Executors Worthwhile in Campaign?

[S.A.O.]

I was looking at getting Executor tech for my next upgrade but decided to look at the stats first and it looks like executors are going to be flat out worse than simple stone towers.

-I have fully upgraded soldiers, so each one does 36 damage at 2.5 fire rate when veteran; so a tower of 4 would do 144 dam. at 2.5 speed vs. Executors which do 100 dam. at 2 speed.

-Stone towers are only 1X1 vs. Executors at 2X2, so you can fit more into your defense lines.

-Towers have twice the health as Executors and when towers die you still have 4 soldiers vs. when Executors die and you are left with extra zombies behind the lines.

-Stone towers with soldiers have a range of 10.5 v.s Executors with a range of 9.

-A tower with 4 soldiers will make 12 noise vs. an Executor that makes 20.

-Stone towers plus 4 soldiers cost 1410 gold, 10 wood, 10 stone, 8 iron, 4 food, and 4 workers with a maintenance cost of 12 gold and a research cost of 500 gold; Executors cost 1200 gold, 20 iron, 5 workers and 10 energy, with a maintenance cost of 50 gold and a research cost of 3000 gold.

-Stone towers don't shut down if they lose power.

-Stone towers have more tactical flexibility because they can be unloaded for an instant mobile force.

The only advantage that I see Executors having is a lower gold building cost (which is negated after 2 days thanks to the much higher maintenance cost) and the small A.O.E. they possess.
Am I missing something? Is there some aspect of executors not borne out in the stats that makes them worthwhile? Right now, it seems like they are simply a waste of research since you would only be hurting yourself by building them instead of stone towers and soldiers.

[amordron]

Yes and no.

Wasp dose there job quite well if you already have in fact vs everything but venoms wasps do better than executors.

Vs venom executor is good so if your looking for a anti venom option that reduces your shock tower dps there good. As a troopless option. Without soilder perks there Better when comp to towers with soilders. They where mainly balanced for survival. Even than I find them iffy at best. Iron tier in general is almost never worth it till you have used 100 percent of your basic resources and are aiming for win more on longer maps.

There are much better ways to handle venoms thou such as just mixing 20 or 30 soilders into your wall defense for the final wave per choke to handle venoms. As much as possible never hurts esp as you used them for clearing anyways and back up with shock plus wasp.

As you said stone towers are better more ehp and when filled with soilders handle venoms just as well. Even lose soilders are fine but the extra range can matter. Tower also don’t req you to spread the shock towers more losing you on aoe dps from them as only 1x1 as you said.

[Andrewbh2003]

well i like execs but thats cause i use em for 2 years and im addicted to em late game "help me" but theres 1 thing you did not take in to account and that is AOE the exec "Like titans" can hit multiple infected per attack in addition to very high rate of fire while 4 soldiers in a tower can "at most" hit 4 infected and even then not kill in 1 hit if your gonna place something in towers then use snipers to take out venoms

[amordron]

Originally posted by andrewbh2003:

well i like execs but thats cause i use em for 2 years and im addicted to em late game "help me" but theres 1 thing you did not take in to account and that is AOE the exec "Like titans" can hit multiple infected per attack in addition to very high rate of fire while 4 soldiers in a tower can "at most" hit 4 infected and even then not kill in 1 hit if your gonna place something in towers then use snipers to take out venoms

I did take that into account the aoe even with that aoe equal price in wasp kill more infected per time due to there much higher dps. Sam for soilders.

You can test this via a custom map make a large defense in the center of executors and walls send waves vs it the. Do the same with wasps the wasp will out preform the executors by far vs everything but venoms with ease at the same cost. While taking far less room.

Soilder do the same. Both leaving the options to further add to the defenses by spending more as less room taken.

Executors are only 200 dps with a splash that mainly overkill’s as the units you can splash have sub 100 hp making the aoe effective dps far lower than it seams. vs soilders that don’t overkill by much and do 65 dps per. This lack of overkill is a large factor and the reason they do better in real situations. Esp in campaign where the dps jumps to 120 per soilder after perks.

Esp as shocks or Thanatos will be killing the mobs that group up well enough to really use splash further devaluing your aoe. The executors job in your defense in high prio targets often are not grouped up so there single target dps further matters which falls behind the other options.

