Buddy, the Six-String Samurai | Four-Eyes. Samurai. King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

[Hipster Monkey]

Buddy, the Six-String Samurai

Four-Eyes. Samurai. King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.​

or

Wanderer. 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.
• 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.
• 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.

——

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.

 

[Hipster Monkey]

Bonus:

Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal​

Shredder. Heavy Metal. Tophat.​

“Bend before the ways of Heavy Metal!” - Death, aka Slash, the embodiment of Heavy Metal (Movie Quote)

Basically, whereas Buddy is mostly weapon, Death is mostly spirit.

Tritone: Play an ungodly melody that roots enemies in front of him in a cone dealing spirit damage.

(That’s it, that’s all I got.)

 

[Hipster Monkey]

*reserving this space for character quotes I come up with*

---

Fern: Buddy, you gotta get yourself propered up, get cleaned up, get a hat.

Buddy: Now why would I wanna mess up my ‘do?

Fern: Cause, you look homeless.

Buddy: Hey, I gotta nice three-piece suit going on.

Fern: Yeah, and when’s the last time you took it to the tailor?

Buddy: I am the tailor

Fern: Hmph. Go figure.

---

 

[Flipkick25]

I think any string degradation for your weapon should scale off reloading instead of shooting (base 12 shots 1 primary 3 alt like Yamato) so then you can be more strategic about your reloads, and reload items help mitigate the degradation.

And the hitbox for Hammer On should be a vertical line (goes like 1m down from your cursor, and like 2m up) range of like 3-4m base? (so you can reliably hit people jumping off the bridges and give them the Pull Off of doom.

I think nix the stun and have it just be a disarm+knock up, and then the ability radius effects can increase the height of the knock up. (pull off damage scaling should be higher than Lash's, but not stack as far, maybe to like 6-8m instead of 20m.)

 

[Flipkick25]

oops you wrote apollo.

 

[Hipster Monkey]

I think any string degradation for your weapon should scale off reloading instead of shooting (base 12 shots 1 primary 3 alt like Yamato) so then you can be more strategic about your reloads, and reload items help mitigate the degradation.

And the hitbox for Hammer On should be a vertical line (goes like 1m down from your cursor, and like 2m up) range of like 3-4m base? (so you can reliably hit people jumping off the bridges and give them the Pull Off of doom.

I think nix the stun and have it just be a disarm+knock up, and then the ability radius effects can increase the height of the knock up. (pull off damage scaling should be higher than Lash's, but not stack as far, maybe to like 6-8m instead of 20m.)

I actually have a huge rework coming out for this. I took your last two ideas, in fact.

Your first one though, i also do like a lot , so I’m debating about it. Once I post the rework, I’m going to stew on the strings scaling off reload. As a preview, the guitar shooting notes mechanic has been reworked into Buddy’s ult. And now, is almost exclusively a melee-only hero.

 

[Hipster Monkey]

A little preview of what’s to come:

They say he can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. Stylin’ in a three piece suit donning broken glasses; infused with the mysterious power of rock and roll; brandishing a katana and wielding a Mystic Guitar: Buddy is the Six-String Samurai. Honing the ways of the Samurai, slashes from Buddy close-range and his abilities apply Mark of the Four-Eyes, increasing his damage against his target, allowing him to chain attacks and refresh his strings for his ult. With atomic precision, Buddy can intercept dashing enemies with an up-slash Pull-off, parrying them to be set up for a down-slash Hammer-on. Targets with stage fright can’t run from Buddy as he flings a set of guitar strings out to pull his target back in with Bend & Release. In a street brawl, Sweep Picking allows Buddy to sweep around his intended target or weave through the crowd. When it’s time to rock… and roll, Hail to the King allows Buddy to unleash the full power of Rock ‘n’ Roll, causing his enemies to Bow to the King, and challenging a single target for a Guitar Duel to the death. Channeling the rocker inside, his inner devil, Buddy uses his Mystic Guitar during this killer solo to smash his enemies and gain extra effects for his abilities.

Buddy will be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll or die trying. And Rock ‘n’ Roll can never die.

Another little preview:

• Buddy’s reload animation is him sharpening his katana.
  • He kneels down to sharpen his sword.
  • ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
    • Why, yes, hello again, No More Heroes.

