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Buffed Melee

Synopsis:

This mod buffs melee units by making them more resilient to ranged damage when in melee and by making them less dependent on the ability to stagger and having stagger resistance to be effective.

Description:

Melee units currently are rarely more than fodder units and require multiple mods granting both stagger resistance and higher stagger level to be remotely effective once you hit the mid game. The problem is that they are so dependent on being able to stagger their target and get off their counterattack in order to survive. This mod makes three simple changes to rectify the above problem.

First, melee overwatch is no longer canceled by stagger. This makes melee match-ups less determined by stagger resistance and keeps staggering a melee unit from depriving it of two attacks.

Second, when a melee unit attacks another unit with a melee weapon, the attacker gains the “Engaged in Melee” buff for one turn. The “Engaged in Melee” buff grants a 40% accuracy penalty to incoming ranged attacks. This buff is bypassed by overwatch ranged attacks, attacks from shotguns, and ranged attacks from air units. This essentially gives melee units an analog to cover which makes them more survivable if they get into melee.

While the above changes may seem to be a bit strong, there are so many hard melee counters in the game that in practice it doesn’t seem to make them overpowered. Overwatch hard counters melee and every faction has access to it. Most factions have CC effects that are uneffected by hit chance reduction to debilitate melee units that have closed the distance. AoE attacks can target the hex adjacent to a melee unit bypass the accuracy penalties. During my two full playthroughs with this mod melee felt useful, but I would not characterize it as overwhelming once I kept the above counters in mind.

Additionally this mod changes the Counter Strike hero trait to give +50% more damage when using melee overwatch and the attack cannot miss.

Compatibility:
This mod does NOT change any unit records. It changes the Flying, Floating, Walking movement property groups to apply its changes. It also modifiers the Counter Strike property group. It should be compatible with other mods that do not change these particular records.