I have to say I'm really happy with the new construction system. We're getting ever closer to being able to build sustainable, defensible bases that rival the ones built into the world by the dev team. Still, there's something I'd love to see - Larger structural shell type bases with a solid roof and walls, modular bays, and a Central Management Console (CMC), which cost 5000 or more to construct a completely empty one. There would need to be a limit of one per relative area (could be a half-a-hex radius of no-deployment) that affects all three factions, in order to make them the central defense point that is surrounded by the defenses and systems we already have in construction. A variety of different shapes and styles could be available, but the idea is having structures that are 2-3 stories tall with togglable roof access pathways (an infiltrator could hack the nearby access panel to deactivate the shield blocking the access path), hardpoints on the exterior for building additional turrets, hardpoints for the vehicle spawners, and universal bays inside that can be used for various things: A module bay where placed modules apply to the entire structure A spawn room bay where the doors must be hacked open like the roof access pathways in order to get in and attack them A core bay tied to an exterior core silo, so the core powering the base can be kept contained A HIVE bay to keep it protected, however it comes with a nasty trade-off. Access lifts or teleporters to get between two point of the base quickly It would take a lot of time to build up a base like this, and would still need to be supported by an array of surrounding walls and skyshields for outdoor defense, but the result is a long-term base that has features that make it defensible against a large force by having a medium to large force. The toughest part of a long defense will be keeping the cores topped off while there are tanks pounding on the base or soldiers knocking at the doors. So the nasty tradeoff for the HIVE is that the CMC can be hacked and captured like any other base. It must actually be hacked by an infiltrator to initiate the takeover process, and if unopposed for 5 minutes, it will be taken in full by the faction of the hacker. This is why the non-deploy radius applies to all factions. If the base has run dry of all its energy, the hack to take it only goes for 2.5 minutes. The point of this is to bring back some of the best parts of PS1 - a base that can be defeated in multiple ways (destroy the core to de-power it and everything within/attached to it, destroy the HIVE to get rid of it, destroy spawn tubes then hack the CMC to take it over) which has a definitive layer of gameplay separating the vehicle layer from the infantry layer, in order to make ground fights less dependent on direct vehicular support. This also makes it so you can't simply fly three fully-loaded Galaxys to a base, dip under the skyshield and drop everyone off to bust up the entire base in under 3 minutes. Right now it feels like structures are defensible against vehicles, but still really weak to a good surge of infantry. As time goes on, these would be the foundation for players building bases on a naked continent that is full of crystals and has no bases aside from the warpgates. The only way to win is to keep HIVEs powered and efficient, knock down enemy HIVEs, and complete any alert-based objectives (which could be anything from collecting materials to occupying hexes to raw kill count). One detail I forgot when first writing this was how to destroy one of these bases. If the structure's core is depowered, it is vulnerable to damage, but takes a lot of sustained long-term damage to actually destroy. Destroying a base would destroy every hardpoint within, but the HIVE would already be depowered by the time the base can be destroyed. If it is powered, it is immune, and damage inflicted is ignored. Artillery would not harm it, but can damage hardpoints on the surface, deactivate the roof access blockers, and drain a bit from the core on every hit. Though defensible, the HIVE could still be attacked and taken down by infantry. The other way is to bring loaded ANTs and shoot disruptive matter into the exterior silo, which causes the structure to take direct damage to the exterior and all the hardpoints (except the HIVE).
I main engie but haven't invested in construciton kits. If I turn up with my mana turret and ask nicely will you build me a pill box? that, for me, is the most exciting thing they've added since those infantry fighting towers.
I think the structures you can build shouldn't become too big. They are still meant to be smaller bases in the end. With 3 full galaxies you can take out pretty much any base, so why should constructed bases be able to defend this when even the Crown couldn't handle this? I think constructed bases already have pretty good defense, but they need more ways to attack. They need more far range artillery, so you don't just always sit in these bases waiting a decade for some enemies to arrive. Orbital Strikes for example seems like a really good addition.
The difference is that non-constructed bases will run dry and become useless if they are not maintained, so the mechanic for defeating them is stopping the ANT flow, which also stops the progress towards the continent capture points from maintaining that HIVE. But three Gals could hypothetically take this down just as easily - hack the roof access points, then capture & hold the CMC or destroy the silo or HIVE.
There are many ways to destroy player-made bases, but the thing is also, when you have bases with a solid roof, then the Glaive IPC is not usefull anymore. Imo, it is actually the current best way to destroy these bases. Just let an engie quickly build a base near the enemy base, let him use the Glaive, and then just bring some MAX units and aircraft. But when you can build bases with solid rooftops, I think the Glaive would become pretty useless, since everyone would just build the rooftops instead of the AA shield.
It is meant to have high risk reward. Yes it is more defensible, but all the modules and damage mitigation will drain a solid roof base quickly, even faster if soldiers and vehicles are being deployed from it. If you don't have a dedicated and defended team of ANTs constantly keeping it powered, it will run out of juice if any sort of moderate-sized assault force comes a'knockin. The Glaive will help take out (and/or EMP) the turrets it hits on the roof, as well as disengaging roof access so you can just drop MAXs straight in. It will also help drain the silo that much faster, so if the goal is to deactivate the base and capture it in full, the Glaive will help with that quite a bit. And remember that destruction isn't the only option. The CMC makes it possible to take the base intact (probably minus the spawn tubes since destroying that seems important) so you can bring a force to take the base and not need to spend 20k resources to build it back up to where it was.
