Introducing a new anti-melee Z, the "Acid Boomer"

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

Im currently working on adding an Acid Boomer type of Z into my game. I dont know if the Z would make it into the master, but im hoping it will.
I would like to talk about this Zombie and take it from there.

The idea is basicly that this Z would be Acid / Boomer hybrid, but still being set as Evolution 1, similar to Acid and Boomer.
The purpose of this Z would be to be another anti-melee Z, a guy that you just cant Smash down with your baseball bat and / or Lure into a window and hit dead on the spot.
I feel like the game makes killing Zombies in melee way too easy, and this includes Acid Zombies (find window, hit twice, jump through the next window rinse and repeat).

Im currently working with mainly two different flavours

a) Melee zombie, between a normal and a tough Z in strength. On death, no corpse appears. Instead, the corpse does bursts on death. Would sprinkle every adjacent tile with some acid. An alternative version would MAYBE springle every tile with range 2 with acid, and stronger acid possibly.
Problem, the Z would still be prone to reach-attachs without being able to punish the player.

b) like a) but instead of dropping range 1 acid all around on death, it would spawn a random amount of acid on death, similar to how smashing a dead acid zombies acts. Range and amount of tiles sprinkled to be determined, likely range 2 so every MELEE user it as risk of receiving some acid. The amount would around the level of pulping.

c) like b), but instead of just leaving like 7-9 stained in acid, this one would really burst, showering a rather large area in acid. Possible AoE 3, where AoE 1 has strong, AoE 2 medium and AoE 3 has weak acid pools.

d) Still a melee zombie, but instead of spreading acid on death, this Z would sprinkle some acid on every melee attack it receives, if the damage is “meaningful”. No distinction between using cut or bash, it just happens. I could trigger either 1 random tile with acid (range 1, 2) or either a 50 % chance to rigger 1 random tile with acid.

Possibly, or not, the Z would not leave a Body worth butchering on death.

Basicly, the goal is to have a zombie that punishes player for going melee every time, and maybe a bit harsher than an acidic zombie does currently.
One Advantage this Zombie bring with him is the fact that after killing him, the pools of acid can be a very good weapon for the player to use versus more nearby Zs.

Thoughts ?

2

The problem with acid fields is that they are very easy to get immune to: just stand on a shopping cart.

Acid splatters, as in point d), is pretty hard to get immune to, but you may need to balance it somewhat to get it to work right. It should neither immediately melt weak characters nor be 90% dodged by somewhat stronger characters.

3

Another alternative is to have them emit an acid cloud on death. Think like a smoker but dealing direct damage and possibly inflicting a damage-over-time effect.

A final form if you will would be an acid smoker.

4

I’d love to see an anti-ranged zed that stymies gunners but not so much melee characters. Smokers can do that from afar by shielding others, but they tend to spot you pretty quickly and rush after you. Making them easy prey for a small fire or good melee skills.

5

I can do that, too, once im done. However, i would need you to do the design of the Z. It would need to be coherent with the general zombie-line and fit and it also would need to be simple, yet elegant. Take your time.