#Alien Artillery/Tank Buster

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

stark pelican
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We've had some discussion on the fact that aliens currently don't have as fleshed out a unit roster as the human factions(about 3-4 units fewer iirc).

Aliens are also missing something else to build from the grand cyst, since the Goliath solely occupies this cyst, and right now the Goliath is in a poor place balance wise where it's somewhat useful if you rush it on smaller maps, and then borderline useless for the rest of the game, due to the wealth of options humans have for taking them out past the 15-20 minute mark.

Aliens are also in desperate need of something to cover their mid-long-range deficiency since both Behemoths and Scorpions are fairly ineffective at their already fairly short max ranges when up against human vehicles with 3-4x their range.

My proposal would be for a hybrid artillery/tank buster unit, built from the grand cyst, perhaps costing in the 3-4k biotics range.

A slowish unit, which can't be rushed in to siege human bases particularly effectively, but if pushing with a combined arms(legs, tentacles) force, could serve to provide covering spread indirect fire as well as precision high penetration shots.

A unit which can shoot a spine(similar to the old Scorpion) only much much larger, essentially a similar size to a tank shell. Unlike the old Scorpion/Impaler this would have a decent cool down(maybe around 10-15 seconds), and a projectile speed similar to the humans HAC/Combat tank main gun, though with considerably higher projectile weight/drop(maybe closer to the siege tank). This would allow for higher skill cap on usage and prevent the same issue with the old projectiles mentioned, since you can't just rapidly ping spines off human units.

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"But wait, you said artillery?"... Yes my friends, here is the interesting part: as a unique mechanic of this unit, the alternate fire should cause the spine to split up into a dozen or so smaller spines(the alien can trigger this via some sort of psychic hivemind link), which will spread out over the approaching target area, meaning the later you detonate the spine, the more closely packed this group of spines remains.

This would require both some skill and guesswork to operate correctly, and would be difficult to use in situations where you can't maintain LoS on your own projectile, so would encourage good positioning, or the use of ally spotters in co-op/multiplayer.

(I appreciate the AI for this may be difficult to create with that mechanic)

The total damage of all the spines should be split relatively evenly compared to the single shot, though having the timing/skill to detonate and hit all of the spines should give a small bonus(maybe 1.2x-ish damage, or 10% damage per small spine).

The range should be around 500m max, making it double the range of the Scorpion(similar projectile drops but maybe double the speed?), and roughly double the cost, slower, larger and easier to kill if caught undefended.

It would make it inconsistent to use as a tank-buster but possible Vs Siege/Crimson which are large and slow targets themselves.

Currently alien's only real artillery is the firebug which also struggles beyond the early game unless in the hands of an extremely skilled player, and they lack anything to punch through tanks since the Scorpion nerf 18 months or so ago, so I feel this would fill a necessary niche in the unit roster.

burnt lantern
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I have an idea to add to it \ modify the proposal:

The large spine is a shaped charge projectile that sends an explosion through armour, so it can have a meaty impact when it doesn't penetrate and be devastating when it does.

The explosive inside is liquid. When the shell receives the (radio?) signal, its carapace bursts and sends the explosive spilling out as droplets. Good for saturating an area, like a thermobaric weapon, but worse against anything with heavy armour. Spilling too early would reduce damage hitting the target to the point of being negligible.
Then again that'd be another AOE infantry obliterator like the scorpion.

stark pelican
alpine scroll
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Tyranid biovore

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Would be cool if it could launch smaller aliens crabs and shit

burnt lantern
alpine scroll
nova fable
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I like the idea of an alien artillery unit, but the problem is with the coordination as you say. This is complex for the AI and so is something that makes sense to tackle post 1.0, or instead just not require the coordination.

stark pelican
molten parrot
alpine scroll
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too bad SOMEONE (not naming names) doesn't want to add mechs

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multicrew vehicles would be cool aswell

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fuck me bro a quadruped mech like the one in just cause would be sick as shiiiiiiit

nova fable
# alpine scroll too bad SOMEONE (not naming names) doesn't want to add mechs

Well, I did pedal back on that at some point. I used to play the shit out of Heavy Gear 2 and Mechwarrior so I am no stranger to mechs, just it would have to fit, so depends on the design. But! Implementation is problematic if the mech is to be of any reasonable size and that means IK, physics etc fuuuckkk. So yeah, not happening before 1.0.

alpine scroll
alpine scroll
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do you think we'd ever get robotic units btw?

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maybe as part of a drop pod leader power it deploys a bunch

nova fable
alpine scroll
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as a leader power though deploying like a couple different drop pods with automated robots in them would be sick

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like the specters in titanfall

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i always loved seeing them get deployed in the game

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it'd be interesting to have robot's because then you could also introduce other mechanics possibly like emps and hacking them

alpine scroll
nova fable
nova fable
alpine scroll
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little tip for whenever you get around to the animation, don't base it off human movement too much, robot's have extra joints or joints in weird places and move in unnatural ways

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a robot would figure out whats most efficient

nova fable
thorn sphinx