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Welcome to a quick guide on how to be a '''lethal''' shadowling!
{{JobPageHeader
|headerbgcolor = black
|headerfontcolor = white
|stafftype = EXTRATERRESTRIAL
|imagebgcolor = #DDAADD
|img_generic =
|img = Shadowbeing.png
|jobtitle = Shadowling
|access = Whatever you or your victims had or have
|additional = Anywhere you can phase to
|difficulty = ''Extremely'' Hard. I'm not kidding, you'll probably lose.
|superior = None
|duties = Enslave the filthy humans, ascend and murderbone
|guides = This is the guide
}}
Shadowlings are light-sensitive alien creatures from space. They are mainly defensive, but can 'enthrall' humans, which is basically a euphemism for enslavement of their minds. They start off disguised as a normal crewman (they can still enthrall like this!) but they have to take time to 'hatch' to unlock their full potential.


=Intro=
While hatched, shadowlings will resemble humans with black skin, small horns, red eyes, and claws.
A shadowling, is a light sensitive alien creature, mainly defensive, but can enthral humans, to make them work for the shadowling!


[[File:Shadowbeing.png|50px]]
Until they ascend, of course.
*Access | Anywhere you can phase to
**Difficulty |  <span style="color:#ff0000">Extremely Hard</span>
***Supervisors | None.
***Duties | <span style="color:#0000ff">Enslave filthy humans to work for you.</span>


While a shadowling is hatched, it resembles humanoid form, with red eyes, small horns and claws.... until it ascends of course
==Shadowling Abilities==
Shadowlings have quite a few tricks up their sleeve, from vanishing to freezing the air around them. Below is a list of abilities that shadowlings can use.


=Abilities=
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
{| class="wikitable"
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='150px'|Name
! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Name
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='150px'|Requirements
! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Requirements
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='150px'|Cooldown
! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Cooldown
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='450px'|Description
! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Description
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch
!Enthrall
| style="text-align: center;" | N/A
|Hatch; or, under 5 thralls
| style="text-align: center;" | N/A
|None, but can only enthrall one at a time
| In order to utilize their full potential, shadowlings need to go through a little-understood evolution process coined as "hatching". They will form a chrysalis around themselves, which is impenetrable, and begin the evolution. After a few minutes, they will burst from the chrysalis, evolved and with a plethora of new abilities. The chrysalis will quickly decay before vanishing entirely.
|A shadowling can grow a cute little tumor on a victim's brain, rearranging their memories and motivations and turning him into an obedient thrall.  This is slow, and does not itself disable the victim, so many shadowlings will use mundane means to do so, such as handcuffs and removal of headsets.  Loyalty Implants interfere with this ability; however, the protection is not perfect.  It is well within a shadowling's power to disable such implants, though doing so will slow the enthralling process considerably.
 
The benefit of thralls to changelings extends beyond the utility of an obedient crewmember.  Shadowlings gain power directly from their thralls, unlocking new abilities with greater numbers, including their ultimate goal of ascension.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Enthrall
!Hivemind Commune
| style="text-align: center;" | N/A
|N/A
| style="text-align: center;" | 45 Seconds
|At will
| Of course, shadowlings are weak. They can easily be killed by a lightbulb. So, how does it fend off attackers? By enslaving them, like any good alien should! By getting close and rearranging the memories, motives, and physical form of the target, the target will become a "thrall", bound to the shadowling completely and utterly. Thralls can empower the shadowling with their own life force in addition to sharing a telepathic link with them and all other thralls.They have been known to drop dead in unusual circumstances. This Technique is so powerful, even loyalty implants can't prevent it! it takes 30 seconds to a minute longer, but a shadowling can bypass a loyalty implant and enthrall anyone, even the captain
|Shadowlings and thralls share a telepathic link through which they can communicate silently, undetectably, and at zero cost or cooldown. There may be ways to discern this behavior, but it is unlikely and for now all you can do is simply let their words flow past you.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Hivemind Commune
!Hatch
| style="text-align: center;" | N/A
|N/A
| 2.5 Seconds
|N/A
| Shadowlings and thralls share a telepathic link through which they can communicate silently, undetectably, and at zero cost or cooldown. There may be ways to discern this behavior, but it is unlikely and for now all you can do is simply let their words flow past you.
|To access their other abilities, a shadowling must first hatch.  A hatching shadowling will first drop its items. After a short delay, it will grow a chrysalis around itself, forming a 3x3 grid of impenetrable but obviously abnormal walls.  When the shadowling's evolution is complete, the walls will burst, and the hatched shadowling will emerge. Although headsets, belts, and backpacks must be dropped to evolve, shadowlings are capable of wearing them, and often pick up such items they had previously owned after hatching.
 
