Difference between revisions of "Hideous freak"

From Hellmoo Wiki Archive
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Kaleh
(Added mutation spot location.)
imported>Isadora
m (→‎Effects: Adjusted formatting and wording for readability and to be consistent with other mutation pages. No actual content changes.)
 
(35 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
So, you chose to take on the mantle of a Hideous Freak. Good for you! Hideous Freaks present a different way of playing HellMOO. You will not have the same accessibility to advanced weapons and equipment and the penalties will make you approach the entire game in a different way. As such, this guide had been created to detail the mutation and the problems it can pose to unwary players.
''Do you like hurting other people?''


==Location==
Hideous Freak is one of HellMOO's "racial" mutations, and is one of the most game-changing mutations a player can take, with several big mechanical changes. The mutation revolves around [[Focus]] and [[Stress]].
The mutation spot can be found at the old victorian house at the necropolis gate. Enter the house and search for a trapdoor leading down (it was locked when I got it, so you'll have to bring someone who can pick eletronic locks reasonably, from what I remember, it was a silver voxguard), go down (you'll be at the necropolis cloner now) and search for the muck hole, just head inside the hole and you'll find the mutation spot.
 
== Effects ==
This mutation grants:
    Passive: +4 [[senses]]
    Passive: +1 [[endurance]]
    Passive: -3 [[cool]]
    Passive: +4 [[torture]]
    Passive: +3 [[focus]]
    Passive: +3 [[sneak]]
    Passive: -2 [[Persuade_(Skill)|persuade]]
    Passive: 100% resistance to vampirism
    Passive: 90% resistance to toxic exposure
    Passive: Blood is acidic
    Passive: All [[stress]] changes reversed
    Passive: [[Necropolis]] junkers, freaks, aboms, and zombies will not attack unprovoked; FCEF troops will attack on sight
    Passive: Cap on number of installed [[implants]]
    Passive: High chance of gaining single or multiple [[Mental_illness|mentals]] on reclone
    Passive: Permanent [[stars]] in several communities
    Access to freak and abom minions
    Access to the [[Freak Tunnels]] residences
    Access to [[Necropolis Gate]] with no rep requirement; barred access to [[Southern Necropolis]]
    Barred access to [[Panopticon Prison]] and [[Cube]]; will never reclone in either
    Barred access to service in many [[Shopping|shops]]; inability to live in some [[apartments]]
    {{cmd|scare}} command: inflict fear on enemies and frenzy yourself!
    Incompatible with: [[Chromemouth]], [[Chud]], [[Vampire]] and [[Zombie_(mutation)|Zombie]].


==Basics==
== Advantages ==
* '''+4 Senses.''' This is the largest single focus bonus available in a mutation, tied with [[Vampire]].
* '''+1 Endurance.''' This is a modest bonus, but Endurance is a very high-value stat, so it's still a good contribution.
* '''+4 Torture.''' This equates to a substantial crit rate boost for freaks.
* '''+3 Focus.''' This is a big bonus, and can bring out the highest power levels that focus can offer.
* '''+3 Sneak.''' This is supposed to help with rushing past FCPD cams without getting caught, but Sneak is an almost useless skill, so it's mostly just a number.
* '''Stress reversal.''' Probably Freak's most important feature: all stress damage becomes stress healing, and vice versa. This allows you to spam cooldowns that cost stress (like focus abilities and {{cmd|grab}}) with zero cost, and removes the stress downsides of several mutations altogether.
* '''90% Toxic Resistance.''' This is mostly for picking up bleach from the [[Toxic Dump]] for implant reasons - see further down. It also makes some fringe situations easier, like exploring [[Diablo Seco]] and eating basilisks.
* '''Can't clone in prison.''' If you get killed by [[Police|cops]], you'll reclone safely in your regular tank.
* '''No aggro from Necro mobs.''' Junkers, fellow freaks, specters, and abominations will leave you alone, which makes the Necropolis a lot less dangerous in the early game.
* '''Use of {{cmd|scare}}.''' Scare is a situational cooldown that can be used for both combat and pre-fight buffing; see the section below for details.
* '''Easy entry to Necro.''' If entering from the east, Freaks can get past the deadbots by going west past them, and down through the tunnel.


