C&C 3 predator tank

[Flakes]

is it just me or is this unit grossly overpowered? i mean start a skirmish set the AI to hard and build you base as normal except place one predatir tank at the defense line and wait till its been promoted to the star.

then take that one tank(yes just it) and send it into the AI base and destroy everything, because of its rank railguns and infantry dont do any damage and also it destroy everything in one hit apart from the construction site which takes three hits.

 

[lordaardvark2]

sounds pretty darn overpowered. does it subtract from the game's fun?

 

[Flakes]

it didnt till i found this out, its even stronger than the mammoth tank when it is at full rank. now i no longer need to build an army i just send over a few predator tanks. it really is that over powered. although you will need buggies incase the other team has aircraft but nothing on the ground will stop it.

 

[lordaardvark2]

rofl thats really funny. "screw the army, i've got a predator tank!" there has GOT to be some kind of caveat. there has to be. is the mammoth tank (fully ranked up) more powerful? is it difficult to rank the thing up? there HAS to be a catch.

 

[commie]

The catch is: you have to play CnC 3. :lol:

 

[infornography42]

You ever see what a Commando can do fully upgraded?
Flame tanks aren't even a threat to them. They can take down any vehicle one on one, and most vehicles several at a time. They also will tear down a base in no time.

I think just in general, they made the star level experience on a unit absurdly badass. Like more than 4 times as powerful as a fresh unit badass.

 

[lordaardvark2]

lol thats what i was thinking, that all uber-rank units were uber, but you definately put it in better words :lol:

 

[sandmanwn]

the caveat for the predator tank is air units. unlike the mammoth tank which has a rocket system for air defense the predator has none. The backside of every tank is the weak point so adjust your air units to attack from the rear and they go down pretty quickly.

although the power emphasis for the GDI is their ground units, they are intentionally supposed to be bad ass on the ground.

the other caveat to the predator is the long wait until it gets the rail gun capability. most rounds shouldnt last long enough for this to happen, at least in online play. 5-6 minute rounds usually arent long enough to utilize the advanced features of the tech center.

you can either kick up the AI level in single player or for online play fight someone with a higher rank.

as for the starred units, it comes down to the defense platform they are up against. the guardian cannon and sonic defense platform are extremely effective against just about anything and on the nod side there is obviously the obelisk. unfortunately i think the obelisk has somehow been underempasized in this C&C edition. The obelisk should be able to destroy lower tanks like the predator in a shot or two but it seems grossly underpowered in this version than in the past.

 

[lordaardvark2]

hmmh... something tells me you know what you're talking about... *looks at sandmanwn's avatar*

what is your impression of the game? i'm looking into buying it... i haven't played a C&C game since the good ole days of Red Alert 2, but OMG i loved that game. i realize that this is in the Tiberium universe, but do you think that i'd like it, if i'm a decent RTS fan?

 

[infornography42]

Yes, if you enjoyed the kind of gameplay in Red Alert 2, then I suspect you would enjoy C&C3.

It is a worthy successor to the C&C name.

 

[Glacier]

is it just me or is this unit grossly overpowered? i mean start a skirmish set the AI to hard and build you base as normal except place one predatir tank at the defense line and wait till its been promoted to the star.

then take that one tank(yes just it) and send it into the AI base and destroy everything, because of its rank railguns and infantry dont do any damage and also it destroy everything in one hit apart from the construction site which takes three hits.

Damn, to think I wasted all that time with the expensive mammoth tanks. If I ever play C&C3 again, I will have to try that predator trick.

 

[lordaardvark2]

well hey, i may have to get it when i rebuild later on

 

[sandmanwn]

Love it. I play daily. Been playing for over ten years, since the original C&C. My old Packard Bell 25Mhz 486 used to take about 3-4 hours a match. Upgraded to the 486 DX 50Mhz which lasted me through the original Red Alert.

If you liked Red Alert 2 then yes you would really like this one. Even better would be Red Alert 3 on the horizon. Shhhh, I didnt just say that.

 

[infornography42]

My only complaint so far is that the superweapons are a bit too super.

In RA2 they would do a good number on your base, but there was a defense against them and they wouldn't take out most critical structures.

In C&C3 there is no defense against them and they pretty much destroy everything except for your construction yard and super weapon. Everything else, including units, harvesters, refineries, and base defenses are toast. And they have a huge radius that covers the vast majority of a fully developed base.

If you get hit once, it is pretty much game over for you. You can't weather through a shot or two of one like in RA2 or any of the previous C&Cs.

It brings back unpleasant memories of Dark Reign.

Other than that I really enjoy this game.

 

[sandmanwn]

Ah, but thats why its so easy to build multiple bases. I rarely have less than two complete bases during a game.

My biggest hint is to put together a very specific build order for your structures. You'll have to develop your own build order. I can only give you so much of my techniques.

 

[lordaardvark2]

HAHA! its TOO LATE! i've taken my notes, and sandmawn, I'MA GONNA COME AT YOU LIKE A SPIDERMONKEY! :twisted:

 

[infornography42]

I might try that, goodness knows that the AI certainly does.

