Chunk skip
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Chunk skip
Skip the closest 5 chunks of rock or slag to scatter them near the target point. This is useful for producing cover during offensive operations.
Base Stats
- Type
- Psycast
Ability
- Psylink Level
- 1
- Psyfocus Cost
- 4%
- Neural Heat Gain
- 14
- Casting Time
- 60 ticks (1 sec)
- Range
- 24.9 tiles
- Effect Radius
- 2.9 tiles
- Caster Must Be Capable of Violence
- False
Chunk skip is a level 1 psycast that teleports a number of chunks to the targeted point.
Acquisition
There are two ways to acquire the psycast Chunk skip:
- Upon reaching psylink level 1, a random psycast of level 1 is granted regardless of how this level up is achieved. This won't apply if the psycaster already knew one or more level 1 psycast.
- Chunk skip can also be acquired from a psytrainer naming it. See the psytrainer page for further details.
Summary
On cast, chunk skip teleports the 5 nearest chunks (valid targets include stone, steel slag, and mechanoid slag chunks) to random tiles within a 5x5 square, centered on the cast location. This location can be anywhere within a 25 tile radius of the caster, requiring line of sight. However, the affected chunks can be teleported from any range, and do not require line of sight with the caster to be skipped. However, while chunk skip does prioritize chunks closer to the cast location, it also appears to weight chunks in close proximity to one another more highly, giving it a tendency to skip the nearest groups of chunks, rather the 5 directly closest targets.
Analysis
Chunk skip is a straight forward psycast that does one job and does it well enough. It affords the player some tactical freedom in the location in which they take engagements, giving them access to a reasonable level of cover no matter the terrain. However, unless the player has already processed or otherwise removed most of the chunks on the map, there is generally an abundance of them for the player to take advantage of even without using chunk skip. In spite of this, chunk skip still has merit against stationary targets such as sieges, or defending a crashed shuttle, where the player has little choice over the location of combat. Additionally, although the chunks are placed semi-randomly, using a high priority stockpile zone and hauling can place them in any orientation the player desires, though the time sensitive nature of combat may render such a tactic cumbersome.
Indeed, chunk skip has more use as a tool for removing cover than one for creating it. During the early days of a colony, players will often lack tools to root enemies out of cover, which can can result in sub-optimal situations such as relying on lucky shots, or leaving cover to rush them down in melee or flank. However, as the game highlights which chunks will be affected prior to casting, the player can leverage chunk skip as an impromptu cover denial tool by skipping chunks enemies are using for cover to a new location, leaving them an easy target. Although, this tactic requires the enemies to have cover in the first place, which is a situation better sidestepped altogether through traditional defensive tactics such as a killbox, once a colony is more established.
Outside of combat, chunk skip's ability to teleport chunks give it some limited utility as a method to "haul" chunks to a stonecutter's table or electric smelter, saving pawns long trips to and from the edges of the map hauling chunks back to be processed. However, as chunk skip targets the 5 generally nearest chunks, one would have to wait the chunks were processed in order to remove them as the nearest targets for chunk skip. In spite of this, if one was so inclined, one could use chunk skip to save hundreds of hours of pawn labour, for relatively little time investment, requiring only the player's direct input to keep recasting chunk skip.
Version history
- 1.2.2719 - Added.
- 1.4.3580 - Fix: Typo in description - "Skip the 5 chunks [...]" -> "Skip the closest 5 chunks [...]".