This kind of popped into my mind during the “Traitor tips” thread. I was looking at the price of of EMPs in general, and realized that they are INSANELY cheap for what they provide. Instantly disarming e guns, (the most common ranged weapon) decimating silicons and IPCs, and numerous other things as well. One of these is communications jamming, and to give you another example of how EMPs are incredibly cheap for what they grant, I thought I would compare them to the radio jammer in just this aspect.
Radio jammer: Cost 5 TC
- Blocks radio constantly within range, producing static when screaming.
- AoE, constant effect
- Loses effect when victim leaves range
EMP kit: Cost 2 TC
- AoE
+Completely knocks out comms, meaning they have to be manually turned on, difficult to do when being chased. - Does not lose effect until victim reactivates comms
- disables cameras
- Semi limited supply. You get like 4-6 grenades, and a three use EMP implant
Not only does the EMP kit do everything the radio jammer does better, it does other things I’ve already listed, along with many I haven’t, for three whole TC less. I think all the EMP items that traitors possess should have their price increased. Perhaps 4-5 TC for the EMP kit, and general increases to the other EMP items (forgot their prices, but they were all fairly cheap as well).
Also, I think an extra step should be added to chemistry EMPs. It’s super easy just to grind uranium and iron, and make an EMP. One iron gets you a grenade shell, and boom, you’re finished, giving you a weapon of mass technological destruction. Some other, harder to acquire item should be thrown into the recipe, so the random graytide can’t easily acquire it without some chemistry gear aside from a grinder.
Most of the other EMPs in game are fine for what they grant. Wizard is kind of supposed to be powerful, so his low price is justified, cultists usually want other spells, and lings already have resonant shriek, which is comparably as powerful against organics as dissonant shriek is against machines, but the chemistry EMP and the traitor EMP are noticeably more powerful than I feel they should be.
Also, ability to buy unlimited number of character slots when? I need moar than 1 extra character slots, because reasons.