Dawn of War 2

I had the pleasure of sitting down with TASK3R to discuss balance issues of patch 2.6 and what we can anticipate in possible upcoming patch changes.

Caeltos: Outer Reaches is a very well-received map and is generally really awesome to play on. Many top replays are played on that particular map, and it is very favored within the competitive players' map pool. So the thing is, since Outer Reaches is originally based on its Dawn of War 1 counterpart, does Relic ever plan on bringing more Dawn of War 1 map ports into Dawn of War 2?

TASK3R: Ice Station Obelis is another conversion from Dawn of War 1 as well, but it is not as liked as Outer Reaches. Right now, there are no plans to do more conversions.

Caeltos: Alright, so the second thing is, how do you personally feel 2.6 is settling in so far? Are there still some balancing concerns that you're looking into at the moment? Or are we still waiting for a bit of the whole experimental phase of metagame to wear off?

TASK3R: Right now our attention is split between supporting Chaos Rising and working on Retribution. The game has gotten super complex and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to balance the game as the race and commander count rises. Right now, I really rely on the active community to point out issues for me, as I just don't have time to stay on top of that task myself. I'm happy with how close the game is balanced right now considering the variables, but there are still issues I want to take care of. Some of it may wait until Retribution, we'll have to see.

Caeltos: I can definitely understand things become a lot more difficult, since each match-up has to be fair, and with the implementation of a new race along with the new commanders, it takes A LOT of work and brainstorming to make it pleasant for all players. But I'll not ask anything more regarding Retribution, even though I do want to ask endless amounts of questions regarding it and everyone wants spicy details. We'll just have to wait and be patient.

Caeltos: This is primarily from a Chaos Space Marines' point of view, but I figured I might ask anyway. Khorne Havocs are really really not all that useful. Has this unit caught your attention with a bit of a "This unit needs something", and is it something you're looking into?

TASK3R: Yeah, I want to change Khorne havocs, but it will probably be in the expansion. If Chaos players have a niche that they think Chaos is weak in I'd like to know to see if we can slot them into something more useful.

Caeltos: Awesome, I'm sure I can try and round up some Chaos players and see what we can brainstorm. But if you ask me personally, and this is just my view on the situation, Chaos has lackluster early-game options. Some people suggest that Khorne Havocs become a long-range "artillery" functionality unit, and I can see the idea of that. It allows you to not have to being forced to get Grenade Launchers. But at the same time, there are a lot of different ways you can probably address them. But this is just one of them, and it might work with a bit of value adjusting and whatnot. Simply my point of view on the matter.

TASK3R: Yeah, artillery.... we've noticed that.

Caeltos: But also, I can understand on artillery not maybe being ideal. I mean, if it's a long range distance firing machine, it would be pretty tough to deal with from other races' perspective if you could manage to field 2x of them. I suppose it still depends on the values of the unit and functionality.

TASK3R: No, sorry. My comment wasn't related to your suggestion. We've known about Chaos' lack of artillery though.

Caeltos: Chaos genbashing in general is lackluster; is this something that you've paid notice to?

TASK3R: Yeah, I'm aware of the limited gen killing as well.

Caeltos: Looking forward to Retribution, and great work so far guys 2.5 is great

TASK3R: Not enough ork nerfs though?

Caeltos: Haha. Personally, I would have liked to have seen some more, but it's still a fun match-up nonetheless. Chaos just needs to pull a few tricks out of its hat. Orks are too generalist with the friendly melee_heavy change, that is what is making some ideal choices to kill Sluggas and Stormboyz a lot more difficult. And that is affecting all match-ups. You can't necessarily field walkers to kill them, since they are so effective at countering walkers with the current Warboss flavor of the month. Using "Use Yer Choppas!" and tearing down non-melee resistant walkers comes off with such a nice reward. I feel that if Orks are going to keep the melee_heavy, I want to see melee resistance put back on walkers to be ideal anti-melee. That way, at least, Orks can kill transports if they get into the thick of things. But walkers become a lot more viable in order to hold their own against the masses of melee units. Walkers pre-Chaos Rising were really good just for that purpose. They made approaching melee a lot more strategic, and I think we could see that fit back into the game again. It is not very often we see walkers excel just at that role. Or what, do you think? If I might mind asking.

TASK3R: I think walkers, and particularly vehicles, are not cost-effective enough. I am paying attention to it closely.

Caeltos: The infamous Spore Mines on retreat- do you think they are a bit cheesy or just clumsy play from the opponent? There are mixed feelings on it, and quite frankly, the trend seems to have faded away as of recently. But I just thought I'd ask anyway. Maybe you are not supposed to say if it is either, but I think the question people want answered is- are there any plans on maybe reducing the damage output on spore mines on retreat? This question is from a Tyranid player perspective as well.

TASK3R: We're experimenting right now with new spore mine mechanics, because I don't think the current design suits Dawn of War 2 gameplay.

We ended the interview here, and hopefuly this little glimpse of information can give us some information about what's to come in the future. Vehicle and Walker buff perhaps becoming a more dominant factor like they had in vanilla-pre Chaos Rising, and Spore Mines not messing up retreat paths anymore? Who couldn't be excited?


Editor's Note: Since the original composition of this interview, Relic has revealed Noise Marines as a new Chaos unit. It seems they will fill the requisite artillery and genbashing roles for Chaos. This also seems to mean that Chaos will not be overhauled in Chaos Rising much, if at all though, as the solution resides in Retribution.

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