While a hatched shadowling is powerful, and much better equipped to hunt for thralls than an assistant, shadowlings are also obvious after hatching.  For this reason, young shadowlings who are not yet sure of their abilities often delay hatching to avoid alerting the crew.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Glare
!Glare
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch Required
|Hatch required
| 30 Seconds
|30 seconds
| Glare is a basic single-target stun. By forcing the target's gaze into its own, the shadowling can mesmerize a target for quite some time in addition to muting them.
|Glare is the shadowling's basic single-target stun. By forcing one target's gaze into its own, the shadowling can mesmerize a target from a range to stun and mute him for quite some time.  While the duration is shorter than the cooldown, and is not long enough for a complete conversion, it does leave plenty of time to restrain or strip the victim.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Veil
!Veil
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch Required
|Hatch required
| 25 Seconds
|25 seconds
| Veil instantly puts out all light sources, mobile or otherwise, near the shadowling. They can easily be repaired, turned back on, or simply replaced. Rumor has it that some slime extracts have shown resistance to this, as well as fire-based light and glowshrooms.
|The shadowling's basic defensive ability, Veil instantly puts out nearly all light sources, mobile or otherwise, near the shadowling. Electronic lights such as flashlights, PDA's, gunlights, and light fixtures can be repaired simply by reactivating them, where consoles can be repaired by disconnecting and reconnecting the screen. Glowshrooms resist this extinguishing effect, but will be killed in a short radius around the shadowling.  Lights based in fire or bioluminescence are often resilient enough to be unaffected.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Shadow Walk
!Shadow Walk
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch Required
|Hatch required
| style="text-align: center;" | 1 minute
|1 minute
| Shadow Walk lets the shadowling briefly enter the space between worlds to escape attackers. For four seconds, the shadowling will be invisible, move quickly, and be able to phase through all obstacles. Unlike the wizard's jaunting, holy water does not have an effect on this.
|Shadow Walk lets the shadowling briefly enter the space between worlds to escape attackers. For four seconds, the shadowling will be invisible, move quickly, and be able to phase through all obstacles. Unlike the wizard's jaunting, holy water does not have an effect on this.  
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Flash Freeze
!Icy Veins
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch Required
|Hatch required
| style="text-align: center;" | 2 minutes
|2 minutes
| Flash Freeze is a formidable crowd control ability. Everyone within a short range will instantly have their body temperature reduced to freezing in addition to having it continuously lowered, similar to a cryogenic sting. Targets will also be briefly stunned.
|Icy Veins is a formidable crowd control ability. Everyone within a short range will instantly have their body temperature reduced to freezing in addition to having it continuously lowered, similar to a cryogenic sting. Targets will also be briefly stunned.
|-
!Collective Mind
|Hatch required
|30 seconds
|To access some abilities, a shadowling must draw on its thralls for power.  Using this ability, shadowlings can send out mental "hooks" that latch onto the minds of their thralls, granting the shadowling a count of his thralls, and unlocking any abilities which the number of thralls now allows.
|-
!Destroy Engines
|Hatch required
|1 minute
|Destroy Engines is the way shadowlings bypass the shuttle. They are able to sacrifice a single thrall completely, which will kill them but extend the shuttle's timer by 15 minutes. This does not stack and can only be used if the shuttle is ''on the way to the station'' - it will not work if the shuttle is docked or has left.
|-
!Blindness Smoke
|Hatch required + 3 Thralls
|1 minute
|By regurgitating a cloud of black smoke, shadowlings can disorient pursuers. This smoke will induce blindness in and stun non-shadowlings, but heal shadowlings and thralls.
|-
!Drain Life
|Hatch required + 5 Thralls
|10 seconds
|The shadowling drains the life of nearby humans, healing the shadowling for a significant amount for each human in addition to weakening the humans.
|-
!Sonic Screech
|Hatch required + 7 Thralls
|30 seconds
|The shadowling can let out a piercing screech. This will confuse and deafen nearby humans, damage windows, and stun silicons.
|-
!Black Recuperation
|Hatch required + 9 Thralls
|1 minute
|With this ability, a shadowling can revive a fallen thrall, healing them of damage completely after a short time. It will also cure diseases, genetic defects, and remove handcuffs the target may be wearing.
 
Alternatively, a shadowling can 'empower' a living thrall. After a short time, the thrall's abilities will become stronger and they will resemble a shadowperson with three eyes. They will then have the same light sensitivity of normal shadowlings, ableit at a lesser rate. In addition, thralls cannot be dethralled while conscious if in this position.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Collective Mind
!Ascendance
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch Required
|Hatch required + 15 Thralls
| 30 Seconds
|N/A
| Shadowlings can draw upon the power of their thralls to enter a state of almost unstoppable power. Collective Mind lets them gain that ability - they send out mental "hooks" that latch onto the minds of their thralls, mainly a head-count, if you will. If there's enough (currently it is believed to be 15 thralls) then they will gain various abilities in addition to the ability to ascend with enough.
|If the shadowlings should gain this ability, all hope is lost to the crew.  The shadowlings have enough collective power from their thralls to assume their ultimate form, becoming impossible to destroy by conventional means, and gaining terrifying abilities.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Blindness Smoke
!colspan=4|Below is a list of abilities ascendant shadowlings are known to have used.
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch required + 3 Thralls
| style="text-align: center;" | 1 minute
| By regurgitating a cloud of black smoke, shadowlings can disorient pursuers. This smoke will induce blindness in non-shadowlings, but heal shadowlings and thralls.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Drain  Life
!Annihilate
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch required + 5 Thralls
|Ascendant only
| 10 seconds
|At will
| The shadowling will drain the life of all nearby People to heal for 25 brute and 25 burn. Damage dealt to thralls is split between all affected by the ability.
|Ascendants, with extremely high telekinetic abilities, can easily cause someone's entire body to explode simply by directing a lance of mental energy at them.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Sonic Screech
!Hypnosis
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch required + 7 Thralls
|Ascendant only
| 30 seconds
|At will
| The shadowling can let out a piercing screech. This will confuse and deafen nearby humans, damage windows, and stun silicons.
|Ascendants can enthrall from a range and with extremely increased speed. Basically, it's a ranged and instant version of enthrall.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Black Recuperation
!Plane Shift
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch required + 10 Thralls
|Ascendant only
| style="text-align: center;" | 5 minutes
|Toggleable
| The shadowling calls upon its immense dark powers to revive one of their loyal thralls every 5 minutes, useful if you need to ascend but have 14 living thralls and one dead thrall.
|An upgraded version of Shadow Walk, ascendants can simply enter the space between worlds at will at no cost. They use them as passageways, able to move from place to place extremely quickly.  
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | Ascendance
!Lightning Storm
| style="text-align: center;" | Hatch required + 15 Thralls
|Ascendant only
| style="text-align: center;" | N/A
|10 seconds
|the shadowling calls upon the power of its 15 thralls, transforming ONCE MORE INTO THE ALMIGHTY SHADOWLING ASCENDANT, THUS KILLING ALL OF THEIR  THRALLS IN THE PROCESS
|The spiritual successor to Icy Veins. Sends out bolts of lightning to everyone nearby, dealing a significant amount of burn damage and knocking down those affected.
|
|
|-
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Below is a list of abilities ascendant shadowlings are known to have used.
|}
|}


