Cover mode

[cedarfarms]

What exactly is cover mode and what does it do, and can all units be put into cover mode, because i have it set as hotkey "c" and when i press it for a pike its stance and movement will change, but with other units sometimes it just wont have any effect.

[macacoalbino]

It's a stance for melee infantry that makes them take half ranged damage (i think bombard type damage as well), makes them move at half speed and make them deal half damage as well. There's something about the RoF that I don't remember, i think it doubles the siege RoF (while doing half damage), not sure though.

[yemshi]

Err, siege/RoF gets halfed too.

[macacoalbino]

ok, nvm then

[Kaiserklein]

The RoF is unchanged in cover mode. Indeed cover mode makes the melee infantry unit have a 50% resist at all bombard and ranged damage but they move twice slower and deal half damage. It's useful to tank ranged damage while other units fight. Don't abuse it tho, it makes those units suck for their former target : they die to cav. For example, a huss vs 2 pikes won't kill even 1 pike. But if they are in cover mode, the huss will kill both of them.

If you have a good micro, just try to put the cover mode right before the enemy shoots at your units, so that they tank, then remove it to back them faster. You can also use it while sieging a building : let's say you have 5 pikes sieging a tower, just put the one pike that the tower is targeting in cover mode, and it will tank twice longer while the other 4 pikes are still dealing the same damage. This might save 1 or 2 pikes for free if the enemy doesn't spot the trick

[_venox_]

I guess pikemen in cover mode siege twice as fast.

[Kaiserklein]

No they don't. Why would they ? And if they did, it would mean they end up with the same attack as in normal mode, but with twice the range resist. So people would always use it for sieging, which isn't the case.

[Durokan]

No they don''t. Why would they ? And if they did, it would mean they end up with the same attack as in normal mode, but with twice the range resist. So people would always use it for sieging, which isn''t the case.

I am fairly certain it does boost their rof while in siege mode only, but I am on vacation and do not have access to aoe3 for almost another week. It may just be a widespread myth, I cannot say I have ever experienced it first hand. I would be grateful if someone was to boot up the scenario editor and test cover mode vs standard mode while sieging. (Time how long it takes 8 pikes to kill a tower, note unit losses etc. or just time how long it takes 5 attacks to hit)

[Kaiserklein]

I did test and they have exactly the same siege ROF in cover mode and in normal mode. Can't see no reason why they would'nt anyway