Difference between revisions of "Kamikaze"

Revision as of 12:11, 8 December 2008

Kamikaze
Type:	Suicide
Keyboard selection:	F4 (x3)
Standard effects:	30hp injury during flight, 50hp (max.) in final explosion
Present in:	Worms, Worms DC, Worms 2, W:A, WWP

The Kamikaze can be a very tactical weapon if used correctly. It shares a special property with the Suicide Bomber in that any worm that uses it will die. For this reason, it is commonly used by a worm that has very low health. It is also unique because the direction of attack is limited to 8 specific directions. The worm will cut through any landscape during it's initial flight. Any worms hit during the initial flight or the final explosion will be thrown a large distance.

There is a glitch related to the Kamikaze. See Kamikaze drowning glitch for more information.

How it works

In order to get the best out of using this weapon, it helps greatly to understand exactly how it works. The Kamikaze can be thought of as having 3 "stages", each of which will be described below.

The "cutting" stage

This is the initial stage where the Kamikaze will cut through the ground. Any worm that collides with the Kamikazieing worm will be flown into the air and suffer damage. This stage will last for only a short while, where the length of time depends upon the power of the weapon. If the power is set to 0, then this stage will be skipped. After this stage has completed, it will move into the "collision" stage.

The "collision" stage

This stage is identical to the "cutting" stage, except the worm will no longer continue to cut through the land. If the worm is not cutting through land, then he will continue to move until he either collides with land or reaches the map border, where the "explosion" stage occurs.

The "explosion" stage

This may not seem like a stage at all, but there's a crucial element to the weapon that makes it behave unexpectedly in this stage. After colliding with the landscape, the worm does not immediately explode, but instead moves forward a single step before exploding. The worm travels a few pixels in a single step, and so the explosion is offset. Please note that during this stage, the worm stops cutting through the land as it moves, although the land that remains is usually removed by the following explosion.

Tactics

• Because worms fly quite a distance when hit by a Kamikaze, it can sink multiple worms on an open landscape when Low Gravity is enabled. The distance flown in this case can surpass that of a Baseball Bat.
• The bridges that occasionally appear on random landscapes are flat, so the Kamikaze can hit multiple worms standing on bridges very easily.
• "Sink holes" can be created by Kamikazeing straight down into the water. Frozen worms can be killed this way when standing above them.
• The Kamikaze can cut through large amounts of land, and so is a very good anti-Darksider weapon.
• In a one-on-one situation near the end of a game, a player may be able to create a tie out of an otherwise hopeless situation by killing the opponent, and himself, with a Kamikaze.

Criticisms, Problems and Weaknesses

• Using a Kamikaze will kill the worm, so it is not used unless it is worth the sacrifice. In many Schemes, it is more beneficial to have more worms than your opponent, rather than more total hp, and so sacrificing a worm can have big disadvantages.
• The Kamikaze is usually most beneficial when used by a worm with low hp, and so is not used in many situations where it could be useful, as the sacrifice of a worm with large hp is too great.
• The Kamikaze is limited to 8 directions, so it may not always be possible to hit your target. This is rectified somewhat by the ability to use it in mid-air.
• The damage dealt by a Kamikaze can be considered quite low considering that you need to sacrifice a worm to use it.
• A kamikazieing worm will not collide with a worm that is already moving, which usually occurs due to detonating an oil drum just before hitting the worm.
• If used at a certain height, a downwards Kamikaze may not create a sink hole.