Friedrich Psitalon
04-24-2012, 03:23 PM
Disclaimer: It's theorycraft. So it ain't short. Deal or click back.
Please note that when I use the term "viability" I define it as:
A play style or option of equal merit and value in terms of accomplishing game goals when compared to other substantially different strategies.
I think that the general feeling that most people - certainly non-trolls - would agree with is that up until this incoming patch, in most maps, most of the time, apprentice towers are not viable in comparison with squire. (Ignoring walls and hero damage altogether.) There are specific maps where this may not be the case due to wide lanes with short approaches (Foundries and Forges being an obvious example) that favor fireballs over harpoons, but the vast majority of DD maps are longer-approach, narrower-lane, and that's absolutely a big part of the squire dominance, particularly as many/most of these maps are also downhill, offering an advantage to bowlers as well. In most if not all cases, any support from traps or auras benefited the Squire as much or more than the Apprentice. (Darkness being an arguable case, but definitely arguable, not clear-cut.)
I'd like to offer up the possibility that this paradigm may be beginning to shift - not as some kind of grand declaration, but as a discussion intended to further knowledge of the class and/or offer insight to Trendy about how players view balance.
The State of the Union
One of the biggest limitations of the Apprentice, of course, is the elemental factor in their two main damage turrets: fireball and lightning. (There's the OH GOD MY EYES ARE BLEEDING factor with fireballs, too, but we'll pretend it doesn't exist since Trendy pretends it doesn't exist.) Get a lightning immune archer or priest and he may well stand behind the main "impact point" of fireballs and not get hit with AOE, and calmly plink the crap out of your defenses, eventually wearing them down. Get a fire immune dark elf or ogre, and you've got a mob with the real potential to wreak some serious havoc before an MM or LT finally wears him down. (DSTs have other real and significant issues that prevent them from serious consideration for anything but very highly specialized work.)
I think with the recent changes we may be seeing the potential for a new combat model; a paradigm shift, if you will. Currently, most lane defense follows the Long-Approach Pierce (LAP) model. Nowhere is this more obvious than Mistymire - position your defenses so that harpoons get nice, long, elegant fields of fire, and go to town. Kandar's build reflects this truth quite well. (Using him since he's well-known, not denigrating him in any way.) All his defenses are set up with this model in mind. The only exceptions are a proximity trap on a lane that cannot reasonably be defended with the LAP model; here, he relies on the prox to clear the junk, and the piercing harpoons to punch through the ogres and DEWs. This is also very obvious and prevalent the positioning of defenses for Karathiki for the same reason - long fields of fire to maximize chances for piercing. Gas traps are there basically to defend LAP-type defenses from Djinns, and darkness/slow, when they are used, are basically there to shut down/cripple ogres and DEWs - this is still the LAP model, just the LAP model supported. The LAP model works brilliantly for squires, but since the Apprentice can't use it and currently there's no real and viable alternative to the LAP method, the Apprentice is not currently viable.
Times, it seems, are changing. I'd like to argue that Trendy - I'd assume intentionally - is now introducing a second paradigm, which I'll call the Short Range Burst (SRB) model.
Electrical auras aren't going to help LAP-Squires that much; they're a close range trash-clearing weapon that you can't use at a distance without Djinn unsummons. Weaken auras are the same. They're not intended for the LAP method. They're intended to allow, potentially, for shorter-range, AOE tactics. Rather than kill mobs with gradual damage (yes, harpoons count as gradual damage, especially late-wave nightmare) at a distance, the SRB method relies on extremely high amounts of damage delivered at closer ranges.
Two Houses, Alike in Dignity, in Fair Eternia, Where We Lay Our Scene...
The question becomes whether or not it is economical to do so. Let's assume a double-lane area, with one set of defenses working on a convergence point, rather like we might see on the north end of Throne Room or the Northeast section of Mistymire; a place with multiple monster pathing destinations - technically, either side of the Deeper Well platform would qualify as well as Castle Armory's approaches or Endless Spires' large flat platform approach.
