Assimilation: Difference between revisions

|headerbgcolor = black

|headerfontcolor = red

}}

The Hivemind Hosts are what their name suggests, the hosts of powerful hiveminds, that escaped during a recent containment breach and have been at large since. Very little is known about these creatures except that they have great psionic power, and can assimilate unprotected crew into the hivemind, using their minds as fuel for their powers and their bodies as vessels to manifest them through. If the true potential of their psionic power were to be unlocked, they could wreak havoc across the stars. Thankfully, intel suggests that the hosts were forcibly separated from the rest of their minds shortly before the breach, rendering them almost powerless. Now, they take the first steps towards growing back to their former glory, and the crew of Space Station 13 is their target!

==Getting started==

===Assimilation===

'''''Assimilated crew (Vessels) are not antagonists, and are not loyal to you, nor are they converted to your side.''''' Special circumstances may change this.

Assimilating crew is the main way to gain power. The more vessels are in your hive, the more powers you unlock and the stronger some of them become.

===Objectives===

Hivemind hosts always have two objectives:

* Assimilate X crewmembers ''or'' Have X Assimilated crew escape alive on the shuttle ''or'' have the largest hive at round-end.

* Escape alive and free.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well...

===Other hivemind hosts and you===

As a hivemind host, it is incredibly unlikely that you will be the only one on the station. Other hosts may want to kill you, team up with you or simply not care, although the former is probably the most common reaction. Once a host has five vessels assimilated, they obtain [[Assimilation#Network_Invasion|Network Invasion]], which allows them to probe crewmembers for information. If the crewmember belongs to an enemy hive, they will be able to temporarily track the enemy host, who will be able to track their (former) vessel that just got hacked. If one host assimilates another, the assimilated one will be warned after a minute and boot themselves from their hive after another minute. The assimilating host will be able to track the assimilated for a short period of time, but if you're in that situation don't fret, they can't tell the difference from a vessel being hacked and a host booting themselves. For more information on tracking, see [[Assimilation#Psychic_Link|Psychic Link]]

Hosts also obtain [[Assimilation#Reclaim|Reclaim]] at five vessels which will gib any adjacent hivemind hosts as well as granting five extra vessels for the purposes of unlocking abilities as long as they are in critical, something to watch out for when combined with Network Invasion.

==Hivemind Powers==

The host has plenty of psionic powers at their disposal that affect the minds of their victims. These powers are unlocked after obtaining a certain amount of vessels, and mostly affect the vessels themselves, but a few stronger powers may affect other people, or even the physical world. Even if you drop below the required hive size you still retain your powers, so once you have what you want, go wild.

===Psychic Link===

While not a power per se, hivemind hosts and former vessels can track people for a short period of time in certain situations as if they had a pinpointer. As a host becomes stronger, this ability becomes less sensitive. Using [[Assimilation#Network_Invasion|Network Invasion]] and [[Assimilation#Reclaim|Reclaim]] can boost the duration of your psychic links.

If there are multiple valid tracking targets, the nearest and strongest is usually the one to be detected. The more powerful a hivemind host is and the larger their hive is, the easier they are to track and the less sensitive their own tracking abilities are. Using certain abilities such as [[Assimilation#Bruteforce|Bruteforce]], [[Assimilation#Mind Control|Mind Control]] and [[Assimilation#Medullary Failure|Medullary Failure]] also contribute to this gain.

*When a vessel is mindshielded, both the host and the vessel can track each other. The vessels's tracking is half a minute longer than an unboosted host's.

*When a host uses Network Invasion on another host's vessel, the invading host can track the other, while the other host can track the vessel.

*When a host assimilates another, both hosts can track each other after a couple of minutes.

*This does not work when using Mind Control.

===Roundstart abilities===

=====Assimilate Vessel=====

Adds a target within seven tiles to the hive after a short second channelling period. Time to assimilate varies depending on distance, taking one second when on top of the target and around 15 when a screen's width away. Doesn't work against mindshielded crew, and can be interrupted if you move or they leave the range.

=====Release Vessel=====

Removes a vessel from the hive. Has the same range as Assimilate, but works instantly.

=====Hive Sight=====

Allows you to see through the eyes and hear through the ears of any vessel. Comes in handy for keeping tabs on your vessels, especially if you want to hit them with a remote power.

=====Neural Shock=====

Knocks a target out for a period of time based on distance, for a maximum of 12 seconds(Later increases to 18/24/30/36, increasing every 5 vessels).

