Vampire tail jab changes (try 2)

[Red-byte3D]

About the pull request

Makes tail jab only knock you down if you hit an obstacle.

Explain why it's good for the game

A caste that already has healing, acid runner speed, very low cooldowns, dash, execute that heals even more and more does not need an auto aimed ability that stuns you just because you clicked near the marine.

Theres a difference between making the game accessible to newer players and completely removing any resemblance of skill / effort required to do well.

Testing Photographs and Procedure

Screenshots & Videos

Put screenshots and videos here with an empty line between the screenshots and the <details> tags.

Changelog

🆑
balance: Vampire tail jab now only stuns if you knockback an enemy into an obstacle.
spellcheck: Vampire lurkers no longer "throw it back" after hitting somebody with their Tail Jab
/:cl:

[vero5123]

[vero5123]

Balance aside, I feel like it would be a little more satisfying if smaller mobs actually got tossed onto the wall.
Without flinging the mob

fall.mp4

throwing the mob

toss.mp4

For reference I used the throw_carbon() proc to quickly test it out, as you can see you would also need to modify the visible message if you were to do this.

[Diegoflores31]

this PR is basically removing Tail jab completely and making it a normal tail stab ??? having to rely on walls to do damage is a bad balance take .

[Drulikar]

this PR is basically removing Tail jab completely and making it a normal tail stab ??? having to rely on walls to do damage is a bad balance take .

Of note, the ability still does its normal damage, its just a bit extra damage for slamming into a wall exactly like bullets that knockback mobs into an obstacle small some damage. The removal is the stun and making that only occur for wall slam.

[github-actions]

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[Diegoflores31]

Of note, the ability still does its normal damage, its just a bit extra damage for slamming into a wall exactly like bullets that knockback mobs into an obstacle small some damage. The removal is the stun and making that only occur for wall slam.

This ability damage is the same damage than a a lurker tail stab and you cant target target it to limbs so the damage is very low even on direct hit. Considering it pushes you only 1 tile away . The situations where you somehow pull a stun is very scarce and the caste should not be relying on it to be able to kill a marine that can stun and kill you extremely quick.

[Drulikar]

Why would we not perform damage if we're on the same tile? The only thing that should be skipped is the wallslam part of the code. We have yet to apply the slow, animation, damage, log, etc. yet.

[Drulikar]

Also take into consideration that this will make execute harder to pull off too since that requires knock down or unconscious.

[Red-byte3D]

Also take into consideration that this will make execute harder to pull off too since that requires knock down or unconscious.

does not matter in the contextg of execute, you can only really reliably execute somebody if they are crit or letting you

[Drulikar]

Also take into consideration that this will make execute harder to pull off too since that requires knock down or unconscious.

does not matter in the contextg of execute, you can only really reliably execute somebody if they are crit or letting you

I repeat, an execute can only be performed when the target is unconscious or knocked out. It does matter. The code isn't looking for "crit" or "they are letting you".

cmss13/code/modules/mob/living/carbon/xenomorph/abilities/lurker/lurker_powers.dm

Lines 327 to 329 in d28283b

	if(!(HAS_TRAIT(target_carbon, TRAIT_KNOCKEDOUT) || target_carbon.stat == UNCONSCIOUS)) //called knocked out because for some reason .stat seems to have a delay .
	to_chat(xeno, SPAN_XENOHIGHDANGER("We can only headbite an unconscious, adjacent target!"))
	return

You're removing a way for them apply the knockdown trait / unconscious status on a target no?

[Drulikar]

Or are you saying weaken aka KnockDown doesn't apply the trait TRAIT_KNOCKEDOUT or unconscious? And if that's what you're saying, then I will likely consider having this ability set that.

[Drulikar]

Don't stress about what I was asking about; its simply that I was under the impression you could try to combo these together since I thought the KnockDown applied that trait that headbite is looking for.

But if it needs further tweaks I will consider making it part of a combo for example say you can only headbite as a follow up to jab or rush something, especially since there's now a visual indicator when they're a headbite eligible target - so now I could make more complicated requirements and still have that intuited by the player.

[Diegoflores31]

But if it needs further tweaks I will consider making it part of a combo for example say you can only headbite as a follow up to jab or rush something, especially since there's now a visual indicator when they're a headbite eligible target - so now I could make more complicated requirements and still have that intuited by the player.

You cant headbite people unless they are inconcious.
Its not a part of the combo at all nor used to do damage , its just an ability to "glory kill" the marine when its already critted

[Drulikar]

It not currently part of a combo.