So we know that running out of willpower is going to be bad for soldiers in the long run. But there could be some other interesting things that could be done with the minds of soldiers. For example: If a pincer crabman cuts off a soldier’s arms during a battle, that soldier could develop a fear of melee crabmen, or a fear of pincers in general. This could make it so that when that soldier fights a lot of crab-like enemies, they could lose willpower/panic more quickly. Or they might slowly lose willpower when being within a certain radius of a melee crabman.
I think this could lead to some really interesting dynamics in terms of soldier management, as you might have a soldier who is too scared to get close enough to throw a grenade at a crab queen, for example. Or a soldier who goes berserk and cannot shoot at anything but a certain type of crabman for fear of it, when it comes onto the battlefield.
You could also work this the other way round, with some soldiers who aren’t scared of a certain thing, so will be more brave when facing it. This means the player may have to anticipate what will be on a mission and send the right people onto it
Even having that as an optional experience would be cool to add an extra edge to the game. It could potentially increase the difficulty level of the game
I like the idea, but also it could be dynamic, ever changing. Manage to kill a few in a row without damage and the soldier could get over the fear, or if was not afraid of them in the first place my get “confidence” in their victory when they see them and could get a bonus to WP.
Old Panic and Mind Control mods could be somewhat extended. But it would be great if fear would be mutual. e.g. if soldier kills 20+ crabmen crabs get -1 willpower just by seeing him
That look a lot like the firaxis Xcom mechanic (especialy with the 3 king / queens armors) that make aliens flee in fear of this magnificent leaving trophy. I must agree it’s a cool idea on both cases, having a PTSD soldier is a nice addition in realism and add a layer of realism. Maybe a layer tha twill make the game a little more difficult, meaning a setting for enabling / disabling it will be a good idea. I don’t know at this point how the soldier management is going to be on Phoenix Point but it’s one of the few ideas i’ll like to see reused from Xcom
Hard to not quote this game as both have lot of similarities, but i’m already amazed at this really early stage of game how both are different, for the better ^^
