Boiler: High trajectory bombard.

[Derpislav]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary): A high cost ability allowing the boiler to fire over obstacles using basically orbital beacon mechanics. Both the boiler and the target have to be outdoors.

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole): Literally anything can intercept an acid glob. Including knee-high objects and, I think, bullets. This bombard mode would get around that and make the boilers at least marginally useful.

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc): When this bombard type is used, any tile in view can be clicked to be the attempted impact point - indoor tiles are invalid. The ability starts consuming plasma at a high rate, and, on second click and after a long delay, depending on plasma drained, spawns 1-3 globs (smaller than the ones used by direct bombardment) at random in a 5x5 area around the clicked tile. Firing 3 blobs will take all plasma the boiler can store and will take roughly half a minute to prepare.

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it): Easiest way would be to apply orbital strike code... Maybe. I'm not a coder. Perhaps solve the issue of "indoors vs outdoors" by using the "caves" check for orbital strikes + disallow firing if either the boiler or the impact point is on a Floor/Plating tile.

[ShortTemperedLeprechaun]

This sounds, amazing, and useful. If it's just for outside objects, its slightly upsetting, but makes sense. +1

[Snypehunter007]

Neutral on this. On one hand, it is a interesting mechanic to actually allow the aliens to target specific spots instead of shooting past objects (as long as the boiler and target are outside). On the other hand it does make it harder to defend outside defenses like T-Comms which, from what I have seen, is becoming the more popular FOB in comparison to the Nexus.

As a Xeno player, who loves to play Boiler, I do get frustrated when I am trying to hit a specific target and just shoot right past it or it hits something random before I get to the target.
As a Marine player, who often gets station at T-Comms, I feel like Marine players would begin to hate this as they can be shot with artillery out of literally, if the artillery works like a OB, nowhere.
As a player in general, I admit it would vary gameplay a bit due to marines having to choose where they want to defend to save themselves from the acid that is randomly coming out of the sky.

[Derpislav]

I think the small size of blobs would generally force the boiler to go for full plasma cost, and with it, long set-up time. As soon as the marines get hit with the first bombard they'll know to never give him the time to prepare again. A single marine firing in the general, presumed direction of the boiler would be enough of a deterrent.

[Gentlemanly_headcrab]

+1 I love the idea, but there's a small part of warning time and how powerful and costly this would be. I love an ariel bombardment that slams down marines bunkering down, and I agree with the idea for full plasma cost that after firing it will take up their entire stock of plasma. But the other issue is warning times, OB's have a bit of a warning time, the OB will beep a couple times before it hits the ground giving the marines and aliens (although its meta) time to prepare for the strike.

I'd love a whistling bomb, a boiler turned mortar firing a whistling bomb that's both terrifying, and really cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9HXAoV7Zw (Yeah)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSzBCgbicbA (The noise comes from the bomb almost hitting them)

[Surrealistik]

-1.

Aliens don't need more offensive capabilities (especially since the corrosive acid buff, christ), marines do, nevermind offensive capabilities that are devastating and afford no opportunity to dodge whatsoever.

Also plasma cost as a balancing factor can be easily mitigated by aliens donating plasma, such as a Hivelord; hard cooldowns are best.

[Snypehunter007]

Asking for DEV review.

[Toroic]

-1 from me, boilers are already in a great place and don't need changes.

[Sneakyr]

-1. Boilers can by themselves prevent marines from retaking an area like the Nexus or keep the marines from pushing the caves. In addition, this would likely end up with boilers gassing marine defensive lines at the FOB and then all the xenos swarming in and killing those trying to run away from the death gas. This would be even worse on Ice when you have to defend the critical telecomms & engineering buildings.

[forwardslashN]

Neat idea, but I'm not sure this is necessary right now. Boilers are pretty useful given what they can already do. Denied.