Hipster Monkey
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Buddy, the Six-String Samurai
“I know your type, buddy. You ain’t going to Vegas. Where you go death follows like a blown-out ‘52 Plymouth.” - A washed up rocker (Movie Quote)
Yes, I'm aware of the time period for Rock 'n' Roll.
I originally had drafted this back in December. With the new heroes coming out, I decided to wait to see what potential ideas could come up, and I'm happy to say that the recent new heroes gave me confidence in my ideas. Just waiting on Apollo since he supposedly has a parry-like ability and I have a parry-like ability for Buddy, so I want to compare. But, overall, the image of the Six-String Samurai is just too overwhelming for myself and I need to get the idea out there.
What if we combined elements of Billy and Yamato and a gun archetype like Paige, and spice it up with a little bit of rock’n’roll? Plus, the melee "gun" Silver has for her ultimate. Heavily inspired by the movie “Six-String Samurai.” It’s... not a great movie. But extremely fun, in my opinion, thus transcending into that subjective greatness that are cult classics. The people who made it clearly had a passion for the project. A by-product of that old 90’s passion. Where else can you find a caricature of Slash from Guns ‘n’ Roses, as Death the embodiment of Heavy Metal? And where, spoiler(?), Rock ‘n’ Roll and Heavy Metal duel over the fate of an orphan’s soul? The full movie can be found on YouTube which is provided for free by the distributor. And it’s full of great music and quotes (some quotes of which are used here).
———
“Buddy has one goal.
And that goal is to become the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.“ - A Fate’s Tale
Key Art(?):
Character Introduction:
Buddy is the Six-String Samurai. They say he can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. With his tuxedo and broken glasses, infused with the power of rock 'n' roll, he excels at singling out a target for a “guitar duel.” Using his Sweep Picking to single out a target from a group and knock others away. Once his target is isolated, he can strike with Hammer-on to launch his target into the air, and then jump up towards them to slam them back down with Pull-Off. He has to keep tender, love, and care of his beloved guitar as he has to Restring between “sets” (fights) to give him fresh sound and more power. When it’s time to rock… and roll, Hail to the King allows him to unleash the full power of Rock ‘n’ Roll, channeling his inner samurai, making him the ultimate soloist as he slides towards his target during a team fight to isolate and take out that key target. Buddy will be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll or die trying. And Rock ‘n’ Roll can never die. (or, And you cant kill Rock ‘n’ Roll.)
Being the “Buddy Holly” of Deadlock, the Six-String Samurai is a wandering musician, who happens to also be a samurai. Passing by from city to city, Buddy plays his guitar spreading the new gospel that is Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Character Key Details:
Weapon “The Devil’s Hands”: Fender Stratocaster or Les Paul Goldtop or Gibson ES-125 1957 (could be fun, cool cosmetic skins in the future)
Primary Fire: Strumming (shoots out musical notes; single notes. Sound of the notes are affected by the quality of his strings)
Secondary Fire: Power Chord (plays a power chord for more damage; burst of three notes. Sound of the power chords are affected by the quality of his strings)
Stamina: 2 bars (in Dash Bucket 1. Maybe 2, but with faster stamina recharge)
Buddy starts the game with Dull Strings until he gets a point in 3. When Buddy has Dull Strings, his fire rate and bullet velocity is reduced (reduced bullet velocity akin to Paige’s… pages) and deals less damage. The notes and chords from his guitar reflect this state with a duller color and “dead” sound. This is to give his opponents a visual and sound cue for how strong Buddy is in that moment. In addition, his 1 and 2 deal less damage and are less effective (losing some properties).
When Buddy Restrings, his attacks become more vibrant and powerful, and he can play his notes and chords faster (bullet velocity and fire rate becoming faster).
Using Hammer-On/Pull-Off and Sweep Picking, and guitar notes deteriorate Buddy’s strings. The more he uses his abilities and gun attacks the less his effectiveness becomes (more detail later on).
(Side Note: Something like this, I feel, could be fun for the sound guys.)
