Mr.Magnetic Skulk likes to get randomly sticky every now and then on a random prop/wall for a millisecond to long, which either slows you down, or nearly totally stops you because he will transition into "full sticky mode".
I haven't been able to keep up with the daily changes to the mod; have you tried letting the aliens mix their upgrade structures yet? You can build three upgrade buildings per hive, any combination of them. So you can go two shell and one veil, or one of each. Was just thinking it would allow for more choice on the alien side instead of forcing the crag hive all the time. Its too binary currently, either you have carapace or you don't. There isn't a reason to really have less than full unless you are being harassed too much.
Last I played fade, the costs felt good. It was a good tradeoff between celerity and adren finally, with either offering a good usage pattern. I still think shadowstep is too cheap/good for escaping however.
And yes please to control for the skulk again, its so needed :<
I would have just edited the old post, but there are already agrees on it, and since i dont know if those ppl would agree to remove the sprint...
- Trash the sprint.
- Make a pure "no sticky mode" on ctrl.
Everybody is used to shift being walk and ctrl being non sticky mode... do we really have to change it?
PS: To repeat it, i would like a pure "non sticky" key and a pure "sneak" key.
Why do i mention that? For some reason non sticky mode(ctrl) can currently (in vanilla) also slow you down to walk speed, but without making you move silent - i have no idea why it even exists -> its super annoying, remove the slow!
edit: while we are at it, sneaking and sounds - when on earth will it get fixed that the skulk doesn't make random sounds when sneaking/ or at least that he can actually properly hear these sounds (so you dont rely on other ppl anymore telling you that you just fucked up an ambush by making a sound that you cant hear yourself)
I'm surprised people feel so strongly about the no-sticky button, I've never used it at all. If brushing against walls is a problem for a lot of people, maybe the bhop should be more forgiving of that.
DC_DarklingJoin Date: 2003-07-10Member: 18068Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver
I just find it weird that sprint makes more noice then the hop, while you are doing much more physicly in the hop, jumping around like a mad skulk.
Still dislike and utter hate the hopping.
If it was just movement we lost I could perhaps somewhat see the value, but walljump worked perfectly fine in combat. Hop in combat is a utter piece of crap.
And that in addition to the other things I posted previously.
gorge 5 res is just way to cheap, for a alien with bilebomb.
Last I played fade, the costs felt good. It was a good tradeoff between celerity and adren finally, with either offering a good usage pattern.
Disclaimer: haven't tried the new values so i shouldn't even post, but.. just based on what you said there it sounds like you are approving a base value on a movement system, assuming a specific tech is researched? The lifeform should be viable and balanced and fun without depending on a specific upgrade to accomplish that.
So perhaps the feedback thus far from others was based on that exact experience?
edit: I do agree it would be a good thing if there was a more clear tradeoff between those two upgrades, however.
Last I played fade, the costs felt good. It was a good tradeoff between celerity and adren finally, with either offering a good usage pattern.
Disclaimer: haven't tried the new values so i shouldn't even post, but.. just based on what you said there it sounds like you are approving a base value on a movement system, assuming a specific tech is researched? The lifeform should be viable and balanced and fun without depending on a specific upgrade to accomplish that.
So perhaps the feedback thus far from others was based on that exact experience?
edit: I do agree it would be a good thing if there was a more clear tradeoff between those two upgrades, however.
I don't really agree with his post as I see no reason to ever get celerity now that blink cost was increased
Played it BT today, was a lot of fun. Lots of weird long games though, but I suspect everyone just sucks with the new mechanics and are trying to learn them.
New jetpack is fun, but man I'm hurting for cash every time I need to buy one. I like the new vertical thrust, but it really needs more lateral thrust instead, since I'm tired of bumping my head on the ceiling.
New skulk movement is very fun, but sprint is probably obselete by the time leap comes around. It's also insanely hard to stay in a fight with a marine, so I usually get one bite and speed out of there, and hope the rest of the skulk pack is doing the same.
Haven't played Fade, but noticed that it was easier to kill them.
Welders are great, but costing 4 PRES is giving me OCD problems, make it an even 5.
more just saying that you can adren or celerity fade with good success now, and if adren and celerity are both viable then generally it makes crag/shade viable also (since celerity and adren both benefit specific usage areas). More to the point I have faded on just shade and didnt feel too weak.
New jetpack is fun, but man I'm hurting for cash every time I need to buy one. I like the new vertical thrust, but it really needs more lateral thrust instead, since I'm tired of bumping my head on the ceiling.
