New Enemies To Round Out The Factions

[Shanicus]

So after Devstream 24 I was thinking about the various 'adding more enemy units' points they made throughout the stream, thinking about what they could add to round out the Factions - this ended up turning into me sticking things together and coming up with my own ideas and concepts for the new enemies that could show up.

 

First, some clarification:

 

Light Units: the small, common, easy-to-kill guys that are only threatening in a group. Auxiliary light units can be common (Shield Osprey) or Rare (Ballistas, Sniper Crewmen) and have a wide array of abilities.

Medium Units: The uncommon guys who can take a hit - Troopers, Hellions, Heavy Gunners (not Corrupted - They've got 700 base HP, Heavy Gunners only have 250), Fusion MOAs and Ancients are all medium units by my standards. Tend to be a bit swarmy in survivals and defense missions, but not really the 'tanky' units.

Heavy Units: High damage, high Resistance. Napalms and Bombards (Damage + Resistance), Corrupted Gunners (DAMAGE + Resistance) and Engineers (DAMAGE) are all Heavy Units to me. Really uncommon outside long Survivals, the exception being Corrupted Gunners who like to spawn in packs of 4-5 dependent on the mission.

 

CORPUS

 

The Corpus to me feel too... light. The heaviest unit they have is the Oxium Ospreys and Engineers, with their other units being either very light ranged crewmen or very light ranged MOAs. They've got some good auxillary units (Leech Ospreys, Rail MOAs and Shield Drones) and the Fusion MOA is a good - if rare - Medium unit, but I feel they just need some better Heavy units, more medium units and some melee range to really spread out.

 

Light Units:

 

Shotgun MOA:

A close-range light unit, this Brown MOA runs up close and blasts Tenno with an energy shotgun blast. The Crewmen/MOAs tend to be medium-range units anyway, so these guys help add some close-combat support to the Corpus.

Medium Units:

 

Assault MOA:

A melee-focused MOA, this moderately shielded MOA charges in, dealing a rapid series of kicks to enemies. If you've been knocked down by a Shockwave MOA, the Assault MOA can do a finishing move on you for serious damage. Does possess a gun like all MOA, but only uses it if you're out of range (standing on a box, wall running, etc.)

 

Combat Osprey:

An Oxium Osprey stripped of it's explosive components, the Combat Osprey hovers around and fires rapid-fire energy pulses at targets, flushing them out of cover. Lighter armoured than an Oxium Osprey but it has heavier shields and will retreat if it takes significant damage to allow these shields to regenerate.

 

Lightning Crewman:

A long-range crewman to replace Sniper Crewmen in higher levels - the Lightning Crewman is equipped with a lightning gun and a personal cloak, shocking enemies for moderate damage and retreating if threatened in combat. The lightning gun is a 100% proc as well, to give some AoE damage to the Corpus.

 

Heavy Units:

 

Rocket Osprey:

A scaled down Raptor, the Rocket Osprey is a heavily armored and armed Osprey, firing a light energy repeater before launching a spread of rockets at enemies, similar to Hellions. Rocket Ospreys have Alloy Armour alongside high HP, bringing a strong aerial threat to the battlefield.

 

Heavy MOA:

Armoured and shielded, the Heavy MOA charges into combat before locking it's legs down, turning itself into a semi-turret armed with a Twin-linked Supra. The MOA can't move, but it can't be knocked down. Getting behind the MOA reveals it's blind spot, forcing it to get up and move, buying time to damage it before it sets up again. If hit by Radial Disarm it loses it's gun and stops setting up, instead meleeing with powerful kicks that have a high chance of knocking you down, so... be careful with that.

 

Corpus Marine:

A rare-military trained Corpus, the Marine is equipped with an Exosuit (looks like an armoured engineer), a Corpus Shotgun, Tesla Grenades and a Gram/2-handed Corpus Melee weapon. The Marine rushes into close-combat, attacking with the Shotgun and slashing at enemies with his sword, occasionally throwing out Teslas to damage distant enemies or set traps. Always spawns alongside a Shield Drone, to bolster it's already high shields.

 

Improved Jackal:

A rare heavy unit that shows up, the Improved Jackal is basically the Hyena pre-u12 with less armour and HP and no Volt shield. Grenade Ring, Rockets and twin chain guns are still there, however, so be prepared. Lotus will warn that 'The Corpus have deployed a Heavy Robot' whenever one spawns.