Option A, LAP Method: 3 harpoons (can't ever really see needing more than that), two EV walls, a slow, a gas, a buff beam. 18 points, 4 points, 3 points, 3 points, 4 points = 32 points. That's a reasonable total on most maps for defending a major thoroughfare. In many cases, we're going to have a darkness trap, but not quite always. Give a 3 point variance for 2 harpoons and a darkness, or 3 harpoons and a darkness. Call it 29-35 points.
Option B, SRB method: 2 fireballs, two EV walls, a gas, buff beam, electric aura, weaken aura, lightning tower. 10 points, 4 points, 3 points, 4 points, 5 points, 5 points, 7 points = 38 points. Ouch. That's a full extra harpoon's worth. In fairness, with the buffed electric aura and Lightning tower, we might be able to rip out a fireball in some cases, cutting us down to 33, but probably not in Mixed Mode.
Is SRB going to be worth the extra points? Let's take a look.
Bringing The Pain! Raw DPS/Effectiveness
- Realistically, LAP will see its 3 harpoons, slow and gas buffed, but probably not the walls as well - not if we're running a single 4 point beam. Three buffed damage sources - all of which pierce, and that ain't nothin', as they say. The buffed ogre slow is irrelevant; no slow goes below 15%, and late-game ogres always reach barriers. You slow them for the mid-life animation time, no other reason.
- SRB will be able to buff both fireballs, the lightning tower, the electric and the weaken, as well as the gas. Four buffed damage sources and a buffed crippler. That's a point in the SRB's favor, to be sure, but is it enough? For equal points, we should slam down a fourth harpoon, but that's almost always a waste of points. It is worth noting, though, that the Lightning Tower, especially buffed, is going to start tapping targets in neighboring lanes in many cases.
Advantage: Even.
The LAP method is cheaper and simpler, but the SRB method probably is more damage once you hit the envelope. The expense makes that a cringe-worthy unless you can get two lanes out of it, though.
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I Eat Punks Like You For Breakfast! - Trash Mob Clearance
Let's look at other factors. One big advantage of the harpoon is that those long lanes of fire allow for weeding out weak creatures at extreme range. That's huge. One big limitation of the SRB model - at the moment - is that its "weak creature weed-out" abilities are anemic. Even with high-end stats, stuff gets through far too often. You can't have your defenses constantly getting chipped at by little mobs all over the map at once. Later on, that's a recipe for disaster.
- Harpoons are, of course, straight-line weapons. Nowhere are the limitations of this more apparent than wide-mouth lanes where monsters approach in quantity from both sides. (F&F is the most blatant example of this problem, as the harpoons must swing back and forth regularly.) Harpoons never cross walls. Although not many maps emphasize this problem, late-wave Endless Spires and Summit can showcase this with wyverns. Harpoons tend to offer very narrow "damage zones" that swing back and forth rapidly. Long, but narrow.
- The SRB model has two potential "wall piercers" in the Lightning Tower and the Lightning Aura. Placed properly (example: Servant's Quarters, Castle Armory, some Moraggo, Karathiki south lanes) you can get double or even triple-value off these forms of damage as the monsters cross back and forth through the lethal damage zones again and again, sometimes without even being in sight of the actual damage source. The Lightning Tower offers an extremely long - though erratic - damage zone, and the Electric Aura offers a shorter, but absolutely consistent one.
Advantage: SRB method.
SRB, it seems, may - after this patch and buffing - have the tools needed to cut out weak creatures at long range. The Lightning Tower doesn't have the Harpoon's direct fire damage, but it does have a range and flexibility the Harpoon can't match. (It's true - on a heavily populated, larger map, the lightning arc can reach some truly breathtaking distances.) I'm not sure the Lightning Tower's stun is worthy of much mention, but it should probably at least get a token nod. (Nod.) K - moving on. The Electric Aura also allows for a closer-range defensive model to potentially deal out a lot more damage and clear chaff as well. Even obvious areas that seem to favor Squire-LAP may not do so. Take the bottom lane on Ramparts - a very obvious killzone for LAP. Now put a buffed Electric Aura on the rampart up above to intercept wyverns, the bottom lane, and placed properly, damage the immediate-approach lane to the southern crystal. Suddenly, you're getting a lot for your money, and a Lightning Tower placed similarly will arc all over the place. Three threat zones with one turret - flexibility is tough for LAP to match.
