I know it's been discussed before, but I do want to see if the discussion could be brought up again.
The only lasting damage mechanic we currently have in Skirmish is Fire. Akin to 'poison' in other games, Fire is a staple, either for diable or kill depending on how you build it. A Squid with a flamer and a carronade can be lethal to a Galleon balloon, though a successul chem-cycle or a quick extinguisher can save the day.
While I know Alliance will keep any and all suggestions for Skirmish not even on the stove, let alone the backburner, I at least wanted to see what the discussion on a debuffing mechanic would be. My suggestion; Chemical damage/ Acid.
Chemical damage would be very different from Fire on a mechanical basis. Where Fire would absolutely require extinguishing, or it will sit with you forever, Acid/ Chemical would tick down, dealing damage per lost stack. Example;
10 stacks of Chem
2 damage per stack applied.
1 stack is expended every second.
Damage applied; 20 damage over 10 seconds.
Stacks expended, no further damage.
This may seem like rather trivial damage, and not worth it to bring Chemical weaponry or Ammunition (Basically incen for Chem), but I do think that a debuff should be the strength of the weapon, rather than damage. My proposal; increases the effect of all ofther damage types by 20% on the effected component. Example;
Armor is currently under the effects of Chem/Acid (5 stacks)
Chemical damage over 5 seconds is equal to 10 damage
An ally fires on the target, hitting their armor with an Artemis
Armor modifier for explosive- 70x0.3=21 damage to armor.
Acid/Chem modifier- 21+20%=25.2 Explosive
Armor modifier for Shatter- 120x0.2=24
Acid/Chem modifier- 24+20%=28.8
Overall damage- 54
This damage modifier means that sniping ships would be able to add stacks of chemical damage from a distance, allowing cloer range, brawling ships the ability to engage much more effectively, and dangerously.
Naturally, something must exist to counter this, similar to fire Ext and Chemspray. So I would propose something akin to a Neutralizer, which acts as Ext to Chemical damage. Where Neutralizer is reactionary, Chemspray would remain preventative. Now, the relationship Neutralizer and Extiguisher have is similar to Chemspray extinguishing a fire; Not wholly ineffective, but inefficient. Neutralizer trying to extiguish a fire would remove 3 stacks, as Extinguisher trying to remove Chemical stacks would remove 3 stacks. A new reactionary tool, yes, making Chemical spray very powerful. This might need some tweaking, but I kind of want it to stay as a iddle-ground, preventative tool. This does reward higher level play with Chemspray, but it also adds a new reactionary measure, meaning Captains would have to coordinate more with their crew.
These are just my suggestions for it, but I want to see what everyone else thinks. I know it wouldn't be adding much, just a mechanic that would have to go through extensive testing so as to not be overpowered or to be useless, but I would hope it would mean that Muse woul dhave to implement new weaponry, as there would be a new mechanic. It would automatically offer a new ammunition type, basically just the Incen for Acid/Chem damage. That would have to go through a lot of testing as well, and would likely result in an Incen buff for the new Chem ammunition.
Discussion, hopefully a go.
