Suggesting A Slight Beefing Of Xeno
Hologram0
Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9303Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9303Members, Constellation
I was reading another tread and they were discussing lerk wepons and some how evoved into a discusion about xeno, in an effort to keep that tread on topic, discuss ideas for improving xeno here...
Problem:
Balancing xeno is hard to balance the same way the gl is... I think that because of its low damage, and the frequency it can be used, it is not effective.
Suggestion:
When a skulk dies from xeno thier should be some sort of a bonus for thier spawn times, it would help cordinating attacks on HA trains, when aliens are attempting to defend thier hives. Perhaps a static wait and a time based on people a formula such as: <!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->2-4s + 1s (times number of people in spawn line)=spawn time. <!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->*This is obviously subject to chage* That way you could accually wear down HA trains. Its always bothered me that it has been nerfed and basically doesnt preform its original function.
Cons:
-Could be spamed
-could be too good if used by the whole team
-could also affect combat
Suggestions? flames?
Problem:
Balancing xeno is hard to balance the same way the gl is... I think that because of its low damage, and the frequency it can be used, it is not effective.
Suggestion:
When a skulk dies from xeno thier should be some sort of a bonus for thier spawn times, it would help cordinating attacks on HA trains, when aliens are attempting to defend thier hives. Perhaps a static wait and a time based on people a formula such as: <!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->2-4s + 1s (times number of people in spawn line)=spawn time. <!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->*This is obviously subject to chage* That way you could accually wear down HA trains. Its always bothered me that it has been nerfed and basically doesnt preform its original function.
Cons:
-Could be spamed
-could be too good if used by the whole team
-could also affect combat
Suggestions? flames?
Comments
What people don't understand about this game is the team side. They complain about their skulk not blasting five marines to oblivion, when they didn't pay a thing for the skulk, why should they blast away five? You rarely see someone going lerk purely to help out the other aliens in a classic game, and they only do it in combat to gain some extra experience, still no one understands that NS is designed for a team-effort victory.
Solo skulks do NOT take out 150 resources worth of Heavies/HMG/Welders.
Xenocide is fine as it is, if you want something more powerful, evolve to a higher lifeform. Increasing xenocide's power will just unbalance the game when the aliens use teamwork.
I agree that you didnt directly pay anything the way the HA did. But the team has invested resources in the hives.
Get scent of fear, know where marines are, activate xeno, THEN leap out at them.
Of course, the method used would have to be non-abusive or they'd just end up ignoring you. Just explain what to do, why they have to do it, assign jobs and tell them the benefits. More then likely you'll get enough aliens paying attention to do it properly.
However, to play a little devils advocate. It may be balanced by the fact that you can get leap+xeno very quickly (lvl 3), before rine armor and high end weapons come into play. Cloaking, silence, SoF, etc. can help you keep up as rines get more advanced.
I play as a ninja skulk most of the time in combat, and thus I use Xeno a lot...having 2-3 skulks xenoing a HA train in a short succession gives all the other players a HUGE advantage in taking the severely weakened train out with ease...
Xeno is great against any marine, whether vanilla or HA...cleaning out 4-5 vanilla rines with a single xeno blast can sometimes even guarantee victory...
Try making a xeno-leap-bite or simply a xeno- bite (with focus) attack against a HA...it's not easy but chances are quite high that you'll take that HA out and you'll most certainly render him armourless...
So no...it's not a weak hive 3 ability for a skulk whatsoever...it's pretty much perfect...
By the way...Xeno + Focus Bite = 350 damage, Lvl0 HA takes 500 damage to kill. How are chances high that you will kill that HA? I'm assuming you're talking combat, which means always at least Lvl2 HA, 620 damage. That won't even be stripped of armor...after a Xeno + Focus Bite, he'll have about 85 HP and 100 armor left.
No longer can the marine duck behind a structure to escape xenocide. No longer can jetpackers evade xenocide at the hive. No longer can structures shield other structures from xenocide.
It used to kill level 2 also but in 3.0 the armor system is changed.
I still say it is strong enough, keep in mind that a skulk is a free unit, and just because xeno doesn't kill everything in one hit doesn't mean its not having a significant affect.
In my opinion, xeno isn't supposed to be a game ender, it is just supposed to give skulks something to do against upgraded marines when bite is just not worth it.
Aliens should still need alot of fades and onos and lerks to finish the game.
The trouble is, Xenocide is a rather inefficient attack. By the time it comes out, marines are almost certain to have the requisite armor to survive the attack. The frequency with which you can xenocide is low, since it relegates you to the respawn line. That gives marines a chance to weld up and get some health back, making your attack all for nothing.
Multiple xeno attacks are less effective because the first one throws everybody everywhere.
I think that it should be able to defeat level 2 LA in one blast.
This is why a couple of skulks xenorush, then higher lifeforms follow right behind the blast.
Nailed 8 marines at once before. Ahh, what a glorious moment <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
But anyway, I think xeno fulfills its purpose in the more team-oriented NS, while in the more-or-less personal Combat it becomes useless after about level 6, which mean you just wasted 1/3 of your levels (well, only 1 level is you're good with leap/bite).
I'd say that the idea of having the blast be like CS nades (goes through buildings and players) would be a good way to beef it up. I have found that in Combat I will frequently be just on the other side of another player from the skulk and will be unaffected by Xenocide
Edit-
Then you might see someone xeno-ing when they see a marine (using a lot of their energy) and then proceed to attack as normal for bites, without the fear of disappearing into a long spawn queue without actually doing anything.
How you'd explain it in story terms though... god knows... think it would do some good in gameplay terms though.
Why do people keep using this argument when discussing xeno(and other hive 3 atacks)...that you end up <b>CLOGGING the spawn queue</b>?
These are hive 3 atacks! meaning...at this point in the game, you have <b>3 hives</b>, doh! spawning time is never a problem when u have all 3 hives(i.e 3x spawning rate), unless you play on a 64 player server!