Posts: 112
Threads: 15
Joined: Jun 2014
Captain_Bravo Wrote:What if, instead of making Lings able to die, you just make it easier to knock them unconscious?
I.E. if a Ling hits the criteria that would normally kill a person, (-200 health) they automatically are knocked into a regenerative coma? It doesn't even have to be long, maybe just for 60 or 90 seconds. But they go down, and are unconscious while their body knits back together. At the end of it, they instantly regenerate all their health, and wake up. (If you make it a slow recovery, someone will just stand over it with a welder and whack it constantly, putting your 'ling into an endless coma. That's not fun for anyone.)
So Changelings are still incredibly, astoundingly hard to kill. (As befits any lovecraftian space monster) But they're also not effectively invincible. Take the 'ling down, and you've got a ticking timer to get that son of a bitch to the crusher, or lock it in a room filled with burning plasma. If you're a changeling, you once again want to avoid taking too much damage, because all of a sudden you're down and out for a full minute while they can do whatever-the-fuck-they-want with you.
Plus, spacing the 'ling once again becomes an option. If the timer is ticking and you can't make it to disposals, just toss it in a mass driver and pray it never makes it back.
Captain_Bravo has a suggestion for balancing lings again. It is good. It needs more attention. Please discuss.
Posts: 629
Threads: 23
Joined: Mar 2013
I didn't add, but since the new suggestion would make Changelings impossible to murder through normal means, you'd have to change headspiders as well. So what if every time a changeling gets knocked into a coma, he gets a popup option to fire off the headspider? Someone sneaks up on you with a C-saber? Headspider him as soon as you go down. A group of rampaging doctors pummels you to death with medkits? Hold off on the headspider, and just wait for your coma to end. Security gangs up on you and takes you down? Wait for about 30 seconds, long enough for the HoS to begin dragging you to the crusher, and then fire off your headspider when you've got him alone.
It gives more options for changelings to control their abilities, and also makes them more unpredictable to deal with.
Posts: 77
Threads: 10
Joined: Sep 2014
60 seconds seems like quite a lot of time unless lag interferes. Also I'd worry that this would basically mean that mechanics will inevitably set up reclaimers all over the station. Or rather people would probably start running around with unbuilt reclaimers and a soldering iron quite a lot.
And if you make the headspider voluntary wouldn't it just be a nobrainer to use it immediately if someone killed you while standing close? Even if there are you'd kill the one you get and be able to fight for a bit more before you're taken down again. Not sure how fast a headspider actually is and turns a target though, depending on that it could range from useless but maybe as a last ditch effort to something that needs serious repercussions.
Goonhub
