this came about from another person mentioning how much is 'sucks' to be a skulk, partially because they have to hit nodes so much (or should be).

What about if an RT, when destroyed, dispersed perhaps 4 res. If two aliens were there, they would each get two, or one would get all 4, etc. Or you could implement a system where all 4 goes to whoever dealt the most damage to the RT or something.

Frankly, the amount of time it takes to kill an RT is about how long it takes to get 2 rine kills (or at least for the better skulks). So really, this would not only give far more incentive to kill rts, but it would also round out the skill gap some. And it wouldn't really be imbalanced since both sides would have this benefit (or it could just be put on the aliens, and be considered a small boost).

Thoughts?

pretty huge boost, considering it's much easier for an alien to kill an rt and that marines should be constantly recapping, which means more chances for aliens to earn res.

also: lolexploits

I like the idea, but make it one res for the skulk who gets the killing bite. The last bite is all that really matters, meanwhile killing RT's on the fringes in a competitive game, say, has a lot more incentive.

The incentive for killing RTs is that it benefits your team. Some people dislike going out and killing RTs because it's not fun, but giving them the same amount of res as they supposedly would have got isn't going to change that. It's still less fun than earning the res from fighting, so they'll fight. I would hope that giving them even more res than they would have earned is not on the cards. Nobody would decide to not kill RTs because they feel they it is a tactical disadvantage losing out on rfk. The idea is that the marines will lose more res from the dead res tower, plus you've not given them any rfk from your failed attempts to kill marines(we're taking a very statistical view here, but in fairness - you started it!).

I'll admit that in one situation this idea would achieve it's goals. People who love to lerk or fade could manage to go lerk/fade as quickly as if they had been killing people while at the same time killing RTs. To me this seems like a bad change to make, adding tactical options is all about trade-offs. You can't have your cake and eat it, as the saying goes. But this change would make it so you could both damage your opponents res flow while earning some for yourself and at a lower risk of giving away rfk to marines). Keep the trade-off!

Sure the incentive for killing RTs is that you are depriving the marine team of res. That is the reason that *I*(and probably everyone here) will kill RTs. However, a lot of players are selfish enough to not want to do it just because its not instant gratification. Giving out a little res might help encourage this team oriented activity. Right now, when killing an RT you are:

1) Not getting kills, so losing RFK
2) Being bored

With this change you would just be bored, but at least not lose potential res in addition. I think this is actually a very good idea. I would set the res at 2 for the finishing skulk.

if you want to have endless action, go play combat, if you want tactical gameplay combined with action, play ns!

well, killing a rt is doing more damage to the rines than killing 2 marines (in most cases), but its not fun, normal strategy games dont make fun most of the time, youre just building up forces and grow up buildings until you have enough to try a rush, the rush is the interesting part.

you should divide the rt-killing part throughout the team, you can also kill rines who are trying to save the rt (if the location isnt to bad), and therefore you are effective for your whole team and you can kill marines

try to divide the rt-chewing work on your whole team (try to motivate them, give them reasons to do it, or w/e), if everybody bites 1 or 2 rts you have killed like 16 rts altogether while not being occupied with killing rts all the time
in lategame you can just say the onos to kill rts and you can parasite the marines and eventually kill them

well, i dont think its the right way to go, fun is a good reason, but it shouldnt kill the game

as i skulk i dont bother attacking structures-- they are better suited towards softer targets.... leave the RTs for better lifeforms...

i would however perhaps damage the RT and then wait to ambush any careless marines who stop to weld it

actually this is exactly what is wrong with pubs. skulks are meant to kill res towers, skulks and only skulks. skulks. not fades or lerks. the only if is if the marines control the map so well with pgs, mt and heavy weapons (jetpacks) that skulks simply cannot get to the res towers without dying. but then youre pretty screwed anyways (in most cases)

The only lifeform better at killing RTs than a skulk is an onos. And even they aren't as good because of the long time it takes for them to move around the map. Having a fade killing RTs is...just wow...