For fun scaling: his fire rate, bullet velocity, maybe move speed and melee can scale off of Spirit. INFUSED WITH THE SPIRIT OF ROCK ‘n’ ROLL, BABY!
1: Hammer-On/Pull-Off
“You don’t want to be like me, kid. Go home, start a family, get a picket fence, and get a real guitar.” - The Six-String Samurai (Movie Quote)
Hammer-on: Non-chargeable, swing your guitar upwards sending a musical shockwave in a line dealing Weapon damage to enemies. The target (only a single-target) directly in front of Buddy will be knocked up into the air. Target will be briefly immobilized at the apex. (Like 0.5-1 second, cannot extend duration. This is to help set up for Pull-off.) Knock up height can increase with items/tiers. Does not target (skill check).
Can “parry” (ie interrupt) dashes (and blink abilities) if struck at the right time. Buddy must be facing his target, and his target has to be close (melee range). This is the reason it does not target. Upon a successful “parry,” refresh one stamina.
Pull-off: Only available after Hammer-on and only if a target enemy is in the air from Hammer-on, (ie, cannot be activated from any other knock-up). Can be activated any time as the target goes up into the air, but does the most damage at the apex (or maybe only available at the apex). Jump up/Blink towards the enemy and swing your guitar downwards knocking them down into the ground dealing melee/weapon damage (Buddy also goes down with his target; think Cloud’s Braver from FF7). Does more damage the higher up the target is to a max amount. (Maybe have a brief stun from max height.)
Uses one string for full effect (two if both Hammer-on and Pull-off are used). If Buddy has Dull Strings or not enough string, he cannot knock his target up and deals less damage. (So, Buddy could potentially knock someone up with his last string, but if he uses Pull-off, Buddy will go down, but his target will not and the ability will deal less damage. "Ah shit, I forgot to Restring.")
2: Sweep Picking or Tritone (if Troubadour is ever a character, the ability name Tritone works better for that character)
“Hey four-eyes! They say you can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. *scoff* Is that really true?” - A wannabe King. (Movie Quote)
“Targetable,” but does not require a target to activate. Buddy swings his guitar in a circle around him dealing Weapon AOE damage. If Buddy targeted an enemy within the radius of Sweep Picking, that enemy gets pulled towards Buddy. Enemies not targeted by Buddy will get knocked away in that radius. Knockback and pull is the AOE radius. Radius can increase with items.
*This part may be reincorporated into Ult V1* The target pulled towards Buddy becomes singled out for a Guitar Duel, granting Buddy increased stats and damage against only that target. Buffs only last a few seconds. (Maybe to make it easier, it applies a debuff to the target instead called Stage Fright or Bow to the King.) If Buddy marks a target, he gains increased move speed towards that target.
Uses one string for full effect. If Buddy has Dull Strings or not enough string, he cannot pull his target or knock enemies away, and deals less damage.
3: Restring
“If you scratch my guitar, I’ll kill you.” - The Six-String Samurai (Movie Quote)
Restring your guitar with up to six charges (because six strings; or more!) to refresh your sound, gaining stat bonuses and increasing the damage output of Buddy’s attacks (removing the severely limited fire rate and projectile speed, and bringing the gun damage up to tempo, for example). Fresh strings grant a separate temporary buff (like temporary bullet and spirit lifesteal, or on-hit heal, or secondary power chord applies slow, or chaining musical notes adds stacks for a slow). Temporary buff duration is fixed. Charges are gained through tiers, can’t increase with EC or RR. Maybe, but shouldn’t really be worth it. There is also a downtime during Restring, so Buddy has to be very cautious of his position as he is extremely vulnerable during that time. Downtime during Restring cannot be reduced except through tiers. Maybe.
Abilities remove one full “string” (ie stack). Successfully using Hammer-on and Pull-off removes two strings (so, maybe, first point gives him two strings to start. Primary attacks remove 1/4 of a string. Secondary power chords remove half a string. If a power chord is done with only 1/4 of the last string, it doesn’t do full damage. In the same vein, if an ability is used without a “full” string, it doesn’t do full damage, nor has the extra CC properties. This is to encourage creating a “time signature” in a way to play around your strings. (Or maybe, it’s based on the ammo system and when at “low magazine” Dull Strings is applied as a self-debuff, and the only way to remove it is with Restring.)