Mix soilders on towers with wasp to make a tight box of the equal cost of your executor defense and even venoms are no match and just out preforms them. Executors in the same test die on there own where the soilder tower and wasp hardly takes damage.

Executors are just not worth the cost in survival and it’s even worse in campaign when soilders are buffed.

[Andrewbh2003]

Originally posted by amordron:

Originally posted by andrewbh2003:

well i like execs but thats cause i use em for 2 years and im addicted to em late game "help me" but theres 1 thing you did not take in to account and that is AOE the exec "Like titans" can hit multiple infected per attack in addition to very high rate of fire while 4 soldiers in a tower can "at most" hit 4 infected and even then not kill in 1 hit if your gonna place something in towers then use snipers to take out venoms

I did take that into account the aoe even with that aoe equal price in wasp kill more infected per time due to there much higher dps. Sam for soilders.

You can test this via a custom map make a large defense in the center of executors and walls send waves vs it the. Do the same with wasps the wasp will out preform the executors by far vs everything but venoms with ease at the same cost. While taking far less room.

Soilder do the same. Both leaving the options to further add to the defenses by spending more as less room taken.

Executors are only 200 dps with a splash that mainly overkill’s as the units you can splash have sub 100 hp making the aoe effective dps far lower than it seams. vs soilders that don’t overkill by much and do 65 dps per. This lack of overkill is a large factor and the reason they do better in real situations. Esp in campaign where the dps jumps to 120 per soilder after perks.

Esp as shocks or Thanatos will be killing the mobs that group up well enough to really use splash further devaluing your aoe. The executors job in your defense in high prio targets often are not grouped up so there single target dps further matters which falls behind the other options.

Mix soilders on towers with wasp to make a tight box of the equal cost of your executor defense and even venoms are no match and just out preforms them. Executors in the same test die on there own where the soilder tower and wasp hardly takes damage.

Executors are just not worth the cost in survival and it’s even worse in campaign when soilders are buffed.

i was refering to op but fair enough idk about wasps since i have never used em so i cant really compare them yet

[Crukih]

Personally I prefer titans because that way you can match them where they need to go. Executors are fantastic for dealing with specials, especially on the noxious swamp. By late game I end up spamming ballistas all across my wall because they are so cheap. If you just upgrade where you think they will be hitting hardest, it’s a nice bolster to support whilst your soldiers centres are at max capacity of you have some dish left over.

Don’t forget, you need to leave spaces between the same building. It’s easy to alternate between executors / ballistas and shocking towers ( because of their 3 tile restriction) with stone towers filled with soldiers in between.

As for wasps, I like them to support, as others have said but find their damage a little lacklustre late game. I tend to place them in those awkward tiles I can’t fit anything else. You know the ones blocked up from soldiers getting into a tower.

[Andrewbh2003]

Originally posted by urlings_55:

Originally posted by andrewbh2003:

i was refering to op but fair enough idk about wasps since i have never used em so i cant really compare them yet

Wasps are very decent "support defense". I would certainly not use them as a main defense or as a replacement for excecutors, but they do excellent support damage and will reduce damage on your walls by keeping zombies off.

Do try them when you get the chance. They are fun little buggers.

i dont really have much time to play TAB all these days like for reference i still am only 81% finished with campaign even after nearly 2 months and yeah they are there on the tech tree and i will grab em after i finish getting the final upgrades i want in high technology and once i finish campaign and return to survival i will check em out there as well

[amordron]

Originally posted by andrewbh2003:

Originally posted by urlings_55:

Wasps are very decent "support defense". I would certainly not use them as a main defense or as a replacement for excecutors, but they do excellent support damage and will reduce damage on your walls by keeping zombies off.

Do try them when you get the chance. They are fun little buggers.

i dont really have much time to play TAB all these days like for reference i still am only 81% finished with campaign even after nearly 2 months and yeah they are there on the tech tree and i will grab em after i finish getting the final upgrades i want in high technology and once i finish campaign and return to survival i will check em out there as well

Wasps main value is that its another option you can use without going iron tier furthering the power of no iron builds. Yes going iron tier will always be better when going for score as more food but when talking for the easiest possible win stone tier is really all you need. Iron tier options in survival are minor upgrades at a high cost vs the stone options and in campaign as they lack the buffs other options get there often downgrades. Plus the wasp train in campaign to get a good number free every mission is just strong as hell.

