I have recently been playing a fair bit of Jerome (he’s my favourite leader), and I’ve discovered that Mastodons are far more effective than I originally thought they were.
With the meta currently revolving around core vehicles (mainly Warthogs), Cyclops + Mastodons are surprisingly effective. If my opponent changes up their strategy, I can add some Snipers for infantry, some Marines of Wolves for air, and I’m usually good to go. Not to mention, my main goal with Jerome is to stall until Omega Team, as the recent buff to Spartans makes them reeeally good.
However, I have two main issues with Mastodons.
Slower speed
I don’t know the exact move speed of these units, but it’s not very fast. Fighting Warthogs can sometimes be irritating because of their very high speed. I would really like to seem them have a little quicker move speed, not too much, but just a wee bit.2. Low base damage
With mainly putting counter units in Mastodons, I usually have next to no base damage, so even after I wipe an army of Warthogs, I’m unable to push. I could put Flamers in the Mastodons, but I fear I wouldn’t have enough DPS to fight the Hogs if I were to do that. An increase in base damage for the mastodons or anti-vehicle would easily remedy this problem.How does everyone else feel about this unit? I think it’s a fun unit that really makes Jerome unique.
I agree. Certainly an underrated unit. I would agree with a slight buff to speed. They don’t have the speed of Phantoms or access to Rage, and they don’t slow and have a shield/slow effect like Wraith Invaders. If I go Mastadons I’ll generally throw in some Nightingales for the obvious heal, which lets me get some Hornets out for building damage.
I was recently looking through the leaderboards and see that CarefreeRa66it, who is a top 15 champ in 1 vs. 1 using Jerome, has quite a few games where he mainly uses Mastodons + Marines/Cyclops. Very interesting, looking forward to hearing what others think about this unit as well.
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> I agree. Certainly an underrated unit. I would agree with a slight buff to speed. They don’t have the speed of Phantoms or access to Rage, and they don’t slow and have a shield/slow effect like Wraith Invaders. If I go Mastadons I’ll generally throw in some Nightingales for the obvious heal, which lets me get some Hornets out for building damage.
Good points, I didn’t even think about the other garrison units. A slight buff to speed would make me very, very happy.
Coupling them with air is usually my go to, as well. I almost feel obligated to make Nightingales as UNSC, so I usually have some of them flying around. Then it’s just a matter of making a handful of Hornets. The only thing about this is, it’s expensive, so I will have to be on two or more bases before I want to even think about adding air into the mix (unless my opponent(s) aren’t pushing at all).
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> I was recently looking through the leaderboards and see that CarefreeRa66it, who is a top 15 champ in 1 vs. 1 using Jerome, has quite a few games where he mainly uses Mastodons + Marines/Cyclops. Very interesting, looking forward to hearing what others think about this unit as well.
It’s a really strong strategy. I haven’t tried it in 1’s yet. Only been playing around with it in Team War and the odd ranked game, but I’ve found good success with it thus far.
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> I agree. Certainly an underrated unit. I would agree with a slight buff to speed. They don’t have the speed of Phantoms or access to Rage, and they don’t slow and have a shield/slow effect like Wraith Invaders. If I go Mastadons I’ll generally throw in some Nightingales for the obvious heal, which lets me get some Hornets out for building damage.
Invaders have a slow effect? they also have siphon if I remember correctly
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> > 2533274812650916;2:
> > I agree. Certainly an underrated unit. I would agree with a slight buff to speed. They don’t have the speed of Phantoms or access to Rage, and they don’t slow and have a shield/slow effect like Wraith Invaders. If I go Mastadons I’ll generally throw in some Nightingales for the obvious heal, which lets me get some Hornets out for building damage.
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> Good points, I didn’t even think about the other garrison units. A slight buff to speed would make me very, very happy.
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> Coupling them with air is usually my go to, as well. I almost feel obligated to make Nightingales as UNSC, so I usually have some of them flying around. Then it’s just a matter of making a handful of Hornets. The only thing about this is, it’s expensive, so I will have to be on two or more bases before I want to even think about adding air into the mix (unless my opponent(s) aren’t pushing at all).
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> > I was recently looking through the leaderboards and see that CarefreeRa66it, who is a top 15 champ in 1 vs. 1 using Jerome, has quite a few games where he mainly uses Mastodons + Marines/Cyclops. Very interesting, looking forward to hearing what others think about this unit as well.
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> It’s a really strong strategy. I haven’t tried it in 1’s yet. Only been playing around with it in Team War and the odd ranked game, but I’ve found good success with it thus far.
parking some Kodiaks outside of a base might also give you a little more power when pushing a base. I’ve really been working Kodiaks into my unsc builds just because of how effective they can be when positioned right.