 

[TheMuffinMan]

I've been playin C&C3 and it is a very nice game, havn't played it online yet tho but anyone got any recommendations on how to cope with the Scrin?

There airforce pwns...

 

[sandmanwn]

easiest way to keep the scrin on the ground is to never let them build their airforce up. The scrin takes forever to get an air fleet going as all their buildings and units cost much more than a NOD/GDI building/unit.

So this is what I do. I get my airfield up and running and have 4 bombers standing by at all times for the sole purpose of taking out the scrin airbase nearing completion. 4 bombers can take out any building except superweapons and the construction yard. You will need exactly 8 for those buildings.

Make sure to send your planes around the weak sides using waypoints to guide them down the right path and away from the tendency of your opponent to put all their defenses out front.

I'm giving you guys to much info. Damn spidermonkies

 

[Flakes]

i agree with the superweapons, athough once you start to spread out they arnt really a problem, ive survived 3-4 shots before, as did the brutal AI. the waypoint system on this game, im not sure i like it, i think the old way of specifiying a path that you could use over and over was better than left click - orders -left click to carry out.

btw

if your nod you can take out the other persons superweapon by just using your superweapon and a tiberium bomb, and the tiberium plant thing. gotta do it in the right order though

 

[jay2tall]

Here is a question that is a little off topic from your current discussion but I figure it's a good place to ask. I have been a fan of C&C since Red Alert on the Playstation and then moved to RA on the PC and Aftermath, Tiberian Sun, Generals, and Zero Hour. However At the same time back in the day I was also a huge fan of Total Ahhnilation. So recently I ponied up and bought Supreme Commander. I really like this game and has tons of toys to play with and build. The games take pretty long to complete with battleing the harder AI's but I didn't want to give up on C&C either. How is C&C 3 compaired to SupCom. Is it alot faster action? Are there as many units and fun things to build. How long do the AI games take to finish. And how large are the maps? I was looking at buying this maybe in the near future if the price drops a little bit and it looks appealing unless I'm convinced to go get it like tomorrow. I was just curious as how the overall game play was. I didn't really enjoy Tiberian Sun all that much for some reason. Red Alert is still the best one I think.

 

[TheMuffinMan]

I'll not comment on Supreme Commander as i've never played it

The AI is really easy in the first two Act's of each set of missions i find, but i do find the game alot harder towards the end than i have any of the previous C&C's.

I personally thought Tiberian Sun sucked as does C&C Generals in my opinion although Zero Hour was a big improvement.

If you enjoyed RA then i can say with pretty much 100% confidence you'll really enjoy C&C3.

 

[jay2tall]

I usually do not play the campains but enjoy the skirmish modes. I just like choosing a map and one or two AI's and go at it. So how are the units? Are the completely futuristic or do they have a modern element to them. Tiberian Sun just seemed to futuristic for me. I like a good old fashion tank. The futuristic weapons I can handle but who knows. YES RA was just GREAT in my book. Generals was ok for a while then just got old.

So how large to the maps get? I SupCom maps get almost TOO large if there are only 2 or 3 players but with 6+ people on a LAN its fantastic... well exept the game lag suck. I was just comparing here. I don't like buying a $40 game, playing it a few times and putting it away.

 

[userax]

I've played TA, Generals, C&C 3, and Supreme Commander (demo).

In general, C&C 3 is much much faster than Supreme Commander. Usually, matches (even 2v2 with brutal AIs) end under 15 minute tops. For me, the superweapon goes up around 3 mins into the game, but usually when I get the chance to use it, the battle has already a clear winner. Matches are very much action-focused, with less strategy and more quick witt and click-frenzy. Big battles occur 5-10minutes into the game, and beyond 10minutes most/all of the resource fields are used up, and resource regeneration rate in the game is painfully slow.

On the other hand, Supreme Commander is slower to start and much more focused on strategy. Complicated orders can be executed, such as ferrying, flanking, coordinating, patrolling/waypointing, etc. There are also much more units and the scale is much larger. It actually takes time to get to an enemy's base while in C&C, you're about 1-2 screens away. Once you get your resource going, SupCom also picks up the pace better, and battles get more and more frenzied as time goes on. Also, radar, shields, experimental units, nukes gives SupCom much more strategical options.

All in all, play C&C if you want a quick game of limited thinking. All you gotta do is pump out units quick and send them over to the enemy. The storyline is good, but skirmish has limited replay value. Play SupCom if you have at least 1-2hrs to devote to a good game, and be prepared to use real strategy. In my humble opinion, it takes a lot more skill to ace at SupCom than C&C, and SupCom is the better game, but C&C works on lesser comps and is a fairly good dumbed down RTS in it's own right.


About the predator tank strategy though... I'm a little doubtful that it would work, as brutal AI sends a mix of APC/missile squads/predator tanks to your base at around the 2-3minute mark. 1 predator tank defending probably isn't going to cut it... I find that a few missile squads, snipers, and mammoths work decent as a defense line, with maybe some zone troopers thrown in. However, if the AI sends in his 16+ orcas.....