MRL rocket launcher unit - broken or description wrong?

[Ulysses]

Hey guys! This might be one for the TinSoldier & devs, but throwing it open to the forum to see if any Dom veterans know the answer...

I was messing around with units I haven't tried before, and was surprised by the stats for the MRL multiple rocket launcher... If the Dompedia is correct, then these babies come with 1,480 hit points (about 50% more than a same era howitzer, which is kinda nice)

But the best part is that they're advertised to deliver 1,452 "damage per rocket" with 10 "rockets per attack"... By my math that makes 10x 1,452 = 14,520 damage per attack (whoah... now that's way beyond NICE!!)

Does anyone who uses MRLs know if that attack damage value is correct? Or is the description a (tasty!) mistake?

GM Jiro reckons the attack damage should only be 1,452 total... so the number of rockets doesn't mean anything... But if it's as simple as that, why would anyone bother researching Chapter 5 Advanced Ballistics in the library... to get the +1 rocket per volley...

Please let there be a simple answer. I'm itching to use these things if the stats are even close to being as advertised...

Thanks all!

 

[BeerMan]

I can't comment directly on the stats, but I have not seen a single MRL used in war. If they are awesome, it is the best kept secret in the game.

 

[Mcnasty]

Those stats must be wrong cause from what I’ve seen when using them I didn’t really like them and they didn’t seem that strong

 

[pckrn]

i guess the description was supposed to be 1452 damage per volley? and its 145 per rocket.. and if you researched +1 rocket the damage would increase by one rocket’s worth to 1597 per volley.. just guesses

 

[Houkai]

Maybe the description is wrong, maybe not, but there is something fundamentally wrong with the unit. When I used them ONCE, they seemed to REALLY like shooting and enemy units instead of buildings. You know, the one thing that actually MOVES around. Hence hitting something was a bit off. The damage was also not that spectacular.

 

[Ollie]

If the stats were correct it would take down almost any building in one attack.
I can confirm that this is NOT happening

 

[yemen]

I looked at the stats, and on paper they should be the most OP unit in the game if those were correct. Reality is noticeable different. The stats are clearly wrong.

 

[Hyhyhy]

Please notice that at least 2 rockets per every strike are not on target, but close to it, dealing damage to nearby buldings or troops. That is why all your calculations are wrong

 

[yemen]

I don't believe that is relevant. The damage dealt appears to be closer to the order of 1,500 damage per volley, rather than nearly 15,000 per volley. Even if we factored out two rockets, it isn't close to 10k damage per volley.

 

[Ulysses]

Thanks guys, Lots of helpful pointers!

After playing around with these dudes, I reckon pckrn is correct... The stats for each MRL should probably be 145 damage per rocket (not the 1,452 in the current Dompedia description).

With 10 rockets per attack, that would make 1,452 total attack damage. Waiting six seconds reload time... GM Jiro said he's told his team, who will fix the description at next update. I guess that's what he means.

But at 600 oil per MRL build cost, that makes them seriously OP (over priced) rather than over powered, lol. An equivalent era heavy artillery has 999 hp, 979 damage PER SECOND, and only costs 21,000 food... Who'd pay 600 oil for a unit which has 1,480 hp, but only 242 damage PER SECOND (1,452 damage per attack, divided by 6 seconds reload time between each attack).

Houkai & Hyhyhy make a good point that I hadn't noticed... Most Dom units are super accurate in game... tanks, infantry, howitzers don't miss... ever... But MRLs scatter their rockets all over the place... or at least the MRL firing animation does... So if the MRL animation reflects gameplay, then MRLs must have an actual damage rating even weaker than 242 damage per second. Seriously?!?! Even my veteran riflemen fire at 271 damage per second. Each. For 885 food build cost. Each.

Summing the whole thing up, it explains your point BeerMan ... Nope, MRLs are definitely NOT the best kept secret in the game. Hold onto your 600 oil guys... Heavy tanks are still the way to go...

 

[danron1376]

yeah i've used these and they are a big disappointment, just like many of the other units like the mortar troop. nexon needs to buff the underused troops to create more variety/options

 

[sileepuppee]

It's just the factory version of the mortar unit, cool on paper but stinks in actual usage. These units are so OP that they each need their own section in the library.

 

[Manifesto]

yeah i've used these and they are a big disappointment, just like many of the other units like the mortar troop. nexon needs to buff the underused troops to create more variety/options

It's just the factory version of the mortar unit, cool on paper but stinks in actual usage. These units are so OP that they each need their own section in the library.

I can understand the need to upgrade troops via in-game methods, rather than Nexon buffing troops for everyone.
In real life, all troops are grunts. (no offense to the grunts). It's only through experience and training that troops get promoted and improve. This is where the library and Uni come into play.

 

[Ulysses]

Thanks again guys, I guess that's a few more of us in the camp that reckons MRLs are a "big disappointment" that "stinks in actual usage"

I can understand the need to upgrade troops via in-game methods, rather than Nexon buffing troops for everyone.
In real life, all troops are grunts. (no offense to the grunts). It's only through experience and training that troops get promoted and improve. This is where the library and Uni come into play.

Hey Manifesto, in general I totally agree with you that it's great that Nexon let us invest time/make resource choices to upgrade unit classes through the armory/uni/library, etc.

Apologies I didn't really explain myself clearly why the MRL probably needs a general buff (ie. stats correction) for all players. Easiest way to explain is like this:

Valiant infantry - defensive hitpoints 1,216; attack damage per second 469; cost 730 food each
Veteran rifleman - hitpoints 511; damage per second 271; cost 885 food each
MRL (multiple rocket launcher) - hitpoints 1,480; damage per second 242; cost 600 OIL each

My stats above use GM Jiro's advice that the MRL actually has 1,452 damage PER ATTACK (not per rocket, which the Dompedia currently incorrectly states), with a six second reload time between attacks. So what that actually means in gameplay is that an MRL defends with slightly more HP than a same era infantryman, and shoots with much less DPS than even a rifleman, for the cost of 600 oil each. I completed chapter 1 & 2 of advanced ballistics while I was messing around with MRLs, so unimproved MRLs would look even worse.

