Patreon Poll #3.5 - Sentry Variants!

Hey Patrons!

The winner of Patreon Poll #3 is the sentry-style DM-201! After mulling the design over a bit though, I'm uncertain about the mechanic they use to punish ranged attackers, and so I've decided to make a supplementary poll. DM-201s have definitely won, but you guys now get to choose between a few options for their ranged-countering ability.

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I'm also changing the poll format up a bit to try and cut down on the number of posts, as 3 posts per poll just produces too much clutter. I also dislike that direct poll results are visible after voting, which spoils results early and can influence people to strategically vote. While I can't create a perfect solution to this (patreon's poll system is imperfect, and an external solution is very inconvenient for both me and patrons), I can streamline things a bit to reduce clutter.

Moving forward the discussion and voting posts will be merged into one, and the results of the poll will be announced in the patreon weekly following the poll. This means that everyone is allowed to vote (I can't control poll visibility and voting separately), but I'll only be counting votes from $5+ patrons for now (I may a move to a weighted voting system, but more on that later). This helps partially obfuscate poll results, as the actual result will be different from the numbers patreon shows. It also reduces the number of posts per poll from 3 to 1.

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So here are the actual poll choices! Each of these are alternative mechanics that DM-201s could have to compensate for their complete lack of mobility (Keep in mind DM-201s have boosted stats, cannot move, and cannot vent toxic gas):

Self-Healing:
This is the same effect that was proposed in poll #3.
- When DM-201s are injured and cannot attack an enemy, they will heal for a large amount, based on missing HP.
This choice is the most straightforward of the bunch, and should ensure that fighting DM-201s must involve some amount of melee combat.

Corrosive Grenades:
While DM-201s can't vent exhaust, the dwarves decided to give them something similar in the form of some corrosive gas grenades.
- When DM-201s are attacked from range, they will lob a grenade of caustic gas at their attacker.
- This grenade instantly detonates in a 3x3 AOE, spreading a small amount of corrosive gas to each cell.
- DM-201s are not immune to corrosive gas, but due to the nature of their attack it will be difficult for them to hit themselves with it.
This brings a bit of the unstable DM-200's mechanics to the DM-201, as it will be possible to kite other enemies to the area and make use of the gas. It also preserves DM-201's being entirely safe unless you choose to engage them, as they will only use this attack in retaliation.

Targeted Rockfall:
In place of treads and an engine, the dwarves gave the DM-201 an experimental device that can cause targeted tremors (later used by the DM-300).
- When DM-201s see an enemy but cannot attack them, they will trigger a 1-turn delayed falling rock effect at their enemy's location and at a few random adjacent tiles.
- The effect will use the same particles as the falling rock effect in the DM-300 fight.
- Anything caught in the rocks will take a small to medium amount of damage.
This attack is much easier to evade, but applies constant pressure to the player even if they aren't attacking the DM-201. Of course, if you can get an enemy to consistently follow you it would also be very helpful for damaging them.

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Please vote for as many options as you like, you don't need to vote for just one! I allow multiple votes as it means that a higher proportion of people will end up voting for the winning choice. It also lets me gauge interest and lets polls be a bit more flexible, I might choose to implement the top 2 choices in some polls for example.

All patrons are encouraged to share their opinion by commenting and voting, but currently only the votes of $5+ patrons are counted when determining a poll winner.