1
Mods / Re: [0.95.1a] Junk Yard Dogs - V 1.7 - 02/17/22
« on: March 08, 2022, 08:06:57 AM »
Having played against JYD now in a large multi-faction playthrough, I'd say they're one of the more powerful factions in the game right now. Almost everything is overtuned slightly, with the main culprits being the speed of their carrier ships and the power of their drones. If you only had some of their elements, like their heavily armored cruiser and destroyer tanks, and the drones, or their fast large carriers and and drones, they'd be balanced.
But all the elements together add up to a fast force whose capital ships can kite destroyers and light cruisers, with armor-heavy mid-range ships that can soak up and stop a capital ship assault, coupled with drones that deal more damage than most fighter and bomber LPCs. The fact that the Flea can fire two waves of torpedoes, along with its rocket barrage, is very powerful. I get that the idea was that the lack of modularity was supposed to be a weakness, since you can't change out the built-in drones, but since most of these drones are flat out better than their equivalents, and a JYD fleet has every role covered, there's no real vulnerability to exploit.
About the only fleet that can deal with them is a point-defense heavy tank force moving in formation, or a phase fleet that can get to the vulnerable rear points of the big carriers. On their own, JYD ships aren't that great, because they rely on synergy with the rest of the JYD armada, and that gives the impression that they're not a powerful faction. But with a full carrier fleet using their tankers as support, they punch far above their weight class.
Just something to keep in mind. If you cut down the Commanding and the Fluffy's speed by about 10 and 5 units, respectively, and took the Flea down to a single torpedo, that would go a long way to making the faction balanced. Honestly the main element that makes them so powerful is their speed; increasing hp and armor and decreasing speed across the board would make them pretty manageable.
But all the elements together add up to a fast force whose capital ships can kite destroyers and light cruisers, with armor-heavy mid-range ships that can soak up and stop a capital ship assault, coupled with drones that deal more damage than most fighter and bomber LPCs. The fact that the Flea can fire two waves of torpedoes, along with its rocket barrage, is very powerful. I get that the idea was that the lack of modularity was supposed to be a weakness, since you can't change out the built-in drones, but since most of these drones are flat out better than their equivalents, and a JYD fleet has every role covered, there's no real vulnerability to exploit.
About the only fleet that can deal with them is a point-defense heavy tank force moving in formation, or a phase fleet that can get to the vulnerable rear points of the big carriers. On their own, JYD ships aren't that great, because they rely on synergy with the rest of the JYD armada, and that gives the impression that they're not a powerful faction. But with a full carrier fleet using their tankers as support, they punch far above their weight class.
Just something to keep in mind. If you cut down the Commanding and the Fluffy's speed by about 10 and 5 units, respectively, and took the Flea down to a single torpedo, that would go a long way to making the faction balanced. Honestly the main element that makes them so powerful is their speed; increasing hp and armor and decreasing speed across the board would make them pretty manageable.
.