wow did you even think before you posted that???

skulks are not meant for attacking structures at all. they are designed for attacking small groups of infantry -- they are very fast and agile, a very small target, and they have the abilitity to walk on walls and the ceiling to help them ambush. Now tell me how ANY of those attributes are suited to attacking structures.....

not to mention, that if an RT is electrified, then a skulk attacking it will FAIL because it does not have the life capacity nor the damage output required to destroy it before it is killed by the electricity.

the best forms suited for taking structures are fades and onii. they are the only creatures who have enough health/armor to withstand electrified structures and they put out enough damage to destroy it in a reasonable amount of time. lerks are support units, and are therefore used more effectively attacking infanty and supporting other creatures in combat. gorges are the builders of course.

please think more logically before you post something ridiculous

This is what happens when people try to sound like they know something about a particular subject when they are actually making a complete fool of themselves. SIGH.

Anyway, fades should hardly ever be killing rts. If a fade is killing rts for a more than 1min, it probably means either:

-the fade is a newbie
-no one on the team knows how to kill rts

It is a huge waste of 50 res for a fade to spend time killing rts when skulks can do it almost as quick. You clearly play on, for want of a better term, crap servers if you think electrification is the norm. You are right that onoses are great for killing rts, though I doubt you know about the bonus damage they do against structures.

Skulks are meant to attack structures because higher lifeforms are even more suited to killing marines than skulks are. Skulks are extremely fragile and don't hold up well under any sort of fire, while other lifeforms have stronger attacks, more HP and (aside from the onos) quicker movement rates, making them far exceed the skulk when it comes to dealing with marines. That leaves the skulk to destroying RTs across the map. A primary reason for this is also because of how agile they are (in terms of climbing on walls) because they can use vents and roundabout routes to get to RTs.

heres the thing- i never meant to insinuate that the onos/fade werent better geared for attacking the marine infantry, because they are indeed more effective than the skulks at that. my point was, that even though they are better suited for attacking infantry than the skulks, they are also better suited for attacking structures than the skulks, leaving the skulks inferior in both regards.

in relative terms of each lifeforms unique abilities/attributes, with the skulks being wall-walk, speed/agility, and the small target silhouette- none of these abilities are truly beneficial or suited towards attacking structures. the only vaild arguement i saw is how the skulks use vents/walls to gain access to any RTs on the map- but realistically, they are just not designed for attacking structures. the attributes are clearly best used against marines- however it has to be employed properly. I see a lot of the "head-on assaults" used by skulks as if they are an onos and they are killed by a marine with a LMG before they get within 10 yards of him. i think the skulks is one of the hardest lifeforms to use, because it is imperative that the user be comfortable and understand the abilities of the skulk. the skulks is a sapper of sorts, using ambush tactics and surprise attacks to be effective in combat. using the skulk to attack structures is simply redundant.

Think this hunting analogy. you absolutely can kill a deer at 100 yards with a shotgun (buckshot), but because it is used so much more effectively in a different manner, it is impractical to use it that way, and thus is a waste of a player slot for someone to go skulk to merely chew on RTs. not to mention it takes a long time for a skulk to destroy one, and personally from my own playing experience, on NS maps i get almost (if not) 50% of my skulk kills from skulks chewing on RTs.... such an easy target.... it just blows me away that people use it for that...

overall, the fade/onos is better suited for attacking marines AND structures than the skulks, but because the skulk is not suited for structure combat AT ALL, these lifeforms would take precedence in attacking a structure than the skulk.

oh teach me your rts secrets dear sensei, because i have been wronged my whole life...

