Energy shield
borsuk
Join Date: 2009-06-06 Member: 67717Members
Join Date: 2009-06-06 Member: 67717Members
I have an idea for an alternative to Heavy Armour. Many people like HA (I don't particularly like it). A common complaint against HA is that it doesn't really change the way you play. It's just more armour points.
Enter energy shield. Energy shield would emit faint humming, making stealth approaches harder. Energy shield can completely absorb any single attack once per 2 seconds. After that hit, it takes a few seconds to recharge, during which you take 100% damage. 2 seconds are given just as an example.
Of course, jetpack should be mutually exclusive with energy shield, it would be too strong. They're hard enough to hit. It could be justified by making ES take an entire backpack, weighting wearer down etc.
Idea inspired by Temporal Armour from Diablo3, but there were games with this concept before. Quake2 style Power Screen (not to be confused with omnidirectional Power Shield) reduced damage only from front hits, but I think this mechanic is already covered by Onos and shouldn't be copied.
Pros:
- actually makes player play different
- allows marine to progress deep into enemy territory as long as he's careful and skilled, and survive a long time without medpacks.
- humming sound and cooldown would make the marine vulnerable to sneak attacks. He'd have to take someone to cover his back. Rambos would be easily punished, especially by multiple aliens. Even gorge spit could trigger it, causing it to trigger prematurely.
- has that high-tech feel some people like so much
- shouldn't be very expensive to design: some high-tech looking glowing device, and flashy effects upon hits. Sounds like much less work than exoskeleton style Heavy Armour.
Undecided:
- if implemented like above, lerk spikes would be particularly good against energy shield. I don't know if that's good or bad. It could be tweaked to give 1 second of invulnerability after hit, with 5 second recharge time, for example.
Note I don't necessarily mean it should completely replace Heavy Armour. Maybe the game would be more fun with both.
Enter energy shield. Energy shield would emit faint humming, making stealth approaches harder. Energy shield can completely absorb any single attack once per 2 seconds. After that hit, it takes a few seconds to recharge, during which you take 100% damage. 2 seconds are given just as an example.
Of course, jetpack should be mutually exclusive with energy shield, it would be too strong. They're hard enough to hit. It could be justified by making ES take an entire backpack, weighting wearer down etc.
Idea inspired by Temporal Armour from Diablo3, but there were games with this concept before. Quake2 style Power Screen (not to be confused with omnidirectional Power Shield) reduced damage only from front hits, but I think this mechanic is already covered by Onos and shouldn't be copied.
Pros:
- actually makes player play different
- allows marine to progress deep into enemy territory as long as he's careful and skilled, and survive a long time without medpacks.
- humming sound and cooldown would make the marine vulnerable to sneak attacks. He'd have to take someone to cover his back. Rambos would be easily punished, especially by multiple aliens. Even gorge spit could trigger it, causing it to trigger prematurely.
- has that high-tech feel some people like so much
- shouldn't be very expensive to design: some high-tech looking glowing device, and flashy effects upon hits. Sounds like much less work than exoskeleton style Heavy Armour.
Undecided:
- if implemented like above, lerk spikes would be particularly good against energy shield. I don't know if that's good or bad. It could be tweaked to give 1 second of invulnerability after hit, with 5 second recharge time, for example.
Note I don't necessarily mean it should completely replace Heavy Armour. Maybe the game would be more fun with both.
Comments
Changes player tactics in such a way that i could work as a valid replacement. Although it boosts player survivability it still punishes Rambo playing like HA would do.
+1 for somthign like this, nice idea.
We should also remove all upgrades and HMGs? No. Technology progression is a key component in any strategy game. Not every upgrade in itself needs to shift gameplay, in fact, it would be tiresome if they did.
Also, heavy armor changes micro gameplay significantly, so the whole argument is crap anyways. For one, it puts a heavy emphases on team reliance. This fits well in late game mechanics when the game frequently boils down to a siege. HA should remain in the game.
However, I would love to see a lot more technology options in NS2 than there were in NS1. There are VERY FEW strategic counters in NS1.
at least because your commander spent like 35 res on you :)
Agreed. Unless the res can be pumped right out the window because its abundant and the marines have unbreakable mapcontroll.
than it's starting to become a drug-game where one team is deadserious and the other slags off [which results often in a comeback].
I don't particularly like the idea of easier marine maintenance though. Keeping the marines in one piece under pressure should require intense teamwork and co-operation. Welding is part of that.
Proto techs are generally mutually exclusive, its usually too time consuming and expensive to go for both so if you pick JP against a good team of MC/SC aliens youre in for a tough time taking down any hives. Whether or not to take JP very much depends on what your opponent is doing in terms of their tech choices. HA is always an upgrade no matter what (as long as you have PG tech...) because it takes away the aliens most useful siegebreaking abilities: spore and focus.
something like a cat pack suit. I dont like that name, just mention it to get you some ideas what I mean