New skulk movement is very fun, but sprint is probably obselete by the time leap comes around. It's also insanely hard to stay in a fight with a marine, so I usually get one bite and speed out of there, and hope the rest of the skulk pack is doing the same.
Haven't played Fade, but noticed that it was easier to kill them.
Welders are great, but costing 4 PRES is giving me OCD problems, make it an even 5.
Welder being 4 res is fine, it does look weird but I'd rather have it be 4 since it's so important to have
You probably felt it was easier to kill fade because of the improved hitreg, how nice does that feel! or they were walking in a straight line
sprint is obsolete from the beginning, it's just there I believe for newcomers to easily gain some speed; idk how I feel about it and having ctrl be the walk key now is kind of funky
tap the spacebar on the jetpack instead of holding it ;p
ScardyBobScardyBobJoin Date: 2009-11-25Member: 69528Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
Would love to see the ability to change your upgrade again, but restricted to only being able to do so in range of the hive (so now run out of combat, switch to regen, heal, then going back to cara). I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to switch up my fade upgrades as the nature of the match combat changes (e.g. I like celerity for fast reaction/hunting down rines, but adren for heavy combat/base assault).
fanaticThis post has been edited.Join Date: 2003-07-23Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
edited May 2013
That's kind of the point, though, ScardyBob. The downside to picking the upgrade that gives you a bigger advantage early on, is that it will come back to bite you if the game drags on, and vice versa. This is why I have always been opposed to aliens being able to switch upgrades.
Think of it as an additional strategic choice. You have to make a decision based on experience; is this game likely to drag on or not, will I potentially be able to prevent it from dragging on by picking the immediately favorable upgrade, how big is the chance of the game ending too fast if I pick the upgrade that will be better later.
This is actually something I would like to see expanded on in upgrade design: Differentiating upgrades based on how good they are in the different stages of the game. This is already very relevant when choosing between regen and cara, but I'd like to see more of it in other upgrades as well.
making the transition from the modded skulk movement to the vanilla movement is a really interesting experience, because it highlights the difference between the two movement philosophies.
the modded skulk is a big issue at the moment. after launching your engagement and getting 2 bites in - you almost always find yourself stranded and unable to direct your attacks for the kill. theres also a sound issue with bhopping skulks - they approach almost silently? too many times ive been running along randomly only for a lightning fast bhopping skulk to come round a corner silently (and no there was no silence upgrade).
the lerk feels similar to me, though i understand some stuff has changed. the fade is ok aswell (though ofc bhop based...) though im not sure why its being changed? that could apply to alot though i guess. im really not fond of the changes to the skulk - i find the vanilla approach that forces skulks to get up onto walls more interesting to play against as a marine and as skulk. the current approach to acceleration is really ground based. i hope some of the people suggesting alternative movement mechanics are listened to. the one i'd like to see is some kind of control over the power of your jump. that might be a good way to allow players to provide direction to their jumps and acceleration to higher speeds, require skill in timing and judgement whilst also not discouraging wall and ceiling running in the way they are now.
That's kind of the point, though, ScardyBob. The downside to picking the upgrade that gives you a bigger advantage early on, is that it will come back to bite you if the game drags on, and vice versa. This is why I have always been opposed to aliens being able to switch upgrades.
Think of it as an additional strategic choice
But its not?
Its making an important risky choice based on an unknown. Upgrades trickle on throughout a round and you are incredibly lucky if you are informed of what is coming down the line.. (comp games are excluded from this since they plan everything ahead of time over 3rd party voip) And even then that can change based on an ever shifting battlefield, where a commander spends the team's res elsewhere instead.
As long as another individual besides yourself (the commander) is the one making the decisions on what to research and when, its a gamble at best - as you're not planning to wait for that certain upgrade for that certain scenario.. You're desperately hoping and guessing it will even occur.
Essentially its a dice roll... And Imo that's not strategy, that's just dumb luck.
There would be more planning involved if Scardybob's proposal was implemented as a pres sink.
That's kind of the point, though, ScardyBob. The downside to picking the upgrade that gives you a bigger advantage early on, is that it will come back to bite you if the game drags on, and vice versa. This is why I have always been opposed to aliens being able to switch upgrades.
Think of it as an additional strategic choice. You have to make a decision based on experience; is this game likely to drag on or not, will I potentially be able to prevent it from dragging on by picking the immediately favorable upgrade, how big is the chance of the game ending too fast if I pick the upgrade that will be better later.