 

INFESTED

 

 

These guys are pure melee, which is great. They're also light as hell, which is... good for the swarm nature, but means there's no real presence to them - sure you might get disrupted once, but you can rip through 20 disruptors before that happens. I don't want to take the swarming or melee focus from the Infested, but some ranged and heavy auxiliary units could help shake things up a bit.

 

Light Units:

 

Noxious Charger:

A lighter, less damaging variant of the Charger that runs up and starts attacking normally. On occasion it stops and seems to expand, emitting a cloud of gas that lingers in the area for a short period of time. Claw attacks are legitimately weak (unlike chargers and their 50 damage per hit at level 5), but can proc Toxic damage on rare occasions.

 

Barbed Runner:

A runner that stops a shot distance away, firing barbs at enemies for light damage. Threatening in large numbers but incredibly easy to kill. Isn't that accurate, so it tends to get in close range to help hit.

 

Creeper:

A new model, the Creeper is a stationary lump of infested flesh that fires Tysis-like darts, dealing moderate damage and occasionally proccing (temporary) corrosive effects. More a hazard than a new unit, as they don't spawn in swarms and can't spawn in defense missions.

 

Medium Units:

 

Bleeding Ancient:

This Ancient looks likes it's bleeding already, emitting splatters of blood all around it. Enemy infested that stand near the Ancient get a significant buff, however, increasing melee attack speed and movement speed for a period of time. If Tenno get in the blood, they receive a speed debuff and take damage for a short period of time. True to it's name the Ancient is not very sturdy though, with a very low health number due to spewing it's blood over everything else.

 

Spitting Ancient:

A ranged Ancient, the Spitting Ancient hocks large bombs at the enemy, dealing a mix of blast and toxic damage to everything around the blast, similar to Lephantis' Corpus Head shots. Does not leave a toxic cloud behind when killed or after it's shots, but does shoot fairly quickly (about once every 3 seconds) and stays out of melee range, allowing the lighter infested to meat shield for it. Maintains the Ancient Knockdown too, so getting close can be hazardous.

 

Heavy Units:

 

Brute:

A new Heavy infested, the Brute possesses natural armour and razor sharp claws, soaking high amounts of damage as it rushes towards Tenno to break up their positions. Also does a mini-Rhino charge, knocking enemies down that it slams into as it rushes. Like the Tank from Left 4 Dead, the Brute exists to shake up Tenno who have a secured position and offer a significant threat that they have to focus it down over the hordes of smaller foes.

 

Noxious Controller:

An advanced Spitter/Toxic Ancient, the Noxious Controller is a pure ranged Infested that shoots toxic bombs that leave damaging clouds while also emitting a toxic field around it. The Controller can also let out a bestial cry, boosting damage and movement speed of all Infested in the room that lasts a short duration. Normally attacks with a single shot, the Controller can also fire a burst of bombs, carpeting an area with damage and clouds.

 

Regenerative Controller:

Like the Noxious Controller, the Regenerative Controller is a pure ranged infested but with a focus on healing; it emits an aura around it that boosts the regeneration rate of nearby Infested and it's bombs heal the HP of any Infested it hits instead of leaving a toxic cloud behind. Unlike the Noxious Controller, the Regenerative Crawler's battlecry boosts attack speed and damage resistance (~20%) of all Infested, making it a significant threat around other infested - thankfully unlike the Noxious Controller, it can't carpet bomb, forcing it to retreat whenever engaged in melee range.

 

 

GRINEER

 

 

The Grineer are probably the most balanced of the armies right now - they've got light units (Lancers, Butchers), medium units (Hellions, Gunners, Troopers) and Heavies (Napalm and Bombards) with good auxiliary units mixed in (Commanders, Ballistas, Eviscerators, Scorpions, Shield Lancers). All they're really lacking is melee units and some minor auxiliary units to be a really rounded faction.

 

Light Units:

 

Medic:

A light but threatening enemy, the Medic has a regenerative aura around them and can both heal allies for a chunk of HP (25% of max HP, single target) and deploy combat stimulants (single target as well, +25% HP and Movement Speed). They're very lightly armoured though and not that common, but their potent abilities and tendency to hide behind cover/other Grineer makes them difficult to pick out.

 

Medium Units:

 

Masher:

Equipped with a Brokk Hammer, the Masher is a moderately armoured Grineer who runs forward, either doing a melee combo with the Hammer, a Charged swing or an Overhead Slam that does moderate AoE damage and knocks down anyone hit by it. Similar to Lech Kril's second phase without the boosted speed or elemental damage/thrown hammer, the Masher also lacks ranged attacks.