During Hail to the King, Restring turns into (guitar) Slide, finally giving him a dash-like ability and allowing him to close the gap on his target. He can only use Slide once, but at any time, during Hail to the King. (Maybe Extra Charge and Rapid Recharge can add charges for Slide.) Slide resets Buddy’s air dash and double jump, and maybe refreshes all his stamina.
4: Hail to the King(, baby)
“Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me.” - Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal (Movie Quote)
During Hail to the King, Buddy unsheathes his Katana from his Guitar while still having the Guitar in his left hand, he also unleashes his inner Ixian to become the “Devil” of Rock ‘n’ Roll. No channel time.
Cooldowns are reduced/refreshed, gains melee and weapon lifesteal. Buddy does not need to Restring his guitar during Hail to the King (essentially gaining infinite strings). *This next part was made before Silver was released* Because Buddy will use his Katana, his primary attack and secondary attack turns into a light melee (quick slash) and heavy melee (forward thrust) respectively with each slash on a target reducing CD and increasing the duration of Hail to the King. Gains unstoppable for two-three seconds. The unstoppable effect cannot be extended or refreshed through items. Or, the unstoppable effect can be extended through melee hits only (debatable). The only way to extend Hail to the King, in general, is through melee hits. So, the unstoppable effect is primarily not to punish Buddy too harshly (like getting parried as soon as he Ults effectively wasting it, or maybe not have the effect and make that the trade-off). *With the release of Silver, her ult gives me confidence to re-work this idea.*
When Hail to the King ends, Buddy’s strings become dull and needs to Restring his guitar. If Buddy kills his target during Hail to the King, the debuff (Bow to the King) is applied to others in the area, but with reduced effects. Buddy’s abilities and stamina also refresh.
Alternate V1: Remove Slide change from Restring and Guitar Duel from Sweep Picking. Buddy (guitar) Slides towards a target and unsheathes the Katana hidden in his guitar dealing Spirit damage. Making it the only way for him to close the gap towards a target. The target is also singled out for a Guitar Duel granting Buddy increased stats and damage against the target. (Or, the target Bows to the King/Stage Fright) Only affects the target Buddy slides to. Everything else is the same. (kinda leaning towards this one.)
Alternate v2 (throwaway): Basically becomes a Haze Ult but single target. Kills refresh duration.
——
Mesh-head: If I were you… I’d run.
Six-String Samurai: If you were me, you’d be good looking.
(Movie Quote)
While Buddy is great for duels with a single target, he is terrible in team fights. Buddy is a lead guitarist, the face of the band, so he wants all the spotlight, but can’t take it once he starts being focused. Being a duelist, he can quickly get overwhelmed if multiple enemies focus him as he has no real way to escape (save for unstoppable effect and Slide from Hail to the King), nor does he have any real hard CC (save for the immobilize aspect of Hammer-on or the knock back from Sweeping Pick, provided he has the strings to accommodate). And if caught while he Restrings his guitar, his musical career might be a very short one.
Although the “parry” effect of Hammer-on might seem strong as it can stop dash abilities, I feel it’s core/necessary as Buddy’s mobility is very poor, and while he can be seemingly mobile in a small area, there’s no real way he can defend himself. Plus, I think it really adds a cool factor and fits his Samurai theme. It’s a skill check as well for him.
Without Hail to the King, Buddy plays more defensive, preferring to let his opponent make the first move. If his target tries to dash into him, he can “parry” with his Hammer-on at the right time. Or knock people away using Sweeping Pick. Both abilities are useful for starting a duel or giving him some time to run away and/or to reposition to Restring his guitar. In this way, Buddy is kinda like an anti-assassin assassin, as he can potentially stop an enemy from dashing into a fight, or intercept an enemy aiming to focus a teammate. I think one of the core ideas behind Buddy is that he is a great single-target damage dealer, but useless in almost everything else.