Hideous Freak gives the following stat and skill modifiers:
== Disadvantages ==
* +4 Senses
* '''-3 Cool.''' Cool is a relatively low value stat for everyone who isn't [[Blades]], and it's even less of an issue for freaks, who mostly ignore Cool's stress mitigation because of their stress reversal. It is still a downside for some situations like extended climbs, however.
* +1 Endurance
* '''-2 Persuade.''' This is almost a non-downside; almost every single situation where persuade is useful (lawyering, scamming) is off-limits to freaks anyway. The most this will do is hurt your {{cmd|haggle}} in the few freak-friendly stores.
* +3 Sneak
* '''Acidic blood.''' In theory this is occasionally advantageous; in practice it's a total pain. Acidic blood on the body inflicts acid damage every [[heartbeat]] to a random body part. This must be either soaked or removed quickly, and lingering blood can still damage worn armor even if the damage is soaked. This also adds extra micromanagement to [[Bleeder]].
* +4 Focus
* '''Doesn't reverse [[Empath]].''' Stress from Empath isn't turned into stress healing, so there's no unholy freakpath synergy. See the Empath page for more information.
* -3 Cool
* '''Clone with mentals.''' Every time freaks leave their clone tank, they will usually gain a mental illness. Some of these are more problematic than others; some are benign because of Freak's stress reversal. Other times, a strong medic must be sought to fix the illness.
* -2 Persuade
* '''Implant limits.''' Freaks can never have more than four implants, no matter what. They also must be under the influence of bleach to accomodate more than 2, which involves extra micromanagement.
* '''Aggro from FCEF.''' FCEF troopers wander the Necropolis, often wielding guns, and sometimes equipped with the [[Jammer_(Mutation)|Jammer]] mutation. They can be very dangerous if their targets are caught off-guard.
* '''Cannot enter South Necro.''' Freaks can't get past the electric grid without getting zapped. They can technically land a plane or take the [[Necropolis El|train]] in, but this is not a good idea. South Necro's security consists of FCEF empees and sarges, who swarm fast, use guns, and generally shred any freak visitors.
* '''Permanent 20 stars in many places.''' Several civilizations in the game with [[police]] forces, most notably [[Freedom City]], will automatically deploy to kill freaks who are sighted on camera.
* '''Can't use many shops.''' Shopkeepers will outright refuse to serve freaks in many stores, though some remain accessible, and any that don't require a storekeeper to use (like the kiosks in [[Maas Neotek]]) are fair game. Players who highly value independence will be frustrated to discover that they must rely on corpmates and friends to buy things for them from shops; some important items can only be purchased in shops that are not freak-friendly, such as many weapon mods.
** Dr. Nick in Freedom City will not install implants on freaks, but Dr. Stigg and Meatwad in [[Weezer Dam|Weezer]] will. Both are more expensive than Nick.
* '''Apartment restrictions.''' Freaks can't live in [[Sweaty Palms]], the [[Innsmouth]], the [[Helliday Inn]], the [[Final Rest Home]], or [[Burbclave]]. The Helliday is the biggest loss, as it has the best security in the game.


Hideous Freak also provides some other modifiers not covered by pure stat changes.
==Location==
* Stress and de-stress are reversed. For example, you will become de-stressed from killing, grabbing, and using focus abilities, with the exception of Scare. THC gives stress and so does sitting in a chill room. One notable exception to this rule is the Empath mutation. Empath functions without regard to whether you're a Hideous Freak.
The mutation spot can be found at the old burned out victorian ('''Vi''' on the map) at the [[Necropolis Gate]]. This area is a [[Challenge System|red zone]], and contains many dangerous mobs. The mutation spot is two tiles {{cmd|down}} from the victorian.
* You become resistant to eating raw flesh, so you will not acquire worms.
* Necropolis Junkers and Spectres will not attack you without provocation. Zombies, however, still will. Necropolis basically becomes a safe haven where you can grind and do zombie and ghostbusting contracts in safety.
* You can bypass both groups of DeadBots in Necropolis, by merely walking by.
* You gain acid blood Your blood will damage health and armor if it gets on anybody, including yourself. This means vampires cannot feed from you.
* You gain the {{cmd|scare}} command.
* You cannot use most conventional shops.
* You must pay fees to use the chat networks. There is a $1 charge on chatnet and zotnet. blurrnet is free, and tradenet costs $50 per message. Freaks are also charged $1 per page, which can be avoided by simply using the MOO mail system.
* You will be given an instant 0 stars upon sighting in [[Freedom City]], [[Corpclave]], [[Burbclave]], Jack Schitt, and Halliburton Arms. While you have the 0 stars, you will have either C3-50s, Spiderlings, or CSS Guards that will hunt you in any of their areas of jurisdiction until the 0 stars expire. However, you cannot spawn in Panopticon Prison or the Cube.
* You also cannot become a Vampire. The mutations are mutually exclusive and Hideous Freaks have as of recently been forbidden from acquiring temporary Vampirism.
* Every time you clone, you have a chance of acquiring one or more mental illnesses.


==Scare==
==Scare==


Scare is an exclusive Freak ability. While not terribly powerful, it can be useful in certain situations. In most situations, it gives those who hear it a dose of fear, impairing their stats. And for every person who gets fear, you gain a dose of frenzy adding +1 to brawn and senses, up to a max of +4 each. Frenzy does, however, lower your focus more for every dose you get. Another not instantly realizable feature of Frenzy is that it lowers your chance of being feinted.
Scare is a situational ability that is exclusive to freaks. Upon use, it acts a lot like [[Screech]], except that instead of shock, everyone in radius will be dosed with fear instead. This reduces their stats and may make low-Cool enemies attempt to flee battle.


In Necropolis, {{cmd|scare}} takes on another role. {{cmd|Scare}} summons Spectres, Zombies and any awakened Junkers to your location. This, in essence, gives Freaks a massive home-ground advantage. It also allows for an easy way to make money from, say, zombie contracts. Bringing down a good dozen or so NPCs onto someone in Necropolis can really ruin their day, especially if they have no way to deal with Spectres.
As well as this, the freak will gain one dose of [[Drugs|frenzy]] for every mob on their tile, up to the frenzy cap of 4 doses. This works regardless of whether the mobs are affected by the fear. In other words, if a freak uses {{cmd|scare}} on a tile full of robots, which cannot become scared, the frenzy will still hit even if the fear doesn't. This allows scare to be used as a pre-fight buffing tool; using scare on a tile full of mobs that are immune (robots, drunk players, etc.) or insignificant can apply an instant +4 Frenzy without the health concerns of [[Bleeder]]. Max frenzy grants +4 [[Brawn]], +4 [[Senses]] and increased resistance to {{cmd|feint}}, making this useful for brawny fighters or against brainy opponents.
 