While you all are busy bickering over what lifeforms are ideal for taking out RTs, I think I should point out that you all have forgotten the two-hive gorge. (ie: bilebomb)

congrats, youre like an hour behind.. how about if you cant keep up dont intrude in the discussion...

actually a great point

i totally forgot to add, that i personally think (and use) the gorge as the RT attacker. it has a ranged attack which protects it from electricity, it can use bilebomb (which is obvious), and as soon as teh RT goes down the gorge can replace it with an alien RT.

overall, i think the important thing for everyone to keep in mind is there is no absolute wrong or right answer/way to use any lifeforms. it is merely a question of efficiency/effectiveness. some lifeforms are more effective at certain tasks than others-- but in the end, you can use almost any of the lifeforms to perform almost any of the tasks as the others. i suppose the most important thing is that no matter what you do, as long as you function as an effective team member and constructively act to benefit the team, then what you do and how you do it is trivial, as long as in the end your team wins.

Yes, let's have the skulks keep SG marines away from the second hive while the fade and lerk is off hitting them RTs, BRILLIANT. Why ever did I not think of this, it would have revolutionized NS!

Great idea stix.

PS: I'm also partial to the idea of letting gorges mutate marine structures (like nodes) into new constructs entirely.

You cannot be serious! You cannot put the invincible killing machines with their super strong spit-nuclear-bomb on killing RTs!

Someone discovered america yesterday

First, skulks do more damage than fades. The skulk does about 188 damage per second while the fade does about 167.

Second, compared with fades or onos, skulks are not at all suited for combat with marines. I don't see how you can even begin to argue otherwise. Putting a fade on nodes is a complete waste.

The onos does about 400 damage per second to structures, making it significantly better than the skulk; however, it too is far more powerful against marines than is the skulk and should certainly not have its power wasted on killing nodes.

You are right about one thing, at least. To destroy electrified structures, you need skulks with gorge support or a fade or onos. However, electrification is not common (and mass electrification very rare) in competent play.

Myeh, most of the time when you have an onos and the game isn't already sealed, those 400 damage and the staying power of the onos actually do make them useful for taking down RTs.

True.

[quote name='a_civilian' date='May 9 2007, 08:43 PM' post='1625921']
First, skulks do more damage than fades. The skulk does about 188 damage per second while the fade does about 167.[/quote]
im going to start off by saying i did not know this, and thank you for the data

[quote name='a_civilian' date='May 9 2007, 08:43 PM' post='1625921']
Second, compared with fades or onos, skulks are not at all suited for combat with marines. I don't see how you can even begin to argue otherwise. Putting a fade on nodes is a complete waste.[/quote]
in a 1v1 scenario, with the marine walking into an ambush and the skulk with the total element of surprise, the skulk should win over 90% of the time (especially early in the game when the marines have low armor) unless the player is a complete idiot/quadrapelegic or if the marine gets very lucky (or perhaps has a GL which may possibly kill him as well). Even in a 1 v 2 situation the alien is more often than not should end up with the kills. This is the manner in which i feel it is most effectively used. a player who is exceptionally well at skulk can quickly start racking kills up, and is very frustrating to marines, who then may dedice to waste precious res on motion tracking, or scans, etc.

[quote name='a_civilian' date='May 9 2007, 08:43 PM' post='1625921']
The onos does about 400 damage per second to structures, making it significantly better than the skulk; however, it too is far more powerful against marines than is the skulk and should certainly not have its power wasted on killing nodes.[/quote]this is the one thing everyone is misunderstanding

i am NOT stating that i think the fades/onos primary role is to take out RTs- i completely concur that their number 1 role is taking out marine infantry. ALL i am stating is that they are better at taking out RTs than skulks are. knowing the damage stats now, i would agree that the skulk would do a better job at the actual destruction of the RT, but strategically i feel the fade is still better suited only because it has significantly greater health and armor. the benefits of this not only extend its tolerance of any RTs which may be electrified but if in fact the marines do respond and retaliate, with its extra health/armor it has a greater chance of defending itself or blinking to safety. its not impractical for a fade or onos to take 30 seconds out of his murderour rampage to destroy an RT -- arent the potential res you and your team would reap from this worth the time spent, not to mention it hurts the enemy??