Examples:
A Dynamo with the dream of the legendary six-man ult dives in, Buddy quickly knocks Dynamo up with Hammer-on, and knocks him down with Pull-off, then uses Sweep Picking to push Dynamo away.
A team-fight occurs and the enemy Grey Talon hides in the back. Buddy uses Hail to the King to Slide through the enemy team, using Sweep Picking to knock GT’s teammates away and pull that grandma into a Hammer-on/Pull-off combo.
Buddy is low and can’t Restring his guitar safely, and Drifter thinks he’s found easy prey. Drifter uses Bloodmark to teleport behind Buddy. Upon activation, Buddy uses Hammer-on, then Hail to the King to Slide away while Drifter is immobilized in the air. Or Buddy uses Sweep Picking to push Drifter away.
There’s a teamfight that’s gone south and as Buddy’s team kites back, the enemy Calico sees an opportunity to Leaping Slash to a teammate Haze, Buddy reads this and gets between Haze and Calico to use Hammer-on and intercept the strike, knocking Calico into the air, allowing Haze to run away, or, if enough strings, for Buddy to use Pull-off to turn the tide against Calico with Haze.
Buddy’s laning partner, Paige, gets Flying Strike’d by Yamato. As she flys towards Paige, Buddy gets between her and Yamato, then uses Hammer-on as a parry to stop the assassin.
Buddy is deathball’d by the enemy team, and he uses Sweep Picking to knock them back and uses Hail to the King to Slide away.
During laning phase, Buddy unfortunately places himself between a wall and Abrams. Abrams sees this, and charges, but right before he connects with Buddy, Buddy uses Hammer-on to knock Abrams into the air to create space.
Buddy and his teammates get Chain Gang’d by Billy, as they all get pulled towards the Goat and his team, Buddy uses Sweep Picking to knock them all away.
———
More Movie Quotes:
“Don’t touch my guitar, man. Don’t even touch my guitar.” - The Six-String Samurai
“They were my best bowlers. The one with the four eyes will be hard to defeat.” - Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal
“Nice tuxedo. Nice tuxedo to DIE in.” - Bowler, before dying to the Six-String Samurai.
Four-Eyes. Samurai. King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
orWanderer. Four-Eyes. King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“I know your type, buddy. You ain’t going to Vegas. Where you go death follows like a blown-out ‘52 Plymouth.” - A washed up rocker (Movie Quote)
Yes, I'm aware of the time period for Rock 'n' Roll.
I originally had drafted this back in December. With the new heroes coming out, I decided to wait to see what potential ideas could come up, and I'm happy to say that the recent new heroes gave me confidence in my ideas. Just waiting on Apollo since he supposedly has a parry-like ability and I have a parry-like ability for Buddy, so I want to compare. But, overall, the image of the Six-String Samurai is just too overwhelming for myself and I need to get the idea out there.
What if we combined elements of Billy and Yamato and a gun archetype like Paige, and spice it up with a little bit of rock’n’roll? Plus, the melee "gun" Silver has for her ultimate. Heavily inspired by the movie “Six-String Samurai.” It’s... not a great movie. But extremely fun, in my opinion, thus transcending into that subjective greatness that are cult classics. The people who made it clearly had a passion for the project. A by-product of that old 90’s passion. Where else can you find a caricature of Slash from Guns ‘n’ Roses, as Death the embodiment of Heavy Metal? And where, spoiler(?), Rock ‘n’ Roll and Heavy Metal duel over the fate of an orphan’s soul? The full movie can be found on YouTube which is provided for free by the distributor. And it’s full of great music and quotes (some quotes of which are used here).
———
“Buddy has one goal.
