Stun

Description
When a Stun hits, the target will be hit without fail by the next attack targeting them AFTER the Stun, as long as it's possible for the attack to hit them (Backfires still backfire normally).

Strategy
You might ask yourself, if Stun is so powerful, why is it unrestricted while the cheaper Corrupt and No-Armor are restricted? Stun is expensive and not useful most of the time.

Consider: Stun costs a premium of 15 energon. You probably only have 50 energon to begin with. You can use Stun to make a big attack hit, but Stun itself IS a big attack, and it doesn't have any inherent accuracy bonus. You might as well have just attacked with the big attack first, because the risk is the same but the reward is greater (the damage now, instead of the damage later after paying the cost to fire it twice).

Numerically speaking, let's consider your choices.

Badbot has Stun. He attacks Goodbot with it and hits, spending 15 energon to deal 0 damage. Then he attacks Goodbot again with a plain rank 5 attack, which we'll say deals 15 damage. Thanks to Stun, it's sure to hit, and of course it also costs 15 energon.

Of course, there's also the chance that Badbot will miss with his Stun, in which case the "chain of events" just ends and he can decide what to do with his next attack normally.

So, Badbot's chances: Spend 15 energon to do nothing at all (the missed Stun), or spend 30 energon to deal 15 damage over two turns.

Goodbot does not have Stun. He just attacks with his rank 5 attack. It deals 15 damage if it hits, and costs 15 energon. It also might miss, naturally.

Goodbot's chances: Spend 15 energon to do nothing, or spend 15 energon to deal 15 damage in one turn.

As you can see, Stun actually is a penalty (for which you pay quite a few points) most of the time.

On occasion Stun is useful, and this is when you have another attack handy which is MUCH more powerful and/or MUCH more expensive than the Stun itself. For instance, if you have two level 8 missiles, you don't want to waste them. Or if Devastator is standing right there and he can't hit Sky Lynx, but you have a Stun, and you CAN hit Sky Lynx. Maybe those missiles are Inaccurate and that Stun is Accurate. You couldn't normally get a level 8 Accurate attack, as that would add up to 10CP. But you can get the Accurate bonus on your Stun, and then transfer that roll to the following attack. Unfortunately a level 5 followed up by a level 8 will eat up almost all of your energon...

Sometimes Stun is used as a plot device. If Blurr or Blast Off is about to escape carrying the McGuffin, by stunning him you have him at your mercy for long enough to catch him and take the McGuffin.

Related Effects

 * Vulnerable
 * Cripple