Allowing Enemies To Hurt Each Other#392

The more I play the game, the more I think enemies should be able to hurt each other with their attacks. Not so much to make them deal damage, but to inflict debilitating status effects on them.

This would allow us to manipulate enemies and use positioning to our advantage, adding another layer of strategy to combat.

[EXAMPLE 1]
When Bird Quarks use their flamethrower attack, any enemies caught in the area are panicked and scatter.

[EXAMPLE 2]
When the Fat Quarks use their body slam attack, any enemies hit are stunned for a few seconds.

[EXAMPLE 3]
If a Big Fist Quark punches another enemy with their special punch, it cracks their armor so they take bonus damage (from any source) for a few seconds.

Right now on higher difficulty levels the melee game is basically hit-and-run guerilla warfare tactics. If you stand still for more than 2 seconds the rest of the mob murders you with their fast attack speed.

I think by letting them inflict negative effects on each other it turns that unstoppable tidal wave of unflinching killing machines into something you can break apart into more manageable mobs. It gives us oppotunities to actually use combos, or reload, etc.

EDIT: Yes, I’m aware at least 1 of the bosses knocks down minions, that’s great, now lets have normal minons have some ability inflict statuses.

For balancing reasons, maybe only give them a 30% chance to trigger a Status Effect when they hit each other. This way you can’t stunlock, etc, and makes the fight more interesting by never knowing when an opportunity may pop up.