And that goal is to become the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.“ - A Fate’s Tale
Key Art(?):
Character Introduction:
Buddy is the Six-String Samurai. They say he can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. With his tuxedo and broken glasses, infused with the power of rock 'n' roll, he excels at singling out a target for a “guitar duel.” Using his Sweep Picking to single out a target from a group and knock others away. Once his target is isolated, he can strike with Hammer-on to launch his target into the air, and then jump up towards them to slam them back down with Pull-Off. He has to keep tender, love, and care of his beloved guitar as he has to Restring between “sets” (fights) to give him fresh sound and more power. When it’s time to rock… and roll, Hail to the King allows him to unleash the full power of Rock ‘n’ Roll, channeling his inner samurai, making him the ultimate soloist as he slides towards his target during a team fight to isolate and take out that key target. Buddy will be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll or die trying. And Rock ‘n’ Roll can never die. (or, And you cant kill Rock ‘n’ Roll.)
Being the “Buddy Holly” of Deadlock, the Six-String Samurai is a wandering musician, who happens to also be a samurai. Passing by from city to city, Buddy plays his guitar spreading the new gospel that is Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Character Key Details:
- Wears a three-piece suit, with broken horn-rimmed glasses held together by tape/bandages. Guitar is also a sheath for his Katana.
- Is half-Ixian, hair is slick, wears his tail like a belt. Does not make it obvious he is half-Ixian due to his abuse as a child.
- When he uses his ult, his tail unfurls, and he becomes more demonic. Inspiration being how people used to say that Rock ‘n’ Roll is the Devil’s music.
- I think to create a juxtaposition. Buddy can be tattered, but his guitar is pristine. Then, when he ults, he becomes pristine, but then his guitar is more beat-up.
- Leans into how as a human he is “broken,” but as an Ixian he is more “himself.”
- Is an illegitimate child of an Ixian father and human mother.
- Ixian father was a traveling musician who bequeathed his guitar to Buddy.
- Buddy is very sentimental and protective about his guitar.
- Human father is abusive, gambler, and alcoholic. (The trifecta of a bad parent.)
- Human father would regularly NOT beat Buddy due to his fear of the young child’s Ixian blood. Instead, would take to abusing Buddy's mother, or abuse Buddy in other ways.
- The human father figures out pretty quick that Buddy is not his actual child.
- Ixian father was a traveling musician who bequeathed his guitar to Buddy.
- Mother would work to pay off husband’s gambling debts and alcoholism.
- Buddy as he got older would try to help support his Ma.
- Eventually turns to crime to try and support her.
- Maybe was friends with Infernus when they were younger. I like the idea of Infernus being in some kind of gang of misfits and miscreants.
- Where Infernus turned his life around when Hank helped him, Buddy had to have an event that reshaped him. Maybe Buddy knew Hank, and turned down Hank’s offer. Could add to Hank’s character, but also the relationship between Hank and Infernus through Buddy’s opposite decisions.
- Honestly, I see Buddy and Infernus having a relationship akin to Spike and Vicious from Cowboy Bebop, except they are both amicable with each other and possibly friends.
- Could not be there when his Ma needed him most. (Clearly the most important.)
- This event reshapes Buddy’s life and causes him to re-align himself with being the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
- Really, his Ma just wants Buddy to be happy and successful.
- Really, Buddy just wants to make his Ma proud of him.
- This event can be whatever our imagination allows, but I don’t like the idea of Buddy not being able to “save” his Ma (ie, being killed) as that’s too cliche.
- HA, maybe to draw more parallels between Infernus and Buddy. Infernus is fighting to save Hank's bar. Buddy failed to help his Ma save their house.
- The Doorman's Ult will make reference to this. "And to make matters worse, you couldn't be there when your mother needed you most. So, come, stay at the Baroness. Your family is right here."
- Buddy is homeless, since he wanders the United States.
- This is a point everyone will bring up to Buddy as he tries to become “King.”
- Drifter takes offense when Buddy calls him homeless, and vice-versa.
- Buddy is his own tailor.
- Buddy has a way with strings.
- His Ixian blood allows him to manifest his music into reality. This idea taking on the form of a kind of Synesthesia.
- It's also why he's able to shoot notes from his guitar.
- His Ixian blood allows him to manifest his music into reality. This idea taking on the form of a kind of Synesthesia.
- Can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time.
- But, ultimately, has a soft heart.
