Minion Ability

Purpose

The Mutant Tank spawns minions.

Requirements

Requires mt_abilities2.smx to be compiled with mt_minion.sp to work.

Settings

// Admins with one or more of these access flags have access to this ability.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Empty: No access flags have access.
// Not empty: These access flags have access.
"Access Flags"				""

// The ability can only activate in close areas.
// Note: Do not change this setting if you are unsure of how it works.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0.0 (OFF)
// Maximum: 99999.0 (Farthest)
// --
// Keywords:
// "disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no" - 0.0 range
// "farthest" - 99999.0 range
"Close Areas Only"			"0.0"

// Use this ability in conjunction with other abilities.
// Note: Only use this when "Spawn Type" is set to "4" for the Mutant Tank.
// Note: This setting does not affect human-controlled Mutant Tanks unless the "Human Ability" setting is set to "2".
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no": OFF
// 1/"enabled"/"true"/"on"/"yes": ON
"Combo Ability"				"0"

// Allow human-controlled Mutant Tanks to use this ability.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0: OFF
// 1: ON, players can use buttons to activate abilities.
// 2: ON, abilities will activate automatically.
"Human Ability"				"0"

// Determines how many times human-controlled Mutant Tanks can use their abilities in one life.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0
// Maximum: 99999
// --
// Keywords:
// "none"/"off" - 0 ammo
// "infinite" - 99999 ammo
"Human Ammo"				"5"

// Human-controlled Mutant Tanks must wait this long before using their abilities again.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0 (OFF)
// Maximum: 99999 (Longest)
// --
// Keywords:
// "never"/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no" - 0 seconds
// "second" - 1 second
// "minute" - 1 minute
// "forever" - 99999 seconds
"Human Cooldown"			"0"

// The ability can only activate in open areas.
// Note: Do not change this setting if you are unsure of how it works.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0.0 (OFF)
// Maximum: 99999.0 (Farthest)
// --
// Keywords:
// "disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no" - 0.0 range
// "farthest" - 99999.0 range
"Open Areas Only"			"0.0"

// The ability is only effective toward human survivors.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0
// Maximum: 32
// --
// 0: OFF
// 1-32: ON, the number of human survivors required to be present for this ability to be effective.
"Requires Humans"			"0"

// Enable this ability.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no": OFF
// 1/"enabled"/"true"/"on"/"yes": ON
"Ability Enabled"			"0"

// Display a message whenever the ability activates/deactivates.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no": OFF
// 1/"enabled"/"true"/"on"/"yes": ON
"Ability Message"			"0"

// The amount of minions the Mutant Tank can spawn.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 1
// Maximum: 15
"Minion Amount"				"5"

// The Mutant Tank has this many chances out of 100.0% to trigger the ability.
// Note: This is ignored when the "Combo Ability" setting is set to "1".
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0.0 (No chance)
// Maximum: 100.0 (Highest chance)
// --
// Keywords:
// "never" - 0% chance
// "sometimes"/"unlikely"/"seldom" - 33.3% chance
// "maybe" - 50% chance
// "often"/"likely"/"frequently" - 66.6% chance
// "always" - 100% chance
"Minion Chance"				"33.3"

// The cooldown for the Mutant Tank's ability.
// Note: This is ignored when the "Combo Ability" setting is set to "1".
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0 (OFF)
// Maximum: 99999 (Longest)
// --
// Keywords:
// "never"/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no" - 0 seconds
// "second" - 1 second
// "minute" - 1 minute
// "forever" - 99999 seconds
"Minion Cooldown"			"0"

// Minions spawned by the Mutant Tank die after this many seconds.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Minimum: 0.0 (Until death)
// Maximum: 99999.0 (Longest)
// --
// Keywords:
// "never"/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no" - 0 seconds
// "milli"/"millisecond" - 0.1 seconds
// "second" - 1 second
// "minute" - 1 minute
// "forever"/"death" - 99999 seconds
"Minion Lifetime"			"0.0"

// Remove all minions spawned by the Mutant Tank when it dies or changes its Mutant Tank type.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no": OFF
// 1/"enabled"/"true"/"on"/"yes": ON
"Minion Remove"				"1"

// The Mutant Tank's minions are replaced with new ones when they die.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// 0/"disabled"/"false"/"off"/"no": OFF
// 1/"enabled"/"true"/"on"/"yes": ON
"Minion Replace"			"1"

// The Mutant Tank spawns these minions.
// Note: This setting can be overridden for specific players.
// --
// Add up numbers together for different results.
// --
// Minimum: 0
// Maximum: 63
// --
// 0 OR 63: Pick randomly between the 6 types.
// 1: Smoker
// 2: Boomer
// 4: Hunter
// 8: Spitter (Switches to Boomer in Left 4 Dead 1.)
// 16: Jockey (Switches to Hunter in Left 4 Dead 1.)
// 32: Charger (Switches to Smoker in Left 4 Dead 1.)
"Minion Types"				"63"

Example Format/Usage

"Mutant Tanks"
{
	"Tank #42"
	{
		"Minion Ability"
		{
			"Human Ability"				"1"
			"Human Ammo"				"2"
			"Ability Enabled"			"1"
			"Ability Message"			"1"
			"Minion Amount"				"5"
			"Minion Chance"				"20.0"
			"Minion Lifetime"			"0.0"
			"Minion Remove"				"1"
			"Minion Replace"			"1"
			"Minion Types"				"0"
		}
	}
}

Tips/Strategies

General/Fundamentals

• Keep your distance from the Tank at all times, regardless of what abilities it may have.
• You should only close in when the Tank is distracted or stunned.
• Check if the Tank is immune to bullets, fire, explosives, melee hits, and/or bile bombs, and adapt accordingly.
• Take off-angles and chip away at the Tank from different directions. Rotate to different positions when you are being targeted.
• Take initiative by distracting the Tank when you see it focusing one of your teammates.
• Maintain uptime by constantly dealing damage and looking for ways to help your team.
• Be aware of your surroundings and don't fight the Tank indoors or near environmental obstacles, such as water.
• Making a run for the saferoom is not advised unless you are the only one left standing and the Tank still has a lot of health. It's better to finish off the Tank as a team.

Solo

• Use your bot teammates as distractions for the Tank.
• You will mainly have to rely on guns and throwables to deal reliable damage from medium to long range, since the Tank will always have 1-2 minions nearby ready to gang up on a lone survivor.

Multiplayer

• You and your teammates will have to take turns distracting the Tank.
• Be smart with your ammunition and throwables by coordinating with your team.
• If you can stun the Tank, open fire on it as a team to finish it off quickly.
• Look for openings to revive any incapacitated teammates or heal any limping teammates to maintain a numbers advantage.
• You may have to risk taking hits for your teammates to make sure they don't go down.
• Focus the Tank first since in some cases, the minions will also automatically die as soon as the Tank dies.

Combining with other abilities

• When this ability is combined with other abilities, it can be a lot harder to kill the Tank. Apply the fundamentals listed above and bait out other abilities to get them out of the way (unless they are one-shot abilities).
• The Tank can only be as oppressive as you allow it to be. As long as you play smart, either solo or with a team, it won't matter what abilities the Tank has.
• There are some abilities, such as Fast and Warp, that can make this ability deadly, but as long as you keep your distance from the Tank, they shouldn't be a problem.