User blog:Willbachbakal/Singleplayer Enemies: Lancer



The Lancer, among all of its other Big Daddy counterparts, is the one with the biggest potential for development: despite his unique appearance and advanced weaponry, combat with him is very similar to that with a Rosie. Too similar. For the Lancer to truly stand out of the crowd, its combat style needs to change.

Research Bonuses

 * Level 1: Clever Inventor
 * Level 2: +Damage
 * Level 3: Resistant to vision-impairing effects
 * Level 4: ++Damage
 * Level 5: Prolific Inventor Gene Tonic

Changes
If the Rosie's more of a Pistol-wielding enemy, the Lancer's more of a Machine Gun type. To do this, its weapon needs to change a bit: first of all, it should be more powerful than it is now, but at the same time the Lancer has to charge his weapon up before firing with an appropriate sound cue. While being hit from the front, the player's vision will be blurred along the edges (not too much, though). Since the Laser's a light-based weapon, the beam could be able to pass through transparent surfaces such as glass, and reflect when it hits a mirror or a shiny metal object. Luckily for you, this means that placing a metal physics object between you and the Lancer will allow you to reflect the Ion Laser's beam to a target of your choosing.

Evolution
By the time you'll meet Elite Lancers, you'll have figured out that the best strategy with these guys is to duck behind cover and hit them in short bursts. To counter this, the Elites will have the tools to take your cover away from you. This tool comes in the form of a unique, very specific Plasmid: once thrown, it splashes any surface it touches with a silvery sheen. Once that's done, it acts like a mirror, allowing enemies to see you and vice versa. In addition, the Lancer can bounce his Ion Laser beam off said mirror, allowing it to shoot you around corners and walls. Although the Lancer won't intentionally try to hit you with the Plasmid, if it does your vision will temporarily turn into that of an insect's, with the same image repeated all over your screen, making it much harder to see. Alternatively, if you manage to grab the Plasmid (in the form of a silvery blob) with Telekinesis and throw it, it'll temporarily blind any enemy it hits and cover their head in shiny goo. In addition, Elire Lancers will have a new attack: the Ion Burst. Basically, it's what you'd get if you were at the receiving end of a fully charged Burst Cel attack: although it'll take the Lancer time to charge up and will temporarily root them to the ground (not to mention make a very loud and easily recognizable noise), if they hit you with the attack it'll deal a huge amount of damage, knock you back, and blind you as with an Ion Flash. In summary, the best thing to do when fighting a Lancer is listen to the sounds it makes.

Sorry to have taken so long to do this, I was busy with other stuff. Hope you like it!

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