The downside to scare is that it is ''not'' affected by Freak's stress reversal, so if used by a freak with low cool, it can cause a huge spike in stress. Maximum frenzy also debuffs [[focus]] by -10, meaning that for focus-heavy users this ability can hurt more than it helps. Finally, compared to other abilities at high levels of focus, scare's cast time is relatively long.


==Strategy==
==Strategy==
Hideous freak has some great strengths as well as several drawbacks, but none of them are without counterplay except for the hard implant cap.


The loss of cool makes it hard to become proficient at blades and guns. However, non-cool-based weapon classes are perfectly reasonable to utilize, such as spears, whips, fists, and clubs. Bling can also be worn to give you up to +4 cool. Cool can be ground up, although it can take a long time.
=== High Focus ===
 
The easiest way to deal with police is by not going to Freedom City, Corpclave, Burbclave, Jack Schitt, or Halliburton Arms. If you're speedy enough you can make quick runs into Freedom City. For a Freak, one of the main attractions to Freedom City is to install implants, because Dr. Nick is the only implant installer in the game. C3-50s may reach you while installing implants. If this happens, {{cmd|spew}} and after escaping, either run to the sewers or {{cmd|blink}} away. A particularly fast Freak may be able to get two or three implants in during a run.
 
Freaks can benefit from grinding up their Sneak skill. If your Sneak is high enough, you can avoid being seen by the cameras, and thus avoid the 0 stars that mean hunting you. In fact, if you aren't seen by a camera, you can even chill with the law enforcement in the same square as you. A good amount of Sneak can be invaluable in getting implants put in. Note that a Sneak checks are not a one time occurrence per square. When you enter a square the initial check is made to see if you are detected. If you succeed this check, a few seconds later another check will be made, this one harder. As you succeed the checks for being in a square they progressively get harder, so don't dawdle!
 
Every now and then, your cloning location, no matter where you set it, will reset to the clone tank in the Necropolis, usually after you've run out of or acquired police stars in a jurisdiction. Check {{cmd|st}} religiously because being surprised to a Necropolis clone tank can be a headache, especially if you cannot {{cmd|blink}}. This does not seem to happen of late, but it is never a bad thing to be safe.
 
Use other players to buy things for you, or just take them from other players who cannot defend themselves. If you're in a corporation you can just have corpmates buy and sell for you. This does not mean a Freak is without resources, however! In Slagtown alone, Freaks can buy freely from Sargo's Discount Warehouse. Freaks wishing to sip on some sweet delicious bugshit can stop by Round Corner and hit up Rayray.  Those who prefer more pedestrian cocktails can get them from Heath at the Wide Stance. Freaks can also purchase goods from the player-run Slagtown Galleria. Camp Benjamin in Necropolis sells to Freaks, as does Furst in Village of Lurleen. A new store has also popped up in Botany Bay called Tree of Life. This store provides cocoons to protect your gear, an invaluable resource, as well as basic medical supplies.
 
When you clone, you're likely to wind up with at least one kind of mental problem. The effects of these are many, varied, and occasionally annoying. You can counter this problem by partnering up with someone brainy, who can {{cmd|analyze}} you, to potentially cure your mental problem. There is a cooldown of ten minutes, regardless of psychoanalyst. An important thing about mental problems is that they build up over time. From experience, a mental illness can take even the greatest of medics two or three tries if you have let it build up over time. For this reason it is important to be analyzed as soon as you spawn.
 
Hideous Freaks now can only wear up to two implants before they start degenerating. Do not overload on implants, as tempting as it may be! You will regret it when over a hundred thousand in implants goes missing overnight. However, it is safe to keep one or two in, so the end is not nigh.
 
==Abomination==
 
===Basics===
 
Abomination is a different kind of Hideous Freak. Compared to the typical freak, they have many new quirks. Due to the requirements and its nature, players taking Abomination often specifically plan for it. To become an Abomination, you must have the mutations Hideous Freak, Ripper, and Fuck Machine.


It's important to note that Abomination is even more of a lifestyle choice than Hideous Freak. It is encouraged to hunt Abominations, and there is even an Abomination killing contract available at Rough Trade (KH) in Slagtown. If you're an Abomination, you can't complain much about griefing, unless it's something like spawn camping. You should be in a respected, powerful corporation, or you may be steamrolled by roleplayers. Abominations obey the law of nature: only the strong survive.
Hideous freaks are able to reach some of the highest focus totals in the game, if played with a focus-friendly build (usually Endurance [[Whips]]). The mutation itself provides a massive +5.5 to the focus skill in total. [[Carrie]], [[Salamander]]'s {{cmd|mend}}, [[Screech]], [[Writhing Smoke]] and even [[Chiller]] can be brought to their maximum potential with freak, with sufficient investment in the [[focus]] skill. Most freaks should have no trouble hitting the focus requirement for [[Blink]], nor with getting potent seeks using [[Medium]].