{| class="wikitable"
==What To Do: If You're A Shadowling==
! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Annihilate
So you're a shadowling. Congratulations! Here's some pointers on how not to die from a lightbulb within thirty seconds.
! Ascendant only
===Starting Off===
! 30 Seconds
You're disguised. You don't take any damage from lights and you are undetectable to any means short of godly intervention. You possess three abilities: Hatch, Enthrall, and Hivemind Commune. First off, send a message or two over the hivemind to see if you have any buddies - chances are high that you do. Assess your job's capabilities. Are you the captain? Feel free to grab some stun stuff to arrest people and then enthrall them - same goes if you're an officer or something. Are you an engineer? Build a stunprod and use that as well. Are you the clown? You're not clumsy, so use your banana peel to cablecuff people and do it too. Are you an assistant? Make use of the environment, using things like tables to stun or hinder people.
! Ascendants, with extremely high telekinetic abilities, can easily cause someone's entire body to explode simply by directing a lance of mental energy at them.
 
There are multiple things to do from the start. If you're confident you can avoid detection, hatching immediately can work since you can easily enthrall people who rush into maintenance early with Glare.  Or, you can play it safe and try to get some thralls before that. It's up to you - you're the alien monster, after all.
===Post-Hatch===
So you've hatched. You have the rest of your abilities now - use them! Alert your fellow shadowlings (and thralls) that you're hatched over the hivemind, and make more thralls your first priority. You can't wear normal clothes, but you can still put on backpacks and headsets, which is an extremely good idea. If you're discovered by a group of people, use your defensive abilities to escape in addition to your thralls. If a single guy sees you, just glare at him, slap some cablecuffs on if you have them, take away his headset, and enthrall him. People whom you enthrall '''cannot easily be turned back to normal, although surgery is capable of doing so''' and their new loyalty to you overrides all else. If you enthrall a nuclear operative somehow, they will serve you over their Syndicate friends. If you enthrall the captain, he will do much the same.
 
Your priority is to gain fifteen thralls. You have the Collective Mind ability which will, after a short time, give you a count of how many thralls you have as well as the needed amount for ascendance. If you get fifteen thralls, use the ability and it will give you the Ascendance ability in a new tab. Simply use that ability and you've won - no need to escape on the shuttle!
 
===The Light and You===
While hatched, the light is your worst enemy. You take extreme damage from even being in it, and burn-based stuff like flashbangs, welders, and lasers all hit harder. However, on the other side of the coin, the ''darkness'' is extremely beneficial. All wounds will heal. You will have a stun reduction. You have night vision and thermal vision as well, so not being in the darkness at all is a huge downside to everything about you. Use the darkness as your buddy in times hard and easy. The darkness will always give you a shoulder to cry on. He's a bro like that.
 
===I CAN'T SEE!===
After you hatch, you may notice that you can only see the tile you're standing on. There's a way to fix this. Look in your action buttons - you should see a blank button called Shift Nerves. This will allow you to change the range of your night vision, all the way from a full screen to none at all. This allows you to be more or less careful with your vision.
 
==What To Do: If You're A Thrall [[File:Shadowling_huds.png]]==
So a shadowling mesmerized you by staring into your eyes (lewd) and now you're a thrall! What this means is that your primary goal and objective is to obey the shadowlings and help them at all costs. If you look in your tabs, you have a new one, Shadowling Abilities. In this tab is the Hivemind Commune ability, which lets you communicate on a silent channel with all other thralls and shadowlings. You're basically an [[Adamantine Golem]] in terms of where your loyalties lie -- utterly with the shadowlings. Loyalty implanted? Not anymore, the nanobots are dead. Wizard? Use your spells to help the shadowling. Traitor? Tough titty, if the shadowling wants your uplink you give it to him with zero questions asked. You have no free will.
 
