Current Build Suggestion
botchiball
Join Date: 2003-04-24 Member: 15810Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-04-24 Member: 15810Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Gorge Bile Bomb, Lerk Ability, Clog Thoughts, BellySlide, Drifters etc</div>Some suggestions on various topics of the current build:
-Switch Bile Bomb back to Gorge and boost its damage and AOE back up. Gives the Gorge a reason to be in the front lines, a reason to be protected, and another task besides healing. Having Bile Bomb makes the Gorge into a builder/healer/demolisher, and more jobs = better.
-Replace the Lerk's ability with something that promotes teamwork on the alien side rather than a poison debuff vs marine structures - which is more of an annoyance since the Lerk is so fast.
NS1 examples: Umbra, Primal Scream
Non-NS1 ideas:
WingFlap - propels spores in a sphere around a seated Lerk for cover, damage/pushes back marines slightly, reduces duration of fire from the flamethrower - but requires a 'build up' animation which marines can see (and therefore prevent). Could also provide a speed boost while in the air.
Shriek - sonic attack which dazes marines in area in front of the Lerk blurring their vision.
This shift would stop Lerks from being a loner player class and help them be more useful in a group. The Wingflap concept in particular would give the Lerk a LOT more versatility and use to be around.
-When building Clogs, have their build option stay active until the gorge presses a different ability key - and take away any wait time, so that the only limit is energy.
-Have Clog's health increase based on how many Clogs are touching it, and have them share that health so none die until the total health is gone. This doesn't mean they need to add together, two clogs could have 1.75 the health of one clog, 3 could have 2.25, etc. or some other diminishing return formula.
-Could also be nice to have Clogs "autobuild" certain structures based on whether they are on the ground or a wall, or if there is another clog nearby. For example - two clogs on walls across from each other could build a wall of that height; one on the floor and one the wall could build a wall of 'wall side' height and 'floor side' long; two clogs on the floor could create a wall of that width at however high is possible. Should this type of system be worked out, Clogs could be switched to a "number of walls" amount rather than number of clogs - the idea being to speed up building drastically. Walls could also start off weak and mature into true walls over time or via healspray like all other structures. Lets face it, 10 blocks isn't very fun or useful, and 30 blocks is a lot of fun but not all that useful either.
-Have Mature Mini-Cysts become true Cysts which are no longer connected to the Gorge. So Mini-Cyst placement is limited, but the Gorge is actually placing something that matters, and in a couple minutes will be able to place more. This concept of 'maturing to khamm control' could be applied to the other structures as well - though I can't think of how that would work atm, and it could be very bad as well.
-Remove the Cyst abilities from the Cysts and put them on the Khamm's screen next to Mist. When the Khamm activates it, all cysts on screen fire off the desired effect. Also change their AOE to affect any players on screen && on infestation so that they are actually useful, as opposed to only working 5 feet away from the cyst - which no one is paying attention to. (I have yet to see the abilities used by anyone but myself btw.. are they even still in this patch?) Keep the energy use on the Cysts themselves, so the Khamm can do this all over the map if they so wanted, but not in the same place over and over. Not to mention it would keep flamethrowers useful at preventing abilities.
-The Gorge Belly Slide isn't very useful right now, its so slow that there's no real point in using it except in rare cases where the gorge just happens to be going downhill - it certainly isn't as useful as the other lifeform's abilities. Why not leave the belly slide like it is for off infestation, but bring back the faster slide of a few builds ago while on infestation? Would make it so the Gorge is still easy to kill off infestation, but while on his own turf is a "master of his own home", like he really should be.
-Have Drifters go opaque for a moment on touch of marines or if a structure is placed on top of them - and bring back their ability to block marines building. Its a nice trick for those that know it and shouldn't be removed because people can't figure it out, just have to make it more user-friendly. Plus it doesn't make sense for a marine to be face humping a Drifter and not know why he can't walk forward. Another plus - it would require Khamm's to place their Drifters with some prudence.
-Switch Bile Bomb back to Gorge and boost its damage and AOE back up. Gives the Gorge a reason to be in the front lines, a reason to be protected, and another task besides healing. Having Bile Bomb makes the Gorge into a builder/healer/demolisher, and more jobs = better.
-Replace the Lerk's ability with something that promotes teamwork on the alien side rather than a poison debuff vs marine structures - which is more of an annoyance since the Lerk is so fast.
NS1 examples: Umbra, Primal Scream
Non-NS1 ideas:
WingFlap - propels spores in a sphere around a seated Lerk for cover, damage/pushes back marines slightly, reduces duration of fire from the flamethrower - but requires a 'build up' animation which marines can see (and therefore prevent). Could also provide a speed boost while in the air.
Shriek - sonic attack which dazes marines in area in front of the Lerk blurring their vision.
This shift would stop Lerks from being a loner player class and help them be more useful in a group. The Wingflap concept in particular would give the Lerk a LOT more versatility and use to be around.
-When building Clogs, have their build option stay active until the gorge presses a different ability key - and take away any wait time, so that the only limit is energy.
-Have Clog's health increase based on how many Clogs are touching it, and have them share that health so none die until the total health is gone. This doesn't mean they need to add together, two clogs could have 1.75 the health of one clog, 3 could have 2.25, etc. or some other diminishing return formula.
-Could also be nice to have Clogs "autobuild" certain structures based on whether they are on the ground or a wall, or if there is another clog nearby. For example - two clogs on walls across from each other could build a wall of that height; one on the floor and one the wall could build a wall of 'wall side' height and 'floor side' long; two clogs on the floor could create a wall of that width at however high is possible. Should this type of system be worked out, Clogs could be switched to a "number of walls" amount rather than number of clogs - the idea being to speed up building drastically. Walls could also start off weak and mature into true walls over time or via healspray like all other structures. Lets face it, 10 blocks isn't very fun or useful, and 30 blocks is a lot of fun but not all that useful either.
