SBM (Small Balance Mod, Steam Workshop 3737223330) is the balance mod these servers run. It makes a few targeted changes on top of vanilla NS2 build 344 and leaves everything else alone. The servers do not run the Community Balance Mod (CBM).
Every number on this wiki already includes SBM. Values SBM changes are shown in yellow with an SBM tag; hover them to see the vanilla value.
Onos Stomp#
Stomp works exactly like vanilla (damage, stun, range, animation) with one addition: a 4 s cooldown between successful Stomps. The cooldown is shared whether the onos stomps from Gore or from Bone Shield, and the alien HUD shows it filling up.
See Stomp.
Railgun#
SBM replaces the exosuit railgun's shot code:
| Vanilla | With SBM | |
|---|---|---|
| Hold time before a charged shot fires on its own | 2.2 s | 3.3 s |
| Time between shots | 1.4 s | 1.3 s |
| Damage at 10 m | 100% | 100% |
| Damage at 25 m and beyond | 100% | 60% |
| Damage to each next target after piercing one | 100% | ×67% per target |
| Width when hitting players | 0.3 m | unchanged |
| Width when hitting map walls | 0.3 m | 0 m up close, 0.10 m to 20 m, 0.30 m beyond |
- Marine buildings, ARCs and MACs that the shot passes through do not reduce its damage; friendly players do.
- Eggs are hit by the shot.
- Full charge time (2 s) and full damage (150) are unchanged.
See Railgun.
Pulse grenade#
Damage 40 (vanilla 50). The electrify effect is unchanged. See Pulse grenade.
Aura#
Aura still shows marines through walls, but without their health.
Parasite#
Parasite keeps vanilla's wide hit box against players and structures, but that box no longer collides with map geometry, so a parasite aimed past a corner no longer hits the wall instead. See Parasite.
Mines#
A mine cannot be placed within 0.65 m of a friendly Phase Gate's centre.
Construction score#
Helping build a structure gives score based on its build time and your share of the work (aliens: build time ÷ 5, marines: build time ÷ 2, × your share, rounded up). Hydras, cysts, clogs and babbler eggs give none. See Scoring.
All changed values#
Generated from the SBM source at build time:
| Constant | Vanilla | With SBM | Set in |
|---|---|---|---|
LayMines:kSBMPhaseGateMineExclusionRadius | – | 0.65 | sbm/LayMines.lua:8 |
Parasite:kSBMParasiteROF | – | 0.54 | sbm/Parasite.lua:10 |
Parasite:kSBMParasiteRange | – | 1000 | sbm/Parasite.lua:8 |
Parasite:kSBMParasiteSize | – | 0.15 | sbm/Parasite.lua:9 |
Railgun:kBulletSize | 0.3 | removed | Weapons/Marine/Railgun.lua:27 |
Railgun:kChargeForceShootTime | 2.2 | 3.3 | sbm/Railgun.lua:27 |
Railgun:kFalloffEnd | – | 25 | sbm/Railgun.lua:41 |
Railgun:kFalloffFactor | – | 0.6 | sbm/Railgun.lua:42 |
Railgun:kFalloffStart | – | 10 | sbm/Railgun.lua:40 |
Railgun:kPierceDamageFactor | – | 0.67 | sbm/Railgun.lua:43 |
Railgun:kRailgunChargeTime | 1.4 | 1.3 | sbm/Railgun.lua:59 |
Railgun:kRailgunEntityTraceDiameter | – | 0.3 | sbm/Railgun.lua:38 |
kPulseGrenadeDamage | 50 | 40 | sbm/Balance.lua:6 |
kSBMStompCooldown | – | 4 | sbm/Balance.lua:3 |
Which game files SBM hooks
| Game file | SBM file | Hook |
|---|---|---|
lua/Balance.lua | lua/sbm/Balance.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Alien/StompMixin.lua | lua/sbm/StompMixin.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Alien/Gore.lua | lua/sbm/Gore.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Alien/BoneShield.lua | lua/sbm/BoneShield.lua | post |
lua/NetworkMessages.lua | lua/sbm/NetworkMessages.lua | post |
lua/NetworkMessages_Client.lua | lua/sbm/NetworkMessages_Client.lua | post |
lua/GUIAlienHUD.lua | lua/sbm/GUIAlienHUD.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Marine/Railgun.lua | lua/sbm/Railgun.lua | replace |
lua/Weapons/Marine/Minigun.lua | lua/sbm/Minigun.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Marine/LayMines.lua | lua/sbm/LayMines.lua | post |
lua/Weapons/Alien/Parasite.lua | lua/sbm/Parasite.lua | post |
lua/GUIAuraDisplay.lua | lua/sbm/GUIAuraDisplay.lua | post |
lua/PointGiverMixin.lua | lua/sbm/PointGiverMixin.lua | post |
lua/menu2/GUIMainMenu.lua | lua/sbm/GUIMainMenu_Post.lua | post |
Why not CBM?#
The NS2 Community Balance Mod is a large rework (new structures, new exosuit arms, reworked lifeforms and upgrades, and much more). SBM keeps vanilla and makes a few small, targeted fixes instead. Other NS2 wikis are outdated in places and are starting to describe CBM, so their numbers often don't match what you play here. That is why this wiki exists.