Ability discussion: sonic grenade, proximity mine, and bullhorn swarm
Sonic grenade, proximity sonic mine, and bullhorn swarm.
Sonic grenade-default
Engineer throws a bullhorn megaphone with a sound effect for when he throws it. When it lands it produces a loud sound.
It does not do any damage, but it can stun plants and raise burrowing Chompers from the ground and also stun them. It takes 30 seconds to recharge.
Its stun lasts 5 seconds.
It screeches "BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAINS!" upon impact, but the sound is subtle and only the "SSSSSS" sound can be heard.
It resembles a loudspeaker and a flashbang in real life.
This is also shown on the ability icon but it has a severed zombie arm attached to it.
Proximity sonic mine-super rare
Gw description: Sonic Mine is the perfect Anti-Chomper System. Just throw it down, and if any Plants venture too close, it will go off and stun them for a duration.
Engineer places a mine like device that goes off when a plant is near, stunning them for 5 seconds, he carries 3 at a time and they have a 30 second recharge. Has 15 health.
It sounds like a tornado siren when placed making it noticbly louder than the potato mine.
Bullhorn swarm-default
Engineer deploys a group of megaphones that block an area and unburrow nearby Chompers. The megaphones will give chase to any plants that get close enough each individual megaphone stunning the plant for a 0.5 seconds. After 15 seconds has passed, the megaphones will disappear. 20 second cooldown. Makes the same noise as the mines when deployed.
Has two upgrades. Reinforced:
Increased health of deployed Bullhorns.
Increases Bullhorn Swarm health by 150% (to 25 HP), heals Heavy Helper. Why?
Dispersion: Cover larger area with Bullhorn Swarm.
Increase Bullhorn Swarm area of effect to 11m (36.08 ft
)
I greatly prefer the grenade and mines, in fact I think swarm is just a downgrade in almost every way in functionality.
It can track plants which wouldn't be an issue if it just went off where I threw it in the first place like the grenade. It can stun multiple plants except it divides the number based on how many hit each plant, if this was the grenade all of them would be stunned equally making them all equally vulnerable for my team or I to pick them off. I can use them to guatd places but they make noise just like the mine and only last 15 seconds something the mine does not do. Honestly it's a disgrace of an ability that is inferior in every way to what came before it.
You can't even just write it off as an excuse to make it more supportive when its worse at the base function of saving engineer's or his allies butt when he's stranded from the group and about to be ambushed. Tldr:why does bullhorn swarm exist when sonic grenade fulfills its purpose faster and more efficiently for engineer and his team.
