Talk:Chryssalid

Reaction firing Chryssalids?!

Wow, I've never encountered that situation before.(Admittedly, I abuse Save/Reload quite frequently, so this isn't a surprise I haven't seen it.) Would you possibly be able to provide proof or an example, Abraxas? Or maybe the circumstances under which it happened? I figure it must be easy enough to check if the Chryssie kept the weapons; simply use a Psi-Amp and Mind Control to examine the unit's inventory. Anyone else willing to conduct tests?

In any event, that's SCARY, and is one more reason to add to the list why Chryssalids should be hosed with Heavy Plasma fire before any other aliens and why Zombies should be left alone until there's time to fully deal with them. I may even start packing some AC-I ammo in the trunk of the Skyranger on Terror Mission dispatches. Arrow Quivershaft 14:33, 9 September 2007 (PDT)

I think I witnessed this bug a while back (it was on the PSX version though). One of my soldiers was turned into a Zombie by a Chryssalid, and when it was hit with an auto-shot of Heavy Plasma (all shots connected) it "died" without a sound leaving a X-COM corpse and a Chryssalid carrying the soldier's weapons. I think this may have to deal with stun getting wrongly applied to the Zombie.

Bug or no, any HTH-only aliens which carry a weapon will use it during your turn via reaction fire (assuming they have a loaded weapon and enough time units). This was one of the first tests I ever ran when I joined the StrategyCore forums. But you have to realize that HTH-only aliens have 0 for Firing Accuracy making it very tough for them to hit anything. That's the good news at least. ;) --Zombie 16:13, 9 September 2007 (PDT)

Unless the Chryssie is standing right next to your soldier when it reaction fires into him :) - Hobbes 20:07, 9 September 2007 (PDT)

This is a sequencing bug. The game probably got something done in the wrong order, and the conditions it needed to drop the equipment (as it should) never occured. The same happens when you die from wounds while standing in smoke, where your unit sometimes dies (game creates a new corpse) and then gets stunned (game drops a referenced corpse - and since the game sees it as a stunning, it never actually gets round to killing the unit). Since even melee units need a reaction level to allow them to have initiative during their turn, it's no wonder that they are able to shoot back with reaction fire.

Actually, I think it sometimes happens during zombification, since I've often had occasions where I've ended up with armed zombies. In turn they arm the chryssalid, if I'm not mistaken. Oh well, much fun to be had. - NKF

I was doing a little bit of research today and needed to check what happens when a soldier reaches exactly 0 health (not via fatal wounds). Initial round: nothing happens, the soldier just has 0 health. At the end of your turn though, there is a message saying that Soldier X has just died from a fatal wound. Directly after that there is another message stating that Soldier X is unconscious. When my round returned, I checked on Soldier X. There were 2 bodies on the ground, one from the corpse and one of the unconscious Soldier X. Pumping it full of stimulants did nothing, the soldier remained knocked out. At the end of the second round the soldier died and left a corpse (for a total of 2).

My theory is that units can be hurt so they have exactly 0 health (it must happen during that round though). This basically puts the unit in limbo between life and death (the final check for death happens at the end of the current turn). When the game does the check, it finds the unit has 0 health which forces it to create a corpse. The game probably forgets to set the death flag and immediately finds that the unit is still alive and has 0 health which knocks it unconscious. This probably explains why Chryssalids from X-COM soldiers sometimes have guns. If the Zombie had a gun and you managed to inflict enough damage to lower health to exactly 0, it dies, and immediately changes into a Chryssalid. More testing needs to be done with aliens and soldiers, but the 0 health idea probably plays a role in this somewhere. --Zombie 09:50, 15 September 2007 (PDT)

Melee TU Cost

I set a Chryss's current/max TU to 15, and it still had time to turn after attacking. Percentage maybe? - Bomb Bloke 15:54, 10 February 2008 (PST)

I think I did some more current tests somewhere and found the cost was 14 TU. Can't remember where I put that data though. In any case, it's funny that I ran across this as today I was wondering if the cost is percentage-based. It's certainly possible, but needs more testing. For now, I put an asterisk next to the cost until this is sorted out. --Zombie 22:15, 22 April 2008 (PDT)

Top Ten Monsters (Gamespot)

Gamespot's Top Ten Videogame Monsters includes Chrysallids, naturally. In alphabetic order. Chrysallids made #4 in a subsequent reader poll. = JFG

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Not sure why they left the SS2 hybrid off the list... - Bomb Bloke 01:25, 8 May 2008 (PDT)

Those suckers can scare the hell out of me. Particularly when they sneak up behind you and scream in your ear right before smacking you with a pipe. Arrow Quivershaft 11:00, 8 May 2008 (PDT)

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Does anyone have a concise list of all the awards or ranks this guy has managed to achieve at these various game magazines? It might be worth chronicling this chap's achievements in the actual article. -NKF 06:54, 4 August 2010 (EDT)

Hatch preventing and Notes

1. This comment in General Information is not true, as you can also (more reliably in fact) destroy the Zombie corpse with a grenade or other HE weapon: "The only known way to prevent a Chryssalid hatching is to land killing blows on zombies with Incendiary rounds. "

2. The General Information section looks more like additional points that should be moved down to the Notes section. The General Information should be more, well, general. Or just remove it.

Spike 11:31, 15 November 2008 (CST)

What is meant is that if Incendiary rounds are used to kill a Zombie, the Chryssalid does not even spawn. If HE is used, you have to kill the Zombie, then kill the Chryssalid. Arrow Quivershaft 11:43, 15 November 2008 (CST)

Zombies leave corpses? I don't recall ever seeing a zombie corpse, actually. Jasonred 01:25, 28 February 2009 (CST)

Zombies leave Chryssalid corpses when killed with Incendiary rounds. There isn't a Zombie corpse in the BIGOBS, but the unit uses a Chryssalid corpse on the battlescape. --Zombie 12:18, 28 February 2009 (CST)

I know, which is why I'm so confused about Spike's point 1, above. Jasonred 15:02, 28 February 2009 (CST)

I'm sure he meant "the corpse left behind when a Zombie dies", not an actual Zombie corpse. --Zombie 17:23, 28 February 2009 (CST)

Why would you want to destroy such a corpse anyhow? ... Sigh. Spike missed the point of the original post, and I suspect I am completely blind to whatever point he was trying to make. Jasonred 18:13, 28 February 2009 (CST)

Weapon Rankings Vs. Chryssalids

%TUs per kill (average; FA=50):

(NB there are various other considerations apart from firepower when killing Chryssallids).

HvyPlas	 54
Blast Bmb	 58
PlasmaR	 84
HE Pack(XCU)	 89
HvyLas (XCU)	 96
Stun Rod	 98
LaserR	        154
PlasmaP	163
HE Pack	194
HvyLas	        233
RocketLg	253
Alien Grd	264
LaserP	        313
Stun Bmb	345
HC - AP	389
RocketSm	407
Prox Grd	410
AC - AP	538
HC - HE	567
AC - HE	688
Grenade	879
Rifle	       1136
Pistol	       1849

Spike 21:02, 27 February 2009 (CST)