 

[m.anwarna01]

this reminds me of I-no from guilty gears series really interesting love the concept of a lethal guitar killing badass

 

[Hipster Monkey]

Buddy, the Six-String Samurai​

Four-Eyes. Samurai. 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)

Spoiler

With the first post, I had originally drafted that back in December while stuck in a boat for 16 days. With the new heroes out, I have new ideas and adjustments. But, also, seeing how far the first two heroes, REM and Graves, already were pushing the limits of abilities and hero design, gave me more confidence to be more creative with this rework for Buddy. Funny enough some of my new ideas also lined up with some aspects of the other new heroes starting from after Silver’s release. The primary change that a new hero allowed me was actually from Silver. Her ult being a melee, greatly inspired the changes upcoming, or rather, gave me more confidence that something like a “melee” gun could work. I had already intended Buddy’s Sweep Picking to be reworked into three separate attacks, while allowing other abilities to be used, my main inspiration was from Riven’s Q from League of Legends and how I could “Deadlock-ify” that ability. However, I think it’ll be seen that Buddy’s Sweep Picking is different enough from Apollo’s Flawless Advance. Just saying that, because I'm seeing similiatries, and just want it to be known that I came up with this before Apollo's release (yeah, okay buddy)

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).

A second heavy inspiration, much like Billy and Punkgoat, comes from Suda51 again, namely “No More Heroes.” This hero is probably the closest I will get to have Travis Touchdown in Smash Bros - I mean - Deadlock. As such, if Buddy says one of Travis’ famous lines, “Fuckhead,” I will just be the happiest person alive.

———

“Buddy has one goal.

And that goal is to become the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.“ - A Fate’s Tale

Key Art(?):



Character Introduction:

They say he can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time. Stylin’ in a three piece suit donning broken glasses; infused with the mysterious power of rock and roll; brandishing a katana and wielding a Mystic Guitar: Buddy is the Six-String Samurai. Honing the ways of the Samurai, slashes from Buddy close-range and his abilities apply Mark of the Four-Eyes, increasing his damage against his target, allowing him to chain attacks and refresh his strings for his ult. With atomic precision, Buddy can intercept dashing enemies with an up-slash Pull-off, parrying them to be set up for a down-slash Hammer-on. Targets with stage fright can’t run from Buddy as he flings a set of guitar strings out to pull his target back in with Bend & Release. In the chaos of a street brawl, Sweep Picking allows Buddy to sweep around his intended target or weave through the crowd. When it’s time to rock… and roll, Hail to the King allows Buddy to unleash the full power of Rock ‘n’ Roll, causing his enemies to Bow to the King, and challenge a single target for a Guitar Duel to the death. Channeling the rocker inside, his inner devil, Buddy uses his Mystic Guitar during this killer solo to smash his enemies and gain extra effects for his abilities. Buddy will be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll or die trying. And Rock ‘n’ Roll can never die.

Character design-profile and/or character details:

Carries his Mystic Guitar on his back, perhaps holding the neck with his right hand to keep it in place. Katana is held in the left hand. This is to help give him a “wide” profile. OR, have him wield his Katana with his right hand, Mystic Guitar carried on his back, left hand holding up those old Samurai style umbrellas, but tattered (no game function only visual).

I think the idea of him holding both his katana and guitar out is a strong one. Regardless of which hand, Buddy holding out his Katana ready for quick slashes, and holding his Mystic Guitar (strapped or not) by the neck can help him stand out from a distance. Given his Buddy Holly look, his most prominent feature should be his Mystic Guitar. As such, his guitar can be a visual cue of what attacks and abilities he’s about to use, or maybe a sound cue being given unique musical stings. What makes him unique is that Buddy is perhaps a weapon damage nuker, a kind of anti-assassin assassin. He is highly mobile for short bursts, and deals increasing damage against his target. But, has periods of downtime that his opponents can take advantage of. When I imagine Buddy, I imagine him being that one guy that will run through the entire enemy team, just to kill one person. It doesn’t matter how many people he kills, as long as the intended target was one of them. And I kinda want to reward that mindset.

Perhaps a standout feature of Buddy is that he is the type of hero to live and wander in the concrete jungle. All of his abilities and close range melee strikes can affect jungle creep. Applying stacks on Mark of the Four-Eyes, allowing Buddy to refresh strings and sustain in the jungle to set up for ganks in the mid game. As such, perhaps he could be a good fit for that inevitable jungle rework.

Regarding being half-ixian, it can be a choice. But if he is, he must wrap his tail like a belt.

