PinkyBowTie
Active member
Really happy you like it!
Glad to see that people still talk about my boy after some time !
[Hero Concept] - The Blight
- Thread starter PinkyBowTie
- Start date
Glad to see that people still talk about my boy after some time !
Elijah.evolve
New member
Beautiful Character definitely need in the Game ASAP
(sorry if this reply doesn't work I'm fairly new to the forums and I don't understand why when I press reply it shoves your entire post into the text box so I just deleted it)
I am a big fan of the passive and ult. I'm a bloodborne fan so both the name and function of the passive is just thematically awesome. Gameplay wise I'm also a big fan of unique utility, I've never thought of this sort of vision altering utility before beyond standard brief and instant blinding. I also got some inspiration last night thinking about this character and what other potential abilities they could have since their character design/lore/passive/ult really interest me.
The main and most complete ability idea I came up with was this, and after a very brief explanation I'll go into detail, numbers, and upgrades:
Launch out tentacles from their left arm/non gun arm for a short duration and for a few limited shots which attach to allies and enemies to drain and temporarily steal bullet and spirit resist from enemies and give it to allies or yourself depending on who's attached when you activate it/end the ability.
The starter form of the ability:
For 6 seconds you have 4 shots of tentacles that can be attached to allies and enemies. Stats are stolen for maybe 8 seconds?
These will stay attached until the ability ends or is manually ended/activated. Enemies can break LOS around corners or large objects to detach these tentacles and during this ability there's no reload of these tentacles and no restoring of shots on detached or missed shots. I think the LOS break would take 0.5-1 seconds longer than that of Billy's ult since the value of this ability is not as high and I imagine this character is not able to keep LOS with movement as easily as Billy.
A maximum amount of both bullet and spirit resist can be stolen (idk what amount), and the amount you steal depends on how long you are attached to an enemy. For example if I attach to an enemy for half a second and then end the ability, I'll steal very little of their resists. If you were to attach for a couple seconds and then have LOS break the tentacle, either the affect would quickly decay or completely reset, even if you have other shots you can attach during the abilities duration afterwards.
The amount of resists you steal will go mostly to your allies and spread between all allies attached when the ability is activated. If only enemies are attached then you get the full stats. Maybe reduced stats gained but same amount stolen if it only goes to yourself.
Also the tentacles range and projectile wise I think would be fairly quick, like a shorter ranged (than base bebop) and faster bebop hook. Not sure though tbh, maybe it'd make sense to be even faster than what I'm imagining.
The visual for this ability to I imagine for the ability end would be like a glow/surge of energy and then all of the tentacles shoot back towards his arm, with a little recoil where his arm goes backwards a little from all the tentacles having zoomed back to him. Maybe a small detail where the more tentacles used at the end of the ability that are still attached, the more recoil there is. So only one tentacle and it's not so much. Or maybe it could be ranged based, so if one is attached to a target super far away, then when it comes back it'll come back with more force and speed, so more recoil.
An optional part of the ability I haven't thought fully in depth on yet is maybe the more tentacles attached to an enemy the faster stats are drained, with the same maximum probably, or only a very slightly higher stat max gain. And for allies with multiple attached it makes them a higher priority for stats, e.g. attached to two allies and one enemy, but one ally has two tentacles on them. That ally will get a higher amount of stats than both you and the other ally. If you're attached to an enemy or enemies and only one ally who has multiple tentacles on them, the smaller amount of stats you'd get as the Blight than the ally is even further decreased to give more to the ally. I think that could be interesting but I'm unsure if it'd be too hard to balance or a little too complex. Also wonder if allies should take a longer amount of time or not for tentacles to break LOS or if it should be the same time for allies and enemies.
Upgrades:
Tier 1: +2 seconds ability duration and +1 shots
Tier 2: Now also steals a small amount of spirit and and weapon damage that lasts the same amount of time and is spread between targets the same way as resists are
Tier 3: + 1 or 2 more shots. Resists and damage stolen now last for +2 seconds
Ngl I've had an idea for previous games like overwatch of an ability where you quickly try to shoot as many people as you can in a set duration to get some benefit, but I think the pacing and hit boxes of deadlock combined with the more unique/specific function of this ability makes it actually work, which to me is pretty cool to come up with randomly. Overwatch is a bit too fast paced and smaller with hit boxes to really work so easily with a concept like this. I think major team fights like in Mid boss could be interesting with an ability like this.