You gain the following natural resistances:
=== Stress and Cooldowns ===
* 4-10 beat
* 6-9 slash
* 4-10 stab
* 8-10 bullet
* 1-4 acid


The following modifiers are also given:
Most cooldowns, such as {{cmd|mend}}, cost stress to use. This is not a problem for freaks thanks to stress reversal, so freaks are free to use their buffed-up focus to spam abilities in every fight. This only has two costs: First, mild risk; using most cooldowns debuffs dodge while the cooldown is casting. Second, this can be a bad trade if you are over-using abilities that don't benefit your fight, since any time spend using abilities is time spent not hitting people with your weapon! Using cooldowns well, a freak can overwhelm opponents with {{cmd|screech}}, {{cmd|spew}} and {{cmd|burn}} or {{cmd|freeze}} in quick succession. High [[focus]] skill also decreases cooldown times for these abilities, so they can be spammed more frequently. Spamming also works with non-focus cooldowns, such as {{cmd|grab}}, though it does ''not'' work with {{cmd|scare}}, which still costs stress.
* -2 Brains
* -2 Cool
* +1 Endurance
* +1 Brawn
* +3 Fish
* -2 Pistols
* -2 Rifles
* -6 Persuade
* -4 Focus


As with Hideous Freak, there are modifiers which are not numeric:
=== Low Cool ===
* Your claws are upgraded, giving them much higher potential slashing damage and adding stabbing damage, as well as irradiation damage.
[[Cool]] is widely considered to be the least important of the six key stats by a large margin, and since most stress gains are reversed for freaks anyway, it becomes even less significant for them. It is also an easy stat to buff; +4 cool is granted by four gold ruby rings, which are easily available in the player economy.
* You acquire an inability to wear thick armor. Your thickness limit is 4. However, you can stack these articles up to the usual 15 thickness. Leather armor, Robes of the Lamb, and Deathsheads are among the choice armor for Abominations, if they are going to wear any. Deathsheads, however, are extremely rare, and Robes of the Lamb only drop off of prchr. You are best off hiring a non-Freak to buy you Leather armor, which can double your soaks with minimal penalties to Dodge.
* You acquire the ability {{cmd|devour}}, which allows you to eat a human corpse, healing you. The healing properties work like so: at first you get a large initial boost of health, which then peters down. This boost can be as small as 6 and as large as 16. The more corpses you eat, the larger the healing.
* You acquire the {{cmd|burrow}} command, allowing you to safely log out in outdoor type rooms.
* Your semen also becomes acidic like your blood, allowing you to wank on players or NPCs to weaken them. If you facefuck someone, they will get a chestburster, which will burrow out of the stomach, doing massive damage.
* Anyone in the same room as you who does not have radiation immunity will be irradiated, at about the same rate as a Plutonium Rod, which is relatively slow.
* You cannot get irradiated, thus you cannot get radiation mutations.
* You can breathe underwater. You still cannot breathe in acidic environments such as the Toxic Dump or in parts of the sewers, and the only protective equipment for that is too thick for an Abomination to wear.
* Drugs do not give you addiction, enabling you to push them to the limit of your endurance, which, if you're an Abomination, should be very high. Coke and crank both give addiction, so as an abomination you can safely be on the max dose of each at all times with no complications.
* Nanite healers are only 40% as effective, and food will only fill you 20% as much as it did. Most Abominations go Hyperimmune, which would then render nanite healers completely useless. Healing must be done by devouring humanoids, or by using trauma kits, which is hard enough with the medic and brains penalties of Ripper and Abomination. {{cmd|Mend}} can also heal 6 at high levels of Focus, taking advantage of your reversed stress gains.
* If you die, your corpse will explode shortly after, causing damage to anyone in the room, as well as covering them in acid blood. Any implants you were wearing will be gone unless you have someone to cut them out immediately on the scene. You cannot be defibbed even if someone is right by you when you die.
* You cannot be medically treated by anyone besides other Hideous Freaks.


=== Which Weapon? ===
The innate cool disadvantage does make a Freak [[Blades]] build less attractive; there are much better racial mutation options for bladers. Every other weapon class is fair game, however, including the guns classes, oweing to all guns' ability to nullify [[dodge]] in their targets. This means that inaccuracy will only become a problem if facing an opponent who uses [[focus]] to deliberately debuff accuracy.


Abominations are most definitely encouraged to be Fists users, due to constantly having Claws and Fangs. Because of this, an Abomination should almost always have maxed out Brawn, as Fists weapons, bar Tesla or Edison Gauntlets, all scale in maximum damage based on Brawn. However, don't neglect technology! While Abominations spawn with a good weapon already, having a non-Freak buy you Jawbreakers can make you even more lethal, as many a victim of these relatively easy to get but powerful weapons will attest to. For PvE it is also possible to have Tesla Gauntlets or Edison Gauntlets crafted for your use; these weapons are slow but deal the rare Electricity damage type in high amounts. Other Fists weapons tend to pale in comparison to your natural one, however. Fists have the advantage of often being one-handed, despite having no parry class, making them an extremely good class for grabbing someone and beating them down.
=== Police and Shopping ===