This is actually something I would like to see expanded on in upgrade design: Differentiating upgrades based on how good they are in the different stages of the game. This is already very relevant when choosing between regen and cara, but I'd like to see more of it in other upgrades as well.
It should just cost res to change it IMO. The choice should be meaningful but it's not fair to penalize a player for living too long.
IronHorseDeveloper, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributorJoin Date: 2010-05-08Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
Also, am I the only one who finds it odd that a game called Natural Selection allows only one team to adapt to an ever changing battlefield - while the team that has an "evolve" menu is locked into their choice for the entirety of the round unless they give up their expensive pres purchase?
Important to note that removing the ability to change /swap upgrades wasn't ever done in the name of gameplay reasons.. But due to an exploit.
Imo It was a knee jerk reaction, and a proper solution was suggested many times but never implemented - this needs revisiting.
That's kind of the point, though, ScardyBob. The downside to picking the upgrade that gives you a bigger advantage early on, is that it will come back to bite you if the game drags on, and vice versa. This is why I have always been opposed to aliens being able to switch upgrades.
Think of it as an additional strategic choice. You have to make a decision based on experience; is this game likely to drag on or not, will I potentially be able to prevent it from dragging on by picking the immediately favorable upgrade, how big is the chance of the game ending too fast if I pick the upgrade that will be better later.
This is actually something I would like to see expanded on in upgrade design: Differentiating upgrades based on how good they are in the different stages of the game. This is already very relevant when choosing between regen and cara, but I'd like to see more of it in other upgrades as well.
If so, then the upgrades need a drastic redesign. More often, they are best tailored to different styles of play (e.g. regen for quick hit and run, cara for heavy assaults) rather than stages of the game (i.e. heavy assaults can be used at any time). It also promotes going 'jack-of-all-trade' upgrade paths since you want to maximize the situations in which your lifeform is relevant (e.g. cara is still at least semi-useful for hit and run attacks, so it makes little sense to go regen except as a cheese strat).
I also don't like the fact that no-upgrade switching effectively becomes a defacto penalty on staying alive. In effect, skulks and gorges are much more flexible than lerks and fades because they can die and switch their upgrades to better suit the situation. That seems backwards to me.
Edit: Part of the issue is lifeform costs. I don't mind a complex interplay of upgrade selection shoehorning a lifeforms into a specific, inflexible role, but for 50 or 75 PRes a fade or onos better be something more than a one-trick pony. If you want to go down this path, I suggest forgoing upgrades entirely and just making specialized versions of each lifeform available at different costs (e.g. Cara Fade for 50 PRes, Regen Fade for 30 PRes, Camo fade for 10 PRes, etc).
fanaticThis post has been edited.Join Date: 2003-07-23Member: 18377Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
edited May 2013
As I have already said, I would like to see the early/late game advantage of upgrades more pronounced, but it is still there currently. Two examples:
(1) Regen vs. cara. Against low level weapons, especially against machine guns only, regen is by far superior. Against high level weapons and shotguns, cara is almost a necessity.
(2) Cele vs. adren. Against low tech marines, celerity can be better. Against high tech marines, especially if they have jetpacks, adren will be better.
I am not opposed to a pres cost for changing upgrades, but the cost would have to be significant. 10 pres at minimum.
Its making an important risky choice based on an unknown. Upgrades trickle on throughout a round and you are incredibly lucky if you are informed of what is coming down the line.. (comp games are excluded from this since they plan everything ahead of time over 3rd party voip) And even then that can change based on an ever shifting battlefield, where a commander spends the team's res elsewhere instead.
Not true. The more experience you have, the more accurately you can predict what the other team will do and how the game will proceed in the near future. Things can be a bit random on public, as pub commanders often do not choose the most effective option available to them, but an experienced player can still make an educated guess and be right more often than not.
As long as another individual besides yourself (the commander) is the one making the decisions on what to research and when, its a gamble at best - as you're not planning to wait for that certain upgrade for that certain scenario.. You're desperately hoping and guessing it will even occur.
We're discussing the balance mod. Research is not an issue.
Not true. The more experience you have, the more accurately you can predict what the other team will do and how the game will proceed in the near future.
Ah so you're saying its a noob trap.. Not only do I disagree but i fail to see how that's any better, if it were the case? Lol
You shouldn't disregard the other factors.. From it being ultimately the choice of the commander* , to being humanly impossible to forsee the quick to change strategy of the enemy team, potentially 15+ minutes later - should you be "experienced" enough to keep your expensive lifeform that long.