The devs really need to address the tech tree as right now its vary vary lopsided. There should be buffs for all units (but not allow you to get anywhere near all the tree even only 40-60% is fine). That way you can pick the units you like and buff them to keep them competitive. allowing you to specialize or go a bit of everything but weaker versions.

They do work to replace executors in campaign when paired with the op shocks/solider towers of campaign. In survival its more comparable with executors at least being still competitive.

[isakujjang]

Income and maintenance in campaign is a matter of little concern.

The campaign is well-designed with lots of resources.

And with some research, early development is easy, and in the second half, there is too much money left.(Train Bonus , Corpse Recycling ,Black Market )

That is you can make a lot of Titans, Executor, stone towers.

[bulbatrs]

soldiers +stone tower requires you to train soldiers and to have them vets, while with executioner you just dump and get extra firepower very quickly.

[amordron]

Originally posted by bulbatrs:

soldiers +stone tower requires you to train soldiers and to have them vets, while with executioner you just dump and get extra firepower very quickly.

Not really for the cost of going to iron tier plus tech for the executor in campaign is a similar gold cost as getting the vet wonder. In other resources you make this up within a few days from the upkeep on foundary. But the wonder gives the extra value of buffing everything, so adds in clearing power, not just one spot. Plus even non vet in campaign soilders are already comparable in a tower to a executor due to perks. As this thread is about campaign this is the case that matters.

In survival yes soilders most be vet to be close to a executor and the wonder is costly due to having to pay for it twice. But survival has even lower return for going to iron tier given you have much less income. Making the cost of going iron tier not worth it in many cases. While you would use snipers not soilder in towers as without the soilder buffs there meh in survival. Snipers towers do compare to executors in survival for there reason to exist killing the venoms. The fodder mobs all die with ease even in nightmare to two shocks towers making executor aoe overkill and wasted on them there reason to be is killing venoms which sniper towers outdo.

[Andrewbh2003]

Originally posted by urlings_55:

Originally posted by andrewbh2003:

i dont really have much time to play TAB all these days like for reference i still am only 81% finished with campaign even after nearly 2 months and yeah they are there on the tech tree and i will grab em after i finish getting the final upgrades i want in high technology and once i finish campaign and return to survival i will check em out there as well

If you can, also grab the wasp transport tech. It'll give a free wasp each day. Insanely good. Though also costly in terms of tech points (400)

yeah thats reason why i have not gotten it yet i have all train upgrades except wasp but my main focus is getting all the standard tech from survival mode so i can have acess to everything + misc buffs like extra energy from mills if i happen to have 400 points left then yeah il 100% get wasps but im saving wasps for when i do a 2nd playthrough on nightmare

[Edifier]

While I haven't used the tower I just feel that it might be worth more to have a shocking tower + tower with soldiers. The shocking tower gets rid of all the cannon fodder and your soldiers focus on the strong ones. Shocking towers are insanely good at getting rid of cannon fodder enemies.

Then throw in more wasps if it's possible.

[erasmus1000]

I consider myself as an experienced newby in TAB. I started this game with the campaign. For me this far the only stationary DPM structure of significance is the wasp. Granted I didn't play and replay the campaign on nightmare lvl but I couldn't be arsed to take any one other stat defense. IMO the wasp are relatively the cheapest stat defenses in this game. They don't cost you civilians. Only 1 energy for upkeep. So I spammed my outer defenses with them. Together with single/ double wall, double towers crammed with soldiers (maximized in the tech tree). for the memes Executors and shocking towers are great. But IMO in a tactical POV they're worthless. The only thing about wasps is it's a lie from the developers that zombies consider them inert objects. They don't. I have seen zombies attack a wasp in building (not even active) over an active tesla coil guarding it. So they are considered relevant targets despite what the developers claim. But nevertheless wasps are for my my absolute favorite stationary defenses.

