If possible, link me to discussion to save time if it changes my mind (or I see too many people already disagree with me).
If by 'delegated to side roles' you mean 'used in more creative ways', then that would be awesome. I would prefer to see cloaker used to sneak armies into bases, and shields used to push assault, then just see them plopped down on porc on top of each other.
Thats what factories are for anyway. Horizontal teching. Spend resources to get certain technology that other people may not have. It could make shieldbot and cloakybot actually useful as a second lab choice.
About teammates, when I complain about communism you always say "Well just use better teamwork!" ಠ_ಠ