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In an attempt to answer this question I need to figure whether or oxygen deprivation damage is a factor in a straight up fight. So my question is, in the following scenarios, how long does it take a room to achieve the 'deprivation' state where non Lanius crew take damage?

  • 1 Lanius with level 1, 2, 3 oxygen
  • 2 Lanius with level 1, 2, 3 oxygen

Does room size matter in terms of oxygen draining speed?

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    Oxygen deprivation is definitely a factor - my two-Lanius boarding party seems to be about evenly matched with a pair of Mantis. A lone Lanius might not be able to drain oxygen fast enough to matter, though.
    – Brilliand
    Commented May 19, 2014 at 21:04
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    room size does not matter, not for the overall % of your ship's total oxygen level (another achievement with the lanius cruiser) and not for the draining. Commented May 20, 2014 at 6:47

2 Answers 2

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+150

I've done some experiments for this purpose...

  • I moved a Lanius into a full-oxygen room with a human, at at the same moment, moved an Engi into the no-oxygen room the Lanius had just occupied. When the human started taking damage, I paused and checked the results.

    • With level 1 oxygen, the Engi had 8 health then I paused, and the human had 97
    • With oxygen unpowered, the engi had 31 health when I paused, and the human had 97

With level 3 oxygen, the lanius was not able to drain the room, although he could at level 2 oxygen. 2 Lanius was enough to drain a room at level 3 oxygen, and oddly enough, at level 3 oxygen, 2 lanius in connected rooms could drain both rooms when the door was open, but couldn't drain either room when the door was shut. Air draining from rooms doesn't follow the simple formula of "air is drained from each room individually, and air filters between rooms through doorways"; open doorways seem to actually enhance a Lanius's air-draining abilities.

To establish a baseline, here's how much damage the oxygen-loving crew were able to take before an empty room refilled with oxygen at each level of oxygen power:

  • level 1 oxygen: 27
  • level 2 oxygen: 7
  • level 3 oxygen: 4

After a bit more testing, here are my estimates:

  • Base oxygen loss is 1% per second
  • Level 1 oxygen provides 2% oxygen per second
  • Each Lanius in a room drains 10% oxygen per second
  • Each Lanius in an adjacent room with an open door drains 7% oxygen per second
    • I believe this continues exponentially (the effect reducing by roughly 30% per door). Two Lanius 4 doors apart can drain each other's rooms (and the intervening hallway) at level 3 oxygen, but two Lanius 5 doors apart cannot.
  • Oxygen-loving crew begin taking damage at 5% oxygen, at a rate equal to an untrained human's damage output, and to a level 1 Medbay's healing rate (approximately 20 HP every 3 seconds)

In battle, this amounts to:

  • 1 Lanius at 0 oxygen power: 9 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 2 Lanius at 0 oxygen power: 5 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 1 Lanius at 1 oxygen power: 11 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 2 Lanius at 1 oxygen power: 5 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 1 Lanius at 2 oxygen power: 19 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 2 Lanius at 2 oxygen power: 6 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter
  • 1 Lanius at 3 oxygen power: Oxygen never drains
  • 2 Lanius at 3 oxygen power: 11 seconds of 100% damage, then 200% damage thereafter

What this means to beat various races in equal-numbered combat (1 vs 1, 2 vs 2):

  • Mantis: The oxygen must drain in under 5 seconds (takes 3 Lanius for a win)
    • 2 Lanius get a fair fight at oxygen 1 or less; if the Lanius escape at very low health, the Mantis will likely die of suffocation afterward.
  • Rock or Crystal: The oxygen must drain in under 7.5 seconds (takes 2 Lanius, oxygen 2 or less)
  • Human, slug: The oxygen must drain in under 15 seconds for an advantage (takes 2 Lanius if oxygen is at 2 or more)
  • Engi, single Zoltan: The Lanius will win regardless.
  • 2 Zoltan: The oxygen must drain in under 10.5 seconds to ensure survival (takes 2 Lanius if oxygen is powered, takes 3 Lanius if oxygen is at level 3).
  • 3 or more Zoltan: Everyone dies.
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    I think you have a mistake. When you say "Engi had 8 health" maybe you mean 80? It makes no sense to me that with oxygen unpowered the Engi had more health that when powered.
    – SysDragon
    Commented May 21, 2014 at 7:08
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    @SysDragon The Engi was standing in a no-oxygen room (with another Lanius in it) while it waited for the human to take damage. The longer the human stayed safe, the more hurt the Engi got.
    – Brilliand
    Commented May 21, 2014 at 16:02
  • props to you for doing all that testing.
    – l I
    Commented May 22, 2014 at 11:16
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As wiki says:

They drain Oxygen about as fast as a hull breach in a single square.

The exact time depends on the oxygen in the room.

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    Don't hull breaches drain at different speeds depending on how bad they are? IMO, this falls far short of answering the question.
    – Brilliand
    Commented May 20, 2014 at 16:04
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    Actually, hull breaches don't appear to change how fast they drain air based on how serious they are - even a tiny crack is enough to prevent a room from becoming safe with level 1 oxygen.
    – Brilliand
    Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 20:28

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