So, almost every xenomorph caste (including facehuggers) has optional strains they can take…
Except for sentinel and spitter.
I’ve been trying to think of some good strains to attempt to code in for them so that they can actually have some diversity in playstyle but have thus far only really come up with one vague notion
My idea was a psychic strain for sentinel and spitter.
No, not psionic lightning or anything flashy, but rather expanded vision, psychic whisper, hallucinations, that sort of thing. The general shtick of it would still generally lie within baseline sentinels purview, as the goal of the strain would still be to debuff marines (see, scattered spit stun and slowing spit), but in a different way than baseline sentinel.
My rough idea for it is…
expanded view range, torn whether it should be expanded like runner, or a binocular-esque toggle like boiler
a way to cause hallucinations or other maladies to marines
some other potential ideas I had for it, but these get into less certain waters are
a way to intercept marine communications, gathering useful information for the hive (or maybe just hearing marines banter and learning nothing)
a way to deal direct brain damage (this is pretty powerful even at low amounts of direct damage so would probably be left for a psychic spitter or boiler strain)
a way to overwatch marines, instead of just xenos, so that you can stalk the backline and learn about their positioning without too much risk (my rough idea is that you would have to see the marine first and it would mechanically be handled like a spit that ‘infects’ the marine allowing you to overwatch them, wearing off after a certain amount of time)
If you have any ideas for sentinel/spitter strains, please let me know! They deserve more love than they get. Because right now, sentinel is pretty much only viewed as “The thing you have to go through to get to Spitter”
The ability to put out a cloud of neuro, similar to the base strain boiler, just a smaller AOE
A weaker acid spit, that isnt neuro, that just if aimed at the eyes and lands four times consecutively the marine takes eye damage
Acid bath, essentially puts out xenos that are on fire instantly but has a large cooldown. Similar to the spray of Prae/boiler/spitter but helps when theres non present. Also has a 3x1 AOE
I would pay money for a Sentinal strain that traded all of its abilities for a ranged acid spit. Lock it so you can only became it once Spitters are unlocked
Seems like a fun idea! Could call it the ‘sprinkler’ haha. A focus on AoE would allow sentinel to have more damaging abilities while still remaining as a more ‘support’ role. Cheers!
I feel like making a fully combat sentinel strain would stray a bit too far from it’s roots. That being said, could make a sentinel strain like ‘Spotter’ that works alongside a boiler to boost them? With a normal acid spit instead of the whole neuro shtick as a Boiler tag-along or Spitter tag-along. Maybe a boosted plasma transfer to allow them to act as a backup battery, in that case something like ‘Cell’ or maybe '‘Capacitor’? Regardless, something for me to keep in mind. Cheers!
Yeah, the whole direct brain damage thing is really powerful, so if it were to be added to a strain it definitely wouldn’t be the one that can remotely watch people.
Also, is there a way to make it so that there isn’t an hour wait between posts? I wanna work with people to make genuinely good strains!
Alright. Gonna compile some ideas based off of what you all have suggested
Strain 1 Brewer
Combination of all of your ideas
Primary focus is on AoE attacks which would probably be handled codewise similarly to Boiler acid mist and globs.
Flavorwise it’d be a sentinel that has grown a massive pustule on its back to store neurotoxin/sticky resin/acid
Trades the default sentinel abilities (Scatter spit, slowing spit, neurostab, etc.) for these
Abilities
Select Pustule: Sticky Resin, Acid, Neurotoxin
Spit: Spits whatever reagent is selected for the pustule
Burst: Pop the pustule on your back, filling the nearby area with whatever reagent is selected for the pustule (Neuro/acid cloud, or coat the ground/marines in sticky resin)
Gift: Empties your stored “Glob” and uses it to give a large amount of plasma to a nearby xeno
Strain 2 Conduit (Conduit for the hiveminds psychic power or whatevs, again, name isnt set in stone)
My idea (Because I’m biased towards it) with feedback from you all
Primary focus is on disruption/information gathering
Flavorwise it’s a sentinel that has focused the immensity of metabolic processes that once sustained acid/toxin synthesis towards channeling and utilizing the psychic potential of the hivemind
Trades the default sentinel abilities for these
Abilities
Psychic Whisper: Same as the queens, just a fun fluff thing so that the Sentinel can whisper foreboding premonitions to marines
Toggle-Long-Range: Runner-esque vision expansion
Disturb: Causes hallucinations in marines and maybe screenshake. As for what the hallucinations actually are idk yet. Could just be baseline SS13 hallucination or maybe makes them see other marines as Xeno drones
Silence: Disables telecomms near the sentinel. Not sure how large to make this as in theory it could be pretty powerful but it’s still a relatively niche use-case. Kneejerk says just the screen, so if you can see a marine they cant hear comms, but that becomes significantly more powerful if I combine that with the runner vision enhancement