In my current game, I have been in a position to win but the other close player has basically pulled a rabbit out of the hat by lucking into a Navigator and Martyr with his last few specialists. He has it aimed at my mine and without a Pirate in range, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I saw this being used multiple times in my previous game (not against me, thankfully, since I was out of range of the player using the strategy) and it seemed to be a real feel-bad strategy.

The effect of losing an entire node (especially a mine) is far too great to not have any viable counters outside of randomly lucking into a Pirate. At the very least, I feel like Sentries should be able to destroy 0-driller subs with specialists onboard.

I also feel like you should be able to initiate combat with subs that cross paths if you get the timing right, which does not seem to be the case for any sub with an altered Navigator path.

I wonder if if would be a good compromise to allow players to repair exploded nodes for 50 drillers or something. That is still a very powerful unit as it ceases benefit of the node in the mean time, requires players to transport 50 drillers there, and then virtually 'kills' 50 drillers in addition to whatever was caught in the initial blast.

I see nothing wrong with this tactic. Your opponent had to spend 2 specialist on the attack and you could have countered it if you had prepared with a pirate.

This is a rare situation, and if it's a big concern then maybe you could prioritize pirates.

You can't prepare if you don't have the option available. Especially with the removal of buying hires for Np, I don't see how a single random counter to an otherwise unstoppable attack is reasonable.

It also seems wrong to 'force' players into a defensive strategy of always picking the Pirate whenever it first becomes available because it is the only counter to such a strong tactic--even if nobody is presenting the threat currently. Choice isn't choice if there is only one right one.

2 specialists is a bargain for crippling another player's Np production in addition to the total 20% Np loss. Other 2-specialist combos are strong but not nearly as game-changing. Additionally, most offensive specialists have multiple potential counters or counter-threats available to them to offset them.

I don't mind the idea of being able to aim Sentries. Doing the most driller damage isn't always your best option.

Chance crossing of paths to destroy a Navigator is pointless. The Navigator will just juke again.

jayde, when providing game design feedback, it's important to separate the "i think this would make the game better" suggestions from the "something happened to me that i wish hadn't" suggestions. some issues fall into both camps, but in most cases they are one or the other.

i think in this case it's the former, and we only consider making rule changes when they meaningfully improve the game as a whole. drawing a distinction between these two types of suggestions is a really important skill for a game designer to learn.

This has little to do with my experience other than giving me more observation of the issue. I had exactly the same opinion when I saw it happen in the game before I played to other people.

I definitely do not agree that this is the latter case, as what happened to me specifically is irrelevant for this bit of feedback. I don't believe it is good in a strategy game to have back-breaking tactics with little to no available counters.

The simple fact is that if you do not have a Pirate, you cannot beat this tactic. There is no secondary/backup counter and the effect is absolutely devastating compared to the impact of other specialists or specialist combos. If you get hit by this combo and cannot fend it off, chances are that you will no longer be in a position to win the game provided the other players are reasonably competitive.

Most other specialist combos have multiple counters, which I feel should be required design given that specialist availability is random.

Your assessment is simply untrue.

In my last game I was hunted by your "unbeatable" scenario and with no pirate at all I evaded and out maneuvered him and ended up winning the whole game.

One cannot evade with an outpost, which I think is what his main concern is- not having any options to save his mine in that situation (except one random chance specialist he may not have been offered or may not have picked earlier when the tactical situation wasn't enemy navigator+martyr). All I hear him saying is he wishes there would have been something meaningful he could have done to react to that combo coming at his mine.

Exactly.

I don't understand what specifically you are getting at FateCreatr? What was your opponent trying to do? Hunt your queen or something?

I am referring to someone intent on mine destruction. There is no counter to that other than a Pirate, as far as I am aware. If you do not have a Pirate, you will lose your mine and you will lose 20% of your total Np--both of which probably will set you far enough back that you don't have a great chance of winning a reasonably competitive match.

I would suggest a few potential alternatives:
1) Allow Revered Elder to counter Martyr (flip combat priorities)
2) Allow Sentries to trigger the Martyr's ability (or, at the very least, destroy subs with only specialists onboard)
3) Allow repair of nodes destroyed with the Martyr's ability (say, costing 50 drillers or something)