Mastodons are really good because of the combo and damage sponge of the units really do a lot. For a bit more than 1/5 of your pop cap you can take hits in mobile cover, then as someone stated before put Engineer Marines in them and you can heal on top of it, since UNSC Marines are the best AA (for whatever reason that is), combine with the in Cover damage soaking, Inspire when needed, Vet rank up you can just destroy anything in your way.
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> Mastodons are really good because of the combo and damage sponge of the units really do a lot. For a bit more than 1/5 of your pop cap you can take hits in mobile cover, then as someone stated before put Engineer Marines in them and you can heal on top of it, since UNSC Marines are the best AA (for whatever reason that is), combine with the in Cover damage soaking, Inspire when needed, Vet rank up you can just destroy anything in your way.
You’re telling me things I already know, my guy.
As Jerome, one almost has to build Mastodons as that’s his best answer to Anders/Iz/Forge Hog spam. Inspired Hogs are okay, but Jerome can’t out build/upgrade the previous leaders I mentioned.
Um, Combat Tech Marines are good against air, but certainly not the best AA. That title goes to Phantoms loaded with Grunts. Wolverines are the second best AA, as they can easily kite air.
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> > 2793304054609295;9:
> > Mastodons are really good because of the combo and damage sponge of the units really do a lot. For a bit more than 1/5 of your pop cap you can take hits in mobile cover, then as someone stated before put Engineer Marines in them and you can heal on top of it, since UNSC Marines are the best AA (for whatever reason that is), combine with the in Cover damage soaking, Inspire when needed, Vet rank up you can just destroy anything in your way.
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> You’re telling me things I already know, my guy.
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> As Jerome, one almost has to build Mastodons as that’s his best answer to Anders/Iz/Forge Hog spam. Inspired Hogs are okay, but Jerome can’t out build/upgrade the previous leaders I mentioned.
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> Um, Combat Tech Marines are good against air, but certainly not the best AA. That title goes to Phantoms loaded with Grunts. Wolverines are the second best AA, as they can easily kite air.
Why aren’t Jerome’s hogs just better with the Time for heroes buff? Two points into time for heroes should make his hogs a beast along with the Jerome mech inspiration buff.
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> Why aren’t Jerome’s hogs just better with the Time for heroes buff? Two points into time for heroes should make his hogs a beast along with the Jerome mech inspiration buff.
Forge - Forge Hog defence buff will allow him to win fights. The Forge Hog is also always with the Hogs (same speed), while Jerome is slower, and can’t keep up.
Iz - Jerome can’t keep up with the triple pump from Iz. The 13% from TFH won’t make a difference when Iz outnumbers his Hogs 2:1. Not to mention, MAC absolutely wrecks hogs.
Anders - Anders will have Guass and ungrades so fast it’s not even funny. Jerome can’t keep up in terms of upgrades, and if he tries to keep up, he won’t have enough power to get out enough Wolves to fight the Super Sentinel.
TFH II also only lasts up until 60, so it won’t be relevant for very long.
Jerome’s best bet against Hogs is to go Mastadons + Cyclops, and push for Omega Team.
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> Why aren’t Jerome’s hogs just better with the Time for heroes buff? Two points into time for heroes should make his hogs a beast along with the Jerome mech inspiration buff.
Because anders can get T2 vehicles almost in an instant, forge got the economy and late assembly fr super pumping and izzy can pump cheap right away. Jerome has neither of that
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> > TFH II also only lasts up until 60, so it won’t be relevant for very long.
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> I think you mixed up, it triggers at 60pop or below
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> Forge - Forge Hog defence buff will allow him to win fights. The Forge Hog is also always with the Hogs (same speed), while Jerome is slower, and can’t keep up.
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> Iz - Jerome can’t keep up with the triple pump from Iz. The 13% from TFH won’t make a difference when Iz outnumbers his Hogs 2:1. Not to mention, MAC absolutely wrecks hogs.
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> Anders - Anders will have Guass and ungrades so fast it’s not even funny. Jerome can’t keep up in terms of upgrades, and if he tries to keep up, he won’t have enough power to get out enough Wolves to fight the Super Sentinel.
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> TFH II also only lasts up until 60, so it won’t be relevant for very long.
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> Jerome’s best bet against Hogs is to go Mastadons + Cyclops, and push for Omega Team.
I like the idea of buffing the masta speed. I never use them because they’re so slow.
I really hope the inevitable balance update will find a way to put the hog meta better under control. It is what it is, but what it is is a bummer that so many strategies and balance suggestions now are about finding ways to deal with overwhelming warthogs.
Hopefully, hogs will get a longer build time or go back to 4pop.
As for the base damage issue, I wouldn’t mind if anti-v did better base damage. It’s weird to me that hunters/cyclops take so long to drop a base. This would help UNSC brake some bases too.