Keep in mind that many of the shadowling's abilities rely on damaging or manipulating you. Even by helping the shadowlings accomplish their one objective, you are sentencing yourself completely and utterly to death - there is no way around it. You may find yourself drained of half your life, used as bait, used as a bodyguard, or suddenly surrounded in the middle of a maintenance tunnel by Security officers who are trying to cave your chest in. Assume you're going to die because you are and there's no way around it.
 
As of right now, thralls cannot currently see in the dark as shadowlings can. That means you have to use your lights in the dark areas, so make sure you don't accidentally make a Kentucky Fried Shadowling with your PDA light. You do have one advantage, however: stealth. Short of attempting to loyalty implant you, there is zero way of finding out that you're a thrall. Use this to your advantage to do things for your masters. Keep in touch often.
 
Finally, you also have a HUD indicator above your head. A more intimidating version can be seen above any shadowlings, hatched or not. Your indicator signals that you are a thrall - only other shadowlings and thralls can see this. If you're killing someone with that HUD indicator, expect a ban.
 
[[File:shadowling_hud_big.png]]
 
'''This is the HUD indicator for shadowlings. These are your masters.'''
 
[[File:thrall_hud_big.png]]
 
'''This is the HUD indicator for you and fellow thralls. You obey the shadowlings.'''
 
It is important to note that if you are enthralled by one shadowling, you obey ''all'' the shadowlings. This includes the others. If Shadowling Bumblefuck tells you that Shadowling Fumbleschmuck isn't your master, ignore him. No matter who enthralled you originally, you must obey all other shadowlings.
 
===Mask Up, Gang===
An important thing about being enthralled is that it physically alters you. By becoming a thrall, anybody nearby that can see your face will be able to tell you're a thrall just by examining you while close by! Thankfully, there is an easy way to alleviate this: wear a mask. Any mask will work: breath mask, gas mask, bandana, ''anything''. By wearing a mask, your special examine status will disappear and you will be indistinguishable from regular crew. If an officer tells you to take off your mask and then gets close, the best solution is to try and escape. Wearing a mask is conspicuous in its own right, especially if it conceals the face.
 
===Dethralling===
So you got captured by the Reds and they're throwing you into the surgery theater. To debrain you? Cut out your eyes? '''''CHANGE YOUR GENDER?!''''' Nope. It's far worse - they're going to sever your link with the hivemind by completely dethralling you! This means you will become a normal crew member again, unable to distinguish your masters and fellow thralls, having no unique abilities, and being boringly standard. Luckily, this can only be done via surgery, and if your master intervenes in time you might escape! If Sawbones gets his hands in your head, you're either going to become dethralled or instantly killed. Either way, you won't remember anything about being a thrall, so if you tell them anyone else that's a thrall expect a ban.
 
===Abilities===
Fortunately for you, there are a few benefits from becoming a slave for the rest of your life. Mainly, you have a few abilities, which are listed below.
 
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='150px'|Name
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='150px'|Cooldown
! style='background-color:#DDAADD;' width='450px'|Description
 
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Hypnosis
!Darksight
| Ascendant only
|At will
| 45 seconds
|As a result of being enthralled, humans will gain the ability to see in the dark. Darksight allows thralls to toggle between standard vision and complete sight in darkness. However, this ability will not work while wearing glasses of any type.
| Ascendants can enthrall from a range and with extremely increased speed. Basically, it's a ranged and instant version of enthrall.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Plane Shift
!Lesser Glare
| Ascendant only
|45 seconds
| N/A, Toggleable
|Lesser Glare is an ineffectual yet powerful ability. Inheriting only a fraction of the shadowling's original power, thralls are able to mesmerize people in much the same way a shadowling can - however, it only lasts for around four to five seconds, give or take. If you're fast or robust, this can be combined with cablecuffs and a quick removal of a headset to secure a new thralling target.
| An upgraded version of Shadow Walk, ascendants can simply enter the space between worlds at will at no cost. They use them as passageways, able to move from place to place extremely quickly.
|-
!Guise
|2 minutes
|Guise is a lesser version of Shadow Walk. Unlike Shadow Walk, you do not gain incorporeal movement, and are still restricted to the physical plane. In addition, you do not turn completely invisible - rather, you are extremely difficult to see, especially in darkness. Anyone that isn't looking directly at you will only see a blurred shape. This ability lasts for around five seconds.
|-
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" | Glacial Freeze
| Ascendant only
|None
| An upgraded version of Flash Freeze. It will stun for far longer, bring body temperatures to the point of no recovery, and almost instantly put people into near-critical condition from frost burns. Similar to its weak version, it does not affect thralls.   
|}
|}


=You're a Shadowling=
==What To Do: If You're Non-Shadowling Crew==
First thing is that <span style="color:#0000ff">'''YOU'RE DISGUISED''' and you do not take damage from the light</span>, You possess three abilities, Hatch, Enthrall, Hivemind Commune.  The first thing you want to do is send a message to see if you have any buddies as there is a high chance that you do, see what their job is, and ask if they may be able to assist you in enthralling the light-dwelling meatbags.
So the shouts over the radio weren't wizard, ops, or blob, but shadowlings? Your work is gonna be cut out for you, soldier. Shadowlings are terrifying foes and can do much in their power to avoid you. They can even extinguish lights, save for fire-based sources and yellow slime extracts, and even then they can extinguish those fires. Don't get caught alone or you'll live out the rest of your considerably shortened lifespan in mindless servitude.
 