We're discussing the balance mod. Research is not an issue.
*I could be mistaken, but last i checked in the balance mod the commander not only picks which hive type that opens up said upgrades, (though all structures are unlocked) but he also drops structures in order to enable those upgrades, at his own discretion??
the real issue is that there are people who want more tactics/combat, less strategy
and there are people who want more strategy, less tactics/combat
you're never going to reconcile that fundamental difference without deviating from the "many soldier - single commander" model
"decisions don't matter enough"
"decisions matter too much"
objectively speaking, if the goal is to make the game good at whatever it attempts to accomplish, you will have more success on the strategy/tactics side because the engine is so horribad for combat
key observation is that the people who play this on LAN with high framerate are the very very very tiny minority. the rest are crippled whenever they try to play fast-paced action game on this engine
If so, then the upgrades need a drastic redesign. More often, they are best tailored to different styles of play (e.g. regen for quick hit and run, cara for heavy assaults) rather than stages of the game (i.e. heavy assaults can be used at any time). It also promotes going 'jack-of-all-trade' upgrade paths since you want to maximize the situations in which your lifeform is relevant (e.g. cara is still at least semi-useful for hit and run attacks, so it makes little sense to go regen except as a cheese strat).
How do you define "hit and run"? I know that's supposed to be a selling point for the aliens, but I honestly haven't ever seen any hit and run sort of tactics... if you don't kill the marine you're fighting, chances are he'll either get healed back up before you can come finish him off, or he's gonna just kill you while you're running away. That's part of the reason you don't see regen/celery used very often. Cara + Adrenaline are both better where it actually counts, and there isn't really anything you can do other than nerf cara until it's basically useless, or buff the hell out of regen imo.
I'm not really opposed to the idea of being able to swap upgrades, but I do think it's a little unnecessary and seems more like something that would be put in the game to make it more forgiving to noobs than anything else. Right now (in vanilla atleast, don't have enough actual game experience with the mod) the only real use it would have is if you accidentally picked the wrong upgrade.
As I have already said, I would like to see the early/late game advantage of upgrades more pronounced, but it is still there currently. Two examples:
(1) Regen vs. cara. Against low level weapons, especially against machine guns only, regen is by far superior. Against high level weapons and shotguns, cara is almost a necessity.
(2) Cele vs. adren. Against low tech marines, celerity can be better. Against high tech marines, especially if they have jetpacks, adren will be better.
All true, but that's due to happenstance rather than design. Regen is designed for quick hit-and-runs attacks that just also happens to be very useful against w0/1 assault rifle marines. If we want to make the upgrade system more attuned to countering tech levels, we should make upgrades to counter tech levels, not try to shoehorn existing upgrades into those roles. Here are some potential examples:
- Bullet Shield = Takes half damage from bullets (assault rifle, shotgun, minigun exo, sentry counter)
- Reactive Armor = Caps max single-instant damage taken to 50 (shotgun, GL, railgun exo counter)
- Hardening Shell = The damage taken by each additional shot is reduced by 10% (assault rifle, flamethrower, railgun exo, sentry counter)
- Reflective Skin = A percentage of your damage taken is reflected back to the attacker if in close proximity (all weapons, but mostly shotgun counter)
Another method is just to let the aliens choose upgrade buffs versus weapons/attacks directly. For example:
- Aliens can pick a 50% damage reduction for say 3 out of the 9 weapons/attacks (i.e. axe, pistol, rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher, flamethrower, minigun exo, railgun exo) or
- Aliens can distribute 150% in damage reduction across the 9 weapons/attacks they so choose though you might want to cap the max damage reduction to something like 75% to prevent people from making a weapon do no damage against them (think "no shotgun damage to fade" scenarios) or
- Aliens can select say 3 out of 9 weapon/attacks in which any health lost from them is quickly regenerated (e.g. the health lost from that weapon/attack is restored in 15s)
Comments
Mr.Magnetic Skulk likes to get randomly sticky every now and then on a random prop/wall for a millisecond to long, which either slows you down, or nearly totally stops you because he will transition into "full sticky mode".
And yes please to control for the skulk again, its so needed :<
- Trash the sprint.
- Make a pure "no sticky mode" on ctrl.
Everybody is used to shift being walk and ctrl being non sticky mode... do we really have to change it?
PS: To repeat it, i would like a pure "non sticky" key and a pure "sneak" key.
