ebdel
New member
Hi! I'm ebdel / deltise
I've been recently encouraged to share my fan character design on the forums. This is my first time creating a full design like this so I hope Nile gets a positive reception!
Backstory
Fortune Favors the FraudDr. Joan Nile is an infamous archaeologist, treasure hunter, charlatan, and irreputable curator for the Metropolitan Museum of the Occult. An unfortunate run-in with an ancient pharaoh's curse has thrust them upon the threshold of life and death, with their heavy heart now held ransom in the maw of Ammit. Rather than use their undeath and their imminent judgement to reform and repent, Nile has chosen to use the Patrons and the Ritual as a means to tip the scales and conquer the Halls of Ma'at.
Gameplay
I haven't really put too much thought into how Nile would handle in gameplay. I'm not too interested in shaking up the meta, or increasing the skill ceiling of the game by adding yet another Hero to learn how to play and counter. Any ability or gameplay design ideas would be purely in support of their character design/personal narrative.Weapon: Two Truths
Nile uses dual revolvers (close range, burst fire) that would have strong damage windows at the cost of a lengthy reload (I can only imagine how long it'd take to reload two fixed-cylinder revolvers—likely the reload animation is simplified/fudged like Ivy's).
Items like Quicksilver Reload, Active Reload, and Titanic Magazine (lol) would be mainstays.
Bonus: Nile's weapon, Two Truths, was designed based on the Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873, the revolver dual-wielded by Rick O'Connel (Brendan Fraser) in The Mummy (1999).
General Ability Design: Soul Economy
Nile is a profiteer and adventurer, and likely has abilities that support a playstyle out of lane. I know that jungling isn't really efficient or a real focus on Deadlock, more supplemental income, but I still think Nile's kit would be catered towards a roaming, soul economy mindset.
One ability that I had in mind was something that'd proc off of Golden Statues, such as gaining temporary, stackable, Stamina Recovery and Bullet Evasion whenever they break Golden Statues.
Another idea was some form of spirit damage ability that has built-in bonus damage against Denizens (including mid boss), with its maximum level converting those bonuses to Walkers, Guardians, and Shrines. This is to force Nile back into playing in lane after some misadventure in the wilds.
Another idea was to interact with soul security (securing and unsecuring souls). Nile could have hastier soul securing speed, passively, encouraging more diverse sources of soul income and aggressive play (death is less punishing when souls are secure).
Despite their money-making focus, I think abilities that directly interact with the shop and items (discounts, item stealing, etc.) are not suitable for Deadlock. They'd be a nightmare to balance, and inflate counterplay difficulty. Any abilities that improve Nile's soul economy would be through indirect means.
Alternate Ability Design: Scale Tipping
Another idea I had that lines up with Nile's personality is a "selfish support" kit. Nile is self-serving altruist, helping others when it benefits them in the long run. Though the Metropolitan Museum of the Occult provides a public service and academic benefit, Nile sees it primarily as a means for personal advancement, be it in reputation or in wealth.
This bites them in the ass, as now their heart and quality of character is subject to scrutiny at the hands of Anubis.
To translate this to gameplay, perhaps they have an ability that scales in damage based on their Outgoing Healing stat, or perhaps they gain passive boons and penalties based on how support/aggressive they play. They are forced to rely on a competent, carry-oriented lanemate in order to pop off.
A Nile player would want top assists and a soul lead.
Nile uses dual revolvers (close range, burst fire) that would have strong damage windows at the cost of a lengthy reload (I can only imagine how long it'd take to reload two fixed-cylinder revolvers—likely the reload animation is simplified/fudged like Ivy's).
Items like Quicksilver Reload, Active Reload, and Titanic Magazine (lol) would be mainstays.
Bonus: Nile's weapon, Two Truths, was designed based on the Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873, the revolver dual-wielded by Rick O'Connel (Brendan Fraser) in The Mummy (1999).
General Ability Design: Soul Economy
Nile is a profiteer and adventurer, and likely has abilities that support a playstyle out of lane. I know that jungling isn't really efficient or a real focus on Deadlock, more supplemental income, but I still think Nile's kit would be catered towards a roaming, soul economy mindset.
One ability that I had in mind was something that'd proc off of Golden Statues, such as gaining temporary, stackable, Stamina Recovery and Bullet Evasion whenever they break Golden Statues.
Another idea was some form of spirit damage ability that has built-in bonus damage against Denizens (including mid boss), with its maximum level converting those bonuses to Walkers, Guardians, and Shrines. This is to force Nile back into playing in lane after some misadventure in the wilds.
Another idea was to interact with soul security (securing and unsecuring souls). Nile could have hastier soul securing speed, passively, encouraging more diverse sources of soul income and aggressive play (death is less punishing when souls are secure).
Despite their money-making focus, I think abilities that directly interact with the shop and items (discounts, item stealing, etc.) are not suitable for Deadlock. They'd be a nightmare to balance, and inflate counterplay difficulty. Any abilities that improve Nile's soul economy would be through indirect means.
Alternate Ability Design: Scale Tipping
Another idea I had that lines up with Nile's personality is a "selfish support" kit. Nile is self-serving altruist, helping others when it benefits them in the long run. Though the Metropolitan Museum of the Occult provides a public service and academic benefit, Nile sees it primarily as a means for personal advancement, be it in reputation or in wealth.
This bites them in the ass, as now their heart and quality of character is subject to scrutiny at the hands of Anubis.
To translate this to gameplay, perhaps they have an ability that scales in damage based on their Outgoing Healing stat, or perhaps they gain passive boons and penalties based on how support/aggressive they play. They are forced to rely on a competent, carry-oriented lanemate in order to pop off.
A Nile player would want top assists and a soul lead.
Interactions
- Nile and Dynamo are old university buddies that split ways when their interests and values diverged. Despite their different world views, they pity the circumstances of the other.
- Nile and Kelvin find comradery, as both are explorers cursed with undeath.
- Nile is greatly despised by Mirage, as appropriated Djinn relics are on display at the Met.
- Nile has a (slightly hypocritical) vendetta against Paradox, both the character and the organization, for their history of heists at the museum. The only one that should be profiteering from theft is "upstanding working individuals" like them.
- Nile has sourced art pieces (of dubious origin) for Lady Geist and other members of high society.
- Nile and Silver will ridicule their Patron for putting the two dog characters together in the same lane. They don't get along on a primal level, and they both don't know why.
- Rem calls Nile "donut" because they have a hole in the middle.
Unique Interactions
- Nile will laugh if an enemy Venator or Vindicta misses their ult because it passes through the hole in their chest. Similarly, if an ally Venator or Vindicta gets a kill by wall-banging through Nile, they'll be annoyed and ask if they meant to do that.
- Nile will become outwardly agitated if they are forced to drop the Soul Urn due to enemy crowd-control. Nile really wants the Soul Urn.
- When Nile kills Dynamo, they'll call it "peer review".
- When Nile kills Bebop shortly after they've been hooked, they'll remind those nearby to "keep their hands off the display."
- When Nile kills an enemy hero with a killstreak while at critical health, they will sometimes say "wrong side of the river..." (The Mummy reference).
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