===Things you SHOULD do===
* Travel in groups
* Get burn-based weapons and lots of light sources (flares are good, so are slime extracts if xenobio is doing their job, and if all else fails botany can make torches)
* Carry flashbangs or flash powder grenades from security or the medbay
* Be extremely wary
* Avoid areas that seem unnaturally dark
* Don't fight anything alone
* Watch for suspicious activity
* Don't fight anything alone
* Be prepared for anything
* DON'T FUCKING FIGHT ANYTHING ALONE
 
===Things you SHOULDN'T do===
* Hoard the entire armory and secede from the station as your own force
* Run up to the shadowling and ask to be enthralled. Seriously, it's a dick move to everyone and the admins will ban your ass for it.
* Prowl the maintenance tunnels alone armed with your trusty screwdriver and PDA flashlight
* Refuse to talk or communicate - a silent vigilante, as proven by the mime, is the best vigilante
* Attack an ascendant
* Ask to be enthralled by an ascendant. They'll seriously just make you explode.
* Be near an ascendant
* Consider approaching an ascendant
* Look at an ascendant in a suggestive way
* Think about ascendants
 
===Is that a horrible wail in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?===
 
So you're in the maintenance tunnel with your group of vigilantes and ready to fight a shadowling. Suddenly you hear a horrible wail in your head and all the lights blow up. '''Not good.''' This means a shadowling has ascended. You're basically fucked over since all the shadowlings can ascend when one can.
 
===In Case of an Ascendant===
If you see an ascendant, it'll probably look something like this:
 
[[File:Shadowling_ascendant.gif]]
 
That guy just exploded.


<span style="color:#ff0000">There are multiple things to do from the start. Hatching immediately can work since you can easily enthrall people who rush into maintenance early for various goodies, or you can play it safe and try to get some thralls before that. It's up to you - you're the alien monster, after all.</span>
'''''RUN.'''''


=Your Hud=
Run far and fast. There is no way to fight a shadowling ascendant. They are completely invulnerable to normal attacks, can phase through walls at zero cost, and possess a slew of abilities designed to make you and all you hold dear explode. They can make the air explode, they can make reality explode, they can make objects explode, they can make your corpse explode, they can make ''you'' explode, too, so run. They can instantly enthrall you, so run. Not that it'll do you any good since they move faster than you. They'll probably just make you explode like they did the seven guys before you it found. The now-exploded seven guys. Oh, and they also hit harder than an esword with their melee attacks.
It's time to get familiar with your icons on your hud!
[[File:Master.png|50px|left|This is your masters!  You obey them!]] <br>
[[File:Thralls.png|50px|left|This icon, represents your fellow thralls!]]<br>
<br />
<br />
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br />
<br />
<br />


You're probably gonna explode, too, so just accept it and hope they're either merciful, somehow friendly, or want to enthrall you.


Again, though, you'll probably just explode.


=Things you Should Do=
[[Beyond the impossible|Or maybe, somehow, you can kill it?]]
----
*Travel in Groups
*Get burn-based weapons and lots of light sources (flares are good, so are slime extracts if xenobio is doing their job, and if all else fails botany can make torches)
*Carry flashbangs or flash powder grenades from security or the medbay
*Be Weary
*Avoid areas that seem unnaturally dark.
*Don't fight alone
*Be prepared for anything
<br>
<br />
=Things you SHOULD NOT Do=
*Hoard the entire armory and secede from the station as your own force
*Run up to the shadowling and ask to be enthralled. Seriously, it's a dick move to everyone and the admins will ban your ass for it.
*Prowl the maintenance tunnels alone armed with your trusty screwdriver and PDA flashlight
*Refuse to talk or communicate - a silent vigilante, as proven by the mime, is the best vigilante
*Attack an ascendant
*Ask to be enthralled by an ascendant. They'll seriously just make you explode.
*Be near an ascendant
*Consider approaching an ascendant
*Look at an ascendant in a suggestive way
*search for the ascendant in any way shape or form, you will be vaporized
*be close to an ascendant ever, seriously, you WILL DIE
<br>
<br />


=So you see a Ascendant=
==Relevant Code Changes==
[[File:Shadowling ascendant.gif]]
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/8157 #8157 Shadowling (MERGE-READY!!)]
<br>
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/8927 #8927 Shadowling Update I: Bugfixes and Minor Features]
<br />
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/10254 #10254 Shadowling Update 2: 121% Merge-Ready]
<br>
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/10871 #10871 Shadowling Update III]
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* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/11064 #11064 Shadowling enthralling hotfix]
It looks something like this, and we suggest that you.. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/11414 #11414 Shadowling Update IV]
<br>
* [https://github.com/tgstation/-tg-station/pull/11588 #11588 Fixes a gamebreaking bug with shadowling (it isn't actually gamebreaking)]
<br />
<br>
<br />
This concludes our guide to shadowling..


Will be Revised on 07/20/2015
{{Jobs}}
[[Category: Jobs]] [[Category:Game Modes]]

Revision as of 20:56, 1 October 2015

EXTRATERRESTRIAL STAFF
Shadowbeing.png
Shadowling
Access: Whatever you or your victims had or have
Additional Access: Anywhere you can phase to
Difficulty: Extremely Hard. I'm not kidding, you'll probably lose.
Supervisors: None
Duties: Enslave the filthy humans, ascend and murderbone
Guides: This is the guide

Shadowlings are light-sensitive alien creatures from space. They are mainly defensive, but can 'enthrall' humans, which is basically a euphemism for enslavement of their minds. They start off disguised as a normal crewman (they can still enthrall like this!) but they have to take time to 'hatch' to unlock their full potential.

