What's Different?

This guide is solely intended as a "changelog" for players who already have experience with other SS13 servers centered around humans fighting Xenomorphs. If you're new to this sub-genre, check Handbook to Merc. If you're new to SS13 entirely, you're pretty much on your own for now.

Universal Changes
- The average human is now more powerful than the average Xeno. This is due to a massive balance change listed below. On this server, Xenos are closer to a zombie horde than intelligent murderous parasites with impractical reproduction.

- Rounds are MUCH faster. Deployment can happen at 12:10 and is forced at 12:15, and the round will almost never last more than an hour.

- Xenomorphs are now Zurganids, creatures composed entirely of animated Xenomorph resin, due to evolutionary changes. What might otherwise be Marines are MercDonalds mercenary contractors.

- Multiple round types are in the default Secret rotation. Extermination is the one you are familiar with, but there is also objective defense VS AI-controlled mobs, and Mercenaries defending the ship against actual U.S. Marines controlled by other players.

- Every Extermination round ends with an assault on the Mercenary ship, the Saltshaker. Yes, even Mercenary victories. Rounds are won solely by Mercenaries setting off their anti-xeno nuke, or by Zurganids crippling the ship's four ISPs and causing it to crash.

- RP standards are nonexistent; referring to the lead developer Mport in radio chatter will be met with laughs (assuming you say something funny) and not punishment (even if you don't).

- Z-Levels are fully integrated. Mercs can fire down from rooftops, and flying Zurganids can try to attack Mercenary bombers. Press the F key to look up or down.

- Movement is pixel-precise, not tile-precise.

- Running into an enemy will automatically hit them with the strongest melee weapon you have in your hands.

Mercenary Gameplay
- Marines are Mercenaries here, and will be referenced as such in the wiki.

- There is no friendly fire. Including Orbital Bombardments. The only exceptions are landing vehicles and barbed wire. This is also a consequence of the extreme balance change further down.

- Each squad has their own pod to deploy to the mission area, which have their landing zones picked by the Squad Leader or Overwatch officer. Once deployed, these pods become FOBs, which count towards squad status, if destroyed, it will count towards weakening the squad. Said FOBs are also used to evacuate when the evacuation phase is started.

- Squads have specific mechanical roles. Alpha is the entire normal ground force, Beta has jetpacks to flank Zurganids or guard the smaller shuttles, Gamma is the mechanized squad with slow but stun-immune power armor, and Delta is a squad of Specialists, albeit with less extreme gear.

- Medicine is extremely simplified; there is only one combat damage type, and no amputations or organ damage whatsoever. However, there are also no defibrillators.

- The only shipside roles are Squad Watch officers, player controlled screeches who manage the bridge, and Crewmen, who handle engineering tasks on board the ship. All other jobs that you might expect are taken by more Screeches, which are not player-controlled. The CO is expected to deploy.

- ALL combat equipment, including attachments, is acquired at the same equipment machine, and every role is given a separate weapon and gear budget depending on their job description. Armor is chosen first, and can determine what gear is available to you.

- Mercenaries win via completing objectives, instead of just killing their opposition. In Extermination missions, Mercenaries will have the objectives of finding and rescuing Ronald, a special Screech hidden in a Vault somewhere within the colony, securing artifact containers, also found within the same vaults, and retrieving resin cores dropped by dead Zurganids. Once the Extermination order is unlocked after the required amount of goal points being fulfilled, the Mercenaries will need to defend the Ship for ten minutes. In raid mode, in which alot of extermination's gameplay is inherited, the ship phase is skipped in favour of a simple evacuation phase that begins once the mercenaries have completed their goals, or once the squads have been eliminated.

- Completing objectives gives goal points, which are required for victories.

- Skills have been simplified into a MERCS score, detailed at MERCS and You. Importantly, they only impact efficiency; any Mercenary can use anything, but they might need someone else's ID to do so.

- All Mercenaries are immune to overdoses and facehuggers due to rapid advances in medical implant technology.

Zurganid Changes
- Xenomorphs are Zurganids in here, and will be referenced as such in this wiki.

- Zurganids respawn infinitely. They drop Resin Cores important to the Mercenary faction when they die, and respawn at deployed Hive Zurganids, which are the only caste that cannot respawn, or the Queen, who can. Any dead player may join the Zurganids at will, provided there are enough slots. This is the reason for both bolded points above.

- Zurganids no longer rely on the dropship to assault the main ship. They instead can compact themselves into resin pods and launch themselves into low orbit. Be aware; the Saltshaker's powerful ECM device will sever any Zurganid's hivemind connection and kill them instantly if the hive is not strong enough. Your Stats tab will tell you how close the hive is to overcoming the device.

- The Queen has lost her stuns in exchange for becoming a mobile spawn point; she also has the ability to summon the ENTIRE Zurganid team to her location on an extremely long cooldown. In a pinch she can spam facehuggers, but they won't do more than blind the Mercenaries. Her death drops a more valuable Resin Core, instead of crippling the hive like you may expect.

- Zurganids can eat dead Mercenaries to contribute to the hive's overall strength level. More important roles count for more biomass.

- There are only eight body types, including the unique Queen and non-respawning Hive. There is also no tiering system; Zurganids can individually upgrade their stats in one of four places as the hive gains more biomass.

Refer to Zurganids for more detailed information on the faction.