While the LAP method clears trash at longer ranges, the SRB method clears it in wider areas - and that means less clearance tools needed overall. Is it enough to merit those extra points, though?
-------
The big question and problem, though, is what happens when things DO reach the barricades. Even the best harpoon map (Hi, Magus Quarters!) will eventually reach saturation where the Harpoons have to swing like mad to keep things running, and the SRB method's liability to Electric Immunes until they get into the Weaken Aura is ominous.
When The Bullet Hits the Bone - Effectiveness At the Barricade
Eventually, DEWs or Ogres will reach your barricades - or, god help you, sharkmen - and damage will occur. While we may not know the exact effectiveness of sharkmen, they are designed to shove defenses around, so it's safe to assume that they may get close enough to do so once in awhile. What happens when the walls have to earn their pay?
This has always been the limitation of the LAP method: it relies on killing things at extreme range in large numbers. If the harpoons get dragged off "the line" by a djinn redirection, things can reach the barriers quickly, especially on higher waves. If ogres clump up on the barricade and spread out along it, you're in serious trouble - harpoons will hit them as they come in on a line, but will struggle a LOT once they spread out, only striking them one at a time. LAP shines at extreme range, but weakens badly at crisis times. If your turrets get flanked, you're in real trouble - you lose half or more of your firepower as one turret covers another. (This also means one turret is almost certainly off the desired firing line, and invites even more trouble.)
Interestingly, this is where the SRB method would probably shine the most: targets flush against a barricade being shot will take full fireball damage (remember, the Weaken is rendering them vulnerable) and each shot is guaranteed to splash on others. While this won't hit the fourth or fifth ogre back, it will deal some splash to those still closing, and deal lots of splash to those lined up shoulder to shoulder. The Lightning Tower will continue to deal random damage all over hell and back, and the Electric Aura is going to grind up everything anywhere near the barrier, period. (And again, immunity is a non-issue. All non-Enrage auras are basically identical in range.) DEWs who flank a fireball will still take full damage from the electric aura, probably Lightning Tower damage, and of course the covering fireball. It's also worth noting that the swivel time on a fireball at least appears to be superior to the harpoon. (The splash magnifies this to some degree.)
There's also the other factor here: while the Weaken Aura is stripping immunity, that's not all it brings to the table. Stripping enhancements is a big damage reduction, but then you have the actual intended effect of the aura: the debuff of monster damage across the top! Anything that actually starts hitting towers, players, or walls inside of the weaken aura is doing a fraction of the damage it used to be - and that's an advantage the LAP slow aura can't begin to compete with. Slows, after all, slow movement - they don't slow damage in the least. In the late game, when ogres still rapidly reach barricades and the question becomes "what damage do they do" rather than "can they reach the wall", SRB is a huge winner. The size of a weaken aura is also likely to cripple projectile users lobbing at range - those pesky around-the-corner mages which summon and heal all the time will be absorbing voltage.
Advantage: Clear SRB. The degree of redundancy at close range here makes it a pronounced winner.
Details, Details, Details - Always Little Details
What about beam-buffed walls? - It's hard to say who benefits more from this. The LAP method is going to take hits from less critters, probably, but when things get ugly, they'll get ugly faster. The SRB method will take a lot more before things get ugly, but it'll probably show a bit more wear and tear overall. Buffed walls probably do more in the long run for SRB, but realistically, both groups benefit a lot.
What about hero damage/hero survivability? - HUGE advantage for the SRB method here. A DEW jumpig your harpoon line is a serious problem in LAP methods. A DEW jumping your turret line in SRB is still taking a lot of damage, and you're still enjoying the benefits of being in the Weaken aura - he's not going to do nearly as much as he did before. Ranged combatants and builders especially benefit here, while barbarians and countesses fighting can retreat into a much more effective safe zone than under LAP. To be fair, outside the SRB's influence zone is more dangerous than under a LAP method - you have a lot less long-range project, but what you do have up close is a lot stronger.