While hatched, shadowlings will resemble humans with black skin, small horns, red eyes, and claws.

Until they ascend, of course.

Shadowling Abilities

Shadowlings have quite a few tricks up their sleeve, from vanishing to freezing the air around them. Below is a list of abilities that shadowlings can use.

Name Requirements Cooldown Description
Enthrall Hatch; or, under 5 thralls None, but can only enthrall one at a time A shadowling can grow a cute little tumor on a victim's brain, rearranging their memories and motivations and turning him into an obedient thrall. This is slow, and does not itself disable the victim, so many shadowlings will use mundane means to do so, such as handcuffs and removal of headsets. Loyalty Implants interfere with this ability; however, the protection is not perfect. It is well within a shadowling's power to disable such implants, though doing so will slow the enthralling process considerably.

The benefit of thralls to changelings extends beyond the utility of an obedient crewmember. Shadowlings gain power directly from their thralls, unlocking new abilities with greater numbers, including their ultimate goal of ascension.

Hivemind Commune N/A At will Shadowlings and thralls share a telepathic link through which they can communicate silently, undetectably, and at zero cost or cooldown. There may be ways to discern this behavior, but it is unlikely and for now all you can do is simply let their words flow past you.
Hatch N/A N/A To access their other abilities, a shadowling must first hatch. A hatching shadowling will first drop its items. After a short delay, it will grow a chrysalis around itself, forming a 3x3 grid of impenetrable but obviously abnormal walls. When the shadowling's evolution is complete, the walls will burst, and the hatched shadowling will emerge. Although headsets, belts, and backpacks must be dropped to evolve, shadowlings are capable of wearing them, and often pick up such items they had previously owned after hatching.

While a hatched shadowling is powerful, and much better equipped to hunt for thralls than an assistant, shadowlings are also obvious after hatching. For this reason, young shadowlings who are not yet sure of their abilities often delay hatching to avoid alerting the crew.

Glare Hatch required 30 seconds Glare is the shadowling's basic single-target stun. By forcing one target's gaze into its own, the shadowling can mesmerize a target from a range to stun and mute him for quite some time. While the duration is shorter than the cooldown, and is not long enough for a complete conversion, it does leave plenty of time to restrain or strip the victim.
Veil Hatch required 25 seconds The shadowling's basic defensive ability, Veil instantly puts out nearly all light sources, mobile or otherwise, near the shadowling. Electronic lights such as flashlights, PDA's, gunlights, and light fixtures can be repaired simply by reactivating them, where consoles can be repaired by disconnecting and reconnecting the screen. Glowshrooms resist this extinguishing effect, but will be killed in a short radius around the shadowling. Lights based in fire or bioluminescence are often resilient enough to be unaffected.
Shadow Walk Hatch required 1 minute Shadow Walk lets the shadowling briefly enter the space between worlds to escape attackers. For four seconds, the shadowling will be invisible, move quickly, and be able to phase through all obstacles. Unlike the wizard's jaunting, holy water does not have an effect on this.
Icy Veins Hatch required 2 minutes Icy Veins is a formidable crowd control ability. Everyone within a short range will instantly have their body temperature reduced to freezing in addition to having it continuously lowered, similar to a cryogenic sting. Targets will also be briefly stunned.
Collective Mind Hatch required 30 seconds To access some abilities, a shadowling must draw on its thralls for power. Using this ability, shadowlings can send out mental "hooks" that latch onto the minds of their thralls, granting the shadowling a count of his thralls, and unlocking any abilities which the number of thralls now allows.
Destroy Engines Hatch required 1 minute Destroy Engines is the way shadowlings bypass the shuttle. They are able to sacrifice a single thrall completely, which will kill them but extend the shuttle's timer by 15 minutes. This does not stack and can only be used if the shuttle is on the way to the station - it will not work if the shuttle is docked or has left.
Blindness Smoke Hatch required + 3 Thralls 1 minute By regurgitating a cloud of black smoke, shadowlings can disorient pursuers. This smoke will induce blindness in and stun non-shadowlings, but heal shadowlings and thralls.
Drain Life Hatch required + 5 Thralls 10 seconds The shadowling drains the life of nearby humans, healing the shadowling for a significant amount for each human in addition to weakening the humans.
Sonic Screech Hatch required + 7 Thralls 30 seconds The shadowling can let out a piercing screech. This will confuse and deafen nearby humans, damage windows, and stun silicons.
Black Recuperation Hatch required + 9 Thralls 1 minute With this ability, a shadowling can revive a fallen thrall, healing them of damage completely after a short time. It will also cure diseases, genetic defects, and remove handcuffs the target may be wearing.

Alternatively, a shadowling can 'empower' a living thrall. After a short time, the thrall's abilities will become stronger and they will resemble a shadowperson with three eyes. They will then have the same light sensitivity of normal shadowlings, ableit at a lesser rate. In addition, thralls cannot be dethralled while conscious if in this position.

