Lethal Company

Lethal Company

Duskmare Dec 26, 2023 @ 11:28pm
Coil-heads, masked and nutcrackers too cheap? (Mostly about coil-heads.)
They all cost 1 point in terms of the map power limit. For comparison, loot bugs, lizards and drop bugs are all 1 point too. Spiders, Thumpers, Bracken and Jesters are 3 points, and the ghost is 2 points. (In my opinion Spiders can probably be reduced to 2 points, maybe thumpers too but they can be harder to deal with if they get to build up speed. Also bear in mind that spawn chances are separate to power limits. So the spider and thumper may have higher spawn rates than coil-heads, meaning you're likely to see more of them compared to coil-heads even if the coil heads leave more points behind for other monster spawns.)

Coil-heads especially seem a bit too cheap since they're pretty much exploration enders since you have to stare them down and back toward an exit. The only reason I could see them being cheap is that you can stack multiple with one player looking at them. At the same time though, they're unkillable and leave you vulnerable to bracken and other monsters. Having a player sit in a corner staring at a pile of coil heads that have been carefully arranged so they can be covered is both a huge hamper to the progress of the players since it's like losing an active player who's no longer able to search for loot or help with other monsters, and it's frankly pretty boring for that player who just sits there with their camera still. I think coilheads should be worth 3 points, or easier to escape from without having to bring a flashbang. Maybe if they never tracked players and only went after ones directly in sight that would be more reasonable? That way you'd only get killed by them if they happen to patrol up behind you, meaning that more of them patroling would be justifiable. It would also mean you only have to stare at them until you can turn a corner and then you'd be free to move around again, meaning you could work around them more effectively without having to have a player stare at them forever.
Personally, I'd like if the zap gun was able to kill coil-heads (still immune to shovel). It's a pretty expensive piece of kit and the log for coil-heads does suggest they burst into flame when an attempt to destroy or shut them down is made. So if they were to burst into flames for a second or two and then explode like a mine, I think that'd be a pretty good way for them to go out. It would also give a reasonable use to the zap gun which I don't think I've ever seen anyone use, even when it's been bought and sitting available in the ship.

Nutcrackers can be avoided relatively easily but similar to coil heads they put you in danger of getting killed by bracken, coilheads and other monsters. However, if you kill it you can also get their shotgun. So ultimately I think it would be reasonable to make this a 2 point enemy.

Masked are very powerful enemies. They have behaviour similar to bracken at times and have a one-hit kill animation. They can also wait in ambush around corners. What's more, any player killed by them turns into a danger that can be summoned unwittingly to the ship to kill the designated operator. They can be kited and hit with a shovel 4 times to kill them, but I think they also resurrect after a short time meaning they're also unkillable. For all these reasons I think they should be power level 3. (Though I also think any players turned shouldn't count toward the power limit. I assume this is already the case but I don't know for sure.)
Date Posted: Dec 26, 2023 @ 11:28pm
Posts: 0