Core details are mostly:

• He was given a Mystic Guitar
  • Mystic Guitar might have a mind of its own.
    • It’s been passed down from generations of homeless - I mean, previous Kings of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
• He is destined to be King of Rock ‘n’ Roll (but really, he just wants to make his Ma proud)
• He’s homeless (detail everyone can point out.)
• They say he can kill over 200 men and play a mean six-string at the same time.
  • This can be a question everyone asks, “they say… is that really true?”
  • He really did kill over 200 men and played a mean six-string at the same time.
    • The price of freedom.
• Some event led him to killing over 200 men and playing a mean six-string at the same time.
  • Event relates to his Ma.
  • Maybe Ma finds finds out Buddy’s actual job (an assassin/samurai). Then proceeds to disown him, “you are just like your father.”
    • This event devastates Buddy, who turned to crime to support his Ma originally.
    • As a result, Buddy takes his anger and sorrow and fights for his freedom.
      • Killing over 200 men and playing a mean six-string at the same time.
• Has ties with Infernus.
  • Maybe Hank gave both of them a choice. Infernus took the offer. Buddy didn’t.
    • “That was the difference between you and me, Fern. You got out too soon. I got in too deep.”
• I think he is a good foil for a lot of characters, particularly representing the choice opposite of their own.
  • Fern took Hanks offer. Buddy didn’t.
  • Bebop fights for Mrs. Shelly, but she doesn’t know. Buddy fought for his Ma, but she found out
  • Abrams is obsessed with his book. Buddy is obsessed with his guitar.
  • REM is on a lost path. Buddy was on a lost path.
  • Haze dreams of a life outside of OSIC. Buddy dreamt of a life free from the Syndicate he was once part of.
    • On a side note, the Syndicate doesn’t exist anymore. Buddy killed them all. (Over 200 men, while playing a mean six-string at the same time.)
  • GT fights for revenge. Buddy fought for revenge.

Major note: All of Buddies abilities and close range melee attacks can apply on jungle camps and objectives, marks and all.

Weapon “Idle Plaything (Idle Hand)”: Buddy uses his Katana as his gun, slashing the air “firing” wind slashes. A special property of his “gun” is that he does melee damage at close range and applies a mark called, Mark of the Four-Eyes. These close-range slashes cannot be parried, but they do reduced melee damage. Hits with wind slashes refresh or extend duration of Mark of the Four-Eyes. Has the weakest gun damage overall. Buddy has to attack to build up damage; this is to encourage Buddy to always be slashin (with intent).

• To be real, I originally didn’t want him to have a ranged attack. Only melee. I still think this idea could work. But yeah, the intention originally was melee only.
• The close range slashes cannot be parried, but deal reduced melee damage.
• Taking inspiration from No More Heroes, Buddy’s primary fire is a “low-stance” quick slash. His alt fire is a “high-stance” slower, more powerful slash.
• Gun animation is Buddy slashing his sword left and right.
• To reload, Buddy has to stay still to sharpen his sword
  • This is one of his core weaknesses.
    • Buddy is a character that wants to keep moving, so forcing him to stop is to create counterplay
    • This is to also force a rhythm type playstyle, to require players to have a “start” and “end” for their pressure, attacks, etc. as maintaining and building stacks on Mark of the Four-Eyes is Buddy’s main damage output.
  • Buddy’s reload animation is him sharpening his katana.
    • He kneels down to sharpen his sword.
    • ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
      • Why, yes, hello again, No More Heroes.
  • Fire rate or weapon damage speeds up reloading animation.
  • Striking a target close range adds a mark, Mark of the Four-Eyes, which stacks up to 6 times.
  • Stacking a mark perhaps gives a small amount of CDR or adds ammo to Buddy’s Katana or some kind of sustain.
    • This is to try and allow Buddy to do combos with his Katana and abilities, and to let him survive in the jungle.
  • Stacking a mark grants brief bullet/spirit evasion.
  • Mark of the Four-Eyes, in general, gives Buddy more move speed towards his target.
    • Ie, as long as the mark is applied, this is a passive buff.
  • Alt fire fills the mark up to half or a quarter.
  • Primary fire fills a small percentage.
  • Abilities fill up the mark a percentage.
  • Wind slashes cannot and do not stack the mark, but extend/refresh duration.
  • At 6 stacks, Mark of the Four-Eyes goes on cooldown (unique cooldown per target) and Buddy gains one string for his ult.

Weapon during Hail to the King: “The Devil’s Hands (The Devil’s Work[shop] [Plaything])”: Fender Stratocaster or Les Paul Goldtop or Gibson ES-125 1957 or any kind of guitar! (could be fun, cool cosmetic skins in the future) (and if you don’t think it would work as a gun, here, and just imagine they are shooting music notes while it’s happening.)

