Defense chambers have carapace. Skulks with carapace are A HELL OF A LOT tougher to kill. You cannot just have a lmg burst at em and kill em with 20-30 shots easily, once they have level 3 carapace, the marine has to make EVERY SINGLE SHOT COUNT, otherwise the skulk gets free food. Do not underestimate carapace compared to cloaking.
I'm sure this has been mentioned but I want to submit my opinion to the thread anywho. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Def > Mov > Sen
By building Sen. first you sacrifice your ability to have durable and powerful Fades (Defence and Movement Upgrade) which is vital if Marines have reinforced the 3rd Hive. Base-Busting will become vital in the middle game (Before 3nd LvL Evo) and is an incredible chore without the proper upgrades and Defensive Chambers nearby to refill health.
I understand your strategy but your gamble is that the Aliens, with the aid of 3rd LvL Stealth, will be able to stop the marines from expanding at all. If that gamble doesn't pay off you will have to Base-Bust with LvL 3 Stealth which is esentially useless. Remember, you are also not going to have those vital DCs nearby to heal your Base-Busters. This means it'll take more aliens more time to take out any expansion. That is a recipe for easy marine expansion where your alien line is thin from allocating extra alienpower to take out expanded locations.
With Def first your gamble is less consequential (You aren't throwing all your chips in the pot so-to-speak). With defence upgrades you enhance the survivability (I'm not sure why you think Carapace is useless for Skulks, my killability doubles if not triples with it) of your aliens which allows them to sustain an ambush longer. With DCs your aliens can escape, heal and mount another attack/ambush which is much quicker then respawning. This allows your Aliens to maintain constant pressure on the Marines which is important. Another benefit to Defence Chambers is obviously the ability for 1st LvL Aliens to take out mini-bases (ie. T-Fac, 4 Turrets & Tower).
At 2nd LvL Evo you add Movement upgrades and along with the Defence Upgrades you make the Fade a deadly unit capable of both major Base-Busting and holding off HA Marines.
All in all I think Sensory first is more for specialized plans, maybe used as an unexpected tactic in Clan match. I think there might be situations where it might be advantagous to build sensory first but generally I believe Def > Mov > Sen to be the more practical and versitle upgrade strategy.
The key to Def first is the ability to be able to have good anti-marine AND base-busting capabilities for middle game (before 3rd Lvl Evo).
Sen first is good for anti-marine capabilities but you will have to sacrifice either Defensive or Movement upgrades in middle game which can hurt your base-busting badly.
Versitility is the key I think, I'm for Defence first.
My main problem with not doing defense first is this:
If the marines start taking over the map, you need chambers to hold them back. Without defense chambers bases are easily taken over. Defense chambers are very important to alien offenses and defenses. You don't want to be stuck without them if you are having trouble getting that next hive.
Comments
Skulks with carapace are A HELL OF A LOT tougher to kill.
You cannot just have a lmg burst at em and kill em with 20-30 shots easily, once they have level 3 carapace, the marine has to make EVERY SINGLE SHOT COUNT, otherwise the skulk gets free food. Do not underestimate carapace compared to cloaking.
Def > Mov > Sen
By building Sen. first you sacrifice your ability to have durable and powerful Fades (Defence and Movement Upgrade) which is vital if Marines have reinforced the 3rd Hive. Base-Busting will become vital in the middle game (Before 3nd LvL Evo) and is an incredible chore without the proper upgrades and Defensive Chambers nearby to refill health.
I understand your strategy but your gamble is that the Aliens, with the aid of 3rd LvL Stealth, will be able to stop the marines from expanding at all. If that gamble doesn't pay off you will have to Base-Bust with LvL 3 Stealth which is esentially useless. Remember, you are also not going to have those vital DCs nearby to heal your Base-Busters. This means it'll take more aliens more time to take out any expansion. That is a recipe for easy marine expansion where your alien line is thin from allocating extra alienpower to take out expanded locations.
With Def first your gamble is less consequential (You aren't throwing all your chips in the pot so-to-speak). With defence upgrades you enhance the survivability (I'm not sure why you think Carapace is useless for Skulks, my killability doubles if not triples with it) of your aliens which allows them to sustain an ambush longer. With DCs your aliens can escape, heal and mount another attack/ambush which is much quicker then respawning. This allows your Aliens to maintain constant pressure on the Marines which is important. Another benefit to Defence Chambers is obviously the ability for 1st LvL Aliens to take out mini-bases (ie. T-Fac, 4 Turrets & Tower).
At 2nd LvL Evo you add Movement upgrades and along with the Defence Upgrades you make the Fade a deadly unit capable of both major Base-Busting and holding off HA Marines.
All in all I think Sensory first is more for specialized plans, maybe used as an unexpected tactic in Clan match. I think there might be situations where it might be advantagous to build sensory first but generally I believe Def > Mov > Sen to be the more practical and versitle upgrade strategy.
The key to Def first is the ability to be able to have good anti-marine AND base-busting capabilities for middle game (before 3rd Lvl Evo).
Sen first is good for anti-marine capabilities but you will have to sacrifice either Defensive or Movement upgrades in middle game which can hurt your base-busting badly.
Versitility is the key I think, I'm for Defence first.
If the marines start taking over the map, you need chambers to hold them back. Without defense chambers bases are easily taken over. Defense chambers are very important to alien offenses and defenses. You don't want to be stuck without them if you are having trouble getting that next hive.