When creating flood maps and game types, forgers have two options when it comes to flood damage settings. They can allow humans to be killed by one flood slash ('1-hit flood' game types), or they can boost humans' health so that it takes two hits to kill them ('2-hit flood' game types). Game types also exist that allow humans to survive two hits and die only after three or more, though these are less common. Although default flood settings and the original flood game type use 1-hit settings, the general preference of the custom gaming community seems to lean towards 2-hit flood.
In my opinion, giving the humans the second life ruins the game, and there are a few reasons for this.
Why 1-Hit Flood?
In order to balance the extra life, forgers usually need to increase flood health as well. It is extremely annoying as a human to have to shoot at the flood for such a long time before they finally drop. Combined with the increased speed and maneuverability the flood naturally have (for example, in the hivemind game type), this makes them quite difficult to kill. As a human, while it is nice to have the second life, the only reason you actually need it is because you can't kill the flood in time because their health is too damn high, and they land a hit on you before you kill it.
Another issue is that the extra chance does not always work. What will often happen is that flood will lunge at a human with full health and hit him once, then immediately hit him again before the human can eliminate the flood or otherwise get himself back to a safe position. this happens to me frequently, as I play with a low sensitivity (for increased accuracy), and I can not always turn fast enough to keep up with the flood when it is right on top of me.
So, the extra life is not useful for when the flood attack you from behind, as they will hit you twice before you can react. It also isn't really useful for when you see them first, as their increased health will give them plenty of time to sponge up your damage and land a hit on you before they actually get you (with regular damage settings, you could have dropped him before he got close). It is really only useful for when you're moving forward and you run into a flood, or one pops out in front of you, as you can take him down with a melee attack even if he gets you first- however, this brings me to my third point.
The third issue I have is that it is terribly annoying as flood to have to hit the human twice to kill them. It's terrible when a flood finally manages to get close enough to a human to hit him, only to take a rifle butt or a shotgun blast to the face from that person, who you did not actually manage to kill. And of course, there's a good chance that he will heal up not too much later, so your efforts will have been all for nothing.
2-hit flood settings also force the humans to group up and fight in clusters, as the only way they can take out the flood before they come close is to combine their firepower. Some players may like this, as it encourages teamwork. However, I like to hold out from an isolated vantage point, away from the heart of the action. However, this is difficult in two-hit game types, because even if I see the flood and start shooting at it long before it is actually close, it's hard to do enough damage to kill it before it reaches and strikes me at least once, seeing as they have higher health. Although I dislike having to bunch up and rely on the other humans to determine where I have to stand, it's the only way to succeed in a 2-hit game type.
So it's for these reasons that I prefer 1-hit variants to 2-hit, and why I often find myself voting for standard Flood rather than Hivemind or Last Stand when playing in Matchmaking. Let me know which you guys prefer by answering the poll, and feel free to discuss your opinions.
In my opinion, giving the humans the second life ruins the game, and there are a few reasons for this.
Why 1-Hit Flood?
In order to balance the extra life, forgers usually need to increase flood health as well. It is extremely annoying as a human to have to shoot at the flood for such a long time before they finally drop. Combined with the increased speed and maneuverability the flood naturally have (for example, in the hivemind game type), this makes them quite difficult to kill. As a human, while it is nice to have the second life, the only reason you actually need it is because you can't kill the flood in time because their health is too damn high, and they land a hit on you before you kill it.
Another issue is that the extra chance does not always work. What will often happen is that flood will lunge at a human with full health and hit him once, then immediately hit him again before the human can eliminate the flood or otherwise get himself back to a safe position. this happens to me frequently, as I play with a low sensitivity (for increased accuracy), and I can not always turn fast enough to keep up with the flood when it is right on top of me.
So, the extra life is not useful for when the flood attack you from behind, as they will hit you twice before you can react. It also isn't really useful for when you see them first, as their increased health will give them plenty of time to sponge up your damage and land a hit on you before they actually get you (with regular damage settings, you could have dropped him before he got close). It is really only useful for when you're moving forward and you run into a flood, or one pops out in front of you, as you can take him down with a melee attack even if he gets you first- however, this brings me to my third point.
The third issue I have is that it is terribly annoying as flood to have to hit the human twice to kill them. It's terrible when a flood finally manages to get close enough to a human to hit him, only to take a rifle butt or a shotgun blast to the face from that person, who you did not actually manage to kill. And of course, there's a good chance that he will heal up not too much later, so your efforts will have been all for nothing.
2-hit flood settings also force the humans to group up and fight in clusters, as the only way they can take out the flood before they come close is to combine their firepower. Some players may like this, as it encourages teamwork. However, I like to hold out from an isolated vantage point, away from the heart of the action. However, this is difficult in two-hit game types, because even if I see the flood and start shooting at it long before it is actually close, it's hard to do enough damage to kill it before it reaches and strikes me at least once, seeing as they have higher health. Although I dislike having to bunch up and rely on the other humans to determine where I have to stand, it's the only way to succeed in a 2-hit game type.
So it's for these reasons that I prefer 1-hit variants to 2-hit, and why I often find myself voting for standard Flood rather than Hivemind or Last Stand when playing in Matchmaking. Let me know which you guys prefer by answering the poll, and feel free to discuss your opinions.
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