New updates coming this week in Firestrike:
Coming Soon: Balance Improvements!
After the end of the special event on October 19, we will begin rolling out an update that adds significantly more resource loot from AI-controlled bases on the map.
Over the last two weeks, the design team has been intensively monitoring the Season 2 game economy. As players have certainly noticed, the limited access to Single-Player enemies and increased resource costs have created a bottleneck when trying to save up for major upgrades.
We have been aware of this issue since very early in Season 2, but until now we did not have enough data to decide exactly where, and by how much, we can raise resource income without throwing the economy out of balance. With the analysis now complete, we are ready to start scaling up loot.
After this update, players at all levels will find much more Supply, Fuel, and Hardware available in AI-controlled bases across the map. We hope to see players fighting more battles and winning more loot, since the rewards for battling will be significantly bigger!
Note: These increases will apply only to the Multiplayer Map – not Single Player – to encourage more cooperative Clan activity and map exploration.
A few other things we have learned in Season 2:
Teaching Efficient Strategy
Many mid-level players, around TOC Levels 5-10, have been winning less resources in battle than they should, because they are spending too much time attacking low-level enemies. While it is certainly fun and easy to destroy a Level 2 or 3 opponent when you are Level 5+, the large loot penalty for attacking “down” several TOC levels means that you are not gaining nearly as much resources as you could.
Generally, the most efficient way to loot more resources is by attacking similar-level enemies, or at most 1 or 2 TOC levels “down”. You may take more damage, but the increased loot amounts should more than offset this.
To help guide new players toward more efficient attack strategies, we will be adding extra on-screen messages about the existing level-based loot penalties. These will not be news to advanced players – most TOC Level 10+ players are following the optimal attack strategy already – but we feel it’s important to educate newly-rising commanders before they find themselves too short of resources.
We are also planning some adjustments to the Single Player menu listings, to make the best targets for each player easier to access. This week’s update will not change the availability or rewards for Single Player enemies, but the listing order of existing enemies may change.
PvP Balance
We are still checking on PvP balance issues, like “battalion sniping” and resource losses due to raids by higher-level players. This week’s update does not include any PvP rule changes, but as always, we will continue to monitor the situation and make more adjustments as necessary.
Good hunting, commanders!