Praetors, Wraiths, and other things about ground combat

[legit1337]

@chris

I know you are dead set on not implementing an ammo system, so a plasma cannon firing once a turn seems like a good compromise.

IMO: I do think that enemies need to go down quicker in all stages of the game though. Caesans should have as much health as xenonauts (or less) considering that their bodies are pretty analogous to ours and yet seem to be able to take twice the punishment in the current build. Sebilians seem about right though, they are supposed to be tougher and that should the their "thing". Androns should have more health then caesans but not as much as sebilians.

Any plans to implement morale for aliens? I think that it would be a cool feature, and would differentiate androns more from other aliens (because they are robots and immune to morale).

EDIT: I'm not sure whats causing some of the enemies to be so tough... maybe it's armor and not health?

Alien non-coms should be unarmored if that's the case, and stronger enemies should scale armor accordingly.

Edited December 20, 2013 by legit1337

[Mooton]

Androns should have more health then caesans but not as much as sebilians.

Personally I believe Androns should be tougher than Sebillians in both health and armor. However sebilians should have enough health that you can let them regenerate and if they do they become much more durable than androns.

That's what I get out of the alien analyses.

[legit1337]

Personally I believe Androns should be tougher than Sebillians in both health and armor. However sebilians should have enough health that you can let them regenerate and if they do they become much more durable than androns.

That's what I get out of the alien analyses.

I concede that you have a good point. The lore certainly does make it seem that way.

However, I've never liked the idea of "direct upgrades" in terms of enemies. If androns are better at everything then the sebilians, then why do the praetors even use the sebs?

Androns should be tougher all around then sebs sure, they show up later and are "higher up" in the heirarchy. But IMO sebs should have their "niche" too, and it should be more then just "oh they regenerate a few health every turn".

My impression from the research notes is that sebs are frontline shock troopers, while androns are more like the aliens' version of "special forces".

Edited December 20, 2013 by legit1337

[Mooton]

My impression from the research notes is that sebs are frontline shock troopers, while androns are more like the aliens' version of "special forces".

Well the sebillians should be smarter and are able to crouch and use cover while androns are supposed to be fearless and ignore cover. If they get that working with androns making the sebillians tougher than androns would either end up with virtually unkillable sebillians or androns that are far too weak to ever be a threat.

[legit1337]

Well the sebillians should be smarter and are able to crouch and use cover while androns are supposed to be fearless and ignore cover. If they get that working with androns making the sebillians tougher than androns would either end up with virtually unkillable sebillians or androns that are far too weak to ever be a threat.

Hmmm, can't argue with any of that. I'm forced to agree, sebs having more health then androns would probably be a bad idea.

[Max_Caine]

Unlike HP, armour degrades each time it's hit (and the percentge degredation is a non-trivial number. About 25% of the damage absorbed, I believe). A way to differentiate between Sebbies and Androns would be to give Sebbies more HP but Androns more armour. This would make a fresh Andron tougher than a Sebbie, but a Sebbie would have more staying power than Andron in any kind of a fight and weapons types with better AP (e.g. precision rifles) would be more potent verses Androns than Sebbies.

[StellarRat]

Unlike HP, armour degrades each time it's hit (and the percentge degredation is a non-trivial number. About 25% of the damage absorbed, I believe). A way to differentiate between Sebbies and Androns would be to give Sebbies more HP but Androns more armour. This would make a fresh Andron tougher than a Sebbie, but a Sebbie would have more staying power than Andron in any kind of a fight and weapons types with better AP (e.g. precision rifles) would be more potent verses Androns than Sebbies.

I think this is the correct "solution". The Androns aren't quite as tough as they should be. I think of them as walking tanks like the Terminator, but they really aren't tough enough to fit the bill right now.

[legit1337]

I think this is the correct "solution". The Androns aren't quite as tough as they should be. I think of them as walking tanks like the Terminator, but they really aren't tough enough to fit the bill right now.

Sounds like a good solution. I am in agreement as well.