You are right about one thing, at least. To destroy electrified structures, you need skulks with gorge support or a fade or onos. However, electrification is not common (and mass electrification very rare) in competent play. [/quote]true but to have the skulk take 5 bites, then have to run away to heal takes much longer than it already takes for it to destroy the rt. like i said earlier, skulks are very easy targets while they are munching away at an RT, and the longer it takes for them to destroy it, the more they risk a response from the marines.

***edit***
i have no idea why the quotes arent working-- help! mods feel free to fix it for me

Aliens should be hitting nodes before fades are even up. Its best to have atleast one skulk killing nodes at all times. This is epsecially true durning a siege becuase most of the marines will be focusing on the siege and if you push them back you will be in good shape.

In the early game if you end up killing a bunch of marines its a good idea to have serveral skulks hit nodes before marines get back out in the field. Hard to coordinate on pubs unless everyone knows and respects each other.

And yes hitting nodes isnt the most exciting job, but it must be done. Getting steam rolled at 7:00 by HMG HA is less exciting.

agreed, i think its important that at least one or two players (depending on team size) dedicate most of their time to taking out RTs. I would usually use gorges (or one of the gorges at least) to hit the RTs, as they can replace the RT with their team's counterpart.

again im not undermining the importance of destroying the RTs, i was experssing opinion on why i feel which lifeforms are better suited to it than others

I think the one thing you're missing, SnipeStar, is to look at the task of destroying marine RTs in the perspective of the game as a whole. Fades start to appear as the second hive is planted, which is also around the time where marines start pushing seriously towards the alien half of the map, to secure their position to take down the second hive, or just keep pressure so their nodes can remain functional so they can tech and later fight hive two aliens. It is in this situation fades appear, and even if they were better at taking down rts than skulks, they are sorely needed on defense rather than offense.

[Edit] In response to your latest post and the use of gorges to take down rts, I somewhat agree with the sentiment. However: the majority of the "active" game time (ie, before either team has secured the victory and the end game has started) gorges will lack bile bomb to deal significant damage to structures. Even at two hives they will have trouble reaching RTs to take them down without support of other life forms, and if the fight is even the bile bomb and those life forms would be needed to keep pressure on forward PG positions or attempted sieges. So even at the hive two stage skulks would probably be the most suited life form for hitting nodes.

First off I want to say that Snipe makes some very good points.

But realisitically, the skulk is probably one of the best suited for killing RT's. The reason I say this is because they have a few things working in their favour to do so; numbers, cost, effectiveness, combat effectivness and marine technology.


Numbers: The skulk in most games out number the higher lifeforms (fades and onoses) at least 2 - 1. As so, there is much more of the skulks abilities being used against the marines than the other lifeforms. One skulk gone from battle will not hurt the offensive measures deployed against the marines.


Cost: The skulk is the most basic lifeform, as so, they are free! Because of this, they have not only large numbers but are expendable and weak. One skulk dying from a marine shooting them down isn't a big price compared to losing a fade. When the fade is attacking the RT, he is more vunerable to the marines than if he were actually fighting.

During combat, the fade is putting full attention into the combat. When he hitting RT's, he alerts the marines to the location while making noise and putting his screen away from enterances/exits. The marines would have an easier time ambushing the fade and the fade has less opportunity to respond. [This above is a small factor, but I've seen fades die to things like that].


Effectivness: [Now were getting to the meat of my argument] If you look as actual stats of the skulk, fade and onoses, you'll see the following:

General Description:


First Slot Weapon:


Now, you look at the second slot weapon, and you'll find the following:

Second Slot Weapon:


Now finally, look at other supplementary stats:

Other:

What do you notice with this info?
What I notice is the fact that the major difference between each class for the specific purpose of killing RT's is the health. The skulk is minimally less effective than a fade at killing RT's in terms of damage output. The second ability of the classes says that the onos should be fighting (devour), the fade should be fighting too (blink) while the skulk should take a more passive role (parasite).
Also, why would you spend 50/75 resource points just to kill the RT's a little faster? The skulk already is the fastest (ground speed), most mobile (wall climb) unit of the game anyway.


