Adds Elite Zombie Bio-Operator monster

[Hymore246]

Summary

SUMMARY: Content "Adds Elite Zombie Bio-Operator monster"

Purpose of change

Adds Elite Zombie Bio-Operator zombie to the game.

Describe the solution

"Once a highly trained soldier, various bionics cover this zombie's broken body. Strangely, it maintains a vague martial arts stance.

The Elite Zombie Bio-Operator is a more advanced form of the normal Zombie Bio-Operator and serves as a late game enemy the excels at killing overconfident players by using it's special ability.

I've included the backstory for Bionic Combatives (originally created for #32540) at the end of this PR for context on where Elite Zombie Bio-Operators came from. Even without this lore, Elite Zombie Bio-Operator still make sense to exist in the game.

Spawn Locations
Elite Zombie Bio-Operators are part of the same monsters groups as the normal version and can spawn anywhere a normal version can. Although, they have a lower chance to spawn than the normal version and will not begin spawning until 1440 hours (60 days) into the game. Lastly, the normal Bio-Operators cannot evolve into the elite version. Evolution shouldn't improve zombie bionics.

Improvements
The Elite Zombie Bio-Operator is based off the normal Zombie Bio-Operator and inherits most of their stats such as base damage, glowing in the dark, and Zapback defense. Below is a table of the comparing the elite version to the normal version.

Stat	Normal	Elite
Hit Points	120	180
Bash Armor	10	15
Cut Armor	18	27
Melee Skill	7	8
Dodge Skill	3	4
Special Ability	Biojutsu Takedown	Random Biojutsu Technique
Cooldown	20 turns	15 turns

Special Abiliy
Like normal zombie bio-operators, elite zombie bio-operators are being controlled by a malfunctioning Close Quarters Battle CBM. This is what allows both versions to use the Bionic Combatives martial art despite being dead and unable to think. Unfortunately for the player, the CQB CBM the elite version is using is more advanced and in better shape. This means that elite zombie bio-operator can use more biojutsu techniques than the normal version.

Random Biojutsu Technique
When an elite zombie bio-operator uses its special ability, it will randomly perform one of three biojutsu techniques against its target. Once a technique is performed, the zombie must wait until the special ability cooldown finishes before using another random technique. Available techniques are:

Biojutsu Takedown - functions the same as normal zombie bio-operator's special ability.

Biojutsu Impale - 75% chance to deal 8-24 stab damage to a random body part and 25% chance to "crit" and deal 12-36 stab damage and inflict bleeding to a random body part. This attack can be dodged or block by armor. If all the damage from Biojutsu Impale is blocked from armor, the "crit" attack will not inflict bleeding. All Elite Zombie Bio-Operators have integrated bionic weaponry and regardless of their condition, the zombie has more than enough sharp metal and bone matter in its body to impale something.

Biojutsu Disarm - removes the target's weapon from their hands and drops it to a random space adjacent to the target. The user and target will make opposing dice rolls (see code below) to determine success. If the user wins, the weapon is disarmed and if the target wins, their weapon remains in their hands. Weapons such as Bionic Claws, Monomolecular Blade Blade, and any weapon with the "NO_UNWIELD" flag will cause the technique to automatically fail. This technique will not be performed if the target does not have a weapon and a different technique will be used instead. This attack can be dodged and deals no damage.

int mon_stat = z->type->melee_dice * z->type->melee_sides;
int my_roll = dice( 3, 2 * mon_stat );
my_roll += dice( 3, z->type->melee_skill );

/** @EFFECT_STR increases chance to avoid disarm, primary stat */
/** @EFFECT_DEX increases chance to avoid disarm, secondary stat */
/** @EFFECT_PER increases chance to avoid disarm, secondary stat */
/** @EFFECT_MELEE increases chance to avoid disarm */
int their_roll = dice( 3, 2 * foe->get_str() + foe->get_dex() );
their_roll += dice( 3, foe->get_per() );
their_roll += dice( 3, foe->get_skill_level( skill_melee ) );

Creatures do not have stats. They use "melee_dice" and "melee_dice_sides" instead. The elite zombie bio-operator has 3 "melee_dice" and 8 "melee_dice_sides" which effectively gives it 18 in all "stats". Because of this, the zombie has an advantage over the player when trying to disarm. However, random is random. It's completely possible for the zombie to roll a 2 on it's 36 sided dice and fail to disarm the player.

Drops and CBMs
The Elite Zombie Bio-Operator has the same item drop pool as the normal version.

In life, Elite Zombie Bio-Operators were the pinnacle of military bionic research and the sheer amount of CBMs installed pushed their bodies to the limit (and maybe beyond). While lasting effects will never be known, Elite Zombie Bio-Operators have become one of the best sources for CBMs in the post-Cataclysm world.