What about Djinn? - Toss up. Either way, gas traps are still the one right answer. Either way, the djinn's unsummon still gets blocked by the gas. The djinn won't take as much damage from fireballs, in all likelihood, as it would from harpoons, but it will be taking Electric Aura damage. It will also probably serve as a great conduction point for Lightning Towers as well. Defensively speaking, SRB probably fares a bit better - it's harder to flank an SRB setup than a LAP one.
LAP can rely on Proximity Traps for closerange trash clears! It's also cheaper! - That's true, and it functions pretty quickly, and for damage roughly equivalent to the buffed 7.30 electric aura. What the Prox trap lacks is the range - especially in front AND behind your defenses - and the ability to offer damage at multiple elevations. Prox traps offer no real advantage for wyvern control in many cases, and none at all for djinns. Electric Auras offer a much stronger trash clear, at wider ranges, and with more elevations. It's worth the two points for all that....and not to have to deal with the constant obnoxious repair issues of traps, folks.
Fireball projectile speed sucks! Absolutely true. LAP puts pain on target MUCH faster than SRB. I think the fact that Lightning towers bend through terrain, Electrics reach over terrain, and fireballs are more effective in back-and-forth combat situations compensates for that, however.
How does mix mode figure in? Mix mode actually doesn't favor LAP at all. The whole point of Mix Mode is that things come from weird directions in unpredictable numbers and strengths. LAP is based on predictability and narrow fire lanes. There's a reason people struggle with The Summit on Mix Mode until their stats are truly bananas (and many, even then) - and it's because wyverns can come from all over the place, heading to all over the place. The greater flexibility of the SRB method definitely suffers less under Mix mode than LAP.
So to return to the original question:
Are Apprentice Towers becoming viable again?
I think the answer is yes. NOT better. Nor am I arguing that LAP is on its way out - though sharkmen may offer some serious challenges, depending on how they work, since sharkmen have a lot more "pushable" targets under LAP that would care if they were pushed; Lightning Towers could care less, and you can't push Electric/Weaken auras.
I think, though, as long as people are willing to embrace a paradigm which does not involve "All damage must be piercing and as far away as possible" there may be a new kid in town.
Squire-based LAP lives on - but Apprentice-based SRB may be born.
Please note that when I use the term "viability" I define it as:
A play style or option of equal merit and value in terms of accomplishing game goals when compared to other substantially different strategies.
I think that the general feeling that most people - certainly non-trolls - would agree with is that up until this incoming patch, in most maps, most of the time, apprentice towers are not viable in comparison with squire. (Ignoring walls and hero damage altogether.) There are specific maps where this may not be the case due to wide lanes with short approaches (Foundries and Forges being an obvious example) that favor fireballs over harpoons, but the vast majority of DD maps are longer-approach, narrower-lane, and that's absolutely a big part of the squire dominance, particularly as many/most of these maps are also downhill, offering an advantage to bowlers as well. In most if not all cases, any support from traps or auras benefited the Squire as much or more than the Apprentice. (Darkness being an arguable case, but definitely arguable, not clear-cut.)
I'd like to offer up the possibility that this paradigm may be beginning to shift - not as some kind of grand declaration, but as a discussion intended to further knowledge of the class and/or offer insight to Trendy about how players view balance.
The State of the Union
One of the biggest limitations of the Apprentice, of course, is the elemental factor in their two main damage turrets: fireball and lightning. (There's the OH GOD MY EYES ARE BLEEDING factor with fireballs, too, but we'll pretend it doesn't exist since Trendy pretends it doesn't exist.) Get a lightning immune archer or priest and he may well stand behind the main "impact point" of fireballs and not get hit with AOE, and calmly plink the crap out of your defenses, eventually wearing them down. Get a fire immune dark elf or ogre, and you've got a mob with the real potential to wreak some serious havoc before an MM or LT finally wears him down. (DSTs have other real and significant issues that prevent them from serious consideration for anything but very highly specialized work.)