Combat effectiveness: The thing is, the best way to exploit the Fade's ability is to have it fighting. The base goal of the game (beyond the actual goals) is to be as effective as possible all the time; to do the most in the least amount of time. The fade could easily hit RT's, but their effectiveness is capped. Now if they were to be fighting marines, they would be potentially much more effective than if they were taking down RT's.


Marine technology: The marines are basically centered around technology (so are the aliens to a lesser extent). Without technology, the aliens will eventually control the whole map with higher lifeforms and just by the fact that they are more mobile.

Now once the marines get to higher parts of the tech tree (level 2 armour, motion tracking, heavy armour or jetpacks), the skulk becomes a heck of a lot less effective killing machine. The skulks cannot gain enhancements to their attacks/armour/information as easily as the marines can. To remain effective, the alien team needs to have higher lifeforms to combat the marines.

The problem is that there will still be skulks. Someone has to drop the chambers/hive/rts etc. Someone will die as a life from eventually. Some people are just more effective as skulk. As so, skulks will need to do something effective during that time. They can try to kill marines, but would be very ineffective. The only thing they can do which would have the biggest impact is to kill RT's. The higher lifeforms, which are usually not very numerous, will be fighting instead of hitting RT's while the skulks are doing their most effective job possible.

------------

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I think that the skulk should be the ones hitting the RT's. They are the most suited for the job compared to the other lifeforms. This was more of a large ramble with stats, but I tried to think outside the box and say beyond what the obvious things have been said.

well done with the research!!

i just dont think that its a waste of time for a fade to every once and a while knock down an RT-- it potentially benefits it and the team, it hurts the marines, and although it does leave him more vulnerable to the marines than at any other time, with blink it is very difficult for the marines to kill it if he simply blinks away as soon as he gets fired at (and really only lvl 2 - 3 hmg/shotguns have a chance unless the fade is slow or clumsy). i mean does the 30 seconds its not in combat really make a significant difference?

another point i would like to throw in there is i personally like to attack RTs with a buddy system. have a friend of any lifeform (preferably fade but maybe even gorge) start attacking the RT while the skulk lay in wait on the ceiling or wherever is most strategic to the situation. When the marine/s come around the corner they will focus attention to the alien attacking the RT, leaving them helpless and unaware targets to your hungry jaws. Whats even better is when the gorge is attacking the RT, and a smart@ss marine pulls out his knife to knife the gorge- then i drop down right in front of him and smile as he frantically tries to switch to one of his weapons. mm nothing like the salty taste of tears with my free meal

i do however (mostly) agree with your findings. well spoken

Yes. 30 seconds of a fade killing a RT can alter the game. The fades role is push back marines, this is what it does best and pretty much should be actively doing this the entire time when a fade is in play. More hp and armor does not help you kill a RT faster.

A skulk can kill RT even with marines trying to save them. All you do is run away when you hear a marine and go to the next RT, even if the one you were killing is not dead. You can basicly play ring around the map and bounce from one RT to another killing them all while keeping a marine out of play. This is especially easy with SOF. With two hives it can be easier just to kill the marine becuase you have leap.

Its also important to hit the furthest RT from MS/PG so marines have a long walk to get to you.

If every RT is electerfied you most likely already lost(unless you have two hives) or marines elect rushed thus have no tech so 1 fade owns them. Killing elect nodes is best done by gorges with bile or onos or fades if you have a lot.

i realize that there are certain scenarios where 30 seconds can make or break a game, but most likely, if the game can be swung that easily then chances are good even if the fade didnt bother with the RT, that the outcome would be the same.


agreed

now define "push back marines." Have you considered that this process involves not only halting the advance of their infantry but the advance of their structures as well? The fade can destroy the RT, then attack marines-- the marines not only lose ground as far as infantry advancement goes but also in terms of a resource node, which means they lose not only marine lives but a they lose a source of income as well. it doesnt matter that they can spawn again and again, but when you take their res away, then they cant afford technology. this is how i would define "pushing back" -- to completely halt the advance of their presence on the map in all regards.


it does if its electrified... not to mention it will give you a better chance of staying alive if marines show up to defend it.

