post your Special Unit balancing ideas here

[[-bmoh-]]

Well, given that there are no new teams being supported for the game, why not do a complete remake of the teams that already exist? Maybe this idea is a little "out there", but this is what I was thinking.

When I started playing the game, I saw a couple of different features in it that needed to be managed in order to compete against other players. In other words, a player that effectively increases or reduces these aspects of the game become a better player than their opponents
They are as follows:
Visibility (Fog of War)
Resource (Wits)
Health/Attack (On creatures)
Base Health
Mobility

Then, when gaining a better understanding of the game, I found that the "Big Four" (aka Scrambler, Mobii, Bramble, and Bombshell) had some really odd, albeit fun, effects that didnt seem to match the game's flavor at all.

Essentially, this post in an answer to these questions:
"Why does Bramble lay spikes at all?"
"Why does Bombshell attack how it does?"
"Why does Scrambler steal characters?"
"Does Mobii's teleport effectively convey an archetype?"

None of those effects are shown anywhere else in the game, so why introduce them only on the big four?

Therefore, these are my suggestions:

Mobii
I'm going to start with Mobii because I think this class best conveys what I was thinking the Powerful creatures in the class would be about: Manipulating a restraint, and centering your class strategy around that manipulation.

And Mobii does just that, by manipulating the "Mobility" aspect of the game, the best part of it is that he does so in a way that doesn't also manipulate the Fog of War restraint as well. Mobii allows characters to run to action and then return to safety easily. Because of this, I suggest no change to Mobii.

Scrambler
Scrambler's current effect allows him to steal creatures from opponents, leaving them at 1 health. This is seen nowhere else in the game, and therefore I don't see why it exists.

The Feedback class is full of robots. When I think of robots, I think of Manufacturing. The closest thing a "Manufacturing" effect equates to in Outwitters would be through Wits. Why not make the Scrambler activate a wit hex on the board within your field of vision, or increase "Wit on kill" to two for your team? I feel like those ideas fit the flavor of the game and the class much moreso than stealing does.

Scrambler Change: +1 Wit on Kill, or +1 Wit: Create a random Wit Hex on the board.

Bramble
Now, in my short time playing this game, this seems to be the biggest concern among competitive players and active players in the community. Bramble creates a flavor of "growth" by creating spikes that increase the Fog of War, damage players, and block off mobility. As mentioned in Mobii's analysis, really only one of the restraints should be effected, yet Bramble's current state, regardless of HP or wit on kill, does three of them. Regardless of what changes to the health/damage or anything is done to Bramble, it will always be either a pointless effect or an overpowered one because of the number of aspects of the game Bramble's effect deals with.

The problem is that the "Growth" flavor of Veggienauts is a wonderful idea. But in what other ways can Outwitters create "Growth"?

Idea #1: Spiked Creatures.
In a similar fashion to the medic, and in keeping in the flavor of the current Bramble, what if Bramble gave characters thorns? It would be executed in the same way a Medic is, however, instead of giving them full health +1, it instead gives them spikes, which damage opponents 1 when attacking the spiked creature.

Idea #2: Healing Bases
I always thought the Medic should be able to +1 a base. Why not make a character that gives 1 life of it's own to +1 a base. This effect obviously wouldn't be able to create a base with greater than 5 health. It also will keep the strategy that Veggies seem to have, which is that of a defensive-oriented class.

Idea #3: Creature Growth
The medic does a good job of keeping creatures alive by giving them full health +1. However, what if a Bramble could give Power +1? This runs just like Idea #1 and the medic, but instead of spikes or defense, it gives a power boost to the character.

Bramble Change: Spikes are laid on creatures similar to Medic's ability. Spiked creatures deal 1 retaliation damage when attacked.

Bombshell
In my short playing career, I have found the Scallywags Sniper to be extremely substandard to the Bombshell, which is essentially a super sniper in most aspects.

For the first few games, I thought that the sniper was an Octopus. It is a jellyfish, and I get that now, but I thought it was an octopus. The idea of an octopus stuck in my head, along with the cool flavors that it could provide to the game.

Why not change the sprite of the snail to an Octopus or a Squid, though? It could have the effect of "-1Wit: Lay an ink splatter with a radius of 2 around itself. Ink Splatters create a Fog of War in that area for 2-3 turns".

Bombshell Change: Change from Snail to an Octopus or Squid. Can lay a 2-radius Ink Splatter which creates Fog of War for 2-3 turns.


Again, these are radical changes. But that's what I would do with the Special Units. These changes were made under the idea of giving each class a dedicated area to excel in when looking at the resources the game offers as a means of success.

After these changes would take effect, you would see the following:
Adorables: The "Guerrilla Warfare Attack" class. Specialty: Mobility.
Feedback: The "Manufacturing" class. Specialty: Wit creation.
Veggienauts: The "Growth" class. Specialty: Boosted Characters.
Scallywags: The "Stealth" class. Specialty: Fog of War and evasiveness.