=====Distortion Field=====

Repeatedly causes hallucinations and stamina damage to everybody in sight of the target, twice every five seconds. Duration is based on hive size, ranging from 20 to 30 seconds. As the attack continues, the stamina damage increases, eventually causing a knockout if the hive is large enough.

===Tier 1 (5 Vessels)===

=====Network Invasion=====

Probes the mind of an adjacent crewmember to activate a one-way [[Assimilation#Psychic_Link|psychic link]] between us and any other hosts that may own this vessel, as well as one between the other hosts and the vessel in question. Network Invasion will also improve the duration of any future psychic links by 10 seconds overall, and 30 seconds against the other hosts. Network Invasion can take a while, so ensure your target won't move.

=====Psychoreception=====

Scans the nearby area for anybody that currently has a psychic link with us or that we have a tracking bonus against.

=====Reclaim=====

Affects adjacent hivemind hosts by dealing huge amounts of damage if they're unconscious, and gibbing them if they're in critical. Should you gib a host with this ability, you gain a global 30 second tracking bonus to any future [[Assimilation#Psychic_Link|psychic links]] as well as five vessels for the purposes of unlocking abilities.

===Tier 2 (10 Vessels)===

=====Induce Panic=====

Deals stamina damage and induces a variety of negative effects to anybody in range. Incapacitates cyborgs for a very brief period of time.

=====Repair Protocol=====

Deals minor brain damage to vessels to heal brain, brute, burn and clone damage rather quickly. Moving interrupts this.

=====Telekinetic Field=====

Creates a psionic forcefield, similar to a wizard's forcewall but larger and lasting less time.

===Tier 3 (15 Vessels)===

=====Bruteforce=====

When activated, Assimilate Vessel will destroy mindshield implants on use but will stun for five seconds post-assimilation. If you're confident you won't immediately get caught, this can help counteract mass implanting as well as allow you to use officers as vessels.

=====Mind Control=====

Takes full control of a vessel's body for 30 seconds as long as your body is undisturbed. Your ability to move is restricted to 14 tiles from the initial point of control, moving any further will cancel the control. If the vessel dies or falls asleep during this period so do you, so be careful. Can be cancelled at any time by recasting, and will partially refund the cost. While using Mind Control, [[Assimilation#Psychic Link|Psychic Link]] will not activate.

=====Chaos Induction=====

Allows you to set a single, customizable objective for four random vessels of your hive. This power has one use.

===Tier 4 (20 Vessels)===

=====Medullary Failure=====

Overloads a selected vessel's medulla, inducing an immediate heart attack. Incapacitates within seconds and kills within a minute if not treated.

=====Circadian Shift=====

Sends any visible targets to sleep for a brief period of time. The more people affected, the less time it lasts, down to a minimum of eight seconds. This power also disables cyborgs for a much longer period of time than [[Assimilation#Induce Panic|Induce Panic]].

==One Mind==

<center>

O͍͙̞͞͝n̴̡͓̭͖̙̠͍̞͝e̵̛̤ ̴̧̬̘͕͕ͅͅo̡͓̫f̗̯͖͜͡ ̨̛̟͈̟̟͇̘̘͕ú̹̻͓̤̻̬̭s͚̺.͕͎͚͜ ̦͉̮̫̹̜̜͉ͅO̟͇̹̼̹̝̙͡ṇ̨̻̦̀ę̲͔͇̜͢ ҉̶͔͚ó̴̬̗̤̺͙f̟̞̫́͟ ͉̱̘ṷ̙̣͓̝͙̦͢͞s̶̺͎̦̗̭̤̯ͅ.͚͓̼͞

</center>

==Tips==

*Start assimilating early, the bigger your hive the better! Losing vessels can weaken existing powers, hamper your attempts to unlock new ones, or cause you to fail your objectives, so having a surplus of vessels is never a bad idea.

*That being said, don't neglect assimilation, as many of your powers benefit from having a plethora of people to use them on. Powers based on hive size are ''not'' affected by the bonuses granted by Reclaim, meaning that your strength suffers in some areas.

*If you know someone is after you but your psychic link ran out, Psychoreception can give you a rough estimate of where they are.

*Avoid getting implanted at all costs as a host, as it will reveal your identity immediately.

*Don't be afraid to kill problematic vessels, especially if they get in your way.

===Tips for Security===

*'''''Vessels are not antagonists''''' unless they are under the effects of [[Assimilation#Mind_Control|mind control]] or [[Assimilation#Chaos_Induction|Chaos Induction]], and in most cases should not be treated as such. While it is acceptable to kill in self-defence, as Security you are heavily encouraged to implant them instead. Once the [[Assimilation#One_Mind|One Mind]] is in play, feel free to disregard this advice.