Goonhub
06-30-2020, 07:03 PM
So we've had a few discussions on discord regarding the shambling abomination (aka the shambler), how it fits in in our current ecosystem and how it measures up to our expectations around balance. The general feeling that I've gathered from these discussions is that the shambler is a little overtuned, and some changes are probably needed. I'd like this thread to be a center of discussion around this topic, so we can more easily organize and collect any ideas that people come up with.
Some of the concerns that I've gathered from the various discord discussions are:
- Shamblers can stunlock too easily.
- Shamblers can suplex without knocking themselves down (this is another way to stunlock besides punching).
- Gene mods can remove its intended primary weakness (fire resistance).
- The form can be sustained almost indefinitely.
Now, I wanna highlight the last point, because it's something that I've been able to try out and also reproduce.
Currently, horror form has no initial cost, no cooldown, and the only requirement is that you're at or above 15 DNA points in order to turn into a shambler (provided that you're in human form). When entering the form, your DNA points will tick down by 1 per Life cycle (that's 1 point approximately every 4 seconds).
Due to how easy it is to stunlock and subsequently devour people (netting you a whopping 10 extra DNA points), you can sustain this form practically indefinitely (depending on crew response) by chaining devours over and over.
I don't think it was intended to be this way; personally I see shambler as a short power-up that you use to win tough fights or get out of a losing battle alive, but at the cost of chewing through your DNA supply. By supplying the shambler with DNA points as a reward for winning such fights, this idea of being a costly temporary boost falls flat.
This has also been discussed on the discord, and these are some of the suggested changes that I've picked up regarding sustainability:
- Add an initial DNA cost to horror form.
- Add a cooldown to horror form.
- Ramp up the DNA drain over time.
- Add a flat increase to the DNA drain.
- Any DNA points gained during horror form is only gained after the changeling exits horror form.
- Remove the ability to gain DNA from devour (but otherwise it works just like before).
Obviously there may be more ideas floating around there, some of them might even concern other aspects of the shambling abomination.
If you have any such input to contribute with, or just want to put your two cents in, please post your thoughts in this thread so that
both the developers and other members of the community have some rough overview of what people are thinking.
Footnote:
Recently there was a bug that made the regeneration ability more or less instantly heal the shambler to full health - this was fixed as of June 24.
If you've had any issues with finding it impossible or very difficult to kill a shambler before June 24, that bug is probably why.
Some of the concerns that I've gathered from the various discord discussions are:
- Shamblers can stunlock too easily.
- Shamblers can suplex without knocking themselves down (this is another way to stunlock besides punching).
- Gene mods can remove its intended primary weakness (fire resistance).
- The form can be sustained almost indefinitely.
Now, I wanna highlight the last point, because it's something that I've been able to try out and also reproduce.
Currently, horror form has no initial cost, no cooldown, and the only requirement is that you're at or above 15 DNA points in order to turn into a shambler (provided that you're in human form). When entering the form, your DNA points will tick down by 1 per Life cycle (that's 1 point approximately every 4 seconds).
Due to how easy it is to stunlock and subsequently devour people (netting you a whopping 10 extra DNA points), you can sustain this form practically indefinitely (depending on crew response) by chaining devours over and over.
I don't think it was intended to be this way; personally I see shambler as a short power-up that you use to win tough fights or get out of a losing battle alive, but at the cost of chewing through your DNA supply. By supplying the shambler with DNA points as a reward for winning such fights, this idea of being a costly temporary boost falls flat.
This has also been discussed on the discord, and these are some of the suggested changes that I've picked up regarding sustainability:
- Add an initial DNA cost to horror form.
- Add a cooldown to horror form.
- Ramp up the DNA drain over time.
- Add a flat increase to the DNA drain.
- Any DNA points gained during horror form is only gained after the changeling exits horror form.
- Remove the ability to gain DNA from devour (but otherwise it works just like before).
Obviously there may be more ideas floating around there, some of them might even concern other aspects of the shambling abomination.
If you have any such input to contribute with, or just want to put your two cents in, please post your thoughts in this thread so that
both the developers and other members of the community have some rough overview of what people are thinking.
Footnote:
Recently there was a bug that made the regeneration ability more or less instantly heal the shambler to full health - this was fixed as of June 24.
If you've had any issues with finding it impossible or very difficult to kill a shambler before June 24, that bug is probably why.