 

Armory Master:

Armed with a Brokk and a Karak, the Armory Master is an alternative Commander focusing on Buffs to allies - low HP but high Armour, the Armory Master can increase the armour of all nearby Grineer for a short time or increase the damage they deal (Green Aura for Armour, Red for damage). When he attacks he can also sunder your armour (Brokk) or reduce your damage (Karak).

 

Heavy Units:

 

Kittag Marine:

A bigger, meaner version of the Masher, the Kittag Marine is armed with a Jat Kittag, Leaping at enemies with the hammer and using a modified Hellion jetpack to give him bursts of speed forward. No ranged weaponry but his leaps allow him to get some good height, stopping people from avoiding him via boxes and terrain.

 

 

CORRUPTED

 

 

The Corrupted are interesting in that they're just a composite of every other faction - however, right now the biggest threat they have is the Corrupted Gunners and Corrupted MOAs, with everything else being fairly light in damage. Some original units and more Corrupted enemies could help flesh them out, just to give more variance than they have right now.

 

Light Units:

 

Elemental Drone:

Similar to the Shield Drone, the Elemental flies around buffing allies - however, the Drone increases the damage all allies deal and allows them to elementally proc dependent on it's colour (Red = Fire, Green = Toxic, Gold = Electric, Blue = Cold). Less common than Shield drones and squisher, but a threat when they appear regardless.

 

Corrupted Medic:

Has slightly more HP and armour than the regular Medic but also has a weaker aura (to balance with Corrupted Ancients).

 

Corrupted Charger:

Less common than normal Chargers, introduced to offer a melee threat alongside the Corrupted Lancers and Crewmen.

 

Medium Units:

 

Orokin Bolt Drone:

Medium ranged Orokin drone, attacks with a Boltor for high damage but innacurate shots. When heavily damaged it can turn red, detonating after a short period of time if not finished off. This detonation deals friendly fire if other Corrupted are nearby.

 

Corrupted Masher:

Less armour but more damage variant of the Masher, the Corrupted one offers a close-range melee option alongside the Corrupted Ancients and MOAs.

 

Heavy Units:

 

Granted the introduction of more heavy units for the Void might seem crazy alongside the vast number of Heavy Gunners, but I'd like to say that introducing more heavy units would give a greater variance to these heavies, reducing the number of Gunners spawned while also changing things up.

 

Corrupted Brute:

Melee option over the Gunner, would favor spawning alongside packs of Chargers. Most common of the new Heavy Corrupted, alongside the Gunner.

 

Corrupted Jackal:

Very Rare Heavy unit, only spawning in T2/T3 Missions or in high defense/survivals (20 Min/wave+). Largely unchanged from the base version, limit of only 1 spawning into a mission at a time to avoid being swarmed by Heavies and Jackals.

 

Orokin Sentry:

New unit, the Orokin Sentry doesn't look like much when it first spawns - almost like a Deth Cube with Prime colours and a Corrupted facemask, it attacks with the Deth Rifle, dealing rapid weak damage to enemies. The big threat it possesses and why it's classified as a 'Heavy' unit is that the Sentry can attach itself to another Corrupted Unit, buffing them with heavy shields, increased damage, increased movement speed and a +300% HP boost, converting them into a Heavy Unit. This buff is permanent until the death of the unit, not the death of the Sentry - if the Sentry is killed, it cannot attach itself to anymore units. If the boosted unit is killed and the Sentry is not, then the Sentry can attach itself to another. It's a decently armoured unit itself (think fully modded Deth Cube), so it can take some punishment before it dies. AoE weapons are fantastic to counter it.

 

There we go, that's... a hell of a read. Might have got a bit carried away there. A cookie for anyone who read all of that, 'cause there's a decent amount stashed behind those spoilers.

Anyway, those are my ideas for some new units to help flesh out the factions while still trying to keep how they are now. Feedback is appreciated from anyone who can manage to read some/all of it.

[Jamescell]

Alot of these are generic units that just make the faction spawn rates and unit composition cluttered, not to mention adding even more color schemes to an already too diverse set of factions color wise.

[Shanicus]

Alot of these are generic units that just make the faction spawn rates and unit composition cluttered, not to mention adding even more color schemes to an already too diverse set of factions color wise.

They wouldn't all be added in at once - like it is now, some would spawn in a mission, others wouldn't. Some missions would have Disruptors and Bleeding Ancients, others would have Barbed and Healers, etc.

Besides, there really aren't that many melee units in this game outside Infested, so I was going for Generic for quite a few of them, just so they fit into their respective armies better.

[MadMoonDog]

Yes to all of this, I really like the Corpus ones!

[Soupf8]

I like this idea.