Why do i mention that? For some reason non sticky mode(ctrl) can currently (in vanilla) also slow you down to walk speed, but without making you move silent - i have no idea why it even exists -> its super annoying, remove the slow!
edit: while we are at it, sneaking and sounds - when on earth will it get fixed that the skulk doesn't make random sounds when sneaking/ or at least that he can actually properly hear these sounds (so you dont rely on other ppl anymore telling you that you just fucked up an ambush by making a sound that you cant hear yourself)
Disregarding how poor sprint is as a gameplay mechanic, both "silent mode" on shift and "non-sticky mode" on ctrl are necessary.
Still dislike and utter hate the hopping.
If it was just movement we lost I could perhaps somewhat see the value, but walljump worked perfectly fine in combat. Hop in combat is a utter piece of crap.
And that in addition to the other things I posted previously.
gorge 5 res is just way to cheap, for a alien with bilebomb.
I liked the old blink cost more.
So perhaps the feedback thus far from others was based on that exact experience?
edit: I do agree it would be a good thing if there was a more clear tradeoff between those two upgrades, however.
I don't really agree with his post as I see no reason to ever get celerity now that blink cost was increased
New jetpack is fun, but man I'm hurting for cash every time I need to buy one. I like the new vertical thrust, but it really needs more lateral thrust instead, since I'm tired of bumping my head on the ceiling.
New skulk movement is very fun, but sprint is probably obselete by the time leap comes around. It's also insanely hard to stay in a fight with a marine, so I usually get one bite and speed out of there, and hope the rest of the skulk pack is doing the same.
Haven't played Fade, but noticed that it was easier to kill them.
Welders are great, but costing 4 PRES is giving me OCD problems, make it an even 5.
Yes, this part is 100% correct
Welder being 4 res is fine, it does look weird but I'd rather have it be 4 since it's so important to have
You probably felt it was easier to kill fade because of the improved hitreg, how nice does that feel! or they were walking in a straight line
sprint is obsolete from the beginning, it's just there I believe for newcomers to easily gain some speed; idk how I feel about it and having ctrl be the walk key now is kind of funky
tap the spacebar on the jetpack instead of holding it ;p
:-P
Personally i think it needs to be 3. Ah, ok, good to hear.
I'm curious about @ezekel 's point, however.. it does seem like an energy cost increase would make celerity even less viable?
Btw I would like to see the radius of rupture.
Think of it as an additional strategic choice. You have to make a decision based on experience; is this game likely to drag on or not, will I potentially be able to prevent it from dragging on by picking the immediately favorable upgrade, how big is the chance of the game ending too fast if I pick the upgrade that will be better later.
This is actually something I would like to see expanded on in upgrade design: Differentiating upgrades based on how good they are in the different stages of the game. This is already very relevant when choosing between regen and cara, but I'd like to see more of it in other upgrades as well.
the modded skulk is a big issue at the moment. after launching your engagement and getting 2 bites in - you almost always find yourself stranded and unable to direct your attacks for the kill. theres also a sound issue with bhopping skulks - they approach almost silently? too many times ive been running along randomly only for a lightning fast bhopping skulk to come round a corner silently (and no there was no silence upgrade).
the lerk feels similar to me, though i understand some stuff has changed. the fade is ok aswell (though ofc bhop based...) though im not sure why its being changed? that could apply to alot though i guess. im really not fond of the changes to the skulk - i find the vanilla approach that forces skulks to get up onto walls more interesting to play against as a marine and as skulk. the current approach to acceleration is really ground based. i hope some of the people suggesting alternative movement mechanics are listened to. the one i'd like to see is some kind of control over the power of your jump. that might be a good way to allow players to provide direction to their jumps and acceleration to higher speeds, require skill in timing and judgement whilst also not discouraging wall and ceiling running in the way they are now.
Its making an important risky choice based on an unknown. Upgrades trickle on throughout a round and you are incredibly lucky if you are informed of what is coming down the line.. (comp games are excluded from this since they plan everything ahead of time over 3rd party voip) And even then that can change based on an ever shifting battlefield, where a commander spends the team's res elsewhere instead.
As long as another individual besides yourself (the commander) is the one making the decisions on what to research and when, its a gamble at best - as you're not planning to wait for that certain upgrade for that certain scenario.. You're desperately hoping and guessing it will even occur.
Essentially its a dice roll... And Imo that's not strategy, that's just dumb luck.
There would be more planning involved if Scardybob's proposal was implemented as a pres sink.
It should just cost res to change it IMO. The choice should be meaningful but it's not fair to penalize a player for living too long.