Out of curiosity, has anyone done tests with bilebomb? It consumes an awful lot of energy, so I'm unsure if it's really faster than a skulk biting the RT.
Of course, it's meant to be used against several buildings at once, so it remains useful, but...

30 seconds is a very long time in NS, especially for a fade. Marines can get PG up in mere seconds and have the entire team outside your hive with shotguns in one 4 second beacon or the marines could opt to start a siege. Now I could be A) Trying to prevent this from happening. Or B) Pressing swipe on some random ###### RT wasting my res becuase I could do the same job as a skulk.



Pushing back marines involves killing them, but can also include hitting structures in marine base eaither focing a beacon or lowering the teach of marines. If marines are not threating a hive, the best way to push them back is to have skulks killing nodes and fades killing the cappers, this send marines into an endless cycle of recapping thus making you win the game becuase they wont be pushing a hive.

Pushing back marines is a team efferot of everyone doing their role. A fade cannot kill nodes and kill marines at the sametime. And if he is killing a node he is not killing marines or actively seaching for them. A skulk can also kill nodes even bringing it down quicker than a fade. A skulk has far less killing power vs marines than the fade. So it doesn't really make any sesne to have your fades killing nodes.

Just because you kill a node as a fade doesn't mean your pushing marines back at all. Marines could be killing one of your nodes and capping that one. They could be pressing your hive, capping even more res. If no one is there to stop them they will do anything they want. Put a fade. lerk and a few skulks at the marines with 2 skulks on nodes and you are indeed pushing marines back if getting the kills.



I don't know what servers you play on but electerfation isnt very common on the ones I frequent. Its mostly used to protect a phasegate. If marines are electafing nodes you simply have your skulks hit the ones that aren ot electrified yet. Surely you should know if they start electing nodes becuase it comes in waves. Onces the second hive is up have your gorges or extra fade hit the elect nodes.

It took me 38 seconds to bile a RT down with adren with no MC near by. It took me 36 seconds to bite down a RT as a skulk without adren and 32 seconds with adren. It took 43 seconds to kill a RT as fade starting with full adren.

edit: It took 38 seconds useing meta as fade starting at full adren and ending at almost nothing. So its still slower.

Any more comments on the actual topic... of res for killing rts?

And yes, the skulk is the lifeform to be killing rts 95% of the time. The onos is slightly better, but it takes his entire energy and thats not great for oni, plus you rarely have them. Lerks should pretty much never attack rts, since their entire energy bar kills less than half an RT, and the lerk needs his energy possibly the most. Fades are actually better than non-adren skulks (if they use meta to keep their energy up), especially since they can defend themselves while they hit the RT and actually end up killing it, but only if the fade isnt really needed anywhere else... so all depending on the teammates. Gorges should always have Cel imo, so unless theres an MC nearby, hes not great at hitting rts except for extra damage.

It isn't all that boring chewing the res now. Thanks to the lower rt hp and improved minimap you'll either kill the rt quick enough or get 5 marines attacking you.

For some reason I don't feel theres too much rt biting even though I'm actually one of the few doing it in pub teams. And usually, no matter the game, I'm the one playing overaggressive and rushing from a battle to another and getting bored because of passive gameplay.

Edit: Yeh, it still would be sweet if someone else did the rt biting too. Res award feels a bit weird, but I haven't got any better suggestions.

couldnt have said it better myself

skulks do 2nd most damage while costing nothing.
with leap they can flee and dont get killed, actually with a good parasite on the marines they can flee early enough without leap (thats really annoying).
skulks in hive defense often just give the marines extra res (especially on 32player public servers).

onos can and should, if theyre not needed somewhere else kill rts because they can do it so fast.

fades should only kill rts if the aliens have successfully pushed back the marines, i.e. killed all phasegates and the marines are "stuck" in base. but in this case every lifeform should just kill rts until the marines are pushing out again.

however, electrified rts are the exception, but they need 2 extra minutes to be actually worth the research, so its just fair that a skulk needs longer to kill it?

