Feedback from a CW addict.

[UpperKEES]

When a blaster fires at the creeper it damages the cell that it shoots at and then radially around that cell until it has damaged X cells.  When it damages a cell it reduces that cell's Creeper by "1".  (Where "1" is one terrain elevation level).

So much useful info in this thread!

I always thought blasters are effective against very shallow creeper (like 1-2 pixels on the elevation meter), but now I see they can kill 1 full elevation level! :) This means I will use mortars a lot less....

[Karsten75]

When a blaster fires at the creeper it damages the cell that it shoots at and then radially around that cell until it has damaged X cells.  When it damages a cell it reduces that cell's Creeper by "1".  (Where "1" is one terrain elevation level).

So much useful info in this thread!

I always thought blasters are effective against very shallow creeper (like 1-2 pixels on the elevation meter), but now I see they can kill 1 full elevation level! :) This means I will use mortars a lot less....

Wrong!

Creeper elevation levels are less than a terrain elevation level. If you watch a pool of creeper, you will see that it grows many "layers" (aka elevation levels) before it can rise to the next terrain level.  Also, if you look at the elevation gauge, you will see that the creeper bar is often much less than a terrain level. 

Blasters remove a single layer of creeper very effectively. Mortars can drill down 4 layers.

[UpperKEES]

I'm not sure what you mean. Did you read the quote from Virgil in my previous post? (Especially the last sentence.)

[Aurzel]

pay attention karsten, even you can see that if a mortar drilled down 4 'creeper layers' then it would barely make it down 1 'terrain layer'

[Karsten75]

OK, making a map to test this.

[Karsten75]

Here is the deal:

Terms: Terrain or elevation level. There are 5 in the CW maps. Creeper rises in smaller increments called Layers.

A blaster is designed to clear up a single layer of creeper. If you drop a blaster in a 1-elevation level of creeper, it will die before it can clear out a safe spot, even if it is fully armed and has a steady and accelerated supply of ammo.

A mortar seems particularly ineffective against single layer of creeper.  OTOH, a mortar will make a hole all the way down to the bottom of a 4-elevation hole of creeper. Of course, the surrounding creeper will flow right back in, but you can see the bottom of the hole briefly.

[UpperKEES]

No. A blaster will kill 1 elevation layer of creeper (1 terrain elevation thick). Now I paid closer attention you can see this clearly when you let it shoot at deep creeper. The fact that the blaster gets killed when you put it in there doesn't say anything about the damage the blaster does. Deep creeper kill faster and flow back faster, just like you described with the mortar.

But I understand what you are thinking; I thought the same thing until I read this thread. If you still don't agree, please read Virgil's comments again. In my opinion he is very clear about this.

[Karsten75]

OK, I see what you say, but there is a very important but here. Sure, where the blaster hits, it damages one elevation level (I think that's about 4 or 5 creeper layers). However, only one cell. The other cells will flow in rapidly and a single blaster will not control a terrain of creeper filled to elevation level 1.

Test it. Make a map with a 1-elevation depression somewhere in it. Now try getting a blaster to clean it up. It is going to take many, many shots.  The thing is that killing a cell of creeper that deep means that there is a whole lot of creeper around it that the blaster will not be killing.

Blasters are not effective unless the creeper is thin - much thinner than a 1-terrain elevation.

[UpperKEES]

OK, I see what you say, but there is a very important but here. Sure, where the blaster hits, it damages one elevation level (I think that's about 4 or 5 creeper layers). However, only one cell.

I'm not even sure about that; see below.

- When a blaster fires at the creeper it damages the cell that it shoots at and then radially around that cell until it has damaged X cells.  When it damages a cell it reduces that cell's Creeper by "1".  (Where "1" is one terrain elevation level).
- When a mortar fires at the creeper it damages the cell that the mortars lands on and then radially around that cell until it has damaged Y cells (where Y > X).  When it damages a cell it reduces that cell's Creeper by "4".

Apparently a blaster damages X cells per shot by 1 elevation level. A mortar damages more cells (Y) per shot by 4 elevation levels. Even if a pool is only 1 level deep, a mortar will do more damage per shot, but as this shot costs much more energy, you might actually be better off cleaning this pool with blasters.

As a side note: I think the elevation gauge displays at least 10 layers of creeper per elevation level (I play full screen with high resolution), but this might just be a limitation of displaying the amount of creeper. It could very well be that the thickness of creeper is any possible fraction of an elevation level (and because of this has an infinite number of layers, if you understand what I mean). Why would there be steps in this? I think you should see it as a map of the ocean where every extra 500 meters of depth gets a darker blue color, while the actual depth on any location is hardly ever a multiple of 500.

[Aurzel]

actually karsten, you're forgetting the fact that blasters not only damage the single cell, but they also do a bit of aoe damage to the cells around the target and in fact it is possible for a blaster to sometimes clear out an area if you drop it in a pool of creeper