• During Hail to the King, Mark of the Four-Eyes changes to Ronin Riff and has the same properties, but reduces Buddy’s damage potentially more. (Reason why later on.)
• Filling a stack for Ronin Riff briefly slows the target, instead of granting evasion.
• Also loses close range melee property

Primary Fire: Strumming (shoots out musical notes; single notes). Extends/refreshes Ronin Riff.

Secondary Fire: Power Chord (plays a power chord for more damage; burst of three notes). Extend/refreshes Ronin Riff.

(Both weapons based on the quote “idle hands are the devil's workshop” and the Futurama episode “The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings”)

Light Melee: Quick low kick (adds stacks to Mark of the Four-Eyes).

Heavy Melee: Forward thrust with katana [“My drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens!] (adds stacks to Mark of the Four-Eyes).

• During Hail to the King, swing Mystic Guitar (extends/refreshes Ronin Riff).

Stamina: 2 bars (in Dash Bucket 1. Maybe 2, but with faster stamina recharge)

• The idea is that Buddy has quick, short bursts of mobility punished by longer downtime inbetween.
• Buddy wants to be a character that keeps moving. So creating moments where he is required to stop moving (like reloading), or hampering his mobility through his own mistakes should be included in some way.

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: Pull-Off/Hammer-on

“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)

Pull-off: Swing your katana upwards sending a vertical shockwave in a line dealing Weapon damage to enemies.

• Non-chargeable.
• Vertical line is about the height of the tallest current hero, so like 2m
  • Height can be increased.
• Can “parry” (ie interrupt) dashes (and blink abilities/items) 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.
• Parry only works on targets dashing or blinking in Buddy’s direction.
  • Ie, towards and across, not away.
• Upon a successful “parry,” refresh one stamina and give one string for Ult. Does not target (skill check).

During Hail to the King: Uses one string. Swing your guitar upwards sending a vertical, musical shockwave in a line dealing Weapon damage to enemies.

• The target (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 Hammer-on, or Bend & Release) Knock up height can increase with items/tiers. Does not target (skill check).
• Can still parry dashes and blink abilities/items.

Hammer-on: Only available after Pull-off and works only if an enemy was struck by any part of Pull-off. Swing your Katana with a powerful downwards slash dealing weapon damage.

• Same vertical height "catch" as Pull-off.
• Can redirect the attack in any direction.

During Hail to the King: Uses one string. Only available after Pull-off and only if a target enemy is in the air from Pull-off, (ie, cannot be activated from any other knock-up), as long as the target is in the air. Can be activated any time as the target goes up the air, but does the most damage at the apex (or maybe only available at the apex). Can be used after Bend & Release. 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. Like Lash’s Ground Strike.

• Bend & Release can be used before Hammer-on.

If Buddy does not have enough string, he cannot knock his target up and deals less damage. Alternatively, Buddy could potentially knock someone up with his last string, but if he uses Hammer-on, Buddy will go down, but his target will not and the ability will deal less damage.


2: Bend & Release

“Nice tuxedo. Nice tuxedo to DIE in.” - Bowler, before dying to the Six-String Samurai.”

Throw out guitar strings wrapping around a single target. Buddy pulls the target and himself towards each other meeting halfway.

• Potentially has charges.
• Does no damage.
  • To encourage using abilities or katana slashes to build up stacks.
• If the target is in the air, or if Buddy is in the air, the target instead is pulled diagonally halfway.
  • Buddy will still fly forward, going a little more than halfway because of the pull’s extra force.
    • (Idea is for peeling someone away from intended target.)
  • Fun visual gag could be the strings pull the target by the feet in the air.
• Will go full distance when used on jungle creep.
  • Can create ways to escape.
• Possible mechanic: can be used on enemy troopers.
  • Pulls the trooper to Buddy.

During Hail to the King: Uses one string. Buddy will drop kick that mofo. Buddy will always meet his target halfway and deliver a devastating dropkick disarming the target.

• Uses one string.
• Will always meet halfway.
  • Loses diagonal air property.
  • Has same jungle creep effect before ult.
• Can be used before Hammer-on.

3. 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)

Buddy blinks and strikes any target up to three times with his Katana dealing weapon damage within a small AOE. Buddy can use his other abilities while using Sweep Picking to create combos.

