Are Aeon slipping behind?

[Crayfish]

Just a casual observation, but I'm not seeing allot of Aeon representation in allot of the high level matches I watch. Maybe people are just trying out allot of the (justified and very good) new changes to Cybran and other races and neglecting Aeon a little bit, or maybe its just that the best players right now just happen to main other races? Does anyone feel they are actually weak and need buffing in some areas?

[Golol]

need buffing in some areas?

i made a thread about their t2 but people didnt seem to care much.
the extra micro for auroras makes it kinda complicated, but i dont feel like they are much harder than other races. and since you dont have many options as aeon (lack of t2) i personally dont have to think much of strategy. aurora spam and at one point i decide if i go for harbs or not...

[Voodoo]

The problem is known, but it's better to wait for the engy redesign patch first. I think they will be even more behind.

[Hamstie]

The problem is known, but it's better to wait for the engy redesign patch first. I think they will be even more behind.

I heard you are playing Aeon to show they are not underpowered. Yet you still seem to think they need a buff?

[Voodoo]

The problem is known, but it's better to wait for the engy redesign patch first. I think they will be even more behind.

I heard you are playing Aeon to show they are not underpowered. Yet you still seem to think they need a buff?

I played around 20 ranked games with aeon. But i was also rushing to t3 land to win the games... i can't say at this point what is exactly wrong with them. But when you look at the states only ~ 13 % are playing aeon.

Edit: I will search some replays and post them later when i'm at home.

[IceDreamer]

We have to be careful with this issue. I think at least some part of the low player number is that fewer people *Like* the Aeon. For example, I personally play mostly UEF, but have no problem playing as Cybran or Seraphim. However, even if Aeon were totally OP and winning everything, I still wouldn't play as them, as they don't appeal to me at all. I can play the faction, I just don't want to...

Having said that, something does seem off somehow. When I think of their T2 land it just seems to be lacking something. I remember in Vanilla the Obsideon was a total powerhouse, but here it seems the weakest of the T2 Heavies. There are other issues too, I just can't put my finger on them. :/

[pip]

Having said that, something does seem off somehow. When I think of their T2 land it just seems to be lacking something. I remember in Vanilla the Obsideon was a total powerhouse, but here it seems the weakest of the T2 Heavies. There are other issues too, I just can't put my finger on them. :/

There are several problems, but the main ones are :
- you cannot counter Hoplites and Mongeese easily with t1+t2 Aeon land, your need T2 PD or the Aeon ACU range upgrade (but the ACU cannot be everywhere)
- Obsididans are not bad but they require a lot of energy, and if you really want to use their strength, you need mobile shields, which also cost a lot of energy. Even then, they are very easily countered by Ilshavoh, Hoplites and Mongeese, that outrange them by a significant margin, and can kite them all day long.

My personal take about improving Aeon t2 land is to:
1) buff the Blaze speed to 4 so that you can catch up with Hoplites and mongeese and raid better. It will also make a easy to micro combo with mobile shields because they also have 4 speed (so you can really catch up with Hoplites and not die while moving in)
2) Give some AOE to the Obsidian (like 1.5) so that its powerful canon can hit and kill several t1 units at once, or damage several t2 ones when the battlefield is crowded. AOE doesn't require micro to be used, it has also a good side effect : even if the shot misses a unit, it has a chance to hit another one that passes by. It requires also some micro for the opponent to not suffer from it (needs to be careful not to pack all his mantis for instance). So it's a limited buff, but I think that's one that would make the Obsidian stronger (especially in big armies like in engy mod) without changing much its playstyle.

[Golol]

the counter to aeon t2 is t1!
you dont need to buff the blaze against other t2. when you are facing a hostile t2 army as an aeon, just build obsidians and they will annihilate the t2 army. but if the enemy just builds t1 you will get problems.
tl;dr: aeon t2 to kill t1 is bad and aeon t2 to kill t2 is good

[Voodoo]

Ok i have to say i never used aeon t2 land in any game so far here in FAF, so i can't show you even one replay ...

[Crayfish]

ShadowKnight raises important point, I am a little different in that I like the faction, but they are certainly the most intimidating to learn, but we need to separate their usefulness with their popular appeal. I think its great that they offer such a unique experience, and strengths and weaknesses in specific areas are, on one level, what faction diversity is all about. Given that the uptake on Aeon is so low (13%!!), I think its hard to say anything specific atm (outside of the consensus on T2 stage) other than people are put off playing them either by personal taste in play-style, or fear of their perceived skill level requirement. It would be nice if more top players followed Voodoo's lead and picked up Aeon as atleast a 2nd race, so we can get some more balanced data to work with. *If only TLO would return with his crazy upgraded com drop shenanigans, I bet loads more people would pick up Aeon then