Achievements/specialisation for troopers

[Okim]

Hi. What i`m suggestion might look like something similar to medals system, but its a bit different.

Here what i was thinking about recently. Imagine a soldier using the same weapon from mission to mission. The longer he uses it - the more familiar he gets with it and the more experienced with it he gets. This results in accuracy, reloading speed, preparation and etc. improvements.

So, in Xenonaugts along with basic stat growth and medal system for ecxeptional deeds we can have a special weapon type familiarisation system. This could be made as achievements or perks or simply specialisations. Here is a small list of examples:

Gunslinger -> +20% accuracy with pistols. Requires 50 pistol shots.

Gunner -> +20% suppression damage with machineguns. Requires 100 mgun shots.

Assaulter -> +20% accuracy with rifles. Requires 75 rifle shots.

Assasin -> +15% damage with sniper rifles. Requires 15 sniper rifle kills.

CQC Specialist -> +15% damage with shotguns. Requires 15 shotgun kills.

Medic -> +20% more HP for healing. Requires a total of 50 healed HP during the game.

Tough Guy -> -15% damage taken. Requires a total of 100 HP lost during the game.

Grenadier -> -20% AP for throwing grenades. Requires 25 grenade throws.

Bombardier -> +20% damage with launchers. Requires 25 kills with launchers.

Rapid Fire -> -15% AP for snap shots. Requires 75 snap shots with any weapon.

Bullet Swarm -> +1 additional bullet per auto-fire. Requires 50 auto-shots with any weapon.

Sniper -> +10% accuracy for each level of aiming. Requires 50 aimed shots with any weapon.

There should be a limit of 2 specialisations per soldier. So you wont be able to farm an uber-soldier, but you could end up with Sniper/assasin or bullet swarm/assault or sniper/assault etc.

[a333]

It would be a nice addition to the game, maybe not in this specific form. Wouldn't assasins and gunslingers be a bit off from the serious military thematics of Xenonauts? I can think about some kind of training routines, running in the base for several days or so, improving soldier accustomization to the new weapons (since the laser rifle should feel totally different from firearms - critically different, and 50 shots from pistol arent enough at all).

But all my arguments are dictated by the feeling of realism, i've yet to determine how it will affect the gameplay. If it's fun and makes gameplay deeper, then why not gunslingers?

I'd recommend a total comparement analysis involving the X-Com 2012 experience with the perks system.

[Gorlom]

I'm soooooooooooo against this buff for the sake of buff suggestion it is silly.

It looks cool on paper but probably won't be that much fun (even if you reduce the bonus to not so ridiculous amounts).

To even consider it seriously I think you'd have to remove the attribute system, so that the perk system is the only way to improve your soldiers. no more gradual improvement to bravery reactions, strength or accuracy. clear the condition to get your 1 time bonus.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Gorlom

[Okim]

Well, i disagree with it being too powerful.

50 shots or 15 kills is something you`ll have to achieve. And taking into account the death rate this game will have - you`ll end up with 1-2 specialists in the mid game with this number increasing in the end game where armour will reduce death rate.

About specialisation names - that were simply expamples. +% acc for aimed and +% dam for snipers could be called something different.

This system will bring your soldiers a bit closer to you. It will also provide a desire to send your untrained/rookies first into dangerous areas (meaning that those skilled guys will be even more valuable than your starting vets).

XCOM:EU experience/rank system is nice. But it wont work with the number of soldiers that Xenonauts will bring due to its manual selection aspect. An automatic specialisation system that runs in the background like medal system/attribute growth system will be better. You`ll get a notification after the battle if your soldier got a new specialisation/familiarisation (call it what ever suits better).

I suggest using some minor buffs that wont make your soldier a superhuman, but will substitute his attributes and make him attached to a specific weapon/piece of equipment/attack type.

Edited November 12, 2012 by Okim

[Gauddlike]

If I was to implement this type of system in a game I would avoid the binary nature of the suggestion.

Firing 74 shots leaves you as poor as any other grunt who has never used an assault rifle while the 75th shot makes you a deadly accurate shot?

That doesn't appeal to me.

Maybe more like 5 shots give you 2% bonus, 10 give 4%, 20 give 6%, 40 give 8%, 80 give 10% (non-stacking) and so on.

Limiting the soldier to two specialisations would also only work if you could pick the ones you want.

Otherwise it leads to unusual actions outside of the normal use of the soldier.

For example not throwing a grenade when the situation clearly warrants it because you would prefer a different perk and don't want to accidentally get grenadier..

It would be a use for the training system though if you could qualify for the perk (and subsequent levels of it) but not receive it until you attended the proper training course.

[Okim]

Hm. You are correct here.

But dividing it into 5 shots = 2% will overcomplicate everything. Imagine the number of such low bonuses your soldier gets for various things.

The system i proposed rewards players for using the same type of weapon or prefering the particular type of shot or another action for a long time. It might be abusable, but if left as a hidden background system - it most surely will be forgotten by player and be much of a sudden surprise to him once a condition is met.

[Gorlom]

I think this is an alternative to the attribute growth system. Either or kind of deal, not something you can just tack on imo.

It doesn't make you more attached than the attribute system already does, it just overcomplicates it if you combine the two and will be worse gameplay and balance because of it.

I don't think that making players lock their soldiers to a weapon type (or at least make it feel like they do) is a good idea.

Overall this feels like a mod idea rather than something that should be in the official game.

[Gauddlike]

The numbers are examples.

You could start giving bonuses at any stage you wanted.

It was there simply to highlight the progression alternative I was talking about rather than as a solid suggestion.

I don't really see a problem with a soldier being above average with a number of weapons though to be honest.

Does it matter that someone has a 6% accuracy bonus (for example) with several weapons?

They can only use one of them at a time so that is not an overpowering situation.

It is the sudden surprise that I dislike about the system you suggest.

Going from zero to hero just because you fired your 75th assault rifle shot just doesn't sit well with me.

As Gorlom said, I think this would be better as a replacement for stat gains rather than on top of it.

The double bonus your snipers would get (accuracy increase for firing, precision rifle bonuses also for firing) would be more difficult to balance.

A single advancement system is sufficient, doubling it is overkill.

[xcorps]

A single advancement system is sufficient, doubling it is overkill.

This. I prefer gradual stat growth through use. Unless those achievements or specializations gave your troops some bonus that grants a buff of some sort to another soldier, or gives you an ability that "normal" soldiers don't have, I don't see the point of it.