The focus on this thread is the internal balance of the Tech Marine hero. While the assumptions are 1v1, the topic is about internal balance, so it should apply to all game modes.
Lets start with the obvious:
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Turrets
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Turrets
The patch has nerfed the turret so that it now does less damage than it did before. The effect is that the turret is essentially a supression device with modest area denial ability. It can be dropped on its own if placed in a corner of the map, or its rear arc is somehow protected, but now requires support to be effective. Its primary advantage is its armor type : Building. As such, it is very resistant to small arms fire, so only dedicated anti building weapons will bring it down quickly.
Now the bad stuff. The turret costs 200/30. For that price, you get a static defense that doesn't have any more utility than a devastator squad. You save on req, but pay a steep price in energy. In effect, there is nothing that a turret can do in tier 1 that a devistator squad can't do just as well except being immune to CC tie-up. The cost in energy alone is enough to ensure that this item never gets built in tier 1... it simply will not perform as well as a combat shotgun upgrade, wargear, or earlier tech. On top of that, the turret now requires support to have killing power. This means that the turret now acts as a sort of anchor to your army. Leaving it unprotected is a waste of resources. Again, I can plant a Devistator squad in the same place, with the same fire arc, and get the same results most of the time.
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Teleporter Beacon
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Teleporter
Double edged blade. On big maps, this gives the TM a way to retreat (read, redeploy at high speed) to non-HQ sites. The down side is that it becomes a death trap. Smart enemies dont kill beacons when they over run an area... they set up weapon teams covering it and then drive the TM and his allies to it. The HQ has superior healing and turrets guarding it. Externally, this ability is not as useful as webways or tunnels. Orc players must love this thing.
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War-gear
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Stuff
Mines : While a novel concept, in practice you don't have the time to use them, nor spam them effectively. They need to place much faster or have a much larger footprint.
Bionics : The HP upgrade is nice, but hardly noticeable. The real reason you buy this upgrade is that you expect to be facing CC units and want the "sweep" to knock them down. The problems with this power are two fold. One, its near impossible to use this power offensively. Two, the cool down on it is so long that it can not be used twice in the same battle. The major advantage is that it uses no energy, but this is little comfort when it misfires due to knockdown, or misses entirely as the battle moves away from the TM hero. Tactically, it is only useful when the TM himself is the focus of an attack by CC units, and then only to retreat. This power is totally useless near a teleporter beacon. Even when used offensively, the knockdown has no side effects and does no damage. Units will be back in the fight very quickly. It doesn't even knock down a Warboss for example.
Mark Target: Very, very deadly. A razor back and plasma gun melted a terminator FC in about 2 seconds. Nasty stuff. The armor also buffs the TM's ranged weapons. I have no idea how much, but any little bit helps. This is clearly the best armor choice available to the TM.
Plasma Gun : My only complaint with this weapon is its rate of fire. If the TM moves at all, he seems to have to re-target. Its like there is a 0.2 second set up time. I have seen him fail to fire on enemy units as they run past him for example. The overcharge option is great.
Consecrated Bolter : Brothers in arms ability is decent, but I have not seen the buff to ranged allies do much actually. Perhaps it is perception bias, but I have never seen any noticeable increase in lethality of units near the TM under this ability. Also, it seems that the ability works on Turrets. Not sure about that, but I did see the aura affect the turret. Go figure. The main weapon DPS seems average at best.
Master Crafted Bolter : Instantly suppresses a target and does major damage! Or so the tool tip says. I can't say that this is a bit of wargear I can ever find a reason to field. Supression on a single unit is over rated, and the damage isn't anything I've ever noticed as exceptional. I've not used it enough to comment on its base DPS.
Purple grenade of EMP : Great wargear option. Not so great if you miss your target. Not as easy to time/target as you might think... anything you might throw this at is pretty fast and runs through terrain. You almost have to bait the enemy into standing still... usually by giving them a dreadnaught duel. Missing with the EMP can turn the tide of the battle against you just as quickly as it works for you when you hit. It makes the coin-flip outcome of dread duels more pronounced, but it does give the advantage to the TM player. In short, you can't justify not taking this option over refractor field wargear if you are up against even light mechs.
Refractor Field : Uses up energy to get you a few more HP. It does what is says and says what it does. Tactically, this wargear makes no sense. You will never expose your TM to direct combat with high-damage units, and while at range you need all your energy for Brothers in arms or other powers. The extra hp isn't worth taking a hit from a rocket and being left unable to use your tactical abilities.
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Specials
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Goodies
Blessing of somethingorother : Effect is to repair all allied mechs for a short time. Internally, this is a great power. Externally, its an awesome power. In team matches, this must be a god send. The down side is that the recovered health isn't all that much given the extreme nature of AV weapons. A single use of this power doesn't buy the average mech enough health to sustain an extra hit from most AV weapons. It will keep a crippled mech from falling to soft counters like turret or plasma-gun fire. I use it, I like it.
