[Gun + Ability Concept] Rocket Launcher [Rocinante] + Rocket Jump Passive [Fly, My Steed!]

[Elnath]

I'll get into the etymology of the name after describing functions;

Essentially, a gun that behaves similarly to the TF2 Soldier's Stock Rocket Launcher. Firing it produces a single, relatively fast rocket that explodes on contact with an entity or surface. The gun itself would evoke a rusted, worn WW1 Bazooka, the kind of weapon no sane person would ever use. See attached image, but imagine worse condition (and possibly, gaudily painted).

Bazookas of this kind were hand loaded and operated by one person, though the nutjob using this thing would probably have modified it so that they could chamber multiple rockets (Which could be represented by Rocinante adding a headshot hitbox onto that "magazine", in a similar manner to Mo and Krill).

The actual projectiles would do splash damage, but this splash radius is unaffected by items - and the rocket jumping not a thing - until "Fly, My Steed!" is skilled. Besides that, it applies on-hit affects in an area, with the amount applied decreasing with distance from the rocket's initial impact point. The more accurate you are, the more you apply your on-hit effects.

Now, without "Fly, My Steed!", Rocinante does not have any other noteworthy interactions. When the ability is unlocked, the rockets gain knockback - toggleable on enemy heroes by pressing the skill, but always affecting the user. The distance the target is propelled is increased by spirit power, and the blast radius is now affected by items which increase ability range. The user's ability to jump is limited by their ammo, their spirit power, and their ability to use map geometry. Self damage per jump would also be an easy balancing point to adjust the paired gun+ability with.

 

[Elnath]

The name "Rocinante" is derived from the name of Don Quixote's horse (the book funnily enough mentioned in-game by Mo and Krill). Don Quixote named the relatively random horse he'd gotten for his adventures after what it was before he began to use it. Rocinante thus means "Was a worn out workhorse", also meaning things like the horse being low quality, old, bad, a number of things.

Not that the name is a significant portion of the item, but I find it fitting to tie it to Soldier in the manner of "The person using this weapon is an insane idiot".

 

[iuyhcdfs]

this is super interesting in terms of ammo
the launcher could also start off with a clip of 1 or 2, so you'd need titanic mag + maybe another ammo item to just an extra rocket or two, but its still worth it to open up all the potential movement

and with a low ammo clip reloading one at a time maybe this hero is perfectly suited to rushing spellslinger midgame where they become extremely fun in fights.

maybe fire rate is instead converted into additional velocity and consecutive rockets can never fire faster than they do at the start of the game but they get easier to land direct hits with.

if you want to make a deal with the devil, they could take NO SELF SPLASH DAMAGE with the rockets, but in exchange will be the first hero in deadlock to have -5 starting stamina (cannot dash/airjump/airdash ever)

 

[Elnath]

-5 Stamina might be a touch extreme, but I could absolutely see a hero being built entirely around the rocket jump exclusively. Could be how Vyper originally was where she skipped the first boon but had her slide passive from the start of the game. I know they removed that, but it'd be necessary functionality if the character had no stamina at the start. Of course, they'd need to start with more ammo to compensate.

Assuming they wouldn't go that extreme, I could see the hero as 1-2 stam with low ammo and the capability to use rocket jumps to supplement movement after skilling Fly My Steed!

I like the idea of fire rate being converted to velocity. A hidden passive of the gun like how Doorman's rounds innately have pierce.

The game could use more unique movement abilities.