[SHIP][AE] Lanius Frigates V2.2

[FederationScumX1999]

Crystal Lanius Cruiser. Dammit, you're giving me so many choices
Although chances are I'd just have the Crystal flying the ship while I use the two Lanius on boarding operations. I have weird priorities when it comes to boarding -

2 Mantises < 1 Mantis, 1 Crystal < 2 Lanius < 2 Crystals

The same goes for 4-crew teleports. Lanius always beats everything unless I get an army of Crystals (Crystals lock an area in and allow more damage. Lanius eventually make a room unsafe for the enemy to enter but takes longer)

The Lockdown Drone sounds interesting though.

Admittedly, Lanius-Crystal might be fairly equal terms with other team-ups, but a lockdown, venting, and clonebay still make it a pretty strong combo. The Lockdown Drone, I'm hoping, will be a game-lasting toy. From my tests so far, it really just seems to throw the AI into total disarray.

For instance, it shot an empty room in a Mantis Scout which locked it down and breached it. An engi tried desperately to get into that room, ignoring the damage done to the weapons room he was standing in. Essentially, what this means is that the quirk of drones hitting empty rooms is not necessarily a disadvantage in this case - it may be just what you need to draw attention away from a more critical area.

[stylesrj]

The AI tends to be set on a path and lockdowns really mess with it. If I mind control the Shield Room and teleport in my Crystals into Weapons and lock it down just as the guy is leaving to go fix it, they'll keep hammering at the doors trying to deal with the intruder. As soon as the Mind Control wears off though, they snap back and will go back to manning Weapons.

Breaching the empty room mean someone had to go fix it. Someone else would go after the damage while the Engi fixed the breach.

My main problem with the Lanius/Crystal teamup is that the Crystal takes suffocation damage even if it's heavily reduced. This means I have to go back out and heal them (or use the Clone Bay) and I can't keep the two in the same room which plays havoc with my immediate boarding strategy (the sooner you've locked down Weapons, the sooner that damned BS Missile is removed)

[FederationScumX1999]

My main problem with the Lanius/Crystal teamup is that the Crystal takes suffocation damage even if it's heavily reduced. This means I have to go back out and heal them (or use the Clone Bay) and I can't keep the two in the same room which plays havoc with my immediate boarding strategy (the sooner you've locked down Weapons, the sooner that damned BS Missile is removed)

I may have overstated that a bit, but a crack team of two Lanius, a Crystal, and one other boarder (preferably a Mantis or a second Crystal you can get from the stasis pod, both for damage), is practically unbeatable as far as boarding goes.

Anyhow, update time. Fixed a small problem with the Regen in that I somehow overlooked giving it a door to the Doors room (ironically). Anaelisk also got an additional door for its Sensors room, connecting it to the Weapons Room and providing another means of passage between the two halves of the ship. It also got its own Doors system as it was very easy to shut down the ship with a can of aerosol and a lighter, especially if Weapons got hit.

The Crystal Lockdown Drone is able to pierce two layers of shielding, but requires 3 power to work now. This is to give it long-term usability as the shield layers go up as, while it is definitely capable of disrupting enemy ship operations rather well, it becomes difficult to support otherwise. I'll probably give it another test to see how that plays out.

A change that I've had in mind for a while now, and enacted at this moment, is that Drone system upgrades are cheaper past level 4, making it viable to upgrade it past that point. To compensate, Weapons can only be upgraded to a maximum of 6. Being drone frigates, this change should come as no surprise.