• Activateable up to three times within a timeframe.
  • It’s basically Riven from League of Legends.
• Buddy can target anyone in the AOE.
  • Allowing him to “sweep” across “strings.”
  • AOE can be increased with ability range.
  • Reason as AOE is to allow “feints.”
    • Buddy can strike a target, pretend to run away and strike back
    • Buddy can strike a target at the edge of the AOE to escape around a corner.
  • Also to make Buddy move, maybe to get a better angle on his intended target.
• Buddy will blink towards his target.
  • Has travel time or attack has small attack window, so enemy can dash away from the attack.
• Other abilities can be used during Sweep Picking.
• Getting three strikes on three separate targets refresh a string.
• Tier 3 allows Buddy to “sweep” to allies.
  • Can help set up for parry from Pull-off.

During Hail to the King: Buddy swings his Mystic Guitar up to three times dealing weapon damage, and decreases the accuracy of the target struck. Akin to doorman’s bells.

• Only uses one string total. Maybe one third per strike.
• Strikes cause accuracy to decrease.
• Three strikes on the same targetrefresh a string.
  • (Reward for committing, but killing a target too fast could be disadvantageous.)

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)

With a snap, followed by a quick drum fill, Buddy whips out his Mystic Guitar and begins his killer solo. During Buddy’s riff, he is more vulnerable to damage and immovable. As he plays, he can challenge a single target for a Guitar Duel, within an expanding AOE by maintaining line of sight. Buddy can end his solo either at any time or for a duration. Buddy ends his solo in classic, spectacular “The Who” fashion by slamming his Mystic Guitar into the ground creating a non-damaging AOE knockback shockwave becoming briefly invulnerable as he slams. Enemies caught in the shockwave are knocked back the radius of the AOE and given the debuff, Bow to the King, making them unable to damage Buddy and vice versa. The target Buddy challenged for a Guitar Duel is not knocked back.

After Buddy’s killer solo, his Mystic Guitar reforms and he uses it as his weapon, gaining added effects and buffs, until he runs out of strings. During this time Buddy can only do damage to the target he challenged for a Guitar Duel. If Buddy kills the target he challenged, Bow to the King changes to Ronin Riff allowing Buddy to damage them.

• As Buddy plays his solo an AOE expands around him. Max radius of full solo is played.
  • Ability Range/Superior Duration could extend the solo!
• Buddy is more vulnerable to damage during his solo and is immovable.
• Buddy is briefly invulnerable when he smashes his Mystic Guitar into the ground.
• Only enemies not afflicted with Bow to the King and the target Buddy challenged for a Guitar Duel can damage Buddy.
• Bow to the King lasts as long as Buddy has strings, or as long as the target he challenged for a Guitar Duel is alive.
• Can possibly challenge no one.
  • Looks like Buddy got stage fright.
  • Or, maybe his target Eshift’d just as Buddy’s solo ends.
• Can possibly use Hail to the King with no strings, ending right after the knockback.
• At the end of the solo, Buddy will start using The Devil’s Hands as his weapon as long as he still has string.
• If Buddy kills his target, nearby enemies are afflicted with Ronin Riff, allowing Buddy to damage them, but at reduced damage.
• Ronin Riff is only applied from the death of the singled out target, replacing Bow to the King. As such, it’s on its own timer. Abilities and primary/alt fire can only extend and stack the mark.
  • Ronin Riff has same properties as Mark of the Four-Eyes.
  • Ronin Riff applies a fading slow on stack.
• Hail to the Kinglasts as long as Buddy has strings.
  • Can possibly extend through some abilities and Ronin Riff stacks.
  • To encourage rocking out.
• Possible mechanic: the Ult itself has cooldown, and the strings can refresh over time.
• If Buddy is half-Ixian, he can maybe transform, unfurling his tail and gaining wings(?), unleashing the Devil of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Using Hammer-On/Pull-Off, Sweep Picking, Bend & Release, primary/alt fire all deteriorate Buddy’s strings. Using primary/alt fire while sliding does not deteriorate strings.

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. No strings causes Hail to the King to finally end.

——
More Movie Quotes:

Mesh-head: If I were you… I’d run.

Six-String Samurai: If you were me, you’d be good looking.
(Movie Quote)

“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.

 

[Hipster Monkey]

If anyone has ideas, feedback, or critiques, I am more than happy to receive them. I'm really happy with this rework.

 

[Hipster Monkey]

this reminds me of I-no from guilty gears series really interesting love the concept of a lethal guitar killing badass

In addition to Six-String Samurai and No More Heroes, I also really want a hack-and-slash type hero from those Dynasty Warrior type games. I feel Buddy would really appeal to those hack-and-slash players.