Should you be planning to make it into the endgame, or even just survive the random attack from Hawthorn, a secondary weapon type is encouraged as an Abomination. The most popular choice is Spears, as having a parry class of ** is extremely useful in combating Hawthorn and other players. For the uninitiated: each weapon has a parry class and may parry weapons of the same class or below it. Thus, an Assegai wielding Abomination has a parry class of **, allowing it to parry the Shiver Sword, also **, as well as the Crime Stick, which has a parry class of *, and Jawbreakers, which have a parry class of 0. However, the Crime Stick can only parry weapons with the same class or below, meaning they will rely on Dodge when fighting against the Shiver Sword or Assegai user. All weapon choices here were generic, but they serve to illustrate a point: the parry class on a weapon is important, and Spears happen to be ** all around the board. In addition, Spears scale with Brawn as well, being very useful in that regard as an Abomination will have a higher maximum damage than many other Spears users. You may ask yourself- why not just use Spears then? As has been stated, you are preparing for a multitude of situations. Fists weapons have the advantage of, for the most part, being one-handed, especially the ubiquitous Jawbreaker. You will have to unwield your spear of choice to grab, lowering your damage potential which, in a PvP situation, may not be enough to get past armor. For this reason, opponents you wish to grab you will often use Fists against, while opponents you want to parry you will often use Spears against. It pays to be prepared!
The easiest way to deal with police is by not going to Freedom City. Since none of the shops there sell to freaks anyway, visiting is mostly a waste of time outside of participating in robberies and other illegal pursuits. Most of FC's important shopping options have an alternative elsewhere anyway; everything from furniture to ghostbusting gear can be bought in [[Weezer_Dam|Weezer]] for instance. There are some things that can only be bought in non-freak shops however, such as [[Pilot|plane modules]] on [[Kakuri Island]], camelbacks from FC's survival shop, and some weapon mods from [[Ammu-Nation]]. In these situations, the only option as a freak is to have a friend buy stuff for you - or, perhaps, find someone who has it already and kill them for it!


However, do not discount the usefulness of clubs! Clubs have their own two-handed weapons with a ** parry class, namely the Combustor Hammer and Piston Hammer, as well as Crime Sticks, which allow you to grab in a similar fashion to Fists, but also have a parry class of *! In addition, unlike Spears, Clubs can cause the Limb status condition, lowering their Brawn and Reflexes if you hit them hard enough. While not many Abominations choose to take this path, clubs should still be considered for its versatility weaponry-wise, and also just for fun!
The [[Galleria]], where all the player-stocked shops are, is notable for being 100% freak-friendly and also a safe zone for freaks fleeing the FCPD; Freedom City's finest will not path into the Galleria, so freaks are free to linger there. [[Southern Necropolis]], on the other hand, is probably the most dangerous location in the game for freaks, with an incredibly powerful and fast police force that only reacts to freak presence. This makes [[Camp Benjamin]] an outright death-trap, which means it's impossible for freaks to buy elemental [[Rifles|rifle]] ammo. Freaks will have to rely on corpmates to source this instead.


== Hawthorn ==
=== Mental Illness ===
The bane of Abominations, Hawthorn is a Chainsaw Lance wielding maniac who hunts down Abominations wherever they may go. Hawthorn is characterized as having high health, soaks, and an extremely damaging weapon that is liable to kill you in two or three hits, if not in one hit outright. For this reason, many Abominations take Spears as a secondary weapon class to aid them in their fight against Hawthorn, as the Chainsaw Lance has relatively low Hit in comparison to other weapons, making it a bit easier to dodge or parry. However, Hawthorn has a nasty tendency to ambush players while they are gymming, fighting against other monsters, or just idling. For this reason it is important to always watch your character! It is recommended that you run from Hawthorn should he attack you, as only the strongest of Abominations can fight him without suffering any injuries, let alone death. His ability to one-shot players has been noted, as has his high capacity for punishment. Should you choose to fight him- although the Chainsaw Lance is supposed to be slow, Hawthorn swings it surprisingly quickly. He also has high skill, enough to parry most attacks you throw at him, so the fight may stall out. Hawthorn does not receive stun from a powerattack very well, so landing one can easily turn the tide in your favor. His Brawn makes grabbing a risky proposition at best, as he will break out instantly, and you cannot afford to be stunned and unable to parry. Should you win, his Chainsaw Lance may drop for your own use! It is a slow weapon that scales extremely well with high Brawn and, ironically, is an excellent weapon to use against Hawthorn himself.


== Others ==
When you clone, you're likely to wind up with at least one kind of [[mental_illness|mental problem]]. The effects of these are many, varied, and occasionally annoying. You can counter this problem by partnering up with someone brainy, who can {{cmd|analyze}} you to potentially cure your mental. This has a cooldown of ten minutes, regardless of the psychoanalyst. Note that the strength of mentals builds up over time. If you're analyzed shortly after cloning, you'll probably be cured of your schizophrenia easily; if you wait ten hours, it will be much harder.


The additional Cool penalty means that you would have to work harder to get a good Sneak score. An abomination is less likely to be able to hang around Freedom City than a normal Freak. It is still possible, however, to make quick runs. While Implants are less appealing, due to the insta-gib nature of an Abomination, they are still a valuable resource if used sparingly. Because Abominations have an additional Cool penalty, you may have difficulty telling Nick you want the implants put in. In this case, just input "nod nick" and there should be no problems.
=== Implants ===


The focus penalty nullifies the direct bonus given by Hideous Freak. However, you still have more focus than normal humans by the fact that you have an additional 4 senses and 2 endurance. That works out to +3 focus as opposed to the +6.5 of a Hideous Freak. Abominations can still reliably Blink, a great mutation to shorten distance, especially with reversed stress gains.
Hideous Freaks can only wear up to two [[implants]] before they start degenerating. This is a very obvious and quick process complete with some very freaky messages; every [[heartbeat]] where you are over two implants, the game will pick one implant randomly and degrade its condition, until you only have two left. The game doesn't pick one implant and stick to it, which means that you can even get all your implants degraded to 2/10 condition until one finally breaks, leaving you with a head full of busted tech. Damaged implants are very problematic; see the [[implants|implants page]] for more information.