When dissected for CBMs, the player can find up to three CBMs from an Elite Zombie Bio-Operator. Unlike other bionic zombies, Elites do not give Power Storage CBMs. Instead, one CBM from three separate pools can be found. This pools and CBMs are:

Offensive CBM

• Bionic Claws
• Chain Lightning
• Close Quarters Battle
• Directional EMP
• Electroshock Unit
• EMP Projector
• Finger-Mounted Laser
• Flashbang Generator
• Heat Drain
• Monomolecular Blade
• Railgun
• Shotgun Arm
• Targeting System

Defensive CBM

• Active Defense System
• Arms Alloy Plating
• Cloaking System
• Dielectric Capacitance System
• Head Alloy Plating
• Legs Alloy Plating
• Kinetic Shock Absorbers
• Offensive Defense System
• Protective Lenses
• Repair Nanobots
• Subdermal Carbon Filament
• Torso Alloy Plating
• Uncanny Dodge

Utility CBM

• Diamond Cornea
• Cerebral Booster
• Enhanced Memory Banks
• Implanted Night Vision
• Infrared Vision
• Internal Unified Power System
• Muscle Augmentation
• Oxygenator
• Synaptic Accelerator
• Telescopic Eyes
• Titanium Skeletal Bracing
• Wired Reflexes

Strategies
As mentioned above, the Elite Zombie Bio-Operator is a late game enemy that designed to kill overconfident players. People that think they can walk up to an Elite Zombie Bio-Operator and kill it without any though are probably going to die. Their special ability is designed to put the player in a bad position and wear down them down. In fact, every technique they can use will distract the player or delay them for a time:

• Biojutsu Takedown - You need to spend turns trying to stand up while the zombie can freely attack you.
• Biojutsu Impale - You need to stop the bleeding immediately or you will lose a limb/die.
• Biojutsu Disarm - Trying to pick up an item in combat will give the zombie several free turns. Trying to pick up and wield a weapon will give the zombie A LOT of free turns.

Keep in mind, every turn that passes reduces the cooldown of their special ability. You might get impaled, run away to stop the bleeding, return to the fight and immediately get hit by Biojutsu Takedown on the first turn.

For ranged combat, sniping them will work well if you have a good ranged skill and a decent gun. Like the normal version, elites are illuminated at night and can be shot from a distance. Rifles work best but a strong hit from a shotgun can deal high damage. Just be mindful of the noise you will make from all your shooting. Elites have 27 cut armor and you will not be able to plink them to death with low skill or a bad weapon. Remember, they can disarm your gun if they get close to you.

If you absolutely need to fight an Elite Zombie Bio-Operator in melee, you need to come prepared for the worse. Wearing armor with good damage resistance can prevent the bleed effect of Biojutsu Impale if it is high enough. A strong bashing weapon that doesn't conduct electricity would be the best weapon to use. Just keep in mind that you might lose it in the middle of a fight. If you have Dielectric Capacitance System CBM, you will be able to fight with anything included unarmed. Switching to a high damaging martial art in this situation would work. Run if you start to bleed. It isn't worth losing a limb to keep fighting.

Elite Zombie Bio-Operators are dangerous in any sort of group combat. Even if they are not the most dangerous zombie, they can easily make bad situation worse. It's better to separate them from the group than face them head on.

Ultimately, the best course of action when fighting an Elite Zombie Bio-Operator is to have backup plans in case something goes wrong. Everyone thinks they are Billy Badass with their flaming katana using Niten Ichi-ryu until they get disarmed. Keep bandages in case you begin to bleed. Have a backup weapon in quickdraw holster or sheath. Know when to cut your losses and run. It's better to live without your flaming katana instead of dying while trying to pick it in a zombie horde.

Describe alternatives you've considered

If the zombie is too strong...

• Reduce the Hit Points and Armor increase from 50% to 25%.
• Reduce the damage of Biojutsu Impale.
• Remove the random drop location of Biojutsu Disarm.
• Increase the cooldown of Random Biojutsu Technique from 15 turns to 20 turns.

If the zombie is too weak...

• Make Biojutsu Impale always cause bleeding.
• Prevent Biojutsu Disarm from triggering against NO_UNWIELD weapons.

Additional context

Backstory
With the emergence of Compact Bionic Modules (CBMs), life as the world had known it changed forever. The ability to modify the human body with machines garnered worldwide attention and the United States military was among the most interested. Not long after US military research into CBMs began, China reveal their own version of CBMs and their first wave of “steel soldiers.” This immediately sparked a bionic arms race between the two countries that continued for years.