I have other ability ideas most of which are more vague apart from one which is half of an ability idea:
For the sake of making it simpler lets say my ability I went into detail on above is their new 1. For this hypothetical new ability 2, when activated while already using their 1, their 2 then has an alternate function. Takes health from enemies to give it to yourself and or allies depending on who's attached. It could be just health (which means it can be healed back and won't need to disappear after a set duration like that of stealing resists), or it could be max health (along with probably a small heal) which would be temporary. Also if you're only attached to allies and no enemies you'll give a small amount of your health or max health to allies attached. I do quite like this idea tbh but I'm unsure if it's a bit much altogether. I like the idea of a heavily utility based tank when combining their passive and these ability ideas I've presented :] especially the first ability, this second one is more of an additional piece to the puzzle that could maybe fit in.
Yknow maybe it could work as the alt function of Thrashing tendril when using my ability concept, which doesn't have a name yet. If anyone has name ideas lemme know :] I've also thought about making my own post about this as an ability concept in general and also for if the devs are considering/working on a hero around your idea which is pretty possible. I would give full credit to it being inspired and designed to be for your hero concept as well. And maybe would also yap briefly about any other ability ideas I have related to your hero concept.
Thank you to anyone who read this :3 apologies if any of this was hard to follow and for any mistakes I missed which I might go back and edit later.
I am a big fan of the passive and ult. I'm a bloodborne fan so both the name and function of the passive is just thematically awesome. Gameplay wise I'm also a big fan of unique utility, I've never thought of this sort of vision altering utility before beyond standard brief and instant blinding. I also got some inspiration last night thinking about this character and what other potential abilities they could have since their character design/lore/passive/ult really interest me.
The main and most complete ability idea I came up with was this, and after a very brief explanation I'll go into detail, numbers, and upgrades:
Launch out tentacles from their left arm/non gun arm for a short duration and for a few limited shots which attach to allies and enemies to drain and temporarily steal bullet and spirit resist from enemies and give it to allies or yourself depending on who's attached when you activate it/end the ability.
The starter form of the ability:
For 6 seconds you have 4 shots of tentacles that can be attached to allies and enemies. Stats are stolen for maybe 8 seconds?
These will stay attached until the ability ends or is manually ended/activated. Enemies can break LOS around corners or large objects to detach these tentacles and during this ability there's no reload of these tentacles and no restoring of shots on detached or missed shots. I think the LOS break would take 0.5-1 seconds longer than that of Billy's ult since the value of this ability is not as high and I imagine this character is not able to keep LOS with movement as easily as Billy.
A maximum amount of both bullet and spirit resist can be stolen (idk what amount), and the amount you steal depends on how long you are attached to an enemy. For example if I attach to an enemy for half a second and then end the ability, I'll steal very little of their resists. If you were to attach for a couple seconds and then have LOS break the tentacle, either the affect would quickly decay or completely reset, even if you have other shots you can attach during the abilities duration afterwards.
The amount of resists you steal will go mostly to your allies and spread between all allies attached when the ability is activated. If only enemies are attached then you get the full stats. Maybe reduced stats gained but same amount stolen if it only goes to yourself.
Also the tentacles range and projectile wise I think would be fairly quick, like a shorter ranged (than base bebop) and faster bebop hook. Not sure though tbh, maybe it'd make sense to be even faster than what I'm imagining.
The visual for this ability to I imagine for the ability end would be like a glow/surge of energy and then all of the tentacles shoot back towards his arm, with a little recoil where his arm goes backwards a little from all the tentacles having zoomed back to him. Maybe a small detail where the more tentacles used at the end of the ability that are still attached, the more recoil there is. So only one tentacle and it's not so much. Or maybe it could be ranged based, so if one is attached to a target super far away, then when it comes back it'll come back with more force and speed, so more recoil.
An optional part of the ability I haven't thought fully in depth on yet is maybe the more tentacles attached to an enemy the faster stats are drained, with the same maximum probably, or only a very slightly higher stat max gain. And for allies with multiple attached it makes them a higher priority for stats, e.g. attached to two allies and one enemy, but one ally has two tentacles on them. That ally will get a higher amount of stats than both you and the other ally. If you're attached to an enemy or enemies and only one ally who has multiple tentacles on them, the smaller amount of stats you'd get as the Blight than the ally is even further decreased to give more to the ally. I think that could be interesting but I'm unsure if it'd be too hard to balance or a little too complex. Also wonder if allies should take a longer amount of time or not for tentacles to break LOS or if it should be the same time for allies and enemies.
Upgrades:
Tier 1: +2 seconds ability duration and +1 shots
Tier 2: Now also steals a small amount of spirit and and weapon damage that lasts the same amount of time and is spread between targets the same way as resists are
Tier 3: + 1 or 2 more shots. Resists and damage stolen now last for +2 seconds
Ngl I've had an idea for previous games like overwatch of an ability where you quickly try to shoot as many people as you can in a set duration to get some benefit, but I think the pacing and hit boxes of deadlock combined with the more unique/specific function of this ability makes it actually work, which to me is pretty cool to come up with randomly. Overwatch is a bit too fast paced and smaller with hit boxes to really work so easily with a concept like this. I think major team fights like in Mid boss could be interesting with an ability like this.