[amordron]

Originally posted by erasmus1000:

I consider myself as an experienced newby in TAB. I started this game with the campaign. For me this far the only stationary DPM structure of significance is the wasp. Granted I didn't play and replay the campaign on nightmare lvl but I couldn't be arsed to take any one other stat defense. IMO the wasp are relatively the cheapest stat defenses in this game. They don't cost you civilians. Only 1 energy for upkeep. So I spammed my outer defenses with them. Together with single/ double wall, double towers crammed with soldiers (maximized in the tech tree). for the memes Executors and shocking towers are great. But IMO in a tactical POV they're worthless. The only thing about wasps is it's a lie from the developers that zombies consider them inert objects. They don't. I have seen zombies attack a wasp in building (not even active) over an active tesla coil guarding it. So they are considered relevant targets despite what the developers claim. But nevertheless wasps are for my my absolute favorite stationary defenses.

Shocks are FAR from meme level. They alone allow you to kill everything but chub/venom/harp/gaint/mutant with a single one (so all fodder types that makes up most of the swarms). To the point when upgraded with +2 range you can even rebuild walls during the attack wave as they do there job so well. Esp in nightmare/apoc the waves are so large and 90% fodder units having a tower that a single one makes the wave not even hit your walls letting you rebuild/repair is redic.

The other one of note is ballistas. They have the highest damage to sound ratio in the game other than traps.

As such they work as the best option to hold an area without pulling extra units as they will one shot most strays not letting them hit your walls so you dont need to even wall in front of them early and a single layer later works wonders. They are not really for wave defense but as a silent option for areas it matters esp eg wasteland where every bit of sound can kill you. it takes approx 30 shots of a ballista to trigger a mutant on wasteland witch is more than enough to handle every mini wave over an entire mission without pulling more. Soilders/snipers or even ranger defenses cant come close for a "silent" defense option.

Wasps by comparison are one of the loudest defenses out there and as you "norm" place more than one wasp within a 3 tile space there sound further adds on top of each other making them super loud (which is not a bad thing when used right, only something to plan around).


The thing about wasps being not attacked is not a lie in the least. You used an example of them attacking it over a tesla coil which is true and correct. The mobs are still drawn by the wasp sound, they will just go for living targets first. As a tesla coil makes 0 sound and is not living, it dose not draw units in as such wasp are attacked first. Place a ranger near that wasp thou and now all the zeds will go after that ranger so long as the ranger dose not leave a set range of the wasps (and the wasp dose not block the zeds direct path). This tatic I used on many swarm missions to have entire waves walk by the wasps without hitting them and dieing before they could reach the ranger.

A wasp being built is not a wasp yet. So it not having the same properties I can see but never had one being built during a wave in a spot that can be hit.

As such there woth keeping in mind.

Wasps thou you can just drop a shock + wasps and not care about sound in most cases so in campaign I find getting upgraded shocks + wasp train your best way. Save up wasps from the train till you have shocks than drop one per choke all at once with a even amount of wasps each and watch your base clear everything near it without issue. Making expanding out from there easy this can be done in campaign as early as 15 (or even 12 in one direction to match the first waves on apoc). Overall I find doing so better than ballistas but survival this is not an option for so its where ballistas stand out.

[Andrewbh2003]

Originally posted by erasmus1000:

I consider myself as an experienced newby in TAB. I started this game with the campaign. For me this far the only stationary DPM structure of significance is the wasp. Granted I didn't play and replay the campaign on nightmare lvl but I couldn't be arsed to take any one other stat defense. IMO the wasp are relatively the cheapest stat defenses in this game. They don't cost you civilians. Only 1 energy for upkeep. So I spammed my outer defenses with them. Together with single/ double wall, double towers crammed with soldiers (maximized in the tech tree). for the memes Executors and shocking towers are great. But IMO in a tactical POV they're worthless. The only thing about wasps is it's a lie from the developers that zombies consider them inert objects. They don't. I have seen zombies attack a wasp in building (not even active) over an active tesla coil guarding it. So they are considered relevant targets despite what the developers claim. But nevertheless wasps are for my my absolute favorite stationary defenses.

no offence but this shows you have not played high % like you NEED aoe and wasps lack AOE as far as im aware if you lack aoe vs those massive chaff waves you are gonna lose its that simple