I think with the recent changes we may be seeing the potential for a new combat model; a paradigm shift, if you will. Currently, most lane defense follows the Long-Approach Pierce (LAP) model. Nowhere is this more obvious than Mistymire - position your defenses so that harpoons get nice, long, elegant fields of fire, and go to town. Kandar's build reflects this truth quite well. (Using him since he's well-known, not denigrating him in any way.) All his defenses are set up with this model in mind. The only exceptions are a proximity trap on a lane that cannot reasonably be defended with the LAP model; here, he relies on the prox to clear the junk, and the piercing harpoons to punch through the ogres and DEWs. This is also very obvious and prevalent the positioning of defenses for Karathiki for the same reason - long fields of fire to maximize chances for piercing. Gas traps are there basically to defend LAP-type defenses from Djinns, and darkness/slow, when they are used, are basically there to shut down/cripple ogres and DEWs - this is still the LAP model, just the LAP model supported. The LAP model works brilliantly for squires, but since the Apprentice can't use it and currently there's no real and viable alternative to the LAP method, the Apprentice is not currently viable.
Times, it seems, are changing. I'd like to argue that Trendy - I'd assume intentionally - is now introducing a second paradigm, which I'll call the Short Range Burst (SRB) model.
Electrical auras aren't going to help LAP-Squires that much; they're a close range trash-clearing weapon that you can't use at a distance without Djinn unsummons. Weaken auras are the same. They're not intended for the LAP method. They're intended to allow, potentially, for shorter-range, AOE tactics. Rather than kill mobs with gradual damage (yes, harpoons count as gradual damage, especially late-wave nightmare) at a distance, the SRB method relies on extremely high amounts of damage delivered at closer ranges.
Two Houses, Alike in Dignity, in Fair Eternia, Where We Lay Our Scene...
The question becomes whether or not it is economical to do so. Let's assume a double-lane area, with one set of defenses working on a convergence point, rather like we might see on the north end of Throne Room or the Northeast section of Mistymire; a place with multiple monster pathing destinations - technically, either side of the Deeper Well platform would qualify as well as Castle Armory's approaches or Endless Spires' large flat platform approach.
Option A, LAP Method: 3 harpoons (can't ever really see needing more than that), two EV walls, a slow, a gas, a buff beam. 18 points, 4 points, 3 points, 3 points, 4 points = 32 points. That's a reasonable total on most maps for defending a major thoroughfare. In many cases, we're going to have a darkness trap, but not quite always. Give a 3 point variance for 2 harpoons and a darkness, or 3 harpoons and a darkness. Call it 29-35 points.
Option B, SRB method: 2 fireballs, two EV walls, a gas, buff beam, electric aura, weaken aura, lightning tower. 10 points, 4 points, 3 points, 4 points, 5 points, 5 points, 7 points = 38 points. Ouch. That's a full extra harpoon's worth. In fairness, with the buffed electric aura and Lightning tower, we might be able to rip out a fireball in some cases, cutting us down to 33, but probably not in Mixed Mode.
Is SRB going to be worth the extra points? Let's take a look.
Bringing The Pain! Raw DPS/Effectiveness
- Realistically, LAP will see its 3 harpoons, slow and gas buffed, but probably not the walls as well - not if we're running a single 4 point beam. Three buffed damage sources - all of which pierce, and that ain't nothin', as they say. The buffed ogre slow is irrelevant; no slow goes below 15%, and late-game ogres always reach barriers. You slow them for the mid-life animation time, no other reason.
- SRB will be able to buff both fireballs, the lightning tower, the electric and the weaken, as well as the gas. Four buffed damage sources and a buffed crippler. That's a point in the SRB's favor, to be sure, but is it enough? For equal points, we should slam down a fourth harpoon, but that's almost always a waste of points. It is worth noting, though, that the Lightning Tower, especially buffed, is going to start tapping targets in neighboring lanes in many cases.
Advantage: Even.
The LAP method is cheaper and simpler, but the SRB method probably is more damage once you hit the envelope. The expense makes that a cringe-worthy unless you can get two lanes out of it, though.
----------------------
I Eat Punks Like You For Breakfast! - Trash Mob Clearance
Let's look at other factors. One big advantage of the harpoon is that those long lanes of fire allow for weeding out weak creatures at extreme range. That's huge. One big limitation of the SRB model - at the moment - is that its "weak creature weed-out" abilities are anemic. Even with high-end stats, stuff gets through far too often. You can't have your defenses constantly getting chipped at by little mobs all over the map at once. Later on, that's a recipe for disaster.
