Alternate skulk attack: chewing
bERt0r
Join Date: 2005-03-23 Member: 46181Members
Join Date: 2005-03-23 Member: 46181Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Hold mouse1 to do dot</div>I noticed players complain about a too low skill ceiling of the skulk and i came up with an idea: Let skulks chew on marines when they land a hit. While he chews on the marine, play a sound similar to a dog chewing on his favourite bone/pair of slippers.
What if skulks could hold their mouse1 after a successful bite in order to stick onto their target and not let go. They would only do a fraction of bite dps constantly over time and they would slow down the marine they are chewing on. Here is the catch: the skulk would move along with the marine as he spins. That would leave marines very dependent on their teammates if ambushed from behind as they can not (or only very hardly) hit a target stuck on their back.
I'm not sure how much effort would have to be spent to implement the physics to make this look good (imagine the skulk as fixed to the marine at one point (his jaw) and his body being flung around as the marine turns) and I'm certain this wont make it in 1.0 but I figured I should post it before i forget about it.
Imo the chewing should not happen on buildings as that could be annoying (less dps than bite).
Possible effects:
-Skulks become more versatile
-Skulk play becomes harder to master
-Could act as a counterpart to rifle bash
-Skulks have an easier time against jetpacks
I think when it comes to alien movies/games, this "It's catched onto me" fear is one of the main factors in generating tension and it would be cool to have that in ns (Compare headcrabs in HL).
What if skulks could hold their mouse1 after a successful bite in order to stick onto their target and not let go. They would only do a fraction of bite dps constantly over time and they would slow down the marine they are chewing on. Here is the catch: the skulk would move along with the marine as he spins. That would leave marines very dependent on their teammates if ambushed from behind as they can not (or only very hardly) hit a target stuck on their back.
I'm not sure how much effort would have to be spent to implement the physics to make this look good (imagine the skulk as fixed to the marine at one point (his jaw) and his body being flung around as the marine turns) and I'm certain this wont make it in 1.0 but I figured I should post it before i forget about it.
Imo the chewing should not happen on buildings as that could be annoying (less dps than bite).
Possible effects:
-Skulks become more versatile
-Skulk play becomes harder to master
-Could act as a counterpart to rifle bash
-Skulks have an easier time against jetpacks
I think when it comes to alien movies/games, this "It's catched onto me" fear is one of the main factors in generating tension and it would be cool to have that in ns (Compare headcrabs in HL).
Comments
It's a funny idea, but yeah, this.
Maybe enable the skulk to hold on for a limited amount of time and doing a fixed amount of damage for a fixed amount of time. Say 20hp/2 secs. After that skulk is dropped. In that 2 secs period, marine is slower, like when pack animals single out their target and weigh it down. obviously, if the skulk is killed 1 sec into the bite by another marine, only 10hp damage is done, marine also recovers normal speed.
The marine would still be able to shoot the skulks body unless he got caught directly from behind. Also the marine could free himself with the rifle butt and the chewing damage would be significantly lower than normal biting so the marine does not die as fast. Optimally you would have one skulk latch onto a marine and have another alien easily pick him off. This would especially be effective vs jetpacks.
Yeah this idea is bad.
Skulk doesn't have a problem with low skill ceiling, besides lack of good walljumping. If you want to fix a class, fix the onos.
Also, it isn't instant death, and if you're dumb enough to go out alone and let a skulks drop from the ceiling onto your back, you should be punished. Right now, you can just bunny hop around and mitigate much of the surprise and advantage.
Yeah I also thought this was the opposite of what your asking for.
I like the idea of latching on. Could stop a marine from wild jumping so if a pack of coordinated skulks grab a marine. 1 latches on the rest pack rush him as he can't jump away to evade them.
Also latching to a jetpacker an dragging him down to the ground.
Get rid of hypermutation - make it a chamber upgrade so not all skulks have it.
Also, it isn't instant death, and if you're dumb enough to go out alone and let a skulks drop from the ceiling onto your back, you should be punished. Right now, you can just bunny hop around and mitigate much of the surprise and advantage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New mechanical elements are usually half-baked and full of problems - its why UWE tends to get alot of flak whenever they add one.
I personally came up with an identical idea of 'chewing', but for the lerk class when people were debating what its bite replacement should be. People argued against it then, and I can see its problems.
1v1 there should not be an i-win ability that slowly kills the opponent. Thats the reason they took out devour.
Actually the game is balanced around a lone skulk killing a lone marine a large percent of the time.
It really isn't.
Drop on a fresh lone marine, chew him for a second or two doing a set amount of damage, maybe just removing his armor completely, then jump off and finish the engage. The marine still can fight back and have a chance to win, especially if he has a shotty. Also, Marines would still have full aiming control, maybe just a slight slow down in movement. So if you tried to chew him from the front, you would just get mowed down.
At the same time, it would be bad to use within large squads of marines because it pretty much makes you a giant sitting target for the whole chew period.
Errr I meant to say it's supposed to be balanced that way. Ranged hitscan weapons = the ability to cover eachother. Makes perfect sense.
<img src="http://images.wikia.com/fantendo/images/e/ef/Paragoomba_NSMBDIY.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />
It's what evry marine should know: "If one of those things come near me im done."
Leap could add this feature though. So if you leap at an marine, he gets either tackled to the ground like stomp or you jump on him, making your bite double effective as the marine needs to push you away.
I like the idea of latching on. Could stop a marine from wild jumping so if a pack of coordinated skulks grab a marine. 1 latches on the rest pack rush him as he can't jump away to evade them.
Also latching to a jetpacker an dragging him down to the ground.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually, I really like this idea. One skulk latches on, Marine gets a medium reduction in jump height and air control. Attack does no damage, just a mez effect.
Then if two skulks latch on, a strong slow. Three, complete immobilization but Marine can still fire at immobilizing skulks.
It will never happen, and it feels very 'Left 4 Dead', but maybe that's why I like it.