Pseudogenesis
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Test Alliance Please Ignore
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Posted - 2013.05.22 02:37:00 -
[1] - Quote
Description: Similar in function and scope to the Active Scanner (Though obviously without the massive range and radius, so it is more befitting as an antipersonnel tool), though preferably with less of a cooldown time. Since everything involving stamina is explained by biotics in the lore this equipment could be easily integrated with the existing lore. Tiers could be differentiated by increasing stamina depletion rate, range, and radius, with variants similar to the Active Scanner variants. (Ie flux) Completely depleting an enemy's stamina could create a "Stamina Lock" condition whereupon stamina regeneration would be halted for a few seconds, with stamina lock time increasing as the tier increases.
Uses: The stamina drainer (If more creative persons than me could come up with an appealing name it would be appreciated. Maybe something along the lines of Cardiac Destabilizer) would primarily be used for immobilizing targets without completely restricting movement. Potential practical applications could be targeting specific mercenaries for contract purposes, draining the stamina of a group so that they are less likely to move away from one another (Which may be useful for orbital strikes), and slowing down clones so that a nova knifer might be more able to reach their target. [ ( -í-¦ -£-û -í-¦) ] Though this would almost certainly be a niche tool, it would add more strategic depth to the game and allow more creative mercs to reap the full benefits of their unique classes.
Balancing: Since this is only a prototyped concept and actual number balancing is not yet an issue, I can focus on how this will impact the different battlefield roles by dropsuit frame type. Currently, there are a few mechanics that balance different systems against one another: Heavies are strong but slow, scouts are light but fast, logistics are useful but less combat effective, (coughassaultscandoanythingwithnodrawbackscough), armor is strong against energy but weak against explosives, opposite for shields, et cetera et cetera. I feel as though the stamina drainer would integrate well with these systems, providing yet another tool for players to shape their experience. The hierarchy of effectiveness for the weapon would be like this: Scouts would be least affected, assaults/logistics would be moderately affected, and heavies would be most affected. Since scouts have naturally high stamina and quick regeneration, they're both less likely to fall into Stamina Lock and more able to shrug off the stamina depletion that they do get. They're also more able to escape the beam that's depleting their stamina. Obviously this applies less to assaults and logistics, but they also don't rely on their speed as much, so it wouldn't be as much of a problem to lose their stamina. Heavies would be most susceptible to the stamina drainer for the above reasons, but they would also be the least bothered by this stamina loss, because their sprinting speed is only slightly higher than their walking speed, and they are less reliant on speed and more reliant on proper placement and raw power.
Effects on the game's ecosystem as a whole: As of now, there aren't many specialized roles in Dust. I mean sure, for an FPS the amount of specialization the loadout system allows is huge, but for the MMOFPS tie in to the only true sandbox MMO out there there are essentially only a few central roles, and most of them involve shooting things. Though the stamina drainer would likely be a niche tool used only by a few very specialized mercs, it and other items like it would add to the depth that this game so needs, especially considering the ease of implementation given that we already have the active scanner as a template.
Thoughts? |