I think xenos need nerfing

[Cupcakes_n_Hacksaws]

 

Just now, we had a round where xenos were involved. Security and other personnel were equipped with weapons from RnD, captain had a durand, and me and another had an x-ray gun. Cleared the nest in chapel, killed the queen, no problem. Some random assistants got infected during the assault, and ran off who knows where so they could burst. Survivors from the assualt/New bursted larva form another group on Turbine Access, no problem. We clear that nest, kill that queen, done and done. Some crew got infected during THAT assault (including me) and some run off who knows where so they can burst. Survivors from the assault form a NEW hive with a THIRD queen... it felt like we couldn't stop it (until Lord singuloth broke free and consumed them all)

 

If the Xeno mode is staying, I think it needs some nerfs. Here are some that I propose:

 

1: Remove Xenos' ability to freely traverse space. It's incredibly annoying when we have their backs against the wall, they can just waltz into space, travel around the station, and start somewhere else anew. Very few crew have access to EVA gear, even fewer who are immediately ready to chase them into space, and even fewer with jetpacks needed to out-maneuver them.

 

2. Increase the time before a hugger successfully infects you, or/and the delay to burst. I was facehugged in the second assault, and only seconds later was I successfully implanted before my partner ripped it off my face. I immediately made my way to medbay, where it was understaffed. I was forced to do surgery myself (as chaplain) on the detective as no one else was around to do it. I was then going to have him perform surgery on me, but I bursted immediately after finishing up his operation. The time span between infection/bursting was most like no more than 2 minutes. Surgery exists to remove embryos, yet rarely is someone able to do so, what with how quick the bursting is.

 

3. When the first queen dies, that's it. No more queens. Remaining drones can no longer evolve into a queen to replace the dead one. This makes the queen a high priority target, much more so than it currently is. If the crew wants to end the xeno threat, the queen MUST be killed. This would force the queen to play more reservedly, taking more caution in its actions, and trying to evade being spotted. The xenos would feel more inclined to protect the queen, instead of just making sure a single drone survives any skermish. Perhaps the queen would want to prepare for its demise, and creating multiple nests for its spawn.

 

 

All in all, I'm pretty unhappy with how xenos currently are. They have a high stun rate, can survive space, crawl through vents, and are such a pain in the ass to get rid of, it makes me cry. It's very easy to tell if the other antags are whiped out (blobs can't change location; easy to spot, round ends when other antags are eliminated), but, AFAIK, we're unable to tell if we've COMPLETELY eliminated the xeno threat. We could kill them all, and spend the next half hour in maint looking for nothing, or believe they're all gone, only for them to have been breeding in the old bar. With the way things are now, Xenos just feels like a broken, tiring event.

 

[Tauka Usanake]

 

Xenos can always travel space. Taking that away from them and they're not really xenos anymore. If anyone needs to go after them in space then it should be security which has special hardsuits and a laser space pod. It's kind of their job at that point as well.

 

Two minutes if it was timed correctly does seem a little short. I wouldn't mind it being a little longer if that's the case, maybe five.

 

If a queen dies then there is a power struggle among the remaining larva/drones. If it's the case that new facehugged people end up bursting after every other xeno is killed then the new larva have no idea that there was a queen before they were born. They're going to continue their cycle and become a queen if there isn't one. Likewise any missing queen will need the void filled with a new one.

 

 

This sounds like it was a rare event where you just couldn't kill them off or stop fast enough. That doesn't mean it needs to be nerfed, not completely at least.

 

[NTSAM]

 

1) Yes, thank god. Xenos shouldn't be Isaac Clarke and be able to do ballerina twirls in space while flowing through the void like a space carp necromorph. This gets annoying and needs to get out. I also wanna point out that:

 

The body fluid of all Xenomorphs appears to be a highly concentrated acid. It is frequently referred to as "acid blood", although it isn't clear whether or not it's used to carry any nutrients through the body.

 

It is somewhat unlikely that this fluid carries oxygen for a few reasons: the first being that the Xenomorph has been known to survive in vacuums such as space (for short periods of time, at least).

"For short periods of time, at least." This would be great too.

 

2) Maybe. I'd actually just like to see the chances of infection changed again, to like, 86% chance of infection. If that is disliked, the the time... It shouldn't be 3 minutes, at least, it should be somewhere around 10, imo. Considering the timer can start when you wake up, when you encounter the ass steroid's facehugger, you have ten minutes to get back to the station, (which if you're on an outpost it takes no longer than like 7-9 seconds.) hustle your ass to medbay, (which is not too long a walk from most places.) and get a doctor. (Good luck with that, that's a crazy variable.) Then the doctor has like what, 5-6 minutes to do a surgery that takes only one? Anyway.

 

3) I disagree. There should be a lengthy cooldown timer for queens though, all I have to say.

 

Xenos, as I've said in the minichat, is supposed to be an unfairly overpowered event. That's why it almost never happens. I've only seen one xeno event in the past month and a half, eh...

 

Although if your problem is trying to tell whether or not you killed them all, it'd be great to add a stationwide notice from Cent Comm stating that they can't find any more invasive biohazards or whatever.

 

[DeletedUser]

This should probably be moved to Code Discussion just sayin.

[Dumbdumn5]

 

This should probably be moved to Code Discussion just sayin.

This, but also, I just can't support more nerfs to it. Especially due to event rarity and the state of xenos being a broken mess.

 

[pinatacolada]

Wearing welding masks prevents face hugging. Bio hoods (and hardsuits I think too?) do the same.

[Coldflame]

Only change I would like to see is xenos losing access to disarm intent (or at least not having a version of it buffed beyond any reasonable point). Once a xeno clicks on you once with disarm they've got you stunlocked and can do whatever they want with zero chance of you escaping.

[Spacemanspark]

 

Only change I would like to see is xenos losing access to disarm intent (or at least not having a version of it buffed beyond any reasonable point). Once a xeno clicks on you once with disarm they've got you stunlocked and can do whatever they want with zero chance of you escaping.

My thoughts in a nutshell.

Well, remove the xeno hunter's leap ability too. Fuck that.

 

[Earthdivine]

 

For the first point, if Xenos lost their ability to space walk, then they are utterly screwed. The Crew can VERY easily choak them out with vent welding and surrounding them, meaning once they get noticed they are screwed. We had space walk "removed" through a bug and the xenos couldn't do jack to the station, they were routed far to easily.

 

For the second, Larva are stopped by most hoods of the game, and it's the only way Xenos can make more of themselves. Though, from the sounds of it, you had enough time to get back to medbay, after the fight ended, lounged around trying to get help, before having to do a surgery, then exploded. That's ample enough time, the fact medbay was understaffed killed you far more then the larva did.

 

Thirdly, making a one and only queen is recipe for a short short round for them, particullary when xenos die extremely quickly to laser fire. Making it one single xeno is making the event weight far too much on a single players shoulders, there's no other game mode or event that does that.

 

Really all that should be done is the fixing of the Xeno Leap and maybe the perma stun disarm, but they also need those as they need people alive to do things.