Just reflecting on the potential usefulness of this skill - it would probably depend on what types of interactions would be possible with the flung lemming.
This will also include interactions that aren't possible in Lix, since it doesn't have many of the NeoLemmix / SuperLemmix skills.
- cloning a Batter would fling two lemmings in opposite directions, which might be an interesting way of separating two worker lemmings from a crowd, if they then have to fulfil different tasks
- I think a flung lemming should behave like a Jumper (except the arc would be much larger, probably closer to that of a Spearer and Grenader). Therefore, the flung lemming should be able to hold on to vertical walls (if he is a Climber and/or Slider, with Climber taking precedent over Slider, as usual); and he should be able to transition into a Shimmier if close enough to a ceiling.
- It might also be possible to use a Batter to fling a lemming into a Laserer tunnel in a ceiling, or higher up in a wall. This depends on the trajectory of the flinging arc, of course, as well as on where the Laserer is placed. By the same token, Batters could fling lemmings on top of Spearer spears sticking in a wall, or into wall niches created by Grenaders / Bombers.
- Should Swimmers be able to use the Batter while in water? Might be another way to get a fellow Swimmer out of a water pond, if the walls are too high.
Or, perhaps most interestingly:
What if a Swimmer could use a Batter to save a non-Swimmer from drowning, by flinging the Drowner out of the water before the animation is completed? (Much like Swimmers can still be assigned to Drowners.)
- Disarmers might make for great candidates to-be-flung. When there's a bunch of traps in the level, areas where you don't want the crowd to go before these traps have been disarmed.
Therefore, have the crowd fling the Disarmer to the different places he needs to go.
- Batters would also be a new and unique way of cancelling any given skill. Want a Builder or Platformer to stop? Fling the building lemming away from his staircase! Same for a destructive skill? A Basher, Miner, Fencer, or Digger would get flung against the wall of his own shaft.
- Crucially, I think Batters should be able to free Blockers, since they remove the ground under the Blocker's feet, without being a destructive skill. This can be a useful tool for a level designer, when you want a Blocker to be freed, without simply providing an overpowered Walker, or another destructive skill which could be used to create backroutes elsewhere.
The Batter, much like freeing a Blocker with e.g. a Miner, would still require another lemming to get (back) to the Blocker and free him, rather than the Walker simply allowing the Blocker to free himself.
- Regarding Zombies, I would assume Batters merely toss them away (to prevent them from touching and infecting the Batter / the crowd), rather than outright killing them, as the Spearer and Grenader do?
- Regarding Neutrals, Batters could be used to get Neutrals out of areas that they can't get out of on their own. Sure, you'd still have to get a worker lemming into the same area as the Neutrals - and that worker lemming could also build them out, use destructive skills to carve a tunnel for them, etc. But due to the power and versatility of the Builder, level designers often don't want to provide too many of those. And then, if the Neutrals are stuck in a steel pit or similar, a Batter might be the only way to get them moving.
The more I think about this, the more I like the idea of the Batter!
In my view, the above examples (a non-exhaustive list) show that the Batter would be far more versatile and useful in SuperLemmix than it already is in Lix!
