As we now have Spitfire Drones in game that track enemy targets, I think the way is paved for an Infiltrator deployable - the Holographic Decoy. Deployed like a recon device, it projects a stationary Infantry image that will rotate and track enemy targets that are in line of sight. The Infantry Decoy will emit muzzle flashes and put out firing audio to give the illusion that it is firing at what it is tracking. Though it can do no damage, the muzzle flashes are strictly to attract enemy attention. This would be an interesting and fun tool to use for a Stalker Infiltrator that wants to dispatch enemies with a knife - when the enemy enters the room, the Decoy will draw their attention and you will move in for the kill. The tech is in game already. It is like taking a VR dummy model, and using the Spitfire tracking code to animate the Decoy model. I think it would be an interesting addition.
I think this is a cool idea. However - before implementing something like this I think they have to fix the decoy grenades first. Remember decoy grenades? I bet a lot of people don't even know they exist in the game... They have been broken and (at best) half functional from the start of the game, and would at current status be not worth using even if they did work as they were supposed to (which they don't). Maybe the solution is to mix and fix the two. Make the holo-image spawn on the decoy grenade. Possibly add a 2x multiplier to the amount you can carry compared to other grenades to make it worth using over alternatives that actually deal damage (though I guess this heavily depends on how good the illusion turns out to be... the current decoy grenades are completely useless for sure). -Stigma
That is just as good of an idea. Where the grenade detonates, a VR Dummy Nanite Spawns in and starts tracking for targets. My line of thinking was you could use both the Holo decoy deployable and Decoy grenade in tandem to lure in prey.
At first i was thinking why would i replace my recon tool. Now i have a mighty need! Id love to see a decoy grenade revamp or something like OP suggested.
As for turning to face and "shoot" enemies, there are a few ways to go about this. First is to make it like a Spitfire turret, where it will detect anyone within a certain radius. Downsides are that enemies might realize it's a decoy if it turns at some robotic rate, or if it turns toward them after being faced away from said enemy. The other way is to make it detect enemies only in a certain area in front of the hologram. Downside is that enemies walking outside of that area might not even notice someone threw a decoy. Or you could just have it start shooting in some random direction. I dunno.
It is intended to just be a decoy - upping the tracking speed should be possible, since it should be a non damaging entity. And since it would be less animated then a real player, that is its balancing factor. An sharp player might realize its a decoy, though when they do, it may be too late. The knife might already be in their back. Seems like a good bit of fun.
That was in my mind when I envisioned the Decoy. I made a player named Quaid just in case the Decoy is added.....
So it is basically a deployable decoy grenade, as some people already referred to. Would it replace the recon tools? I think it is an interesting idea. It might work better that the decoy grenade with the extra benefit that it stays longer. I would say tgat shooting it makes the model flicker, so that people know it is a decoy and wasted valuable time and ammo into it, presenting a good target for a well positioned infil. Bullets would go straight through the model though.