-Have Mature Mini-Cysts become true Cysts which are no longer connected to the Gorge. So Mini-Cyst placement is limited, but the Gorge is actually placing something that matters, and in a couple minutes will be able to place more. This concept of 'maturing to khamm control' could be applied to the other structures as well - though I can't think of how that would work atm, and it could be very bad as well.
-Remove the Cyst abilities from the Cysts and put them on the Khamm's screen next to Mist. When the Khamm activates it, all cysts on screen fire off the desired effect. Also change their AOE to affect any players on screen && on infestation so that they are actually useful, as opposed to only working 5 feet away from the cyst - which no one is paying attention to. (I have yet to see the abilities used by anyone but myself btw.. are they even still in this patch?) Keep the energy use on the Cysts themselves, so the Khamm can do this all over the map if they so wanted, but not in the same place over and over. Not to mention it would keep flamethrowers useful at preventing abilities.
-The Gorge Belly Slide isn't very useful right now, its so slow that there's no real point in using it except in rare cases where the gorge just happens to be going downhill - it certainly isn't as useful as the other lifeform's abilities. Why not leave the belly slide like it is for off infestation, but bring back the faster slide of a few builds ago while on infestation? Would make it so the Gorge is still easy to kill off infestation, but while on his own turf is a "master of his own home", like he really should be.
-Have Drifters go opaque for a moment on touch of marines or if a structure is placed on top of them - and bring back their ability to block marines building. Its a nice trick for those that know it and shouldn't be removed because people can't figure it out, just have to make it more user-friendly. Plus it doesn't make sense for a marine to be face humping a Drifter and not know why he can't walk forward. Another plus - it would require Khamm's to place their Drifters with some prudence.
Comments
Also right now that would promote cyst spam and later in game if aliens are lets say winning and cyst cover over 70% of map, game starts to lag like it did with too many hydras in earlier days.
For other structure placement like whips, crags etc. you should use P-res for them cause right now when I play dedicated gorge I sit on 100 res after a while for nothing and on nothing to spend it on.
Hydra on the ground + Clog on top = a Hydra with extensive shielding (low damage, high armor)
Clog on ground + Hydra on top = a Hydra Spire - essentially morphs the Clog into a podium for the Hydra to 'see' off of. (low damage, low armor, non-standard placement, increased range)
Clog on wall + Hydra at angle = Hydra Tube - the tube would stretch out fairly strait and have holes on all sides - so it would have a small profile. Refocusing the Hydras aim to 360 degrees with only the width of the tube in the z-plane, causing the Hydra to fire as marines walk along its different axis (each hole, or angle of fire, would have a different recharge rate). (low damage, low armor, non-standard placement, surprise attacks with possibly high damage)
Hydra on ground + Hydra on top = Hydra Nest - more heads, more attacks. When killed, a shell stays behind which will sprout additional Hydra stalks overtime if it is sitting on infestation (mid damage, low armor, extended regerenation)
Possibly even merge Hydras into Clog Walls - so in the above wall of Clogs, adding a Hydra would imbed it into the face of the wall - become a series of tubes facing forward. This would limit the range of the Hydra, but increase its accuracy in that one direction.
Clog on wall + clog strait out = Clog Bridge, so gorges can cross areas if need be
Clog on ground + Clog placed on top at 45 degree angle = Clog Stairs, for Gorge and Onos maneuverability.
Cyst on ground + Clog placed on top = Shielded Cyst - functions just like a cyst, but increases its health, armor, and energy reserves.
Cyst on ground + Hydra placed on top = Venom Hydra - The Hydra seed pods would die off and be replaced by closed flowers which suck juice out of the Cyst base and squirt it out at marines passing by. Much smaller range, but much more accurate and damage over time.
Hydra + Cyst on top = Kharaan Sensor - The two structures merge together to create a thin structure with lots of little tendrils which dangle outward and catch wind or just hang with gravity. Would function like the sensory chambers of NS1 (providing hive sight in an area and marking any marine who touches it). Could place these on the ceiling and have walls of tendrils which marines can't even see they are walking through. Invisible to marines unless pinged.
Cyst + Cyst = Cyst Trap - The two cysts would merge together forming a large orange sack with little hairs sticking off. Any marine touching the hairs causes the Cyst Trap to rupture outward, doing minor damage in a radius but also marking any marine in range so they are visible to hive sight. This ruptured material would take time to evaporate, and during that time medpacks would be unable to get rid of the hive sight marker.
Clog + Cyst = Fester Pile - The two structures merge together to create a large pile of green goop. The Fester Pile would cause infestation to spread much faster in an area around itself, as well as provide a red/orange glow to a room.
Clog Wall + Cyst = Kharaan Window - The cyst spreads out across the Clog Wall becoming a transparent "window" for kharaa only. Marines would simply see an orange blob.
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Just some thoughts. As you can see, could get pretty interesting. Could also take a long time and not add that much benefit, but personally I think the Kharaa (and specifically the Gorge) need more range in structures. I'm not talking Shifts or new shades, they just need more.. structures. The environments are all instantly recognizable to us players - a hallway, a cave, a window, a satellite dish, a crate, a light. Granted its all futuristic, but its still recognizable as human products (which it should be).
There needs to be the same sort of thing for Kharaa, right now its just the above structures covered in a green paste. It needs to look like an entire new environment, like the Kharaa aren't just sitting on top of the dirt or metal or glass, they are a part of it.