Look. This is simple.

Skulks can kill nodes.
Fades can kill nodes.

Skulks can't kill upgraded marines with equipment.
Fades can kill upgraded marines with equipment.

Now, if you assign Fades to kill nodes, you are now doing squat against marines.

Hence, assign skulks to kill the things that don't fight back!

Ok.. my thoughts on this.

Its not who is the best for killing rts, its who is the least worst for killing rts. And except for the good old atleast hive2 gorge, thats gotta be the skulk.

Reasons, as said before are simple.

It does more damage so is faster. Although fade and lerk do survive more ambushes they are worse for the job. In a fight against a good rine team we need lerk support. We need fades in the field. We need rts down as fast as we can. Skulks are expendable and although come inhandy, are not needed. (i'd be more scared against 2 fades and a lerk then 2 skulk and a lerk).
When you finally can onos it would technically be better but the onos is usually needed in field. (HA). True, the skulk with its low hp is a bad choice, its just the others are worse. In best situations we have a gorge bilebombing, but that aint often.

If there is ANY lifeform except a gorge or skulk attacking a RT it means either 2 things:

* you don't need said advanced lifeforms in the field, and thereby already won eons ago.
* your team is so crap that they can't do the proper job for the proper lifeform, in which case you lost eons ago.

Sure.. go fade and kill RTs, just know that then you are busy with either of the above.

There is one more ideal situation, and this is the best of all. This is situation perfect. Now we aint chosing who is the least worst, simply cause we don't have to.. and that situation is...

If your team is good and never allows any RTs getting up, you need noone to destroy them lateron. Of course with this you also already won and the game is horribly stacked.

That's too simplistic a view on it too, darkling.

SO ABOUT THAT TOPIC...

I fail to see why, enlighten me?

Each team lifeform has its job.. they should do there job. (exception is undermanned teams but I am talking normal teams here)

i see it fairly commonly, especially when you repeatedly harass the same locations

i know that if and when i com, if an RT is taken down twice, then i will save up the res to electrify it once it is rebuilt, despite any objections from the insignificant expendable warrior-slaves i command ()- at that point, you have already wasted 30 res having it rebuilt twice. its not uncommon to see mass-electrification near the end of the map if I am the com. although some say it is perhaps a bit uneccessary and even a waste of res, the idea is that if the aliens are going to take my RTs away from me, im going to inconvenience them as much as possible. That means that they have to either take it down with multiple skulks or have to pull a fade/onos out of the field to take out the RT-- which gives me an opportunity to send a retaliation force out to have the lifeform dealt with

I know you don't always have 2-hive gorges to go around the map bile bombing. That ususally requires support in the neighborhood or at least SC. But once you do have 2 hives? Why not? Gorges need to be out there healing and bile-bombing in addition to structure building.

The only class I see as should never be attacking a RT is a lerk. And I agree in general that a fade is sorely needed elsewhere.

Overall? It just depends on the situation. Electrified RT with one bar left? Just hit it a few time FFS no matter what you are.

I like the goal about it: to encourage RT chomps, but the method chosen has some faults.

Even the kill detection is faulty. I've chomped on a RT to the red status as skulk and a fade comes and he gets the score for the kill.

RT destruction is its own reward. Once people start losing eveyr round, they'll want to chew RTs/shoot them down.

I figured it out that way too. Have people started doing it? No.

You greatly overestimate the ability of the average player to learn. I have seen players die to ambushes from the exact same location many times in a row, and not learn to keep their eye on a vent/corner/whatever.

Obviously it's not encouraging enough for the core experience most of us are encountering.