Lancer NPC Overview - Seeder

 

Art by Retrograde Minis

Target

Seeder - Controller
A decently durable area denial mech that operates best near choke points.

Range 

Medium

Threat 

Moderate

Complexity 

Moderate

Overview 

The Seeder is a fantastic and versatile Controller that performs its role well without overwhelming a Party with raw shutdown tactics or striker levels of DPS. Its method of control is of course its capability to mine the almighty hell out of the area it's standing near, with it being one of the few exceptions to the idea Lancer has of most information being given to the Party. Seeder mines are assumed to be hidden from player sight until detected with a Systems save, whereas other mines are generally known about but unable to be interacted with unless that same Systems save is made. The Seeder also has a hardy 2 Armor, decent HP, average speed, and no weakness in its HASE. Though Agility and Engineering never get improved, Seeders tend to be decent at Hull and fantastic at Systems saves and checks. Paired with a very high Heat cap, good Sensors and a strong Save Target, the Seeder seems like it has no glaring weaknesses in terms of stats, and i'd be inclined to agree. Seeders can be pretty pesky to take out, especially as they can often be inclined not to interact directly with the Party in lieu of continually placing more and more mines as the Rounds wear on.

By default, the Seeder only has two traits to worry about. A very, very utility focused knockback weapon and their Lay Mines ability, the clear cornerstone of this entire mech. Their mines, however, are split into four separate types that each have their own usage and role to fulfill in a Sitrep. Often this means the Seeder focuses on strong debuffs on whoever walks over the mines, but their damaging mine option does do a considerable amount of damage. Before we go over the specific types its important to note that beyond being hidden from Player sight when deployed you need to stand directly on top of them rather than just next to them. That makes them a bit more difficult to set off, and means that the Seeder is strongly dependent on map and/or sitrep in order to get the best usage of their main ability. And remember, they only arm at the end of the Seeder's turn, so no shenanigans where you deploy them and knock people into them the same turn! If your map is open and just going around a Seeder is a valid option to get to your objectives, the Seeder is not going to be a very good fit.

Going in order of the mines we'll start with the very simple and very robust Stun mine. This is probably their most powerful mine option if you don't have a specific plan in mind. Stun as an effect is very seldom seen on something spammable and continually usable and almost always has some limiting factor. The Stun mine is no exception given the previously laid out requirement to set it off, but that makes it no less fearsome to get hit by. If in doubt, deploy this mine unless you're up against a bunch of Engineering heavy aficionados.

The Explosive Mine is the simplest and is unlikely to be the one the Seeder often deploys. While it does do a significant amount of damage, it's not AP and has a save for half. Given how Seeder mine works it can be be unlikely that this option can hit multiple targets, further reducing its efficiency when it does go off in someone's face. It's often more appropriate for the Seeder to use mines that allow its allies to capitalize on a sudden round of weakness from the Party detonating them, and the Explosive mine just doesn't do that. However if you're deploying far more Seeders than average (perhaps as Grunts) then this could be a good option to punish players without entirely shutting them down every time they take a step. But otherwise, try to avoid it.

The Sealant Mine can feel like a bit of a worse Stun mine because it merely stops one from moving instead of entirely shutting down their turn. And while that can be the case, the Sealant mine is amongst the two mines that has an effect that persists beyond the turn it detonated. Not only does it stop them from moving, it'll keep them from going anywhere quickly the following turn. And even if they git rid of Immobilized through stabilizing or other abilities, that Slow is still going to hit them next turn! A fantastic tool to inhibit an advance, great for deploying where enemies can be caught out and picked off.

Finally we have the Shock Mine, which like its Sealant Mine brother also has a persistent effect on the following round. Instead of preventing one from moving, it prevents the majority of attacks and then continues to inhibit them with Impaired, which also makes them defensively weaker on that followup turn! However, it's important to note that Jammed does not prevent grapplers from doing what they want to do most of the time and as this mine doesn't inhibit actions taken in any way, might circumstantially solve nothing for disrupting their enemy's plans. Still, very useful!

The last point i'd like to make is about the general usage of these mines, and the utility of the Knockback gun they have coming into play. First, each of the mines applies to a different HASE attribute, meaning that if a particular party is weak or strong against a particular save type you should prioritize or avoid those types of saves as appropriate. And Seeder mines tend to inhibit those that are the most forward facing of the Party, like the melee mechs or CQB types while being unlikely to hit artillery and long range hackers. As a result this does limit the amount of consideration you need to take. And deploy mines defensively and proactively! Teamwork is everyone's friend, and putting a mine behind a PC so an ally can Ram or knock them into it to set it off is a fantastic plan. And they can also do it themselves, though they can only do it with mines deployed on previous turns due to the aforementioned arming rule. With an Arcing Blast 1 Knockback weapon, Seeders are particularly adept at pushing people wherever they want to go. The damage is so minimal you can often ignore it, but moving people into mines, out of cover, or even blasting Allies to break grapples are all very, very valid strategies!

Optionals 

Hopping Mines - This is the first time we're touching on a flying specific optional for an NPC, and this optional's utility is only as great as the tendency for your players to fly around. As constant flying is rarely a concern and short ranged boosts to hop around are more the norm, this can often mean this is a very useless optional in a majority of cases. But against players who are canny and use their Jump Jets to try to avoid potential mine hotspots, this can be a nice way to catch them off guard! However, if these mines do detonate on a flying player the chance of them hitting multiple targets is basically invalidated. As well, these mines don't ignore the Seeder's allies on the ground (like normal) but they don't jump up for flying allies!

