IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
[1.86] ECA Overpowred? Or am I playing against them wrong?
OMFGitsST6
post 21 Aug 2020, 18:07
Post #1



Group Icon

Group: New Members
Posts: 1
Joined: 19 August 2020
Member No.: 22775



Hi all, I had no idea the ROTR community was so active! Sorry my first post is negative, but I have to get this off my chest: It's not clear to me as of writing this whether I suck or the ECA is genuinely a juggernaut. Every time I play against even a Medium AI, the ECA puts my on the defensive the entire game.

1. Early game is my opportunity that's when I have to do damage. Being early game though, it's hard to definitively defeat someone so quickly.
2. Then come their tanks. Now we're in the "trading blows" part of the game and they're chucking Leopards and Gepards at me with a steady rhythm. Not too bad still.
3. Air power starts appearing. Tigers will scoot in, fire off their payloads, and scoot out. Harriers are only a problem because they loiter and reload without ever having to return to base. I have air defense this still isn't a big deal.
4. Mortar tracks. This is always omen of the coming apocalypse. These things plonk out a round like very half second, have a great range, and do a respectable amount of damage. Depending on who I'm playing as, air is the best counter I can think of unless you have long range artillery of your own.
5. To kill the mortar tracks, I'm forced to push constantly. When I do, it feels like a coin toss that my entire army will be vaporized by a swarm of Tigers and Harriers. And the only way to rid yourself of the Harriers is to just fight them. You can't hit their airbase like every other faction.
6. Later in the game, ECA tanks pulp infantry, shred armor, are supported by mortar tracks that force me to choose between micro-ing my defenses or my units to keep them alive.
7. Then the ECA specials arrive. I don't remember the name of that neutron artillery offhand, but that and the Manticore superheavy are horrifying. The neutron boi has a huuuge range and its attacks are basically a general's power . It reveals itself for a second or so and then it's gone. By the time you've even seen it reveal itself, it's too late. Your army/base/defenses/etc. will be obliterated. You can kill it as revenge, but that doesn't repair the damage to the units you relied on for defending your base to respond to mortar tracks. The Manticore superheavy is super cool, but I don't feel like it fits the ECA. They're not a frontal assault faction and this thing is nigh unstoppable. Its guns have artillery-like range that can outrange and outshoot most base defenses, it shrugs off even anti-vehicle weapons without batting an eye, and when it's used realistically and supported by other tanks, it has an extra aura of death. Thanks to the MGs on its roof, it's even pretty good against infantry. Only counter I can think of is airpower and a lot of it or maybe rushing it with bomb trucks--of which it takes several to slow down.

So the ECA haws the best range, the best heavies, the most versatile tanks (when upgraded), the best base defenses, no need to maintain their airforce, as good a secondary economy as anyone else. The only weakness I see them have are that they don't seem to have a lot of stealth detecting units.

Does the ECA in 1.86 really just have no meaningful flaws? Or am I just missing some crucial strategy to fighting against them?

This post has been edited by OMFGitsST6: 21 Aug 2020, 18:08
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
AlienWeaver
post 24 Aug 2020, 16:37
Post #2



Group Icon

Group: Members
Posts: 6
Joined: 22 November 2017
From: Egypt
Member No.: 16369



Well, what you said is somehow true, as i tried to defeat the ECA, even in easy AI, they're still a challenge, but from what i experienced, i tried to defeat the ECA on easy, medium, and then hard AI using every available faction, turns out, USA, China and Russia is pretty much a bad choice, but what about ECA vs ECA and GLA vs ECA? I easily defeated a hard AI ECA as GLA by simply doing an early rush to hinder infantry training while dealing with the Region Command (capturing or destroying it, depends if i already have at least 6 quad cannons or some scorpion tanks), i've done that several times as GLA and i won almost all of them, if they build the Deployment Zone before i deal with the entire base, it's too late, that's why i build the Arms Dealer right after the small scouting party consisting of at least 1 Technical, 4 Rebels, and a single Worker in order to build a barracks which's the cheapest basic structure connected to the tunnel network, you unlock the tunnel network when you build the black market, this small rush i did several times doesn't make it vital to own any standard or advanced technologies, the last structure i build during a Technical rush is the Arms Dealer, actually, the GLA has many anti-USA and anti-ECA technologies, this includes Toxins which can be removed by Field Ambulances, while ECA has little stealth detectors, it's best to use stealthed infantry, even the Ural Truck is useful against Harriers, they're Stinger Site on treads.

As for ECA, simply, defend your base and use "designed-for-defense" structures and units, it's really hard to defeat the ECA using factions other than GLA and ECA, i'm sure you know that GLA has the only command center that is a vehicle, and can be stealthed with an upgrade, no other factions have such ability, on top of that, GLA has the only large-scale stealth ability (GPS Scramblers), no other faction is using something similar to it, but this doesn't all mean every non-GLA units cannot be stealthed, the USA can hide their Comanches with an upgrade, also, the Pathfinder is stealthed as well.

I'll end this reply here for now.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Grendor
post 4 Sep 2020, 10:24
Post #3



Group Icon

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: 4 September 2020
Member No.: 22836



I have the same problem, the ECA is my favorite faction to play with but fighting against them gives me nightmares. I can only manage costly victories as the USA by using a lot of air power to destroy their solar reactor and then use tanks to destroy their base defenses and then reach their main base. With other factions I'd have to use tactics and playstyles that I'm just not good with because I never have to use them against other factions.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Major Zero
post 12 Oct 2020, 18:09
Post #4



Group Icon

Group: New Members
Posts: 1
Joined: 14 February 2019
Member No.: 19497



I don't know, ECA keeps disabling my buildings xD
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 



Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 29 March 2024 - 10:27