Combat Medic Developments

[Carbon Copied]

I'm not going to comment on buff style gameplay apart from really to say the moment you're killed by a legit-speedhacker squad (read as buffed) you'll probably want it removed when they're running rings round entire squads mowing them down. Seriously the whole buff thing isn't a bad idea it's just a RPG induced nauseating one that has cringe worthy memories of MMO's where a class could just be set to auto follow and that was the "job". I mean it's close to a step away from Quake "quad-damage" power ups..

I don't think anyone has really sold the buff system apart from to say "I think we should be able to inject/aura people"; simply what does it add to the game - because if I wanted to be the buffed super soldier I'd just snort a line of crack and take anything on regardless. I think we all have better ideas just the buff thing is an easy boring scape goat.

@Palerion With The NAHP note it can be used with existing base terminals as well as engineer deployed ones; so this is multifunction without the exlusive requirement for an engineer

Ok another one on the table:

Nanite Systems Bio-scanner (The NSB):

Originally used and developed for a variety of industries on Earth such as immigration border control and deep space salvo personnel. Able to penetrate solid objects the NSB quickly became a useful tool for medical personnel both on Earth and off world who had to locate casualities during disasters and rescue missions.
The NSB is designed to display life readings in the proximity of up to 25 metres in a 180 degree radius; unfortunately the NSB can only display life readings and as such isn't designed to differentiate between friend and foe to the user. As far as Auraxis goes there are no known indigenious life forms but please be aware these are again not calibrated to distinguish on the screen display.
Operated via handheld applicator the device scans the immediate area with a non lethal burst effect pinpointing the location of organic life forms on the device's heads up display. Please note that the device is only able to detect life forms on the same level as the operator. The operator has to communicate the on display information with allied platoons/forces on scans as this is not integrated to the helmet display map and is too cumbersome to use whilst a weapon is equipped.

The device is charged with a slow regenerating trickle charge capacity battery that at full charge can provide 3 reading bursts. Higher capacity charges have not been required for the base model and are therefore currently unavailable from Nanite Systems.

Reports from Nanite Systems' industrial spies report that factions are attempting to reverse engineer the base unit and upgrade the device with so far mixed results.

• New Conglomerate have left things largely unchanged from the original Nanite Systems design favouring function over form. They have however refitted the unit to use less charge per use and include helmet and squad map pinpoints, while this has increased the bursts available per full charge it has reduced the effective scan range down to 20 metres and compromised the cone of scan to 100 degrees.
  
  
• Vanu Sovereignty are attempting to integrate their own technology and to a degree they have succesfully increased the range of readings to the device of up to 30 metres - however at the expense of requiring a charge time per use. Also initial tests are relying on a shockwave effect that while still not dangerous to the user or individuals scanned, it does create a visable "blast" that pinpoints the operator.
  
  
• Terran Republic have made several attempts to mount the device to the combat medic's primary weapon, however they have had to reduce the device size and charge capacity considerably. While more convenient this has resulted in a smaller radial sweep of just 45 degrees in addition to affecting accuracy and equip time of the primary gun it is attached to. They have however succesfully integrated it to the medic's helmet map display which in turn has allowed squad members to view this real time data (however they are no closer to differentiating opposing factions on the map and as such the map interprets this data as "friendly").

All factions have been unable to adapt it to real time movement data - and as such all agents report that displayed readings are limited to data "at time of sweep".

[Gatekeeper]

Originally Posted by Sledgecrushr

So alternate healing auras that also buff other stats for as long as your aura is active. Of course choosing a buff would lessen the healing as a tradeoff but applying the correct buff at the right time could change the ballance of a fight.

I would like for a buff gained while in the medicaes aura to last for a couple of minutes.

Yeah, that's the general idea - although I also outlined a few options that were just pure healing but with different properties (fast but non-sustainable, slow but wide-area, and one that was recharged by you getting kills).

I was thinking that the buff to speed for the 'stimulant' aura would only last while you were actually affected by it. So the Medic himself could use it to move around faster, and when working with a squad they could all keep close to him to move fast as a unit.

Potentially you could allow the effect to linger for a second or so after the aura ends though (or you move out of range) just to give some margin of error for squad-mates accidentally getting too far away.

The second buff I suggested was for max health - which I was thinking would function like the Doctor's overheal in Team Fortress 2. I'd suggest it should last for only a short while though - maybe 10-30 seconds?

I'd envisage it as something where you'd gather your squad together, the medic would activate their overheal and get everyone up to full health and beyond, and then you'd charge into the breach together with a bit of an edge.

The final concept was an auto-res effect (think Auto-Life from Final Fantasy...) which would be pretty short-duration - kind of an emergency response to the fact that your squad is about to be wiped out or take heavy losses and you won't have time to res them all. So maybe 5-10 secs duration?

I'd be reluctant to suggest buffs that last any longer, simply because balance starts to become a bit of a nightmare if people could be running around with long-term buffs on them, well away from the Medic that bestowed them.

Finally, I'd suggest that you can only be affected by one buff at a time (and normal healing would also count as a buff in this sense), with a glow of the appropriate colour marking the effect you're currently under. This would be much the same as people glowing when they use restoration kits, etc.

[Sledgecrushr]

I like the one buff at a time idea. Now im really not digging everyone enjoying the medics aura buff only while they are clumped together. A cluster of guys moving together to me is juicy HE bait. I would like to see these buffs linger for a few minutes or death.

Now about the buffs, they should really be marginal in their effectiveness. Just a couple of percentage point swing towards armor or speed etc... But also they could be ballanced by a slight disadvantage like an armor debuff as a tradeoff for better footspeed. Overall I dont see this as a way to directly gain xp. Kind of like a galaxy or sundy pilot driving his crew to the battle, you get xp indirectly.

[Gatekeeper]

I was thinking about the buffs being in the same order of magnitude as those provided by certs like the LA's Adrenaline Pump (speed boost) or Nanoweave Armour (health boost).

Personally I'd say a small duration that forces clumping together is a good balance factor and encourages teamwork. Stay with your squad, work together, get a buff for doing so - but it also limits your options a little and makes you vulnerable to AoE attacks. That way you don't need any other downside.

As for XP - I'd say award XP in a similar fashion to healing or providing ammo - a small 'buffing' award of say 5-10 XP every second or so (per target affected) while you're actively applying the buff. Maybe vary the reward depending on the usefulness and duration of the buff (i.e. less per second for weaker, longer-duration buffs).

[Sledgecrushr]

You cant give xp for an aura buff. I know I would just stay at a busy warpgate and spam the aura in the biggest group I could find and get easy xp. The reward for using the correct buffs alongside good teamwork should be victory.

[Gatekeeper]

You get XP for supplying ammo - that's easily abusable by a group if you want to. Hell, you get XP for reviving someone you just TKed... so a small amount of XP for a slowly-recharging area-ability is the least of the game XP worries

Honestly if it's a problem you could just not award any XP to people in the WG...

[Sledgecrushr]

I thought they changed it so you dont get xp for someone who received friendly damage.