EMP Sentinel - Same Base Stats as Sentinel - halve slash damage
Removes all abilities including tail stab
4 Abilities
Point and Click power “toggle” - 10 second cooldown - toggles a single electronic object/light (use it to turn off an apc, a single light in a room, the lamp on a marine your clicking) - if the target has multiple electronics it chooses one at random to effect (turns off a random SG ability for instance… or turns on) - can only keep a single object toggled at a time (targeting a marine turns off there light, targeting a separate marine if the first didn’t turn his light back on - turns the first light on and turns the second off)
3x3 Emp Burst -1.5 second windup - 20 second cooldown - (copy paste trappers warning of it happening but blue - cannot be fired over cades, edge of ability can however reach) - turns off all electronics in the effected area for 10 seconds - functions like a normal emp burst to other ingame objects
5 Radius Emp Burst - 30 second cooldown - Centered on sentinel - activates after a 3 second windup - same effects as the 3x3 burst otherwise.
Drain - 10 second cooldown - Attempts to target an adjacent creature/corpse with a 10 second interaction attempt - success drains any objects that need batteries of between 20%-50%power (Defibs, SG batteries, APC batteries in pockets etc.)
FireFighter Sentinel
Same stats as normal - 25% base fire resistance
4 Abilities
Xeno Carry - targets an adjacent xeno and performs a fireman style carry on them after .5 seconds
Fire Walk - Copy Paste pyro ability with increased duration/shorter cooldown- abilities effects are extended to any xeno currently being carried
Extinguish - Healer Drone style slap, instantly puts out a xeno if used on them, or extinguishes a single tile of fire (5 second cooldown) - if used while carrying a xeno attempts to apply effect to carried xeno first.
Acid Cone - Sprays a low damage 5 width cone that lingers on the ground for several seconds, (very low foot damage if you stand in it) puts out or reduces fires targeted, while lingering for 3 seconds new fires cannot be set in the tiles filled with acid. - 20 second cooldown
As BasilHerb states, a EMP blast will completely gib any Synthetic caught in the explosion.
Whilst I am sure some Xeno players would revel in the capability to point at a Synth and delete them from the game, I think it would be otherwise an excessive ability to possess.
It could also be a very disorienting ability for Marines to deal with, as EMP’s will shut off any radios they are carrying, because this is not a commonly used ability it might catch newer or unaware people off guard as they spend a large part of the round with their headset shut off, thinking comms are just down.
Edit: EMP Drain seems excessive. Any SG that dies near a Xeno is going to have all their batteries drained in <60 seconds.
FireFighter Sentinel, it seems fine but the Xeno Carry might be frustrating if some Sent waltzes in and rescues a Xeno, especially if its used on T3s.
Tho the strain strikes me as a weaker Warden Prea.
Fair point to both you and steel on emp with synths - but I wasn’t thinking classic cyborg interactions with EMP - something funnier feels more on point if that is the concern.
Emp causes 1 of 5 random effects not currently occurring on a synth
1 of 5 random effects
1 - invert movement controls for the duration (W is A, S is D type deal)
2 - Rapidly switch intents for duration at random
3 - Reduce view range to 1 tile for duration
4 - Disable hands for duration
5 - forced clicking for duration
(none of these are a flatout synth dies due to beno combo unless there REALLY unfortunate or do not react accordingly- getting caught outside cades with hands disabled - not processing there running into benos rather then away for a long duration) - theres also the fun combo potential of double emping a synth doing surgery and getting random intents and force clicking… to comedic results.
as for the drain concern I can get that - was more so looking for a fourth ability slot filler and this seemed amusing and in theme - I suppose just slap a 2 tile dash and call it done.
As for Tony - thats fuckin evil - interacting with DS computer instead force opens all doors for duration - there you go - impactful but not stall DS until its wiped.
As for the single firefighter comment Steel - thats the entire design intention of the strain IS to save other benos in the center of fire crit - and its not like sprinting into the center of a fireball with sent’s hp is not risk free even if your fire walking.
if your concerned about it being used to snipe up an injured T3 in a gunline Either
A) Has 1 second windup before picking up if the target is not on fire
B) Remember that its a sent sprinting in where a t3 just crit… with a sent’s hp… and stun resistance… its probably going to melt and is still “slower” while fireman carrying - just much faster then dragging
Last talking point on radios - toggle as an ability on a normal marine would only be effecting suit lights - as for emping a radio - any electronic turned off by an emp remains off only for the duration - before automatically turning back on - Baldy Mc Private doesn’t have to interact with it at all (though I don’t think he was listening to radio to begin with)
As a whole - EMP strain is designed to be a pure support strain with new ways to harrass marines indirectly - its designed to be both a combo starter and ender for other benos (toggling pvt’s light as a woyer grabs him type deal)
While still having counterplay to its gameplan (Just dodge… or throw flares)
So a xeno strain with sole purpose to fuck with SG, fuck with DS when marines are already on the backfoot evacuating, fuck with newbies and especially fuck with Synth.
While I am all for fucking with WL roles, why not add fucking with preds to that strain, huh? Draining pred battery, disabling cloak, radomly using one of the abilities like turning on binocs on mask, or retracting claws.
And the other strain just to deal with pyro spec and few pyro marines. There already exist Rav, spitter, boiler, Queen and prae to do that and more.
Castes and strains being hyper-focused against one thing is a bad design in my mind.
If you need sentinel strain ideas go with “Sticky Sentinel”.
Slowing spit becomes “sticky spit”, which applies sticky resin on a marine. Each stack slows him down more untill certain ammount where he gets completly glued to the floor, but can use hands. Even more stacks and he gets completly motionless.
Stacks slowly go away by themselfs, but using bootknife like with shrap removes all stacks, but it is a longer process if there is a lot of stacks.
Being completly glued have a timer like getting out of cuffs scaling with endurance, the more you have, the faster you can break free.
Other marines can help if target becomes partially and completly glued.
“Light-hardening” sticky resin spit which can turn off one random light source on a marine. Works similarly to disarm, so you need a certain number of stacks to then have RNG chance to turn off one light source. Most marines have one anyway. Might need a very small cooldown on a marine to turn the light back on, emulating him having to get rid of resin from his shoulder lamp.
When used on a flare it cuts down the remaining time it has to be active.
“Penetrating” sticky resin spit. If used on a folding barricade (both folded and not) prevents its use for a certain ammount of time, most likely a couple of seconds (or needs a short windup to use, then marines can remove with knifes etc). Plasteel cade needs two spits, connected cades need as many spits as they would individually, but are unable to be used for longer.
If used on vehicles, slows them down, depending on a vehicle. Tank should require a couple of sentinels to be really slowed down.
If used on a marine it fills his containers with resin radomly. Ammo belts should be more ressistant to it, requiring more spits, while rest of the containers is free game up to RNG. If resin is present in a container, taking out anything from it requires a windup like trying to open a backpack on your back everytime unless you take out the resin itself that has a bit longer windup.
Sticky glob. Simillar in function to prae “acid grenade”, but applies sticky spit stacks only.