Abilities Overview March2018
In today's update we're going to look at some of the power-ups players have access to at this point in Aqua Lunger's development and how they work. For the most part they fit into a few categories:
- Tools: Provide and advantage that isn't necessarily direct damage
- Weapons: Damage or kill opponents and fish
- Shields: Covers the player and provides some type of protection from attacks
With few exceptions (like shields) these abilities can be aimed with the players movement control. Standard d-pad inputs will be limited to 8 directions, but joystic or thumbstick inputs allow full 360 aim. With that out of the way, let's get started!
Tools
Fish Bait
Fish Bait was one of the fist abilities created for Aqua Lungers. It works by finding matching targets in range, in this case fish, chooses one, and then sets itself as the destination for that target. This allows it to pull fish away from a player or waypoint that it might be swimming toward. Once a target is affected, the bait sets a timer for the next time it can affect another target, diminishing the the timer with each round based on the life of the bait. What this means is that it will call more and more fish as the bait runs out of time. It also has the ability to spawn fish in case there are no fish to attract.
In gameplay, this item is no longer used as an ability, but is spawned occasionally by sunken ships in place of treasure as a way to attract fish to areas players frequent and keep the levels populated with enemies as the match progresses.
Monster Bait
The monster bait works exactly the same as fish bait except it targets the monster(Surprised?). The big thing here being that in Aqua Lungers, the monster patrolling each stage tends to be savagely powerful. Giving players the ability to guide the monster to different parts of the level makes this item a powerful strategical tool when used correctly.
Fish Egg
The fish egg is kind of an evolution of the bait. The inner workings are actually the same, but this one differs in that the actual bait timing is played down and the spawn timing is dialed up. The result is a kind of fish bomb where a player can drop this into the water and suddenly there's a school of angry fish for players to deal with.
Gravity Well
The basic idea with the gravity well is that it pulls things toward its center. In order to give it a bit more flexibility and utility this one was built such that when it's thrown by the player it starts small and then expands as it travels to a point where it is fully deployed. Once deployed, it pulls objects for a set period of time and then dissipates.
Unlike real black holes, this one does not do any damage on its own. It's main strength is in immobilizing targets, and it does it really well by having a wide reach with which to grab enemies, players, and even some projectiles.
Weapons
Bomb
The bomb is another one of the earliest abilities designed for Aqua Lungers. It's use is very straight forward: Throw it, and then it explodes. It's original design was intended for clearing large numbers of fish and providing a reliable means to stop other players. Over time however, it's utility has expanded.
Monsters, when attacked with bombs now become dazed, causing them to ignore players and move slowly for a short period of time. Players are either killed outright, or struck (pushed outward while dropping some treasure) depending on how close the bomb is when it explodes. The biggest difference though, is that now if a treasure spawner is hit with a bomb it'll drop all treasure it has available, making it possible to mine much more quickly in some situations.
Javelin
The javelin is fairly simple compared to other abilities in the game. It's a projectile thrown by the player that travels in an arc. It can pierce through fish and stops when hitting players, monsters or solid ground. It's not a big weapon and can be difficult to aim, but what makes the javelin great is that it's deadly to players and comes in threes. It also has a bit longer range than most abilities, making it possible to catch players off guard when they might normally be out of reach.
Magic Missile
The magic missile is fairly recent for Aqua Lungers. It differs from the javelin a two major ways. First, it is not affected by gravity, allowing it to travel freely in any direction. Second, it takes advantage of a spiffy new targeting system built to add more variety as projectiles get made for different purposes.
Like the javelin, magic missile passes through fish and can kill a player. It's speed is much slower, to give players a chance to evade, but it's homing ability is fairly aggressive. When targeting fish, this weapon will continue plowing through them until it's life ends or it meets solid ground.
Boomerang
Unlike the projectiles listed above, the boomerang is not deadly to players. It has moderate range on the surface, and short range in the water. So... like... what good is this thing!? Well, I'm glad you asked!
The boomerang's primary strength is that it can grab a treasure or powerup and bring it to the user. When hit by a boomerang, a player will drop up to three treasures, the best of which will be grabbed by the boomerang and taken to the thrower. This works similarly when striking powerup spawners, treasure spawners, and loot dropping enemies. The main difference is that the amount they normally would drop with a standard attack remains unchanged (usually a single item).
Another nice feature is that when the boomerang returns to the player it can be thrown again! This makes it a very safe way to attack enemies in the game, and when grouped with two more boomerangs become even more powerful.
Shields
Aqua Shield
The Aqua Shield operates like a very classic type of shield in games with some subtle features under the hood to make it's use more intuitive. In short, it absorbs four hits of any type before going away. This is generally good for blocking strong attacks like bombs and monster attacks. While it's not best for situations where the player might be attacked in rapid succession, it's generally considered reliable by players.
Whirlwind Shield
The whirlwind shield works by creating a force that pushes objects away from the player and disappears when it's timer runs out. While it does not actually absorb damage, this shield is most effective against schools of fish and projectiles that are subject to gravity. It also makes it difficult for enemy players or monsters to successfully land a hit.
Light Shield
The light shield is the most powerful of all the shields. It utterly destroys players and fish while making the user immune to damage. Because of all the power being emitted, this only lasts a few seconds, making it the shortest lived out of the three shields. For this reason, players must be careful to use this ability at the correct time to maximize its effectiveness.
So there you have it! This covers most of what players will have access to as they explore each map in Aqua Lungers so far. If you have any questions or would like to hear about a certain topic pertaining to Aqua Lungers, please comment below. Thanks!