One of the more note worthy bionics created during this time came from a man named Dr. Paul Baker. Dr. Baker and his team managed to create a CBM that could control a person’s movements and actions by binding the bionic to the subject’s nervous system. This bionic came to be known as the Close Quarters Battle CBM and its primary function was to allow soldiers to fight like highly skilled martial artists without any real training. The CBM was extremely well received not only for its effectiveness in combat but also the possibility of applying the technology to other skills and activities. However, tensions were beginning to run high in the arms race between the USA and China and pressure was put on Dr. Baker to improve the CBM with the goal of making every soldier a grandmaster of every martial art. Dr. Baker and his team soon discovered this to be an impossible task.

Loading the CBM with too much information and forcing perfect movement had catastrophic results. Too much data overwhelmed the bionic and affected subjects would begin to move extremely slow. In other tests, soldiers would break there own limbs by moving in impossible ways. In the worst cases, the CBM could cause damage to the user’s brain and nerves which usually ended in paralysis and death. Unable to halt the development due to the mounting pressure from the military, Dr. Baker came up with a solution to these problems. Instead of mastering multiple martial arts, why not master one perfect martial art? Calling in a few favors, Dr. Baker gained access to a supercomputer network designed to conduct military combat simulations. Supplying it with data on as many martial arts as he could find, he instructed the computer develop the perfect martial art for bionic soldiers.

After days of computations and simulations, the supercomputer network finished with an unexpected result. The supercomputer indicated that the data given to it was insufficient to create the desired martial art. However, it had produced a prototype martial art for the purpose of collecting combat data. With this data, a superior combat style could be created. Military leadership caught wind of this result and demanded that this "Bionic Combatives" prototype be put to immediately use. The prototype was given to soldiers that were deploying to handle the sudden rise in violent riots around the United States. The results from these bionic operators were both spectacular and terrifying. The martial art was described as being "completely relentless", “horribly efficient”, and “heartless”. Pleased with the results, military leadership ordered that their top soldiers to be given the prototype as well. These elite operators, outfitted with the most advanced CBMs available, were sent out into the field for testing. Dr. Baker and his team waited anxiously for the results, but none ever came. The Cataclysm struck and life as the world had known it changed, once again, forever.

TL:DR

• The Close Quarters Battle CBM was created Dr. Baker for the United States military.
• Bionic Combatives was created by a supercomputer network. It is actually a field prototype designed to gather combat data for the creation of the ultimate martial art style for bionic super soldiers.
• Dr. Baker is an homage to OvenBaker, the contributor who added the Close Quarters Battle CBM and Bionic Combatives martial art to the game in CQB Bionic #6334
• The Zombie Bio Operators found in game are the same soldiers that were sent to collect the initial combat data for Bionic Combatives. They are equipped with a malfunctioning, but still active, CQB CBM running Bionic Combatives. Their takedown special attack is based off of the Biojutsu Takedown technique.
• It's possible one of the supercomputers could still be active and awaiting combat data...
• There was a second, more powerful group of operators sent into the field with Bionic Combatives right before the Cataclysm occurred. These are Elite Zombie Bio Operators added in this PR.

[Brian-Otten]

First off, great work here, i would love for this monster to make a showing at military locations to make them more of a challenge. The strength seems about right to me.

One thing that's unclear to me, you mention it's a good idea to have a weapon that doesn't conduct electricity, but i'm not seeing any magnetic pull effect or the zapback effect in the description or in the code. Is there a reason not to use a conductive weapon against them?

[Hymore246]

First off, great work here, i would love for this monster to make a showing at military locations to make them more of a challenge. The strength seems about right to me.

One thing that's unclear to me, you mention it's a good idea to have a weapon that doesn't conduct electricity, but i'm not seeing any magnetic pull effect or the zapback effect in the description or in the code. Is there a reason not to use a conductive weapon against them?

The elite has "copy-from": "mon_zombie_bio_op" in it's monster entry. It inherits all the traits from the original version unless it's own entry has something that overrides it. So has zapback like the normal version.

There is no magnetic pull. The disarm special attack only works in melee range.

[mkikt4743]

very cool, the question is can I still shoot it in the head at range with a rail rifle? or does it have too much armor

[Hymore246]

very cool, the question is can I still shoot it in the head at range with a rail rifle? or does it have too much armor

It has 27 cut armor. You should be fine if your skill is high enough.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions. Please do not 'bump' or comment on this issue unless you are actively working on it. Stale issues, and stale issues that are closed are still considered.

[kevingranade]

Bumping because content freeze should prevent staleness, but isn't.

[kevingranade]

I tried to resolve the conflict locally and push it, and now I seem to have broken the PR, so I just pushed to master instead.