Wasteland 3: The Battle of Steeltown Non-lethal Weapons Overview

InXile Entertainment's game director David Rogers is back with another video overview for Wasteland 3's recently-released The Battle of Steeltown DLC. This particular one tells us a thing or two about the new non-lethal weapons you can now get your hands on. Check it out:

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The only thing more valuable than what’s produced in Steeltown is the workforce that’s cranking it all out. As such, the Rangers are going to have a hard time resolving Steeltown’s dilemma without having to make some more hard choices. You’ll be encouraged to subdue, not kill, the workers involved in the rebellion, but whether that’s appropriate in the heat of a firefight is ultimately up to you.

To this end, the administrators of the city will provide you an assortment of less-than-lethal weaponry specifically designed to overload the workers’ cybernetic augmentations. They’re hard to miss; they emit an electric blue glow from the backs of those workers who are implanted with them.

To be successful with the Disruption Tech, cybernetically enhanced opponents will need to be hit with ten stacks of Disruption before their systems are overloaded. Successfully concussed enemies may be more willing to see things your way, or they just might make more problems for you down the road. Put the rebellion down for good or bring ‘em back alive, it’s your call.

Outside of Steeltown, these weapons will still hurt like hell and do a number on non-implanted humans who get debuffed with the disruption effect. Health bars won’t be hit as hard as with conventional weaponry, but taking a hard-to-kill enemy to 10 stacks will still stun them. In this way, disrupting and stun-locking a high HP boss may be faster than killing them, letting you control the biggest threat in your immediate vicinity while you mop up any nearby minions.

In Steeltown, you can take comfort in knowing that your previous cache of weapons will end your altercations much faster than with a non-lethal approach. That said, Rangers who take the more merciful route will be treated with a special achievement if they are successful without shedding the blood of Steeltown’s workers. Still, you might find the greatest difficulty is in holding yourself back from sending an enemy to the grave who deserves it.

Make no mistake, the situation in Steeltown is dire. There’s no knowing exactly what you’ll get yourself into there, or how high the stakes will be once you descend into its smoldering depths.

Wasteland 3’s first DLC, The Battle of Steeltown, is now live on PC and releases June 9 on Xbox and PlayStation.