Darkness Adaptation

[Fatal]

For those unsure of what darkness adaptation is, it's a changeling ability, which, despite it's name does nothing regarding anything to do with darkness

It's just a basic "near" invisibility, rather than a total invisibility, at a cost of 15% reduction to chem regen, and I think maybe a drop in your total chem pool? (unsure on the latter)

My issue with it at the moment is that it seems to have become the "meta", every ling I see (or don't see as it were) seems to take this thing, and it's getting really lame to see the same tactic being used by lings, which is usually go invisibility + armblade, sometimes with armour, and just run around killing people one at a time, or sometimes more than one at a time, but given you can't really fight changelings 1v1 anyway, how are you meant to fight one you can't see until you've been arm bladed once or twice (which is near crit on anyone unarmed)

It either needs a nerf to chem usage (such as making it cost chemicals whilst it's active, so you can't just run it for an hour straight), or reducing it's effectiveness in the light (because the ability doesn't change in darkness or in light, despite what the name implies), or just outright removing it (changelings already have another invisibility ability which grants total invisibility in darkness provided they don't move for a few seconds)

Changelings used to be played stealthy because they can take peoples disguises, and switch between them, but what's the point when you can just be pretty much entirely invisible and roll on everyone, I know the whole "changelings are vulnerable to stuns" will come up, but, isn't everything? And given most of the time the changeling has a stun, and has stunned you before you even realise it's there (or arm bladed you a couple of times), so I think the ability needs tuning down in its effectiveness

Antags should be a threat, but there needs to be some balance to them to keep the game fresh, and give people a reason to use different abilities for different tactics, rather than picking the most "optimal meta" and ignoring all the other abilities coders have put in to make an interesting round

Here is a picture to demonstrate (although it's not a great one Ill admit), if there wasn't a dozen ghosts orbiting this sec hailer, would you see anything there?

Ling1.png (25.03 KiB) Viewed 421 times

[Itseasytosee2me]

Maybe it should be an active ability that when used, turns you mostly invisible until you move again.
That way it could be more of an ambush and getaway tool rather than a direct aid to mass murder. Mass murder can have its place but it shouldn’t be easy.

[xzero314]

Funny enough, using the chameleon power while you have darkness adaptation on makes you MUCH more visible.

[Cobby]

Not a fan of anything that makes changelings another flavor of ebow esword traitor of old.

We have sling, we have heretic, we have plenty of ambush with their goober weapons meme roles.

Changeling should be focused on abusing the fact you can be anyone on the station and should be a tough role because it relies on your social knowledge moreso than your mechanical ambushing gameplay.

[Indie-ana Jones]

The problem we currently have with a proper stealth killer (which a changeling that relies on disguises to net kills would be) is our changes to sound mean anyone even slightly near you is going to hear you killing someone and either call security or come fight you themselves. Sure, you might be able to isolate someone in a room or in maint through manipulation, but unless literally nobody else who might care is on that quarter of the station, you're going to get called out immediately.

This is drastically different from before the sound changes, where a closed door and lack of windows was all you needed to mask your nefarious deeds. Our maps aren't really designed to isolate someone far enough that our new sound system doesn't let everyone else know what you're doing in my opinion.

[Mimepride]

There's no downside to taking this adaptation. It decreases the chance you will ever be caught significantly, and in space? You are practically invisible outright. On top of that, getting hit by someone doesn't break the cloaking whatsoever--unlike a literal fucking space ninja's cloak.

It's the opposite of a soulful change. It empowers powergamers massively, and that is never a good thing--especially when murderboning as a ling was already so easy. It's totally unnecessary--and it's revolting to me that access to the blood spider adaptation was nerfed before this horrible adaptation was even touched for balancing. Even more revolting when people complain about blood spider spam but yet shamelessly use this ability when they roll ling. It should be outright removed.