'Cap' Shadow Cysts

Now, the title isn't exactly very clear, so I shall explain.

Pretty much everyone knows about Shadow Cysts. If you dont, quick run-down; Shadow Cysts are the same crystals that spawn in the ITF. They appear randomly for any team that has a Kheldian in it, or a team which has a member that HAS teamed with a Kheldian within a certain number of hours (cant exactly recall)

Shadow Cysts spawn number of Unbound Nicti clouds. Lesser (minion), Unbound (Lt) and Greater (Boss).
They also spawn these damn things in ungodly large numbers. Now, one on one the fluffies arent much of a threat. When they spawn in about...I dunno, clouds of thirty? Their attacks are all neg damage with -recharge. They are HORRIBLE to fight. Even a team that is doing competantly, not steamrollering but mashing away at a nice steady pace, and even steamroller teams, tend to grind to a horrible, horrible halt when confronted with a Cyst 'Swarm' as I call them.

Now, the suggestion. Cap the number of Nicti clouds the Cyst can summon. Say about ten.
Reasoning behind that? Cysts are just another spanner in the HEAT works. Void hunters and the like are ok to deal with, as are 'Bound' Nictus, such as Dark Dwarves and Bright Novas. Cysts, on the other hand, are just plain nasty. It's a real cramp to any incentive to team with a Kheldian. Whats worse is when they spawn in the same room as, say, an AV, which happened when fighting Captain Castillo in Faultline.

Cysts are not fun as they are now, and thats not a good thing in an AT that already has an averaging rep (Not all of it true, YMMV)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

I like the nasty cysts though.

I'm on the fence on this one. There is something cool about the added 'fear' that comes with having a Kheld team-mate. Will we get a Cyst at exactly the wrong time? Can this group overcome it?

It is definitely frustrating to wipe hard and fast because of one mob and its accompanying swarm of unbound, but I think I'll take the risk over having a mob that is just 'inconvenient.' It makes me wish there were other 'random' mob hazards in missions that could throw you off like this does.

I love cysts the way they are. I hope they are not messed with in any way, except perhaps to (slightly) increase the number of cysts that appear in-game.

I get that newer players would find them confounding, at first. More experienced players know that taking out the cyst itself clears out a lot of mobs, and makes the encounter easier to manage.

Vive le Chaos!!! Vive le Cyst!!

I think you just lost your right to use your /facepalm picture, Techbot Alpha.

While this isn't facepalm worthy, cysts really aren't that tough to deal with, and the extra threat they offer is fun on a team. I love it when I get real cysts spawned with the ITF cysts. Lots of fun. Pop a few inspirations and blast away.

Going to have to disagree with this. Maybe I'm just lucky, but the few Cysts I've encountered were always dealt with easily. And they seem incredibly rare. My level 39 Peacebringer still is waiting on her first Cyst spawn.

Perhaps add an additional selection to a HEAT's "difficult slider": I want to/do not want to cap the number of Shadow cysts a crystal generates.
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I was under the impression that the number of nicti that spawn was dependent on the proxmity of teammates and you send in one to deal with the cyst to limit the number of nicti that appear. Am I wrong in this line of thought?

I'm kind of torn on this one... on one hand, the challenge that Cysts pose is a good thing, yet I've seen a **** ton of them being spawned on ITF's (including Rom) that make him impossible to hit. I guess that is the only instance where I'd say a cap on the spawn amount could use some adjustment.

I'd go a step further and say just remove all randomly spawning nicti, voids, and quantums. Keep them in the Kheldian story arcs, but get rid of them everywhere else. Voids and Cysts are the reasons I don't play Kheldians, though I'd really like to. They seem like they'd be fun, but it's just plain stupid for an already arguably weak AT to have such a weakness be so terribly commonplace.

It's like if Superman were at 5% of his normal capacity. Sure, he's still a freakin superhero and can still handle his own, he's just not that impressive. Now give all of your every day thugs guns with Kryptonite bullets. Suddenly Superman is useless on his own and has to hide in the corner until Batman beats up the Kryptonite gunmen.

I'll grant you, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be before Kheldians could resist quantum attacks, but 'not that bad' is still not okay. If you want to keep the Kryptonite bullets and give Superman his full strength, that would be fine too.

honestly, i absolutely hate the void hunters/nictus that spwn because of HEATs, in fact i hate playing HEATs spcifically because of this, VEATs dont have to deal with a specific enemy mob that does an overly huge amount of dmg specifically to them.

IMO, i say get rid of all the void/nictus/cyst/quantums crud so HEATs are more fun to play.

I, personally, am tired of ideas being shot down as "removing the only challenge left in this game". It happens all the time. Not everything can be "the only challenge left in the game".

The fact of the matter is that Void Hunters and other Nictus-related enemies are deliberately designed (by someone that is no longer associated with this game) to be annoying hindrances to Kheldians. While a story was created to justify them, the reason they exist is to make life difficult for the supposedly powerful Kheldians.

But the simple fact is that Kheldians simply are not that powerful, and they don't need a "balance" of this sort.

There's a difference between a fun 'tactical challenge' and 'LOLPwNs!'.

Example; people keep complaining about Malta Sappers. They are an end-game group, with a a reason why in the backstory. They are also one minion. They can die incredibly quickly. If your silly enough to ignore them, of course, you get punished for it. Usually with faceplant.

Quantums are at the right level, now. If you aren't careful, you die. A little bit of care, boom, no problem.
Cysts? They fit nicely into the second camp. I understand the concept behind them. Hell, I like the Kheldian background. Although, to be honest, why do they only spawn with Kheldians? That makes little to no sense. If anything, they should show up in Council and 5th Column missions, as THOSE are the groups they are affiliated with.
As it is, Cysts break the law of Fun. But hey, YMMV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.