The lesser Brains of an Abomination are made even bigger of a problem by the requirement of Ripper. You will not be competent at many, if any, Brains-based skills. {{cmd|Feint}}ing can also be a problem for Abominations in both PvE and PvP. If you have high focus, you can utilize {{cmd|screech}} to lower your opponent's Brains. You may also want to look into the Hooligan mutation, which increases your resistance to various stuns, including a feint stun, at the cost of 3 focus total. Getting into a frenzy before fighting a high Brains foe may also help change the tide of battle, thanks to the added feint resistance. A high dose of frenzy can be achieved not just via using {{cmd|scare}} on a group of enemies, but with the function of the Bleeder mutation as well.
This cap can be bypassed by drinking bleach, which raises the number of allowed implants to four (the logic is that this makes freak blood less acidic, or something). Bleach applies a light damage-over-time effect to freaks, which is easy enough to {{cmd|mend}} away. There are no warnings when the bleach is about to wear off, so freaks must be sure to stay topped up; taking a sip every three minutes or so seems to keep up well enough. Bleach can be sourced from two key places. The [[Toxic Dump]] has a leaky chemical pipe to the far south, which spawns a very small amount of bleach. Some bars, such as those in Weezer and the Necropolis, also sell bleach boys, which contain two doses and can be spam-bought to fill a jerrycan, which is a much more practical choice.


Money for an Abomination is mostly spent on recloning. They aren't going to need to spend as much money on armor like a typical Hideous Freak, but Deathsheads are expensive, should you want them. Money not spent on recloning could be spent towards buying contracts as well as weapons, if you do not specialize in fists. The newer breeds of Abomination, however, tend to actually need money to support their secondary weapon type of choice. Still, Abomination is a great mutation for hoarding money as it is often worry free in regards to thirst, hunger, and stress.
No matter what, freaks can never have more than four implants.


Since only Freaks can treat your medical issues, you should aim for becoming as independent as possible. The Salamander mutation will help a lot with broken bones and healing. Hyperimmune helps with most else. The only times you'd actually need a player to treat you is brain damage or mental illness, and you would need another Freak only to treat brain damage. Since there is a scarcity of freak medics, suicide may be the only solution the majority of the time. However, you can still receive psychoanalysis from humans, so it is still recommended you seek out medical attention to fix mental issues upon respawn.
==Appearance==
Freak adds "On top of all that, %N is a hideous mutated freak." to one's appearance, after all other mut appearance modifiers.  


With the limitations on skin mutations, it is generally recommended that you take High Density or Snakeskin in tandem with Firewalker and Rubberskin, as Abomination does not provide soaks for non-physical damage.
{{MutationsListbox}}


Take advantage of your inability to become addicted! This ability is overlooked by many Abominations, but the rewards are mind boggling. Because you suffer no ill effects from drugs, they make an extremely useful buff with no downsides. The two big drugs from an Abomination to use are Crank, which at max dosages that would kill an average player give +4 Reflex and Endurance, and Coke, which is even more dangerous for a regular player, but gives +5 Reflex and +4 Cool. Scavenge in the Crack Mansion for Rocks of Crank, and have a non-Freak buy you the Coke- you won't regret it.
[[Category:Mutation]]

Latest revision as of 17:07, 17 July 2019

Do you like hurting other people?

Hideous Freak is one of HellMOO's "racial" mutations, and is one of the most game-changing mutations a player can take, with several big mechanical changes. The mutation revolves around Focus and Stress.

Effects

This mutation grants: 

   Passive: +4 senses
   Passive: +1 endurance
   Passive: -3 cool
   Passive: +4 torture
   Passive: +3 focus
   Passive: +3 sneak
   Passive: -2 persuade
   Passive: 100% resistance to vampirism
   Passive: 90% resistance to toxic exposure
   Passive: Blood is acidic
   Passive: All stress changes reversed
   Passive: Necropolis junkers, freaks, aboms, and zombies will not attack unprovoked; FCEF troops will attack on sight
   Passive: Cap on number of installed implants
   Passive: High chance of gaining single or multiple mentals on reclone
   Passive: Permanent stars in several communities
   Access to freak and abom minions
   Access to the Freak Tunnels residences
   Access to Necropolis Gate with no rep requirement; barred access to Southern Necropolis
   Barred access to Panopticon Prison and Cube; will never reclone in either
   Barred access to service in many shops; inability to live in some apartments
   scare command: inflict fear on enemies and frenzy yourself!
   Incompatible with: Chromemouth, Chud, Vampire and Zombie.