- Rock 'n' Roll doesn't exist in the world of Deadlock.
- He is the progenitor of the genre in Deadlock. As a running joke, other characters will constantly be confused or ridicule Buddy about this "made-up" music genre.
- The image of someone using their guitar as a sword is just too strong for me. I actually need something like this in the game.
- His abilities are references to guitar techniques.
Weapon “The Devil’s Hands”: Fender Stratocaster or Les Paul Goldtop or Gibson ES-125 1957 (could be fun, cool cosmetic skins in the future)
- (and if you don’t think it would work as a gun, here)
- (based on the quote “idle hands are the devil's workshop” and the Futurama episode “The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings”)
Primary Fire: Strumming (shoots out musical notes; single notes. Sound of the notes are affected by the quality of his strings)
Secondary Fire: Power Chord (plays a power chord for more damage; burst of three notes. Sound of the power chords are affected by the quality of his strings)
Stamina: 2 bars (in Dash Bucket 1. Maybe 2, but with faster stamina recharge)
Buddy starts the game with Dull Strings until he gets a point in 3. When Buddy has Dull Strings, his fire rate and bullet velocity is reduced (reduced bullet velocity akin to Paige’s… pages) and deals less damage. The notes and chords from his guitar reflect this state with a duller color and “dead” sound. This is to give his opponents a visual and sound cue for how strong Buddy is in that moment. In addition, his 1 and 2 deal less damage and are less effective (losing some properties).
When Buddy Restrings, his attacks become more vibrant and powerful, and he can play his notes and chords faster (bullet velocity and fire rate becoming faster).
Using Hammer-On/Pull-Off and Sweep Picking, and guitar notes deteriorate Buddy’s strings. The more he uses his abilities and gun attacks the less his effectiveness becomes (more detail later on).
(Side Note: Something like this, I feel, could be fun for the sound guys.)
For fun scaling: his fire rate, bullet velocity, maybe move speed and melee can scale off of Spirit. INFUSED WITH THE SPIRIT OF ROCK ‘n’ ROLL, BABY!
1: Hammer-On/Pull-Off
“You don’t want to be like me, kid. Go home, start a family, get a picket fence, and get a real guitar.” - The Six-String Samurai (Movie Quote)
Hammer-on: Non-chargeable, swing your guitar upwards sending a musical shockwave in a line dealing Weapon damage to enemies. The target (only a single-target) directly in front of Buddy will be knocked up into the air. Target will be briefly immobilized at the apex. (Like 0.5-1 second, cannot extend duration. This is to help set up for Pull-off.) Knock up height can increase with items/tiers. Does not target (skill check).
Can “parry” (ie interrupt) dashes (and blink abilities) if struck at the right time. Buddy must be facing his target, and his target has to be close (melee range). This is the reason it does not target. Upon a successful “parry,” refresh one stamina.
Pull-off: Only available after Hammer-on and only if a target enemy is in the air from Hammer-on, (ie, cannot be activated from any other knock-up). Can be activated any time as the target goes up into the air, but does the most damage at the apex (or maybe only available at the apex). Jump up/Blink towards the enemy and swing your guitar downwards knocking them down into the ground dealing melee/weapon damage (Buddy also goes down with his target; think Cloud’s Braver from FF7). Does more damage the higher up the target is to a max amount. (Maybe have a brief stun from max height.)
Uses one string for full effect (two if both Hammer-on and Pull-off are used). If Buddy has Dull Strings or not enough string, he cannot knock his target up and deals less damage. (So, Buddy could potentially knock someone up with his last string, but if he uses Pull-off, Buddy will go down, but his target will not and the ability will deal less damage. "Ah shit, I forgot to Restring.")
2: Sweep Picking or Tritone (if Troubadour is ever a character, the ability name Tritone works better for that character)
“Hey four-eyes! They say you can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. *scoff* Is that really true?” - A wannabe King. (Movie Quote)
“Targetable,” but does not require a target to activate. Buddy swings his guitar in a circle around him dealing Weapon AOE damage. If Buddy targeted an enemy within the radius of Sweep Picking, that enemy gets pulled towards Buddy. Enemies not targeted by Buddy will get knocked away in that radius. Knockback and pull is the AOE radius. Radius can increase with items.