Important to note that removing the ability to change /swap upgrades wasn't ever done in the name of gameplay reasons.. But due to an exploit.
Imo It was a knee jerk reaction, and a proper solution was suggested many times but never implemented - this needs revisiting.
I also don't like the fact that no-upgrade switching effectively becomes a defacto penalty on staying alive. In effect, skulks and gorges are much more flexible than lerks and fades because they can die and switch their upgrades to better suit the situation. That seems backwards to me.
Edit: Part of the issue is lifeform costs. I don't mind a complex interplay of upgrade selection shoehorning a lifeforms into a specific, inflexible role, but for 50 or 75 PRes a fade or onos better be something more than a one-trick pony. If you want to go down this path, I suggest forgoing upgrades entirely and just making specialized versions of each lifeform available at different costs (e.g. Cara Fade for 50 PRes, Regen Fade for 30 PRes, Camo fade for 10 PRes, etc).
(1) Regen vs. cara. Against low level weapons, especially against machine guns only, regen is by far superior. Against high level weapons and shotguns, cara is almost a necessity.
(2) Cele vs. adren. Against low tech marines, celerity can be better. Against high tech marines, especially if they have jetpacks, adren will be better.
I am not opposed to a pres cost for changing upgrades, but the cost would have to be significant. 10 pres at minimum.
Not true. The more experience you have, the more accurately you can predict what the other team will do and how the game will proceed in the near future. Things can be a bit random on public, as pub commanders often do not choose the most effective option available to them, but an experienced player can still make an educated guess and be right more often than not.
We're discussing the balance mod. Research is not an issue.
You shouldn't disregard the other factors.. From it being ultimately the choice of the commander* , to being humanly impossible to forsee the quick to change strategy of the enemy team, potentially 15+ minutes later - should you be "experienced" enough to keep your expensive lifeform that long.
*I could be mistaken, but last i checked in the balance mod the commander not only picks which hive type that opens up said upgrades, (though all structures are unlocked) but he also drops structures in order to enable those upgrades, at his own discretion??
and there are people who want more strategy, less tactics/combat
you're never going to reconcile that fundamental difference without deviating from the "many soldier - single commander" model
"decisions don't matter enough"
"decisions matter too much"
objectively speaking, if the goal is to make the game good at whatever it attempts to accomplish, you will have more success on the strategy/tactics side because the engine is so horribad for combat
key observation is that the people who play this on LAN with high framerate are the very very very tiny minority. the rest are crippled whenever they try to play fast-paced action game on this engine
How do you define "hit and run"? I know that's supposed to be a selling point for the aliens, but I honestly haven't ever seen any hit and run sort of tactics... if you don't kill the marine you're fighting, chances are he'll either get healed back up before you can come finish him off, or he's gonna just kill you while you're running away. That's part of the reason you don't see regen/celery used very often. Cara + Adrenaline are both better where it actually counts, and there isn't really anything you can do other than nerf cara until it's basically useless, or buff the hell out of regen imo.
I'm not really opposed to the idea of being able to swap upgrades, but I do think it's a little unnecessary and seems more like something that would be put in the game to make it more forgiving to noobs than anything else. Right now (in vanilla atleast, don't have enough actual game experience with the mod) the only real use it would have is if you accidentally picked the wrong upgrade.
- Bullet Shield = Takes half damage from bullets (assault rifle, shotgun, minigun exo, sentry counter)
- Reactive Armor = Caps max single-instant damage taken to 50 (shotgun, GL, railgun exo counter)
- Hardening Shell = The damage taken by each additional shot is reduced by 10% (assault rifle, flamethrower, railgun exo, sentry counter)
- Reflective Skin = A percentage of your damage taken is reflected back to the attacker if in close proximity (all weapons, but mostly shotgun counter)
Another method is just to let the aliens choose upgrade buffs versus weapons/attacks directly. For example:
- Aliens can pick a 50% damage reduction for say 3 out of the 9 weapons/attacks (i.e. axe, pistol, rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher, flamethrower, minigun exo, railgun exo) or
- Aliens can distribute 150% in damage reduction across the 9 weapons/attacks they so choose though you might want to cap the max damage reduction to something like 75% to prevent people from making a weapon do no damage against them (think "no shotgun damage to fade" scenarios) or
- Aliens can select say 3 out of 9 weapon/attacks in which any health lost from them is quickly regenerated (e.g. the health lost from that weapon/attack is restored in 15s)