Advantages

  • +4 Senses. This is the largest single focus bonus available in a mutation, tied with Vampire.
  • +1 Endurance. This is a modest bonus, but Endurance is a very high-value stat, so it's still a good contribution.
  • +4 Torture. This equates to a substantial crit rate boost for freaks.
  • +3 Focus. This is a big bonus, and can bring out the highest power levels that focus can offer.
  • +3 Sneak. This is supposed to help with rushing past FCPD cams without getting caught, but Sneak is an almost useless skill, so it's mostly just a number.
  • Stress reversal. Probably Freak's most important feature: all stress damage becomes stress healing, and vice versa. This allows you to spam cooldowns that cost stress (like focus abilities and grab) with zero cost, and removes the stress downsides of several mutations altogether.
  • 90% Toxic Resistance. This is mostly for picking up bleach from the Toxic Dump for implant reasons - see further down. It also makes some fringe situations easier, like exploring Diablo Seco and eating basilisks.
  • Can't clone in prison. If you get killed by cops, you'll reclone safely in your regular tank.
  • No aggro from Necro mobs. Junkers, fellow freaks, specters, and abominations will leave you alone, which makes the Necropolis a lot less dangerous in the early game.
  • Use of scare. Scare is a situational cooldown that can be used for both combat and pre-fight buffing; see the section below for details.
  • Easy entry to Necro. If entering from the east, Freaks can get past the deadbots by going west past them, and down through the tunnel.

Disadvantages

  • -3 Cool. Cool is a relatively low value stat for everyone who isn't Blades, and it's even less of an issue for freaks, who mostly ignore Cool's stress mitigation because of their stress reversal. It is still a downside for some situations like extended climbs, however.
  • -2 Persuade. This is almost a non-downside; almost every single situation where persuade is useful (lawyering, scamming) is off-limits to freaks anyway. The most this will do is hurt your haggle in the few freak-friendly stores.
  • Acidic blood. In theory this is occasionally advantageous; in practice it's a total pain. Acidic blood on the body inflicts acid damage every heartbeat to a random body part. This must be either soaked or removed quickly, and lingering blood can still damage worn armor even if the damage is soaked. This also adds extra micromanagement to Bleeder.
  • Doesn't reverse Empath. Stress from Empath isn't turned into stress healing, so there's no unholy freakpath synergy. See the Empath page for more information.
  • Clone with mentals. Every time freaks leave their clone tank, they will usually gain a mental illness. Some of these are more problematic than others; some are benign because of Freak's stress reversal. Other times, a strong medic must be sought to fix the illness.
  • Implant limits. Freaks can never have more than four implants, no matter what. They also must be under the influence of bleach to accomodate more than 2, which involves extra micromanagement.
  • Aggro from FCEF. FCEF troopers wander the Necropolis, often wielding guns, and sometimes equipped with the Jammer mutation. They can be very dangerous if their targets are caught off-guard.
  • Cannot enter South Necro. Freaks can't get past the electric grid without getting zapped. They can technically land a plane or take the train in, but this is not a good idea. South Necro's security consists of FCEF empees and sarges, who swarm fast, use guns, and generally shred any freak visitors.
  • Permanent 20 stars in many places. Several civilizations in the game with police forces, most notably Freedom City, will automatically deploy to kill freaks who are sighted on camera.
  • Can't use many shops. Shopkeepers will outright refuse to serve freaks in many stores, though some remain accessible, and any that don't require a storekeeper to use (like the kiosks in Maas Neotek) are fair game. Players who highly value independence will be frustrated to discover that they must rely on corpmates and friends to buy things for them from shops; some important items can only be purchased in shops that are not freak-friendly, such as many weapon mods.
    • Dr. Nick in Freedom City will not install implants on freaks, but Dr. Stigg and Meatwad in Weezer will. Both are more expensive than Nick.
  • Apartment restrictions. Freaks can't live in Sweaty Palms, the Innsmouth, the Helliday Inn, the Final Rest Home, or Burbclave. The Helliday is the biggest loss, as it has the best security in the game.

Location

The mutation spot can be found at the old burned out victorian (Vi on the map) at the Necropolis Gate. This area is a red zone, and contains many dangerous mobs. The mutation spot is two tiles down from the victorian.

Scare

Scare is a situational ability that is exclusive to freaks. Upon use, it acts a lot like Screech, except that instead of shock, everyone in radius will be dosed with fear instead. This reduces their stats and may make low-Cool enemies attempt to flee battle.

As well as this, the freak will gain one dose of frenzy for every mob on their tile, up to the frenzy cap of 4 doses. This works regardless of whether the mobs are affected by the fear. In other words, if a freak uses scare on a tile full of robots, which cannot become scared, the frenzy will still hit even if the fear doesn't. This allows scare to be used as a pre-fight buffing tool; using scare on a tile full of mobs that are immune (robots, drunk players, etc.) or insignificant can apply an instant +4 Frenzy without the health concerns of Bleeder. Max frenzy grants +4 Brawn, +4 Senses and increased resistance to feint, making this useful for brawny fighters or against brainy opponents.

The downside to scare is that it is not affected by Freak's stress reversal, so if used by a freak with low cool, it can cause a huge spike in stress. Maximum frenzy also debuffs focus by -10, meaning that for focus-heavy users this ability can hurt more than it helps. Finally, compared to other abilities at high levels of focus, scare's cast time is relatively long.

Strategy

Hideous freak has some great strengths as well as several drawbacks, but none of them are without counterplay except for the hard implant cap.

High Focus

Hideous freaks are able to reach some of the highest focus totals in the game, if played with a focus-friendly build (usually Endurance Whips). The mutation itself provides a massive +5.5 to the focus skill in total. Carrie, Salamander's mend, Screech, Writhing Smoke and even Chiller can be brought to their maximum potential with freak, with sufficient investment in the focus skill. Most freaks should have no trouble hitting the focus requirement for Blink, nor with getting potent seeks using Medium.