Tripwires - Tripwires allow the Seeder to place a 3 long Line that any space of which it occupies can detonate the mine. This makes it far more likely for the Seeder's mines to hit targets, allowing for wider choke points to still be viable.  However, that Recharge 5+ that it slaps on really hurts, potentially giving the Seeder some dead turns where it's using basic tech actions instead of its unique tools. Best used for Seeders with a low life expectancy, in conjunction with Speed Deployer to really lockdown a specific area, or on Elites or Ultras or any other template that gives multiple turns so as to give more chances for a recharge. I would primarily use this on maps where choke points are quite wide, but otherwise I think this will reduce the Seeder's overall effectiveness especially as its sole optional.

Speed Deployer - This is one optional I think you need to be careful with on Seeder heavy compositions or with Grunts. If you are going to do something where there's multiple Seeders rapidly slapping mines down it might be better to use the Explosive mines instead of the other harder shutdown mines so as to ensure that players can still do stuff and have fun. Otherwise, I think this is a generally superior choice to Tripwires as you can place the mines next to each other and have a similar functionality. Beyond the warning, this allows Seeders to even more rapidly set up no man's land that trespassing across risks losing entire turns, perhaps multiple times in a row! A good time to remind your players to use Systems checks to looks for mines.

Grav Spike - A very close range ability, but one that the Seeder can thankfully make decent usage out of thanks to their inherent durability and the fact this ability only requires line of sight. Meaning the Seeder, so long as it can see you, can hit you with this. However, like much of the Seeder's kit, it doesn't do anything immediately. It does a bit of armor piercing damage but the main benefit is that it gives the Seeder a simple means of repositioning enemies, pulling them out of cover, into a melee mech's range, or straight into one of their hidden mines scattered about. Fantastic! But wait, there's more! While it does do damage that is armor piercing, this can be applied to the Seeder's allies! Moderate damage for the ability to suddenly reposition a bunch of allies, pulling them out of grapples, or out of melee range for allies with Ordnance weapons. While a bit of a niche use, admittedly, I think it just demonstrates how effective the Seeder can be at repositioning the battlefield, allies and enemies included. Just be wary of overextending to use this, a dead Seeder can't trigger this.

Det Spike -  Similar to the Grav Spike, the Det Spike is a close quarters effect that can only reach targets out to 5 hexes away which can often limit the amount of targets a Seeder can viably reach without overextending itself. It's also a full action and a recharge ability, so you won't be using this all the time under most circumstance. However, in spite of these challenges, the Det Spike is a potent tool to force the Party to split away from one another and the damage offers no save or means to get rid of it, save to ensure the Seeder doesn't get another turn for the trigger to proc. As the damage overlaps, unlike most simultaneous blast effects, the fairly small amounts of damage can pile up pretty quick for anyone who remains adjacent to an ally with this. However, the damage is fairly minor by itself and if it only hits a single target per Det Spike attached then the output will be pretty pitiful. This is best used on low-armor targets that want to stay near allies or are being forced to cluster up. Pair it with tools to immobilize or knock the party into an ideal position for the detonation, or use it to have the Party prioritize the Seeder's death to prevent the effect from going on. A challenging system to use, however.

Recommended Sitreps 

The Seeder hates targets that have no inclination to come towards it, and as a result it strongly prefers Sitreps that give it a zone that the Party must head towards. Recon, Control, and Gauntlet are all strong contenders, so long as the Seeder is put in the position of being on the defensive portion of the enemy composition. A Seeder that needs to chase people is a sad Seeder. Don't make your Seeders sad.

The Seeder can do relatively well on Escorts and Extraction missions as well, but this often strongly depends more on the map. The more chokepoints and natural means the map has of forcing the Party to intersect with the Seeder's mined path, the better.

Recommended Allies

The Seeder is often fairly self-sufficient in performing its role, but it does seriously lack direct damage to ward enemies from just targeting it and dealing with it directly. As such, Seeders need enemies that can perform that role with them. I'm not going to give specific examples because the majority of NPC mechs can fill this role. Just don't leave them by themselves on the frontlines.

However, the Seeder has a decent utility role of its own to assist slower mechs, which are often heavily armored, in moving around the map a bit quicker. Grav Spikes and its Grav-Grenade Launcher can allow it to quickly propel normally slow machines around the map, like Demolishers or Pyros. It also serves nicely in ensuring that Ordnance attackers, like Bombards and Snipers, can't be shut down with grapples and melee mechs in their face by simply kicking one or the other a tile back, ensuring that their turn isn't disrupted.

Other Considerations  

With templates that give multiple turns, be careful of applying Det Spikes and then having them take their next turn immediately afterwards. This can be a neat trick once or twice, but as a recurring issue it can feel a bit unfair to not give the Players any chance to counterplay. And with Grunts, try not to spam Stun Mines everywhere as it can be a very detrimental experience for your players even if it is tactically sound. Basically, don't be a dick.

Final Thoughts

I like the Seeder. Personally I like hiding the mines, because it makes my Players paranoid as all hell, but I can understand that people don't use it like that. If you don't you might want to consider have the mines detonate if you step next to them as it can otherwise be a bit awkward to expect anyone to waltz into one. And 1 Knockback certainly doesn't seem all that useful on paper, but man does breaking off engagement and smacking people into mines cause a lot of chaos in a player's battle strategy!