Zero-K v1.7.11.0 - Balance and Quick Modding

This is a balance update, primarily regarding Emissary and Cloakbots, and also includes some vital fixes. There is now a quick modding system that can be used to test out balance, or perhaps just to create wacky game modes. The current position of Cloakbots in the meta made them primes target for some !Fun! buffs.

Quick Modding

Many balance suggestions are expressed on the forum with no easy means of testing. To address this, there is a new setting during game setup, under Advanced Options, that can be used to change almost any aspect of the game, no rebuilding or rehosting required. Check out the wiki page to see how to make faster Glaives and long-ranged Bandits.

Balance

Conjurer:

• Jam radius: 256 -> 192
• Can area cloak with 192 radius and 8 energy drain.

Knight:

• Range: 280 -> 350 (to see if the game breaks).

Sling:

• Cost 110 -> 100
• Range 840 -> 860
• Projectile speed increased 3.8% (260 -> 270 elmo/s).

Dagger:

• Damage: 100 -> 95 (Glaive is the only small unit affected by this change).

Dirtbag:

• Speed: 75 -> 78 elmo/s
• Sight: 350 -> 280
• Damage: 36 -> 45

Blitz:

• Cost 300 -> 285

Emissary:

• Speed: 81 -> 72 elmo/s (Impaler 67.5, Lance 66, Tremor 51)
• Range: 1180 -> 1120
• AoE: 96 -> 84
• Projectile velocity reduced by 4.5% (330 -> 315 elmo/s)
• Added overkill prevention vs. static targets.

Constable:

• Buildpower: 4 -> 5

Toad:

• Sight range: 660 -> 900 (very few units have more than 600 LoS).
• Laser range: 820 -> 850

Reef:

• Disarm missile tracks.

Faraday:

• Health: 2200 -> 1700

Hacksaw:

• Range: 480 -> 490

Fixes

• Made the build height display (Alt+Scrollwheel) show the water level.
• Fixed units sometimes skirmishing cloaked units.
• Fixed Dgun commander aiming.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed a player to crash the game (exploited around the 11th).
• Fixed Scorpion aimpos, allowing many units to hit it reliably again.
• Fixed the commander window closing itself randomly.
• Fixed slowbeam target selection.
• Fixed wade effects.
• Fixed extended Raven usage spamming the minimap with dots.
• Minor performance improvements.

woah, that Knight buff

Cloakybot OP again(noticeably no ronin outrangeing llt). Reef definately OP and useable(missile cost important to remember). Tons of small changes that change things quite a bit.

The knight changes are probably too extreme. 330 range might have been fine.

if I understood it correctly, conjurer got area cloak ability with a small radius. That's something it shouldn't have. it'll allow groups of knights with a reaver here and there to catch skirmishers which will be their only reliable early game counter.

Well Heavy tank users want op assualts and op artillery but thats not enough they want op raiders too :(

its not premature there's a thread about op\up blitzes (probably several) historically. And blitz was always a very fine line.

That said, the emissary nerfs my help off set the buff.

i believe the los buff is to offset the air unit radar bug.

sick sensor suite bro

Watching a coop game yesterday, I had the impression that the conjuror cloak field might be a bit of a Circuit trap. I saw the AI was automatically activating the area field and wondered if that might adversely effect its early game energy balance. At the 5 minute mark, there were 9 conjurors representing a -72e sink. Since they were just wandering around as they usually do, using the area cloak wasn't actually accomplishing anything.

To be fair, they weren't constantly turning on and off which suggests AI had the e to do it, but I wonder if it was still slowing production.

Tbh i really don't see where the Conjurer change came from.