I have other ability ideas most of which are more vague apart from one which is half of an ability idea:
For the sake of making it simpler lets say my ability I went into detail on above is their new 1. For this hypothetical new ability 2, when activated while already using their 1, their 2 then has an alternate function. Takes health from enemies to give it to yourself and or allies depending on who's attached. It could be just health (which means it can be healed back and won't need to disappear after a set duration like that of stealing resists), or it could be max health (along with probably a small heal) which would be temporary. Also if you're only attached to allies and no enemies you'll give a small amount of your health or max health to allies attached. I do quite like this idea tbh but I'm unsure if it's a bit much altogether. I like the idea of a heavily utility based tank when combining their passive and these ability ideas I've presented :] especially the first ability, this second one is more of an additional piece to the puzzle that could maybe fit in.
Yknow maybe it could work as the alt function of Thrashing tendril when using my ability concept, which doesn't have a name yet. If anyone has name ideas lemme know :] I've also thought about making my own post about this as an ability concept in general and also for if the devs are considering/working on a hero around your idea which is pretty possible. I would give full credit to it being inspired and designed to be for your hero concept as well. And maybe would also yap briefly about any other ability ideas I have related to your hero concept.
Thank you to anyone who read this :3 apologies if any of this was hard to follow and for any mistakes I missed which I might go back and edit later.
raptor777777
Active member
Ult is somewhat similar to the ults of two other hero ideas I had: Carter, a gone-missing-and-now-insane PhD student who keeps a portal to a lovecraftian plane bound under her feet ( https://forums.playdeadlock.com/threads/hero-concept-carter.84819/ ) who for her ult draws people into said lovecraftian plane (which actually is just what you describe plus lovecraftian pyrovision, and Chivalrous, basically Galacta Knight from Kirby, who for his ult pulls his own and someone else's spirit out of their bodies so they can duel without interference.
And I still think it can work. I do think they need to go all the way with custom textures, some added props that are only visible in lovecraftvision, the works.
I also agree very much on more Lovecraftian characters (we currently only have Viscous), though I prefer Valve's usual nuanced way of doing Lovecraft (e.g. Combine Empire, Left 4 Dead's virus) as opposed to tentacles-in-your-face.
'Don't look at someone' is an interesting ability, though giving it a slow could be annoying. Plus getting rid of the effect should be relatively fast. Gameplay-wise I think it could work as it would probably be similar to dealing with Mina/Infernus. Maybe decrease the effect if you're also looking at other enemy heroes so it's less of a free debuff in group fights?
And I still think it can work. I do think they need to go all the way with custom textures, some added props that are only visible in lovecraftvision, the works.
I also agree very much on more Lovecraftian characters (we currently only have Viscous), though I prefer Valve's usual nuanced way of doing Lovecraft (e.g. Combine Empire, Left 4 Dead's virus) as opposed to tentacles-in-your-face.
'Don't look at someone' is an interesting ability, though giving it a slow could be annoying. Plus getting rid of the effect should be relatively fast. Gameplay-wise I think it could work as it would probably be similar to dealing with Mina/Infernus. Maybe decrease the effect if you're also looking at other enemy heroes so it's less of a free debuff in group fights?
Twisted_Tiefling
New member
Absolutely adore this character concept - from his design to his gameplay and overall vibe. I would main him non-stop if he got added to the game.
I was looking at your original image for the ability concepts, as well as some posts, and I wanted to perhaps give an opinion on potential tweaks or ways to implement things you had mentioned both gameplay and deisgn wise more effectively:
1. For Old Davy, I think I saw mentions of it being a small clip? As in, perhaps a "you get three or five shots before you reload" sort of deal. That might be cool, gives an excuse to make it a bit more powerful meat-shot wise. Maybe make it so you can't extend Old Davy's clip (so no Titanic Magazine and etc)? That would then mean that items which increase reload speed would be great, and that would mean Express Shot would be an awsome item (since you can shoot twice really fast). It would also build-in a means to prevent high gun DPS and keep his identity as a close-range bruiser throughout.
2. For the reload / bullet animation, I was wondering if maybe the bullets would be sort of covered in bile or deep sea water? So instead of just a normal shotgun spread its like a big splash of shrapnel, since he had found this gun in the ocean and all. Perhaps he reloads by holding the gun partially in his mouth tendrils and sort of spits ammo into it, coating it in water as barnacles grow / fill the barrel or something (like the opposite of how Billy eats his empty clip). Something nasty and gritty to fit his menacing visual.