Ascendance Hatch required + 15 Thralls N/A If the shadowlings should gain this ability, all hope is lost to the crew. The shadowlings have enough collective power from their thralls to assume their ultimate form, becoming impossible to destroy by conventional means, and gaining terrifying abilities.
Below is a list of abilities ascendant shadowlings are known to have used.
Annihilate Ascendant only At will Ascendants, with extremely high telekinetic abilities, can easily cause someone's entire body to explode simply by directing a lance of mental energy at them.
Hypnosis Ascendant only At will Ascendants can enthrall from a range and with extremely increased speed. Basically, it's a ranged and instant version of enthrall.
Plane Shift Ascendant only Toggleable An upgraded version of Shadow Walk, ascendants can simply enter the space between worlds at will at no cost. They use them as passageways, able to move from place to place extremely quickly.
Lightning Storm Ascendant only 10 seconds The spiritual successor to Icy Veins. Sends out bolts of lightning to everyone nearby, dealing a significant amount of burn damage and knocking down those affected.

What To Do: If You're A Shadowling

So you're a shadowling. Congratulations! Here's some pointers on how not to die from a lightbulb within thirty seconds.

Starting Off

You're disguised. You don't take any damage from lights and you are undetectable to any means short of godly intervention. You possess three abilities: Hatch, Enthrall, and Hivemind Commune. First off, send a message or two over the hivemind to see if you have any buddies - chances are high that you do. Assess your job's capabilities. Are you the captain? Feel free to grab some stun stuff to arrest people and then enthrall them - same goes if you're an officer or something. Are you an engineer? Build a stunprod and use that as well. Are you the clown? You're not clumsy, so use your banana peel to cablecuff people and do it too. Are you an assistant? Make use of the environment, using things like tables to stun or hinder people.

There are multiple things to do from the start. If you're confident you can avoid detection, hatching immediately can work since you can easily enthrall people who rush into maintenance early with Glare. Or, you can play it safe and try to get some thralls before that. It's up to you - you're the alien monster, after all.

Post-Hatch

So you've hatched. You have the rest of your abilities now - use them! Alert your fellow shadowlings (and thralls) that you're hatched over the hivemind, and make more thralls your first priority. You can't wear normal clothes, but you can still put on backpacks and headsets, which is an extremely good idea. If you're discovered by a group of people, use your defensive abilities to escape in addition to your thralls. If a single guy sees you, just glare at him, slap some cablecuffs on if you have them, take away his headset, and enthrall him. People whom you enthrall cannot easily be turned back to normal, although surgery is capable of doing so and their new loyalty to you overrides all else. If you enthrall a nuclear operative somehow, they will serve you over their Syndicate friends. If you enthrall the captain, he will do much the same.

Your priority is to gain fifteen thralls. You have the Collective Mind ability which will, after a short time, give you a count of how many thralls you have as well as the needed amount for ascendance. If you get fifteen thralls, use the ability and it will give you the Ascendance ability in a new tab. Simply use that ability and you've won - no need to escape on the shuttle!

The Light and You

While hatched, the light is your worst enemy. You take extreme damage from even being in it, and burn-based stuff like flashbangs, welders, and lasers all hit harder. However, on the other side of the coin, the darkness is extremely beneficial. All wounds will heal. You will have a stun reduction. You have night vision and thermal vision as well, so not being in the darkness at all is a huge downside to everything about you. Use the darkness as your buddy in times hard and easy. The darkness will always give you a shoulder to cry on. He's a bro like that.

I CAN'T SEE!

After you hatch, you may notice that you can only see the tile you're standing on. There's a way to fix this. Look in your action buttons - you should see a blank button called Shift Nerves. This will allow you to change the range of your night vision, all the way from a full screen to none at all. This allows you to be more or less careful with your vision.

What To Do: If You're A Thrall Shadowling huds.png

So a shadowling mesmerized you by staring into your eyes (lewd) and now you're a thrall! What this means is that your primary goal and objective is to obey the shadowlings and help them at all costs. If you look in your tabs, you have a new one, Shadowling Abilities. In this tab is the Hivemind Commune ability, which lets you communicate on a silent channel with all other thralls and shadowlings. You're basically an Adamantine Golem in terms of where your loyalties lie -- utterly with the shadowlings. Loyalty implanted? Not anymore, the nanobots are dead. Wizard? Use your spells to help the shadowling. Traitor? Tough titty, if the shadowling wants your uplink you give it to him with zero questions asked. You have no free will.

Keep in mind that many of the shadowling's abilities rely on damaging or manipulating you. Even by helping the shadowlings accomplish their one objective, you are sentencing yourself completely and utterly to death - there is no way around it. You may find yourself drained of half your life, used as bait, used as a bodyguard, or suddenly surrounded in the middle of a maintenance tunnel by Security officers who are trying to cave your chest in. Assume you're going to die because you are and there's no way around it.

As of right now, thralls cannot currently see in the dark as shadowlings can. That means you have to use your lights in the dark areas, so make sure you don't accidentally make a Kentucky Fried Shadowling with your PDA light. You do have one advantage, however: stealth. Short of attempting to loyalty implant you, there is zero way of finding out that you're a thrall. Use this to your advantage to do things for your masters. Keep in touch often.

Finally, you also have a HUD indicator above your head. A more intimidating version can be seen above any shadowlings, hatched or not. Your indicator signals that you are a thrall - only other shadowlings and thralls can see this. If you're killing someone with that HUD indicator, expect a ban.

Shadowling hud big.png

This is the HUD indicator for shadowlings. These are your masters.