*This part may be reincorporated into Ult V1* The target pulled towards Buddy becomes singled out for a Guitar Duel, granting Buddy increased stats and damage against only that target. Buffs only last a few seconds. (Maybe to make it easier, it applies a debuff to the target instead called Stage Fright or Bow to the King.) If Buddy marks a target, he gains increased move speed towards that target.
Uses one string for full effect. If Buddy has Dull Strings or not enough string, he cannot pull his target or knock enemies away, and deals less damage.
3: Restring
“If you scratch my guitar, I’ll kill you.” - The Six-String Samurai (Movie Quote)
Restring your guitar with up to six charges (because six strings; or more!) to refresh your sound, gaining stat bonuses and increasing the damage output of Buddy’s attacks (removing the severely limited fire rate and projectile speed, and bringing the gun damage up to tempo, for example). Fresh strings grant a separate temporary buff (like temporary bullet and spirit lifesteal, or on-hit heal, or secondary power chord applies slow, or chaining musical notes adds stacks for a slow). Temporary buff duration is fixed. Charges are gained through tiers, can’t increase with EC or RR. Maybe, but shouldn’t really be worth it. There is also a downtime during Restring, so Buddy has to be very cautious of his position as he is extremely vulnerable during that time. Downtime during Restring cannot be reduced except through tiers. Maybe.
Abilities remove one full “string” (ie stack). Successfully using Hammer-on and Pull-off removes two strings (so, maybe, first point gives him two strings to start. Primary attacks remove 1/4 of a string. Secondary power chords remove half a string. If a power chord is done with only 1/4 of the last string, it doesn’t do full damage. In the same vein, if an ability is used without a “full” string, it doesn’t do full damage, nor has the extra CC properties. This is to encourage creating a “time signature” in a way to play around your strings. (Or maybe, it’s based on the ammo system and when at “low magazine” Dull Strings is applied as a self-debuff, and the only way to remove it is with Restring.)
During Hail to the King, Restring turns into (guitar) Slide, finally giving him a dash-like ability and allowing him to close the gap on his target. He can only use Slide once, but at any time, during Hail to the King. (Maybe Extra Charge and Rapid Recharge can add charges for Slide.) Slide resets Buddy’s air dash and double jump, and maybe refreshes all his stamina.
4: Hail to the King(, baby)
“Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me.” - Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal (Movie Quote)
During Hail to the King, Buddy unsheathes his Katana from his Guitar while still having the Guitar in his left hand, he also unleashes his inner Ixian to become the “Devil” of Rock ‘n’ Roll. No channel time.
Cooldowns are reduced/refreshed, gains melee and weapon lifesteal. Buddy does not need to Restring his guitar during Hail to the King (essentially gaining infinite strings). *This next part was made before Silver was released* Because Buddy will use his Katana, his primary attack and secondary attack turns into a light melee (quick slash) and heavy melee (forward thrust) respectively with each slash on a target reducing CD and increasing the duration of Hail to the King. Gains unstoppable for two-three seconds. The unstoppable effect cannot be extended or refreshed through items. Or, the unstoppable effect can be extended through melee hits only (debatable). The only way to extend Hail to the King, in general, is through melee hits. So, the unstoppable effect is primarily not to punish Buddy too harshly (like getting parried as soon as he Ults effectively wasting it, or maybe not have the effect and make that the trade-off). *With the release of Silver, her ult gives me confidence to re-work this idea.*
When Hail to the King ends, Buddy’s strings become dull and needs to Restring his guitar. If Buddy kills his target during Hail to the King, the debuff (Bow to the King) is applied to others in the area, but with reduced effects. Buddy’s abilities and stamina also refresh.