- Harpoons are, of course, straight-line weapons. Nowhere are the limitations of this more apparent than wide-mouth lanes where monsters approach in quantity from both sides. (F&F is the most blatant example of this problem, as the harpoons must swing back and forth regularly.) Harpoons never cross walls. Although not many maps emphasize this problem, late-wave Endless Spires and Summit can showcase this with wyverns. Harpoons tend to offer very narrow "damage zones" that swing back and forth rapidly. Long, but narrow.
- The SRB model has two potential "wall piercers" in the Lightning Tower and the Lightning Aura. Placed properly (example: Servant's Quarters, Castle Armory, some Moraggo, Karathiki south lanes) you can get double or even triple-value off these forms of damage as the monsters cross back and forth through the lethal damage zones again and again, sometimes without even being in sight of the actual damage source. The Lightning Tower offers an extremely long - though erratic - damage zone, and the Electric Aura offers a shorter, but absolutely consistent one.
Advantage: SRB method.
SRB, it seems, may - after this patch and buffing - have the tools needed to cut out weak creatures at long range. The Lightning Tower doesn't have the Harpoon's direct fire damage, but it does have a range and flexibility the Harpoon can't match. (It's true - on a heavily populated, larger map, the lightning arc can reach some truly breathtaking distances.) I'm not sure the Lightning Tower's stun is worthy of much mention, but it should probably at least get a token nod. (Nod.) K - moving on. The Electric Aura also allows for a closer-range defensive model to potentially deal out a lot more damage and clear chaff as well. Even obvious areas that seem to favor Squire-LAP may not do so. Take the bottom lane on Ramparts - a very obvious killzone for LAP. Now put a buffed Electric Aura on the rampart up above to intercept wyverns, the bottom lane, and placed properly, damage the immediate-approach lane to the southern crystal. Suddenly, you're getting a lot for your money, and a Lightning Tower placed similarly will arc all over the place. Three threat zones with one turret - flexibility is tough for LAP to match.
While the LAP method clears trash at longer ranges, the SRB method clears it in wider areas - and that means less clearance tools needed overall. Is it enough to merit those extra points, though?
-------
The big question and problem, though, is what happens when things DO reach the barricades. Even the best harpoon map (Hi, Magus Quarters!) will eventually reach saturation where the Harpoons have to swing like mad to keep things running, and the SRB method's liability to Electric Immunes until they get into the Weaken Aura is ominous.
When The Bullet Hits the Bone - Effectiveness At the Barricade
Eventually, DEWs or Ogres will reach your barricades - or, god help you, sharkmen - and damage will occur. While we may not know the exact effectiveness of sharkmen, they are designed to shove defenses around, so it's safe to assume that they may get close enough to do so once in awhile. What happens when the walls have to earn their pay?
This has always been the limitation of the LAP method: it relies on killing things at extreme range in large numbers. If the harpoons get dragged off "the line" by a djinn redirection, things can reach the barriers quickly, especially on higher waves. If ogres clump up on the barricade and spread out along it, you're in serious trouble - harpoons will hit them as they come in on a line, but will struggle a LOT once they spread out, only striking them one at a time. LAP shines at extreme range, but weakens badly at crisis times. If your turrets get flanked, you're in real trouble - you lose half or more of your firepower as one turret covers another. (This also means one turret is almost certainly off the desired firing line, and invites even more trouble.)
Interestingly, this is where the SRB method would probably shine the most: targets flush against a barricade being shot will take full fireball damage (remember, the Weaken is rendering them vulnerable) and each shot is guaranteed to splash on others. While this won't hit the fourth or fifth ogre back, it will deal some splash to those still closing, and deal lots of splash to those lined up shoulder to shoulder. The Lightning Tower will continue to deal random damage all over hell and back, and the Electric Aura is going to grind up everything anywhere near the barrier, period. (And again, immunity is a non-issue. All non-Enrage auras are basically identical in range.) DEWs who flank a fireball will still take full damage from the electric aura, probably Lightning Tower damage, and of course the covering fireball. It's also worth noting that the swivel time on a fireball at least appears to be superior to the harpoon. (The splash magnifies this to some degree.)
