I think I like EGG-RLZ.  If someone asks, and I could just say I like Chinese food.

You must only play SP.  Sure, the AI let's you do it all the time.  No so in MP.

I can't speak for its full power because I'm having issues with Impulse and haven't patched past 1.05 yet, but the thing that strikes me about Barrage is it takes a very long time to deal its damage whereas most cap abilities are basically fire and forget.  So if you know the other guy has a Marza in play, it should be easy enough to counter with an assortment of level1 cap abilities, or just move the fleet out of the way if it looks like he's about to shoot it off.

That would be.... WRONG. A single Marza can't kill cruisers with MB. Doesn't happen. Weaken them, yes. Kill, no. 

I WISH !! But not really true, and this has been mentioned numerous times. A Marza is immobile while using this ability. You can simply move out of the AoE. No special abilities required, except for possibly paying attention. Simply moving out of the AoE with the most nimble ships in the game is relativley easy, and has been done to me numerous times in LAN games. Multiple Marzas can wipe entire fleets, yes, if they are also immobile or don't have ability interrupters. But I don't really have an mercy for anyone who lets three lvl 6+ Marzas charge his fleet.

The radius of missile barrage is 10000. Most units have a speed from 500-700, with the scout at 1000. Say that a unit only has to cover half that distance to escape, is already pointing the shortest distance out, AND they start at maximum speed. They'll still need need 10 seconds to escape. So even if you catch missile barrage before it fires, your fleet is still taking half of the damage. Good luck winning a battle with every ship at half health.

If your unit isn't moving, and you didn't catch MB within 5 seconds, you're going to take full damage.

If your entire fleet is standing still and in radius, then yes, you'll get a facefull, and you'll loose all your frigates. No argument on that point. But if you micro'd your fleet, softened it up with a wave of SC, charged with HC's, and brought in the FF/LRF's after MB to assist the WOUNDED HC's and undamaged SC in mopping up, you have a one dead cap ship. Not very effective from a TEC standpoint, is it ? A one shot wonder ? Wow, that works great, once or twice a game.

The assertion that somehow nursing a Marza to lvl 6 gives you the ability to waltz around the map with impunity, wiping out fleets on a whim, while your opponents fleets shrivel to nothingness is less then truthful. It just ain't so. I wish it was.

There are so many ways to beat this one specific ability that it isn't even funny. You can break up your fleet into smaller elements, rotating them in/out so the whole fleet isn't in range. You can attack with HC's and use any number of repair units/abilities to offset the MB. SC work pretty damn good, too. This on top of all the anti-channelling stuff, AM drain, etc.

I'm not debating that MB can clear 14 ba-zillion frigates in a specific instance. That instance being all of them mobbing the Marza. Yeah, OK, it can. But, when ANYONE see's a lvl 6+ marza jump in, you KNOW it has MB. You KNOW it has a specific range. And your first impulse is to take everything you have and mob the thing ?! Thats tactics. Thats micro. Thats the game.

Hasn't it been argued in these forums to find maximized strategies and 'abuse the crap out of it' ? That ' skilled players will always find ways of making the most out of their situation' ? Don't spammers and n00bs get hammered mercilessly for not adjusting tactics/units to suit a situation ? And by some of the very people here yelling 'Nerf MB!', mind you. I'd point out the recent cries ( in order, haha ! ) of 'Flak sux!', then 'SC/Carriers are OP'd !!' followed by 'Nerf Flak!'. Both required adjustment in tactics and fleet compostion. None needed adjustment after all, except in terms of player mindset. 

The only concession I'll make is that MB should really have a more... umm..vivid.. animation to alert people it's happening.

What a detailed and involved strategy for fighting a single unit. I hope you don't ever have to fight TWO of them! That would be a real mess.

transitive hit it on the nose

so malice/CB should've never been nerfed? i mean, C'mon, it can be interrupted, moved around, etc etc

Marza is the ONLY thing in this game that requires the enemy to constantly babysit their fleet, even if it is 10 times bigger than the marza's support.
AND it requires a specific cap ship with a specific ability on the field and in range to ensure that you take minimal damage.
AND if you don't have that cap, it requires lightning reflexes and knowledge of how ships find paths to ensure that they are only severely damaged instead of dead.

I say, way too much effort one must make to ensure his 20k credit fleet doesn't go puff to one lvl6 cap ship.
And even if it isn't destroyed, it is STILL way too much effort one must make to ensure his fleet isn't all red and killable with a fart.

Anyone who thinks this ability is very fine even if the enemy doesn't have that one specific cap on the field, just count how much damage 3 volleys of MB do to a 120 ship fleet, before the targets turn around and gtfo. No ability in this game has such potential, except safety override protocol which happens to be put on a stationary object. A well positioned marza will always put at least 3 volleys in, unless the enemy fleet is consantly facing the other way - omg a lvl6 marza, run!!1.

For TEC players, using Akkan as a starting cap helps a lot (and seriously, ion bolt is really powerful ability if you know when to use it, not just countering MB.)

Again: if MB is fine, why did CB + Malice get nerfed? That's a combo which is much harder to pull off (since you need 2 cap ships, not one) and has a much smaller AoE than MB. And pretty much every counter which works against MB also works against CB + Malice. MB is better in pretty much every way, yet you keep arguing that it's balanced?

That's your argument?  Really?  So I have to worry about dividing and micro-ing multiple smaller fleets, I have to have already built HC's, yadda yadda.  Well let me ask you a simple question.  What did he have to do?  Did he have to tech to HC's and build a substantial amount of them?  Did he have to divide his fleet into smaller fleets and micro them?  Or did he just have to sit there and pick his nose with one finger while pressing MB with another one?

Your argument reminds me of a guy complaining that he has to fight another guy who has a gun.  "There are all kinds of things you can do!" you would say.  "Dodge the instant he pulls the trigger, then charge!  Throw sand in his face when he gets close enough!"  Ridiculous.

No, that's bullshit.  That's what it is.

For those who are interested, see this post:

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/345073

To be honest though, 1 volley of MB won't wipe out a fleet.  The CB+Malice did.  Heck, it even vaporizes low-level caps.

Now, with that said, I don't think the CB+Malice should have been nerfed, as, others have pointed out, it was much harder to achieve.