Tactical Drop Pod : Another good for cost power. The ability to reinforce nearby tactical squads if good, but you have to almost time the use to a battle where your tacs are taking heavy losses. In those cases, how is adding another tactical squad to the situation, without ASTKNF charged, sargents, or special weapons going to help. This power doesn't seem to have the turn-around effect they were shooting for. Dropping more tacs into an ASM fight is just a waste of req/zeal. Its nice when you have to put out a fire on the other side of the map, but lone tacs are easy prey.
VD : VD is just not worth his price tag. Its all been said before. For his cost you can get a standard dread or predator tank, and some extra scouts. The drop pod feature is nice, but unnecessary most of the time. Add to this that the is not very much more useful or durable than a standard dreadnought, and you have a great unit going unused. Finally, he only comes out in tier 3 with heavy investment, and can not stand up to or win fights with nearly any other tier 3 unit.
Termies : Like em.
Orbital : <3
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Order of battle
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Units
Scouts : The TM hero needs very few of these. Mostly for capping and scouting. Knock down power requires energy investments into a very fragile frame. One can not deny the utility of shotguns, but without added investments, scouts will not perform for cost. The TM can not tank for them, and his ranged buffs will only help them for a short time.
Tacs : Bread and butter units. The ranged-hero design of the TM and his AV ability in tier 2 make Tactical the ideal unit for the TM player.
Devastator heavy Bolter : Cheap, good damage, mobility problems. Still, with the ranged nature of the TM, these units will perform well most of the time. They outshine turrets, but they are also fragile. The primary failing of this unit is the inability of the TM to keep them safe. With no CC ability to speak of, the TM can not screen them.
ASM : Given the total lack of CC ability of the Tech Marine, ASM are more in demand if you even suspect that the enemy is going to have jump units. The main problem with ASM is that they have zero synergy with the Tech Marine. None of his powers make ASM more effective, and they out run him most of the time. Given the undeniable state of the CC vs. Ranged dynamic, ASM are almost manditory... but less effective than other units of the same type for lack of a supporting hero.
Plasma Devastators : Great unit, but reportedly doing bugged OP damage. If brothers in arms works with this unit... whoa! The long range is great. The down side being that this is a unit that requires some expenditures to get the most out of. Scouts to reveal the fog of war, and ASM to keep them alive once they are spotted. The whole package is pretty expensive, but probably worth it.
Razorback/dreadnaught : Nothing to report. The TM can repair these units, and can do "under fire" repairs with some limited success. Refractor fields help with this. Ultimately, his repair feature will not out pace AV weapons... it just buys time. Unsure if repair powers stack.
Predator tank : Good, not great. Offensive ability is better than a tac squad, but oddly seems less durable. For cost, worth it.
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General notes
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IMHO, the TM hero is the least effective in the game. His building options have many trade offs. Turrets don't have stopping power anymore, and the teleporter beacon has mixed results depending on how badly you need its functions. Both are nearly cost prohibitive at the point in the game when they would be most useful. Often, by the time you can afford either of these items, you NEED to buy something else. I find that I almost never build either turrets or beacons as a result. This defeats the purpose of the "builder" class hero.
The TM has no tanking ability, his CC is the weakest in the game, and his ranged DPS is only modestly better (if at all) than other heroes. Watching two TM's battle in melee is comical.
As a result, he can not support his units in the early part of the game, which makes map control a very delicate situation. He's just another bolter... most enemies are melee oriented, and even if they are not, they can grind a TM for ever in CC.
His ranged abilities are a mixed bag. His AV consists of an EMP grenade with no follow-through. (Either you have AV to kill the mech, or you are only stalling for a few seconds.)
His support abilites are also a mixed bag. If you build ranged units to make use of the Brothers in Arms, you will see that power nullified by CC units. If you build bionics to use the sweep, you are already setting yourself up for failure, as most CC units have a knock down ability, which can nullify the sweep.
He has no mobility advantages like the Mek or Ravener.
My suggestions:
1. Make the bionics sweep ability work off his base energy and give it a stun effect. Decouple it from wargear, this should be a basic ability of the unit from the start.
2. Bionics upgrade should give him a power-fist add on for his robot arm.
3. Allow teleporter beacons to be deleted with some cost recaptured.
4. Turrets are fine as is, but the cost in energy needs to be lowered. 30 is too much for what you get. 200/15 would make more sense and encourage the TM to be the "builder unit" he was intended to be.
5. EMP grenade should be "sticky" like meltas.
6. Venerable dread needs to be overhauled. Make him a 900/900 unit and competitive with carnifex thornbacks, or give him some meaningful upgrades like multi-melta/plas cannon options.
Originally Posted by Akranadas
