Nerf emagged maint drones.

[Jared12100]

Title says it all. An emagged maint drone is a ventcrawling, all access, killing machine that is SUPPOSED to be a role that isn't even interacting with the crew beyond just repairing stuff. They also can't be blown remotely. Even borgs and, argueably, traitors are easier to deal with compared to these. The diamond drill can decapitate even armored people in 2-4 hits.

 

So. I am not just a whiner, here's my suggestion: 1. Emagged drones do NOT get a means to kill people. 2. Emagged drones CAN be remotely blown. and 3. maintence drones have 30 health at most. meaning they die very quickly.

[Sothangel]

Yeah, they are a bit too powerful. I'd be fine giving them something like... 10 minutes life limit before they naturally expire or something.

[Dinarzad]

1 hour ago, Sothangel said:

Yeah, they are a bit too powerful. I'd be fine giving them something like... 10 minutes life limit before they naturally expire or something.

I agree they should be nerfed or limited in some fashion, but I don't think it's all that fair to punish another player for being emagged. Drones are respawnable, sure, but you have to have been a ghost for 10 minutes first.

[Birdtalon]

I think emagged drones should just be able to be blown using the console which would force them to go stealth and not just blatenty act with few repercussions considering they can sit in vents and electrify doors all day with virtually no risk whatsoever.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Birdtalon

[BiberDark]

They are good as they are.

[ZN23X]

I've run into situation on the shuttle multiple times where a maint drone gets into either the security or command part of the shuttle and slaughters everyone because they are too hard to hit. I can't even disable them with a flash like I could do to a borg. Or at least flashing them hasn't stopped the slaughter. Maybe they are blind clicking.

[FPK]

I'm against emagged maintenance drones entirely. Maintenance drones are meant to be silent synthetic engineers, tasked with preforming repairs and minor engineering projects. They're small, fragile, but sturdy enough to wield the tools they carry. Mechanically, drones serve as a way for players to enter the round and provide an impact on the station, but without severely impacting other characters with their interactions. In return for sacrificing sociability, drones are given an array of tools perfect for the solitary engineer player, who finds pleasure in the zen state of mind that comes with preforming station repairs and building engineering forts. Overall, the niche maintenance drones fill is one of solitude,with the only player interactions being with other drones or the occasional assistant who thinks drones make good hats.

Emagged drones takes the entire concept of maintenance drones and flips it on its head. Emagged drones are a nightmare to fight, armed with an incredibly powerful melee weapon that breaks bones in a few hits, and is capable of knocking down walls. The average crew member will surely die in a one on one fight with the average drone. Drones take no movement speed penalties from damage, have no bones that can be broken, are usually assumed to be trustworthy, and protected by the "cute" factor that surrounds mobs like Ian and Runtime. Drones have access to the entire station, be it through airlocks, vents, broken down walls, or even space. They can access all electronics like how a borg or AI does, allowing for a drone to completely lock down a department. There is no indicator that a drone is emagged, unless it's been caught in the act or if it has its drill out. The list of advantages emagged maintenance drones possess goes on and on. To sum it up, emagged maintenance drones are highly mobile, extremely deadly, and have a very big impact on the round.

Maintenance drones are also subject to the "antag sympathizer" symptom that so frequently arises with conversion antags. Antagonist sympathizers are players who willingly allow themselves to be converted into an antagonist. This frequently happens with revolution, shadowling, and cult rounds. Players have become increasingly adept at *accidentally* getting captured by a conversion antagonist, to the point where most cases of antag sympathy goes unnoticed. Higher server population makes getting accidentally caught even easier. Shadowling rounds are filled with the type of player who wanders around maintenance under the guise of hunting for shadowlings, when in reality the player is looking to become a thrall. Maintenance drones are subject to the same problem. Ghosts can find a traitor with an emag, then join as a maintenance drone and seek that traitor out. While drones are supposed to avoid people, many drones will allow themselves to be picked up and worn as hats. An antagonist sympathizing drone will simply hang around a traitor, who can easily scoop up the drone and emag it in some dark corner. While antagonist sympathizers are a cultural problem rather than a mechanical problem, an easy solution is a mechanical one: remove emagged maintenance drones.

[Dinarzad]

5 hours ago, FPK said:

-snip for space-

I mean... this really kind of sums up my entire thoughts about it more or less. I'd honestly be more in favor of axing the ability to have emagged maintenance drones at all, with E-mags just powering down/destroying a drone for traitors who want to silently dispatch the little helper bots that might be foiling his plans by doing repairs or unsabotaging the power grid.

[Travelling Merchant]

Emagged drones should just turn into suicide drones, that lose access to their tools and instead just have the option to explode. Tiny spider bombs!

[Jared12100]

20 hours ago, Travelling Merchant said:

Emagged drones should just turn into suicide drones, that lose access to their tools and instead just have the option to explode. Tiny spider bombs!

that.... would be hilarious. yes.

[Ziiro]

Drones are very powerful and I often get them to do my bidding, I do think they need something of a nerf.

 

I like the idea of giving them a timer until expiration after being emagged. Perhaps tying it to the console.

 

Alternatively: Tie it to the console. Instead of emagging the drone, require the player to emag the console itself and type in orders. So it'll only produce 1 drone under their control per emag slap.

[GunDOS]

Why not give them a timer on how long they are emmaged? So after they are scanned, they are only in a controllable state for ten minutes. That way we're not punishing the player playing the drone, while still nerfing it.