There's also the other factor here: while the Weaken Aura is stripping immunity, that's not all it brings to the table. Stripping enhancements is a big damage reduction, but then you have the actual intended effect of the aura: the debuff of monster damage across the top! Anything that actually starts hitting towers, players, or walls inside of the weaken aura is doing a fraction of the damage it used to be - and that's an advantage the LAP slow aura can't begin to compete with. Slows, after all, slow movement - they don't slow damage in the least. In the late game, when ogres still rapidly reach barricades and the question becomes "what damage do they do" rather than "can they reach the wall", SRB is a huge winner. The size of a weaken aura is also likely to cripple projectile users lobbing at range - those pesky around-the-corner mages which summon and heal all the time will be absorbing voltage.
Advantage: Clear SRB. The degree of redundancy at close range here makes it a pronounced winner.
Details, Details, Details - Always Little Details
What about beam-buffed walls? - It's hard to say who benefits more from this. The LAP method is going to take hits from less critters, probably, but when things get ugly, they'll get ugly faster. The SRB method will take a lot more before things get ugly, but it'll probably show a bit more wear and tear overall. Buffed walls probably do more in the long run for SRB, but realistically, both groups benefit a lot.
What about hero damage/hero survivability? - HUGE advantage for the SRB method here. A DEW jumpig your harpoon line is a serious problem in LAP methods. A DEW jumping your turret line in SRB is still taking a lot of damage, and you're still enjoying the benefits of being in the Weaken aura - he's not going to do nearly as much as he did before. Ranged combatants and builders especially benefit here, while barbarians and countesses fighting can retreat into a much more effective safe zone than under LAP. To be fair, outside the SRB's influence zone is more dangerous than under a LAP method - you have a lot less long-range project, but what you do have up close is a lot stronger.
What about Djinn? - Toss up. Either way, gas traps are still the one right answer. Either way, the djinn's unsummon still gets blocked by the gas. The djinn won't take as much damage from fireballs, in all likelihood, as it would from harpoons, but it will be taking Electric Aura damage. It will also probably serve as a great conduction point for Lightning Towers as well. Defensively speaking, SRB probably fares a bit better - it's harder to flank an SRB setup than a LAP one.
LAP can rely on Proximity Traps for closerange trash clears! It's also cheaper! - That's true, and it functions pretty quickly, and for damage roughly equivalent to the buffed 7.30 electric aura. What the Prox trap lacks is the range - especially in front AND behind your defenses - and the ability to offer damage at multiple elevations. Prox traps offer no real advantage for wyvern control in many cases, and none at all for djinns. Electric Auras offer a much stronger trash clear, at wider ranges, and with more elevations. It's worth the two points for all that....and not to have to deal with the constant obnoxious repair issues of traps, folks.
Fireball projectile speed sucks! Absolutely true. LAP puts pain on target MUCH faster than SRB. I think the fact that Lightning towers bend through terrain, Electrics reach over terrain, and fireballs are more effective in back-and-forth combat situations compensates for that, however.
How does mix mode figure in? Mix mode actually doesn't favor LAP at all. The whole point of Mix Mode is that things come from weird directions in unpredictable numbers and strengths. LAP is based on predictability and narrow fire lanes. There's a reason people struggle with The Summit on Mix Mode until their stats are truly bananas (and many, even then) - and it's because wyverns can come from all over the place, heading to all over the place. The greater flexibility of the SRB method definitely suffers less under Mix mode than LAP.
So to return to the original question:
Are Apprentice Towers becoming viable again?
I think the answer is yes. NOT better. Nor am I arguing that LAP is on its way out - though sharkmen may offer some serious challenges, depending on how they work, since sharkmen have a lot more "pushable" targets under LAP that would care if they were pushed; Lightning Towers could care less, and you can't push Electric/Weaken auras.
I think, though, as long as people are willing to embrace a paradigm which does not involve "All damage must be piercing and as far away as possible" there may be a new kid in town.
Squire-based LAP lives on - but Apprentice-based SRB may be born.