Stress and Cooldowns

Most cooldowns, such as mend, cost stress to use. This is not a problem for freaks thanks to stress reversal, so freaks are free to use their buffed-up focus to spam abilities in every fight. This only has two costs: First, mild risk; using most cooldowns debuffs dodge while the cooldown is casting. Second, this can be a bad trade if you are over-using abilities that don't benefit your fight, since any time spend using abilities is time spent not hitting people with your weapon! Using cooldowns well, a freak can overwhelm opponents with screech, spew and burn or freeze in quick succession. High focus skill also decreases cooldown times for these abilities, so they can be spammed more frequently. Spamming also works with non-focus cooldowns, such as grab, though it does not work with scare, which still costs stress.

Low Cool

Cool is widely considered to be the least important of the six key stats by a large margin, and since most stress gains are reversed for freaks anyway, it becomes even less significant for them. It is also an easy stat to buff; +4 cool is granted by four gold ruby rings, which are easily available in the player economy.

The innate cool disadvantage does make a Freak Blades build less attractive; there are much better racial mutation options for bladers. Every other weapon class is fair game, however, including the guns classes, oweing to all guns' ability to nullify dodge in their targets. This means that inaccuracy will only become a problem if facing an opponent who uses focus to deliberately debuff accuracy.

Police and Shopping

The easiest way to deal with police is by not going to Freedom City. Since none of the shops there sell to freaks anyway, visiting is mostly a waste of time outside of participating in robberies and other illegal pursuits. Most of FC's important shopping options have an alternative elsewhere anyway; everything from furniture to ghostbusting gear can be bought in Weezer for instance. There are some things that can only be bought in non-freak shops however, such as plane modules on Kakuri Island, camelbacks from FC's survival shop, and some weapon mods from Ammu-Nation. In these situations, the only option as a freak is to have a friend buy stuff for you - or, perhaps, find someone who has it already and kill them for it!

The Galleria, where all the player-stocked shops are, is notable for being 100% freak-friendly and also a safe zone for freaks fleeing the FCPD; Freedom City's finest will not path into the Galleria, so freaks are free to linger there. Southern Necropolis, on the other hand, is probably the most dangerous location in the game for freaks, with an incredibly powerful and fast police force that only reacts to freak presence. This makes Camp Benjamin an outright death-trap, which means it's impossible for freaks to buy elemental rifle ammo. Freaks will have to rely on corpmates to source this instead.

Mental Illness

When you clone, you're likely to wind up with at least one kind of mental problem. The effects of these are many, varied, and occasionally annoying. You can counter this problem by partnering up with someone brainy, who can analyze you to potentially cure your mental. This has a cooldown of ten minutes, regardless of the psychoanalyst. Note that the strength of mentals builds up over time. If you're analyzed shortly after cloning, you'll probably be cured of your schizophrenia easily; if you wait ten hours, it will be much harder.

Implants

Hideous Freaks can only wear up to two implants before they start degenerating. This is a very obvious and quick process complete with some very freaky messages; every heartbeat where you are over two implants, the game will pick one implant randomly and degrade its condition, until you only have two left. The game doesn't pick one implant and stick to it, which means that you can even get all your implants degraded to 2/10 condition until one finally breaks, leaving you with a head full of busted tech. Damaged implants are very problematic; see the implants page for more information.

This cap can be bypassed by drinking bleach, which raises the number of allowed implants to four (the logic is that this makes freak blood less acidic, or something). Bleach applies a light damage-over-time effect to freaks, which is easy enough to mend away. There are no warnings when the bleach is about to wear off, so freaks must be sure to stay topped up; taking a sip every three minutes or so seems to keep up well enough. Bleach can be sourced from two key places. The Toxic Dump has a leaky chemical pipe to the far south, which spawns a very small amount of bleach. Some bars, such as those in Weezer and the Necropolis, also sell bleach boys, which contain two doses and can be spam-bought to fill a jerrycan, which is a much more practical choice.

No matter what, freaks can never have more than four implants.

Appearance

Freak adds "On top of all that, %N is a hideous mutated freak." to one's appearance, after all other mut appearance modifiers.


Mutations
Racial Mutations Abomination • Chromemouth • Chud • Empath • Genetic Purity • Hideous Freak • Vampire • Zombie
Focus Mutations Carrie • Chiller • Fuck Machine • Salamander • Screech • Writhing Smoke
Movement Mutations Leapfrog • Phaser • Clairvoyance
Flight • Blink • Medium
Soak Mutations High Density • Firewalker • Rubberskin • Snakeskin • Yeti Skin
Lithodermis • Solar Sponge • Silicone Skin • Eelskin • Yeti Fur
Miscellaneous Mutations Billygoat • Bleeder • Bloodhound • Brainslug • Brute Strength • Camelfat • Enigma • Fibrocartilage • Hooligan • Hyperimmune • Iron Liver • Junkrat • Mule • Nimble Fingers • Plant Whisperer • Ripper • Stench • Twitchy Nerves • Superclot • Xray Vision
Joke Mutations Cat Ears • Caucasian • Third Nipple
Defunct Mutations Jammer
Retrieved from "https://hell-wiki.stuffie.club/index.php?title=Hideous_freak&oldid=9518"