0029736: Weapon and equipment suggestions - Arcen Idea Tracker (Bugs and Features)

ID	Project	Category		Date Submitted	Last Update

0029736	Heart Of The Machine	Suggestion		Nov 17, 2024 11:46 am	Nov 17, 2024 6:32 pm

Reporter	Fluffiest	Assigned To
Status	new	Resolution	open
Product Version	0.594.9 Printers With Fricking Lasers, Scott

Summary	0029736: Weapon and equipment suggestions
Description	Was asked to put this on Mantis a while back. It's the kind of thing to be implemented after release; I don't want to delay anything more important. Most of these would require code changes, not just XML. (Note, Chris's concern is that making the combat too complex and involved could make people think this is a tactical battle game, which it decidedly isn't. Fluffiest's concern is that making the combat too complex could move the skill floor and skill ceiling so far apart that some players can win fights that are meant to be unwinnable while others struggle with ones that are meant to be easy, making the strategic progression difficult to balance.) (Second note: With .cs modding, I could probably implement a bunch of these myself.) Silenced weapons: To me, the obvious benefit of silenced weapons is that they should pull less aggro - potentially pulling the absolute minimum amount of aggro allowed on the first shot in a given turn. That would make them a good choice on expensive, low-HP units that you don't want to get focused down at the start of the fight. A more advanced benefit could be that initiating a fight with a silenced weapon leaves enemies and reinforcements in the "confused" state instead of what they would usually be - you can use silenced weapons to eliminate 1-2 guys before the targets even really work out who's shooting at them. If there's a drawback of silenced weapons, it should probably be lower range (since this a) does not interfere with their intended role on fragile damage-dealers and b) is fairly realistic). Sonic weapons: As a nice symmetry with this, sonic weapons could pull more aggro, and potentially cause more terror as well. Put them on your tanky units, like Peacekeepers and Sledges. A Sledge with sonic grenades could pull aggro from a whole crowd at once, which is kind of what I want to use the Sledge for anyway. Note, "increased aggro"/"taunt" effects pair well with damage debuffs, and not so well with defense debuffs - the idea is that you're taunting things that you expect to still be alive at the end of the turn. Suppressing fire: Weapons with high rate of fire and ammo capacity - think an LMG or squad support weapon - could apply suppression. But what does suppression do? Most obviously it's a debuff to the amount of damage the target can deal, but it could also prevent or limit movement of the target, to represent them being pinned down in cover. For example, a suppressed unit will only move if it has no targets in range, and if it does move, takes extra damage. The best use of this is to either pin down a target in a position where it can only target one (tanky) unit, or where it can't target anything at all. Instant Minefield: Consumable item. Applies suppression in the target area. Shotguns: I think I mentioned this before, but the obvious bonus effect from shotguns is more damage at half-or-less range. Obviously it needs to be quite a bit more damage: If it's +50%, then "move close and fire two shots" deals the same total damage as "just stay put and fire three shots", and has the advantage of not taking you out of cover. Note that this works best if units have the ability to perform a melee leap by choice, even when in range. Folding barricades/directional shields: Equipment that gives bonus protection from taking cover. Good for making tanky units even tankier or fragile units less fragile; rewards setting up in advance. Armour shattering/ablating: Weapons that apply a debuff, making the target more susceptible to damage from your other units. Corrosion: A damage-over-time effect that could believably be applied to humans, androids, and vehicles alike. This could be paired with a debuff that reduces attack power, since the usual problem with damage-over-time effect is that you'd much rather have the target dead now. Nanowire whips: A staple of the cyberpunk genre! Viciously effective armour piercing melee weapon. Could be a weapon that cuts attack range to nothing in exchange for very high damage, could be an equipment that enhances melee attacks. Lasers and other energy weapons: The newly released turn-based strategy game Zephon has an interesting take on laser weapons. They're very powerful, but when fired, they apply a "low power" status effect to the firing unit that makes the next laser weapon attack deal less damage. Translated to HotM, that would be a weapon that gets one very powerful attack per turn, with subsequent attacks on the same turn being weaker. Dedicated anti-human/anti-android/anti-mech weapons: I'm putting this here just to say I don't think it's a good idea. It might encourage too much mid-fight weapon switching, which I believe the game is moving away from.
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Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
Nov 17, 2024 11:46 am	Fluffiest	New Issue
Nov 17, 2024 11:51 am	Fluffiest	Description Updated
Nov 17, 2024 12:09 pm	Fluffiest	Description Updated
Nov 17, 2024 6:32 pm	Chris_McElligottPark	Note Added: 0070768