What is happening here?

[lesleylai]

So I attacked this shepherd with my purifier's AOE attack, and FIVE animals around the shepherd were spawned (probably would be six if one of the hex is not rocks). Is this intended behavior or a bug? Is the moral lesson "don't use AOE attack on shepherd?"

 

[coodav]

Oh wow. But wait, do you get XP for those adds? That would be PERFECT.

So question: do Shepherd adds give XP?

 

[lesleylai]

No idea. That was early in the game (turn 11). My initial stack was not strong enough to fight this madness, so I redid this fight and moved on. But I can load the autosave on that turn and do some experiments tomorrow.

 

[coodav]

No idea. That was early in the game (turn 11). My initial stack was not strong enough to fight this madness, so I redid this fight and moved on. But I can load the autosave on that turn and do some experiments tomorrow.

Yeah, tell me for sure. I'm going to have to check that. It would be perfect for some of my stacks, because I favor psi-fish units, which make short work of them. Those adds would be pure fodder.

 

[lesleylai]

Yeah, tell me for sure. I'm going to have to check that. It would be perfect for some of my stacks, because I favor psi-fish units, which make short work of them. Those adds would be pure fodder.

I just did the experiment, and it seems that we do get more experience by killing more summoned animals (from shepherds).

The trick is that you must attack the shepherd with the purifier to cause it to spawn animals. If the shepherd already spawns animals, then the AOE attack won't make it spawn more. I also don't know whether other AOE attacks (those that don't leave hazard) work, but I can't test it in this save.

 

[coodav]

Wait... the promethean Purifier unit has to trigger the process? That is extremely specific... didn't you say you hit it with a grenade? You mean their fire bomb?

Do that again?

 

[lesleylai]

I don't know. Purifier is the only unit with an AOE attack in that stack, so I am not sure whether an AOE attack is enough or if I need the attack to also generate hazards. I will try to remember to test it if I meet a shepherd again.

 

[coodav]

I don't know. Purifier is the only unit with an AOE attack in that stack, so I am not sure whether an AOE attack is enough or if I need the attack to also generate hazards. I will try to remember to test it if I meet a shepherd again.

Oh yes, it appears so. The units are standing in fire. You apparently hit dead center. I wonder if there is some sort of oddity when you hit with an AOE that applies a ground condition. Like with Biological attacks. Interesting.