single player BAF & Lambda

Wait, hear me out!

I was just thinking about the lack of single player incarnate advancement options... trying to figure out what they could do simply and that would fit into incarnate lore and such when it hit me.

Maybe there's already an in-lore explanation for why the voice talking to you (Prometheus?) in the BaF & Lambda knows how to do everything - I honestly don't pay a whole lot of attention to the lore past surface level - but I thought of one that seems cool/fun to me as a player.

The voice knows that stuff because some hero or villain already scouted the areas.

For example, the Lambda version would run something like:

1. Prometheus/whoever recruits the character to scout out Lambda sector, probe for weaknesses/whatever.
2. Sneak/fight your way in (defenses are much lower than the trial version because they aren't expecting an attack yet?)
3. Explore the lab area, find a thing of acid. Contact suggests that maybe it would be strong enough to take out one of those portal things [there is one extra portal in this mission - maybe right in the middle of the courtyard?].
4. Go try the acid on the central portal - boom! You blowed it up good! Uh-oh, now all the other portals are firing up and the courtyard is swarmed with robots (a full trial's worth or something, something that makes you at least think about running).
5. Here comes Marauder! He catches you, you try and fight him but you can't hurt him. He chases you into the warehouse, you find a lone pac grenade and try it out on him - hey you can hurt him! ... for a couple minutes.
6. Contact calls you back after realizing you can't touch Marauder alone. Still, you got some valuable intel. Unfortunately, now they'll be more prepared for the next attack (hence the spawns in the streets in the trial).

Not only does this teach a player how the trial mechanics work ahead of time... but it involves them in the lore of the ongoing story and nets them some incarnate progress.

However, rewards are lower.
*Instead of 1 emp/day, you can get 1 emp/week (like the WST, etc.), but you can get an astral every time you run it, as well as a single astral at one other point... maybe for defeating X robots or something. So, 1emp/1 astral or 2 astrals total + threads and incarnate progress.

These could be set up as solo missions (like the morality choices in Praetoria), or as normal missions/trials that scale up from 1 to 4/8.

Same kind of deal with the Baf... and really, any other trials. I think it would be cool that there is a reason you "know" how to deal with each trials gimmicks ahead of time, but maybe that's just me.

It's a start, and I like where you're coming from. It's definitely a solo Incarnate path and it still makes you feel like you're doing something.

/signed

It could be a mission set and be started based on a contact in Pretoria instead of a trial, though, the trial concept would work as well.

Also like that it would have people learning the trials and how to beat them before hand. We need those for underground and Keys.

Also /signed.

It would use existing maps too, hence a little less work.

Nice idea.

-H

I shared an almost similar idea the other day, but no one on that thread commented on it. I figured everyone just thought it was dumb!

I like this idea. /signed

Works for me!