I think drone is still missing a T3, so I thought I would take a crack at it. The warlord is a hivelord/burrower evolution (I think carrier deserves its own t3 because its so different)
The warlord is the platonic ideal of a hive leader, and the point of the caste is to focus a lot of the micro managing in the hands of a single T3. This is not a combat role, and shouldnt be treated as such. Additionally, there should only be one of these at once.
Stats are muddy, but here’s my idea for them
Health: 550, a bit more than a warrior, enough to shrug off chip damage and stick with the main push, but not so much it can tank or go toe to toe with marines
Slash: 22, same as defender and runner, which is to say fine en mass, but its not going to win any knife fights
Speed: Medium-High, similar to a hivelord, enough speed that it can actually move around the battlefield.
Plasma: Probably a good amount similar to hivelord, I dont really play drone so I dont know how much is really needed to be viable as a T3
Pheromones: Very strong
Onto the abilities
Ability 1 is going to be its bread and butter, Mark Target. This ability, when used on an enemy in sight, will have a different effect depending on your intent.
Each will overlay a crosshair on the specific target, color coded to the effect, which will be visible to everyone, so there’s counter play.
Help intent: Preserve Them! The target can be instantly extinguished, doing so will give the target a buffer of health while in critical condition similar to warding pheromones
Disarm Intent: Capture them! The target will require one less disarm to be tackled, and the mark will disapear if they are tackled.
Every T1/2 Xeno that disarms the target will get a credit of evo (think 20-30 ticks) when the target is tackled.
Grab Intent: Secure them! Pulling/Hauling the target is faster (with an exception for runners because they DO NOT need it),Mark goes away once the target is nested or hauled
Harm Intent: End them! Cannot be used on an infected marine or enemy in critical condition. Target has a flat bonus chance to gain fractures,
each xeno that slashes the target will recover some of their missing plasma and armor when the target dies. Castes that have neither will instead recover some health.
Targets who are marked can remove the mark by cloaking (scout/pred/hostile lurker), or hiding in a closet.
Leaving the area or waiting out the mark will also cause it to disapear.
Ability 2: Raise Rampart. This raises a wall of 1 tile wide resin membranes that lasts for a short time. Xenos can move through it with a delay, but hostiles cannot
The ability can only be used while on weeds, and the membranes themselves will withstand only a small amount of damage before being destroyed. Use this ability to screen off over extending marines or buy yourself a retreat. Drones can replace these membranes with walls if the tile is valid for a wall.
Ability 3: Assault Ramp. Allows the warlord to deploy a large resin ramp, which requires an open Z level above, and can be climbed like walls.
While on top of the assault ramp, xenos can drop down behind barricades. This ramp works in one direction, so the assault party should plan an exit strategy or plan to win the fight without retreating. The Warlord can only deploy one ramp at a time, and there is a 10 minute cooldown before another can be made.
Ability 4: Dig Trench. Creates a trench in the floor on a tile of non hive/special weeds. Xenos inside the trench take reduced explosive damage and have higher bullet evasion.
Flame weapons are not mitigated, and there is a maximum number of trenches that can be built at once. Trenches can be destroyed with a shovel, and used by marines if they manage to overtake the position, but the weeds inside cannot be destroyed directly.
These are all not set in stone, and I think it would be one hell of a coding requirement to get it to work. I specifically don’t want to give the warlord combat abilities or make it a replacement for the leader/mark system, as I think both of these work great. I think it would work great as an XO type role to help out queen by micro managing the front so queen can focus more on construction and overall strategy.