It's only a game and Nexon make the rules, but in real world examples, WW2 MRLs like nebelwerfers or kayushas threw out 72x the TNT (yes, you read that correctly, seventy two times the explosive power) versus four regular artillery batteries (according to wikipedia). And aside from the sheer massive killing power of a WW2 MRL, the awful screaming rocket noises created suppressive havoc among enemy troops. Whereas in game, a single Nexon MRL is weaker than a single regular rifleman, and maybe upto half of its shots miss anyhow...

Uhm? Hope that makes more sense now...? (Genuinely not a sour grapes whine... I love this stupid game and spend too much time playing it, lol, but I reckon smart developers will be open to constructive feedback, if it improves balance and gameplay). The way I see it, somebody at Nexon invested time in creating the graphics and animations for MRLs. Surely the team would actually like to see these things used, right?

 

[Centurion96]

The biggest issue with the MRLs as well as Mortar troops is their AI. They shoot at every target close to them, including tanks. They have no bonus damage to the tanks, so practically it's a waste of firepower. They can't kill a tank unit in any reasonable time, but they fire at it, ignoring better targets in range. That's why standard artillery unit is thousand times more useful.

MRLs shoud have AI that prefers to fire at clusters of unarmored units and buildings, ignoring the tanks altogether. It should choose to fire to an area where are the most infantry/buildings.

 

[Manifesto]

I wasn’t having a go at you, I was simply making a generalised comment.
Totally agree with what you’re saying. I, too would like to see these things ‘used right’.

 

[Ulysses]

The biggest issue with the MRLs as well as Mortar troops is their AI. They shoot at every target close to them, including tanks. They have no bonus damage to the tanks, so practically it's a waste of firepower. They can't kill a tank unit in any reasonable time, but they fire at it, ignoring better targets in range. That's why standard artillery unit is thousand times more useful.

MRLs shoud have AI that prefers to fire at clusters of unarmored units and buildings, ignoring the tanks altogether. It should choose to fire to an area where are the most infantry/buildings.

Yeah, I know what you mean Centurion... MRLs (and mortars) do pretty much shoot anything close... regardless of the MRLs destructive ability (or complete lack of it, lol) versus the target that it's chosen...

I like the way that certain units selectively choose their targets...
e.g.
Veteran rifleman favorite target is 'enemy foot troops'
Heavy machine gun favorite is 'enemy foot troops'
Heavy bazooka favorite is 'tanks'

It would be REEEALLY cool if Nexon just classified MRLs to attack 'non-armor troops'
Because, let's face it, given the MRL's weak 242 attack DPS, they're not gonna achieve much killing versus armor or buildings

 

[Ulysses]

Apologies I didn't really explain myself clearly why the MRL probably needs a general buff (ie. stats correction) for all players. Easiest way to explain is like this:

Valiant infantry - defensive hitpoints 1,216; attack damage per second 469; cost 730 food each
Veteran rifleman - hitpoints 511; damage per second 271; cost 885 food each
MRL (multiple rocket launcher) - hitpoints 1,480; damage per second 242; cost 600 OIL each

My stats above use GM Jiro's advice that the MRL actually has 1,452 damage PER ATTACK (not per rocket, which the Dompedia currently incorrectly states), with a six second reload time between attacks. So what that actually means in gameplay is that an MRL defends with slightly more HP than a same era infantryman, and shoots with much less DPS than even a rifleman, for the cost of 600 oil each. I completed chapter 1 & 2 of advanced ballistics while I was messing around with MRLs, so unimproved MRLs would look even worse.

It's only a game and Nexon make the rules, but in real world examples, WW2 MRLs like nebelwerfers or kayushas threw out 72x the TNT (yes, you read that correctly, seventy two times the explosive power) versus four regular artillery batteries (according to wikipedia). And aside from the sheer massive killing power of a WW2 MRL, the awful screaming rocket noises created suppressive havoc among enemy troops. Whereas in game, a single Nexon MRL is weaker than a single regular rifleman, and maybe upto half of its shots miss anyhow...

Darn it!

Just realised that I forgot the most important comparator versus MRLs...

Valiant infantry - defensive HP 1,216; attack DPS 469; cost 730 food each
Veteran rifleman - HP 511; DPS 271; cost 885 food each

MRL (multiple rocket launcher) - HP 1,480; DPS 242; cost 600 OIL each

Heavy artillery - HP 999; DPS 979; cost 21,800 food

The real reason that MRLs are (almost) never used is because, sure, they have about 50% more HP than a same era artillery unit... but then MRLs attack with only 25% of the DPS of a single artillery unit... and yet they still cost 600 oil each, versus only 21k food for the artillery piece.

So it's a no brainer to go with something else, usually artillery... although it would be really neat if Nexon decided to make em just a little bit more realistic... Hey, one can dream!

 

[jonbly]

Wiki: ...the artillery branch was not fond of the Katyusha, because it took up to 50 minutes to load and fire 24 rounds, while a conventional howitzer could fire 95 to 150 rounds in the same time.

...which can be fine in the right situation, but doesn't fit a Dominations unit (sappers, though...).

The Barrage tactic is a better fit for the MRL.

 

[jonbly]

> It would be REEEALLY cool if Nexon just classified MRLs to attack 'non-armor troops'

Yup. Mortars too.