IMO it can use a req decrease of about 200 or 100 at least to make it less expensive considering its current relatively poor cost efficiency but as other people didn't seemed to agree so I decided not to press the issue. And I don't really care because I don't use it that often and IG can do without it in most situations.
However, it is not like it doesn't have any niche to fill in. I like how it performs in 2 v 2. That is probably the best game mode it can be in. With 2 people around it is easier to cooperate with each other to make most of the baneblade and maps are not so big or not so small but just adequately sized for a baneblade to move around to have some impact on the game. Also the level of firepower in 2 v 2 is just not strong enough to overwhelm baneblade in a matter of seconds if managed well so you do have some respond time compared to how it quickly banishes in 3 v 3 due to insurmountable firepower that is involved in it. Well supported baneblade sitting on central vp can be a nightmarish scenario for certain faction or hero combinations that lacks tools to deal with it in 2 v 2 and that is why I believe that mode is the best niche for using baneblade.
In 1 v 1 it is nigh impossible to use it without sacrificing many advantages you can get for not getting it so just forget about it. It is too expensive and slow to build nowadays for that sort of short timed matches.
In 3 v 3 you can use it but there are some severe limitations to keep in mind. I strongly not recommend to use it if one of these factions are in the enemy team. IG, Ork, Eldar, Nid. Well, if you ask ain't that like 4 out of 7 factions we currently have in dow2 then, I would say that is right and exactly for that reason you shouldn't try to use it unless you are trying to put the nail in the coffin or solidfy the advantage your team may currently have. So basically its main role nowadays in 3 v 3 game is line defender and a bait. Unless situations seems so good that you are 100% sure there is no risk of baneblade getting destroyed, don't use it as line pusher give that job to Leman who does it way better and safer. It stays at the back and be used to keep the line just in case defensive perimeter starts falling apart when getting counter pushed and in this way it will keep the advantage you have in your hands safe when things get flimsy.
As a bait, it is the most yummy bait in the history of dow2 so don't question its usefulness as a bait
. I mean its slow and bulky and freaking dangerous when left alone so you cannot ask for a better target for focus fire. If not properly countered, it will almost turn any battle into its team's favor but no one is stupid nowadays to allow that to happen so it is a good bait. They will throw nukes on it and super heavy melees and anything of high power to kill it in a one go and people need to exploit that to wipe such high value units and make them use nukes on baneblade rather than your other valuable troops. In the end, when you have baneblade around, your other troops are much more safer so try to exploit that as best as you can.
Now will talk about in detail why it can't do these 2 jobs properly against those 4 factions mentioned above. To tell you the truth, it is somewhat usable if only one Nid or Ork is present in enemy team along with rest of the team being Chaos, SM, GK. There are times that ork or nid player spawns on the exact opposite starting point and they have to come all the way to the other side to use their advantage on it or that player is forced to have army composition that doesn't help against baneblade thx to the effort of your teammates. In these niche scenarios, baneblade can still do its job properly but once you have more than two nid or ork players on enemy team or you see addition of an eldar or ig, just don't use it for it will be a huge waste of resources.
For IG and Eldar, baneblade is a piece of cake unless you are playing a very badly losing game. A single Eldar or IG player can shut down baneblade for all enternity and turn it into a colossal pile of burning tin can in matter of seconds. IG is infamous for making baneblade useless. LC flare and smoke shell from artillery spotters constantly shut down its dps. Slow hulking tank is a delicious target for anti armor kit stormtroopers throwing melta bombs that combos well into manticore strikes. Unfortunately baneblade have that rear armor hit unlike LRR thus manticores become even more serious threat and it is too large and slow to avoid strikes. Lemans equipped with Vanquisher will hugely out range and harass baneblade all day long and will even chase it down if baneblade gets low on hp. LC execute buffing or LG buffing av troops like lascannon or auto cannon Heavy weapon squads, melta stormtroopers, ogryns hurts beyond imagination. Also that inqy running amok with invulnerability plus inferno pistol really gets on your nerves. To tip it off, oh hack I even saw a guy dropping a bunker in advance behind the narrow passage where baneblade should retreat back into so once it completes, it cannot move backward properly and eventually swarmlord chewed on the tank with delight. Eldrich nuke explains it all for eldar. They will nuke it and get the huge chunk of hp ripped off with a simple click. Then, an eldar player can have that evil smile across one's face thinking of what to use to handily destroy this symbol of hope for enemy team. Usually wraithguards will do it in in seconds and will do it even better with doom and guide from farseer. Infiltrating avatar with clock of shadows from warlock to surprise the crap out of enemy player and giggle like a maniac as our fiery godly friend take that symbol of hope down to hell in such a elegant fashion is a fun option to consider. If you are looking for a baneblade hell where all these mighty vehicles' machine spirits go to, you can combine above IG and Eldar factors together. Eldritch into manti + some av shots will even insta kill LRR so in case of our cute little bane boy, it is a unavoidable dead end.
Orks and Nids have fun times with baneblades too. Orks can use that stikkbomma stun bomb and combo into Rocks, massive rocket barrage from tank busters and usually hide da boys nobz or use yer choppas + ard boys nobz can easily finish the job. Mekboy can buff nobz further with suppa tuff beam and weridboy warpath or throw can close the distance for nobz faster if our bane boy refuses to die. Warboss has power claw, kommando nob has that awesome rocket launcher and mekboy has very hard to notice av gun so ork heroes aren't mucking about either. Nids can have some words with our bane boy with hulking swarlord and fexes with scary venom cannons. If that boy refuses to talk, we can force a face to face meeting with zoan snare and ripper swarm slowing and surely that won't be a pleasant encounter for our poor baneblade.
However, Baneblade can become that MVP of the battle if the enemy team doesn't include above 4 factions. Without above 4 factions' support, teams consisting solely out of GK, SM, Chaos can have a very very bad day trying to take down well supported baneblade. Usually for these factions, no amount of ranged damage is enough to win in a pure shoot out with a supported baneblade so will require some close inspections with melee hard av units. Problem is that these guy's nukes doesn't really help that much vs vehicles and heroes somewhat lack that punch in av to kill it in a quick fashion so case like d cannons, any hero with cc ability, avatars, GUO or some purely high level of dps laying about makes killing with units alone difficult. In order to do sth about that eleven barrels of hell is to stun it with sth and put down a nuke and try forcing your way in with both melee and long range av. Of course, this scneario does not include enemy using nukes of their own to decimate your ranged av arsenal or all of your melee av units and heroes involved in the rush getting all wiped in exchange of a baneblade who may not even die if he is lucky. Chaos suffers the worst and SM + GK combination will be better off in facing baneblades but no guarantees in killing it if there is subjugating Chaos Sorcerer with chains of torment or Inqy around with two nasty cc or avatar, guo, d cannon ready to fling your melee units away into to infinity and beyond.
In short, don't use it in 1 v 1, love it in 2 v 2 and use it against pure SM, Chaos, GK combination with good support in 3 v 3 and thanks for reading this lengthy answer for a seemingly short question
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