Alternate V1: Remove Slide change from Restring and Guitar Duel from Sweep Picking. Buddy (guitar) Slides towards a target and unsheathes the Katana hidden in his guitar dealing Spirit damage. Making it the only way for him to close the gap towards a target. The target is also singled out for a Guitar Duel granting Buddy increased stats and damage against the target. (Or, the target Bows to the King/Stage Fright) Only affects the target Buddy slides to. Everything else is the same. (kinda leaning towards this one.)
Alternate v2 (throwaway): Basically becomes a Haze Ult but single target. Kills refresh duration.
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Mesh-head: If I were you… I’d run.
Six-String Samurai: If you were me, you’d be good looking.
(Movie Quote)
While Buddy is great for duels with a single target, he is terrible in team fights. Buddy is a lead guitarist, the face of the band, so he wants all the spotlight, but can’t take it once he starts being focused. Being a duelist, he can quickly get overwhelmed if multiple enemies focus him as he has no real way to escape (save for unstoppable effect and Slide from Hail to the King), nor does he have any real hard CC (save for the immobilize aspect of Hammer-on or the knock back from Sweeping Pick, provided he has the strings to accommodate). And if caught while he Restrings his guitar, his musical career might be a very short one.
Although the “parry” effect of Hammer-on might seem strong as it can stop dash abilities, I feel it’s core/necessary as Buddy’s mobility is very poor, and while he can be seemingly mobile in a small area, there’s no real way he can defend himself. Plus, I think it really adds a cool factor and fits his Samurai theme. It’s a skill check as well for him.
Without Hail to the King, Buddy plays more defensive, preferring to let his opponent make the first move. If his target tries to dash into him, he can “parry” with his Hammer-on at the right time. Or knock people away using Sweeping Pick. Both abilities are useful for starting a duel or giving him some time to run away and/or to reposition to Restring his guitar. In this way, Buddy is kinda like an anti-assassin assassin, as he can potentially stop an enemy from dashing into a fight, or intercept an enemy aiming to focus a teammate. I think one of the core ideas behind Buddy is that he is a great single-target damage dealer, but useless in almost everything else.
Examples:
A Dynamo with the dream of the legendary six-man ult dives in, Buddy quickly knocks Dynamo up with Hammer-on, and knocks him down with Pull-off, then uses Sweep Picking to push Dynamo away.
A team-fight occurs and the enemy Grey Talon hides in the back. Buddy uses Hail to the King to Slide through the enemy team, using Sweep Picking to knock GT’s teammates away and pull that grandma into a Hammer-on/Pull-off combo.
Buddy is low and can’t Restring his guitar safely, and Drifter thinks he’s found easy prey. Drifter uses Bloodmark to teleport behind Buddy. Upon activation, Buddy uses Hammer-on, then Hail to the King to Slide away while Drifter is immobilized in the air. Or Buddy uses Sweep Picking to push Drifter away.
There’s a teamfight that’s gone south and as Buddy’s team kites back, the enemy Calico sees an opportunity to Leaping Slash to a teammate Haze, Buddy reads this and gets between Haze and Calico to use Hammer-on and intercept the strike, knocking Calico into the air, allowing Haze to run away, or, if enough strings, for Buddy to use Pull-off to turn the tide against Calico with Haze.
Buddy’s laning partner, Paige, gets Flying Strike’d by Yamato. As she flys towards Paige, Buddy gets between her and Yamato, then uses Hammer-on as a parry to stop the assassin.
Buddy is deathball’d by the enemy team, and he uses Sweep Picking to knock them back and uses Hail to the King to Slide away.
During laning phase, Buddy unfortunately places himself between a wall and Abrams. Abrams sees this, and charges, but right before he connects with Buddy, Buddy uses Hammer-on to knock Abrams into the air to create space.
Buddy and his teammates get Chain Gang’d by Billy, as they all get pulled towards the Goat and his team, Buddy uses Sweep Picking to knock them all away.
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More Movie Quotes:
“Don’t touch my guitar, man. Don’t even touch my guitar.” - The Six-String Samurai
“They were my best bowlers. The one with the four eyes will be hard to defeat.” - Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal
“Nice tuxedo. Nice tuxedo to DIE in.” - Bowler, before dying to the Six-String Samurai.