3. You had mentioned originally for Thrashing Tendril in your art "Killing an enemy absorbs their soul instantly". I do not know what your original plan was with that, but I do like the idea that the ability also serves as a finisher to reward you for good timing and being reserved. Maybe this would be a good idea for a Tier 3 or Tier 2 upgrade where it gives "bonus souls" on kill or something? It would probably need to be more tame or have some drawback to balance. I would suggest T3 so it does not pop up early game and make Blight busted, and make it something like "+15% souls earned upon Hero Kill" since souls for killing a player are determined by different things like their Killstreak and the time-length of the game.
4. Maybe, and this may be re-treading on old ground but maybe, make Thrashing Tendril one of those "melee damage" abilities like Billy's Bashdown or VIscous' Puddle Punch. It deals Melee Damage and some Spirit Damage. This would make players diversify their damage items between weapon and spirit, and cement less of a DPS playstyle. It would also make melee items like Lifestrike and Spirit Snatch very useful to keep Blight sustained and steal spirit power for himself - fitting the tank/disrupter playstyle.
5- So for Old One's Presence, besides potentially what others have said about reducing the size of what is considered "line of site" and etc to balance, I would actually like to mention how certain items might interact with Madness stacks since they can be considered a "debuff". Maybe Dispel Magic would consume stacks of madness, letting players turn their madness into a burst of healing and refreshing the buildup (this would be a strong way to counter Blight, forcing him to buy anti-heal or silencing items). Maybe Debuff Reducer will reduce the rate that Madness Stacks last, making them go away faster when breaking line of sight? Maybe Unstoppable will also supress madness stacks and their debuffs, letting players have a length of time to fight without Madness accumulating? This would be no different to how certain other characters have persistant abilities that require item counters, like Knockdown for Vindicta.
6- This is moreso a minor nitpick on my part about the design of the character's abilities compared to his role as a slow up-close tank character, but it seems like he is built to thrive up close but has less reliabe tools to keep his enemies in that range or close the gap. His ult works great for this, but then his next best tools are locked behind a charged-up Thrashing Tentacles to knock-up or high stacks of madness (which is not something he can control and does not work well against fleeing enemies who generally face away from him). I think one person recommended ideas of making max Madness stacks giving Blight a big ol' movement increase towards them (but I'm not sure if that fits the whole "disrupter" idea well personally) or giving him a unique Dash that works like a miniature Abrams charge (which I think makes him too similar to Abrams personally).
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What I would recommend instead is changing the displacement of Thrashing Tendril slightly; make the non-charged version knock-up and then the charged version knock targets airborne towards Blight. This actually helps adjust his kit in a few good ways: It removes the knockback (which imo felt counter-intuitive to the goal of his kit and combo-ed too well with his ultimate's damaging exterior zone) makes it so he always has access to some kind of quick gap-closer via the Knockup, it makes the charged version's increased range even more useful to pull fleeing foes, and most interestingly it combos very well with Old One's Presence (since its stacks grow faster if the enemy is closer). The charge-up time would give the enemy time to read Blight's animation and react, and unlike something like Beep-Bop's hook this would still generally have less range and targets could even do something like air-dash to try and control their momentum and cancel some of the pull's effect. In exchange though, since this is a cone, you could pull a lot of enemies towards you unlike Beep-Bop, turning the enemy's focus to you as you accumulate madness on them for looking at you and your team capitalizes (either that or they look away as they try to move away from you, leaving you free to shoot them or spray them with Eldritch Bile).
PinkyBowTie
Active member
Honestly anything with the gun is good for me, as long as we can keep the close bruiser feel, i like the diea where the cartridges are so badly in shape that when you shoot it goes in crazy directions almost like the gun's spitting at you lol. at first i was imagining that he could reload with one hand, since he's made of tentacles he can just have some wrapped arround the gun and have other "fingers" feed the gun.
for the "absorb souls instantly" my idea was that when you kill a minion or creature that lets a soul orb float above, you get the souls instantly and you dont need to pop them if you kill with his 1, but i also like the idea of making a "finishing you off" move that rewards you if you land a kill with it.
also btw i honestly dont really play deadlock that much and im absolute trash so item stuff and balancing is really not my forte lol, ill go with whatever as long as it keeps the core idea of the character, everyone has more tech knowledge than me here.
i wouldnt mind switching the uses of his 1 either, but to be sure the "charge" was more like less than half a second holding 1 right, if you tap you get one version, if you hold for more than 0.5 seconds you get the other version