Thrall hud big.png

This is the HUD indicator for you and fellow thralls. You obey the shadowlings.

It is important to note that if you are enthralled by one shadowling, you obey all the shadowlings. This includes the others. If Shadowling Bumblefuck tells you that Shadowling Fumbleschmuck isn't your master, ignore him. No matter who enthralled you originally, you must obey all other shadowlings.

Mask Up, Gang

An important thing about being enthralled is that it physically alters you. By becoming a thrall, anybody nearby that can see your face will be able to tell you're a thrall just by examining you while close by! Thankfully, there is an easy way to alleviate this: wear a mask. Any mask will work: breath mask, gas mask, bandana, anything. By wearing a mask, your special examine status will disappear and you will be indistinguishable from regular crew. If an officer tells you to take off your mask and then gets close, the best solution is to try and escape. Wearing a mask is conspicuous in its own right, especially if it conceals the face.

Dethralling

So you got captured by the Reds and they're throwing you into the surgery theater. To debrain you? Cut out your eyes? CHANGE YOUR GENDER?! Nope. It's far worse - they're going to sever your link with the hivemind by completely dethralling you! This means you will become a normal crew member again, unable to distinguish your masters and fellow thralls, having no unique abilities, and being boringly standard. Luckily, this can only be done via surgery, and if your master intervenes in time you might escape! If Sawbones gets his hands in your head, you're either going to become dethralled or instantly killed. Either way, you won't remember anything about being a thrall, so if you tell them anyone else that's a thrall expect a ban.

Abilities

Fortunately for you, there are a few benefits from becoming a slave for the rest of your life. Mainly, you have a few abilities, which are listed below.

Name Cooldown Description
Darksight At will As a result of being enthralled, humans will gain the ability to see in the dark. Darksight allows thralls to toggle between standard vision and complete sight in darkness. However, this ability will not work while wearing glasses of any type.
Lesser Glare 45 seconds Lesser Glare is an ineffectual yet powerful ability. Inheriting only a fraction of the shadowling's original power, thralls are able to mesmerize people in much the same way a shadowling can - however, it only lasts for around four to five seconds, give or take. If you're fast or robust, this can be combined with cablecuffs and a quick removal of a headset to secure a new thralling target.
Guise 2 minutes Guise is a lesser version of Shadow Walk. Unlike Shadow Walk, you do not gain incorporeal movement, and are still restricted to the physical plane. In addition, you do not turn completely invisible - rather, you are extremely difficult to see, especially in darkness. Anyone that isn't looking directly at you will only see a blurred shape. This ability lasts for around five seconds.

What To Do: If You're Non-Shadowling Crew

So the shouts over the radio weren't wizard, ops, or blob, but shadowlings? Your work is gonna be cut out for you, soldier. Shadowlings are terrifying foes and can do much in their power to avoid you. They can even extinguish lights, save for fire-based sources and yellow slime extracts, and even then they can extinguish those fires. Don't get caught alone or you'll live out the rest of your considerably shortened lifespan in mindless servitude.

Things you SHOULD do

  • Travel in groups
  • Get burn-based weapons and lots of light sources (flares are good, so are slime extracts if xenobio is doing their job, and if all else fails botany can make torches)
  • Carry flashbangs or flash powder grenades from security or the medbay
  • Be extremely wary
  • Avoid areas that seem unnaturally dark
  • Don't fight anything alone
  • Watch for suspicious activity
  • Don't fight anything alone
  • Be prepared for anything
  • DON'T FUCKING FIGHT ANYTHING ALONE

Things you SHOULDN'T do

  • Hoard the entire armory and secede from the station as your own force
  • Run up to the shadowling and ask to be enthralled. Seriously, it's a dick move to everyone and the admins will ban your ass for it.
  • Prowl the maintenance tunnels alone armed with your trusty screwdriver and PDA flashlight
  • Refuse to talk or communicate - a silent vigilante, as proven by the mime, is the best vigilante
  • Attack an ascendant
  • Ask to be enthralled by an ascendant. They'll seriously just make you explode.
  • Be near an ascendant
  • Consider approaching an ascendant
  • Look at an ascendant in a suggestive way
  • Think about ascendants

Is that a horrible wail in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

So you're in the maintenance tunnel with your group of vigilantes and ready to fight a shadowling. Suddenly you hear a horrible wail in your head and all the lights blow up. Not good. This means a shadowling has ascended. You're basically fucked over since all the shadowlings can ascend when one can.

In Case of an Ascendant

If you see an ascendant, it'll probably look something like this:

Shadowling ascendant.gif

That guy just exploded.

RUN.

Run far and fast. There is no way to fight a shadowling ascendant. They are completely invulnerable to normal attacks, can phase through walls at zero cost, and possess a slew of abilities designed to make you and all you hold dear explode. They can make the air explode, they can make reality explode, they can make objects explode, they can make your corpse explode, they can make you explode, too, so run. They can instantly enthrall you, so run. Not that it'll do you any good since they move faster than you. They'll probably just make you explode like they did the seven guys before you it found. The now-exploded seven guys. Oh, and they also hit harder than an esword with their melee attacks.

You're probably gonna explode, too, so just accept it and hope they're either merciful, somehow friendly, or want to enthrall you.

Again, though, you'll probably just explode.

Or maybe, somehow, you can kill it?

Relevant Code Changes

Jobs on Yogstation

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