectives faster.
As an example, with escort missions there is currently no reason to ever trigger the convoy before destroying the blocking force. The evac forces will arrive when the first vehicle gets to the evac point whether you get there in 5 turns or 50. If the evac forces showed up in 10 turns, I suddenly have a reason to get the convoy moving. If reinforcements show up before I can get the convoy to the evac than I have to fight through them and worry about them targeting the convoy. It also gives me the chance to get to my evac point before the reinforcements show up if I am quick enough.
Game can't predict when reinforcements arrive: A consistent complaint has been reinforcements suddenly appearing and Darius not warning us about reinforcements before they open fire. The thing is, in most missions the game can't know when the reinforcements will show up because they are triggered by a specific condition, not by time. We can't get a one or two round warning for when that Leopard will land with reinforcements because the game doesn't know when we will destroy another convoy vehicle or turret.
These early warnings would go a long way towards clearing up complaints about spontaneous reinforcements, especially if they indicate an area where the reinforcements will arrive at. There are Some reinforcements which shouldn't get early warnings, ambushes and enemies walking on the map, but a dropship should be relatively obvious before it lands.
I see two issues with Condition Based Reinforcements :
Devalues player speed: Several missions recommend haste, but nothing in the actual missions makes it more advantageous to go faster. In fact, if a player rushes and prioritizes objectives they can be penalized by triggering reinforcements before they have finished off existing enemies. Players gain no advantage using faster mechs or completing objectives faster.
As an example, with escort missions there is currently no reason to ever trigger the convoy before destroying the blocking force. The evac forces will arrive when the first vehicle gets to the evac point whether you get there in 5 turns or 50. If the evac forces showed up in 10 turns, I suddenly have a reason to get the convoy moving. If reinforcements show up before I can get the convoy to the evac than I have to fight through them and worry about them targeting the convoy. It also gives me the chance to get to my evac point before the reinforcements show up if I am quick enough.
Game can't predict when reinforcements arrive: A consistent complaint has been reinforcements suddenly appearing and Darius not warning us about reinforcements before they open fire. The thing is, in most missions the game can't know when the reinforcements will show up because they are triggered by a specific condition, not by time. We can't get a one or two round warning for when that Leopard will land with reinforcements because the game doesn't know when we will destroy another convoy vehicle or turret.
These early warnings would go a long way towards clearing up complaints about spontaneous reinforcements, especially if they indicate an area where the reinforcements will arrive at. There are Some reinforcements which shouldn't get early warnings, ambushes and enemies walking on the map, but a dropship should be relatively obvious before it lands.
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