Ros: Alien Spy

[Hawf]

"An alien from Roswell New Mexico, Ros was sent to gather intelligence on the Maelstrom and other supernatural activity happening on the planet. When the streets are crawling with Snake-Ladies, Mole-men, Vampires, and Werewolves, no one seems to bat an eye at a green skinned, bug-eyed, antennae twitching tourist poking around downtown Manhattan. Besides, stranger things are happening, and she's here to learn why. Whether or not she's working for our government, remains a mystery."



Visually, Ros loosely resembles "Little Green Men" and "Roswell greys" from the UFO mythology that captivated American science fiction during the mid 20th century, as well as cold-war era espionage paranoia. A mix of "Extraterrestrial" and "Government Agent". Some will point and say "Alien!" but to most, she's just a "funny lookin' green Ixian".

Game-play wise, Ros is designed to push down lanes and buildings undetected, while manipulating enemy positioning and disrupting team-fights with her massive AOE silence.

ABILITIES


1 - Tazer link:
Single target

Shock an enemy with a bolt of spirit lightning for a burst of damage. Applies a ticking damage over time effect that arcs to nearby enemies for its duration. This ability can target creeps to clear waves and camps quickly, but also force enemies to scatter and isolate themselves.


2 - Flash Bang
Single target

Snaps a photo of an enemy hero, temporarily blinding and slowing them for a few seconds. At higher ranks this applies a short invisibility buff to Ros so she can escape unseen.

3 - Meld
Passive

While Ros is within close proximity to allied troopers, she appears as a standard lane creep to enemies from far away. At higher ranks she disappears from the mini map when out of combat or while blending in with creep waves.


4 - Psionic Disruption
Area of Effect

After a short channel time, Ros blasts out a large bubble of Psionic energy which grows rapidly to a large radius and lingers for 10 seconds. Enemies are silenced as long as they remain inside it, and at higher ranks even have their active items Muted. Amplifies the effects of Tazer link for anyone caught inside.


Please let me know what you think.

 

[Monk_Fruit]

I love the effort you put into this character, so stylish!

 

[OHdamxv]

lol they should for sure add some characters from this era and theme. A men in black gman type would also fit really well

 

[Diva Dan]

Lovely art! The abilities sound very thematic and fun

 

[SpaceDandyGuy]

Good lord! Ain't no way we came up with the same idea in a different era, I've been mulling over this concept for a few days and you beat me to the punch! I was gonna make my own thread, do you mind if I ride your coat tails and give a little of how I viewed the concept?
My idea is a little more... groovy.
I was thinking an agent alien who got stranded and wanted to ask the patron for a new ship (or at least a ride home). He's got a tacticool turtleneck and bellbottoms.
I only had a vague idea of abilities, such as a 1 that speed loaded his space ray, a 2 where he pulls his space pistols and unloads them in a short range in front of him, and a 3 where he stuns the enemy in front of him with a bright flash. His melee, a glowing finger jab. 4? Well, either a telekinesis ray or he turns the opponent into a cow for a moment or he pulls a leaping dive bomb on a selectable enemy.
His translator is the little flower on his chest.

I honestly based him somewhere between The Mothman by Frazetta and Agent 007, James Bond. I'm genuinely shocked to see someone had posted an alien agent already. I thought I was being clever.

I was hoping he'd have a line where he speaks in alienese to Yamato, she says something like, "what?", and he responds with, "sorry, I confused you with someone else.
Or if the Venerator questions his faith, he could respond with "have you heard about space Christ?"


Kudos to you, same brainer.

 

[Hawf]

Good lord! Ain't no way we came up with the same idea in a different era, I've been mulling over this concept for a few days and you beat me to the punch! I was gonna make my own thread, do you mind if I ride your coat tails and give a little of how I viewed the concept?
My idea is a little more... groovy.
I was thinking an agent alien who got stranded and wanted to ask the patron for a new ship (or at least a ride home). He's got a tacticool turtleneck and bellbottoms.
I only had a vague idea of abilities, such as a 1 that speed loaded his space ray, a 2 where he pulls his space pistols and unloads them in a short range in front of him, and a 3 where he stuns the enemy in front of him with a bright flash. His melee, a glowing finger jab. 4? Well, either a telekinesis ray or he turns the opponent into a cow for a moment or he pulls a leaping dive bomb on a selectable enemy.
His translator is the little flower on his chest.

I honestly based him somewhere between The Mothman by Frazetta and Agent 007, James Bond. I'm genuinely shocked to see someone had posted an alien agent already. I thought I was being clever.

I was hoping he'd have a line where he speaks in alienese to Yamato, she says something like, "what?", and he responds with, "sorry, I confused you with someone else.
Or if the Venerator questions his faith, he could respond with "have you heard about space Christ?"
View attachment 87496

Kudos to you, same brainer.

I would much rather you keep this to your own thread, I want to keep this thread specifically to Ros.

 

[Comeau]

Not only is this an impeccably designed kit, I feel you've really tapped into the 1930s-1950s pulp fiction aesthetic that Deadlock's current iteration has at the core of its whole (something that I feel some hero concepts sometimes miss) - especially by combining the bug-eyed monster and Grey alien concepts with an undercover agent and tourist. It's exactly the kind of aesthetic recombination I love to see in Hero designs.

Fantastic job, Hawf.

(The art is absolutely the cherry on top, by the way - you nailed it.)

 

[wilsoncat.VS]

Yea the game could use a lil alien vibe. Perhaps wrecker was intended to fit that motif? I like the design. Spacedandy unfortunately was late to post their idea lol.
So I’m actually most interested in their taser and flash. Because I can see them rolling with those in a kit. I thought about how a flash would exist and not sure why a single target flash didn’t cross my mind but it seems like the only healthy way it could exist that is not an ultimate.
The taser is sweet, did you pull from Tesla ? I like it alot.
I’ know a lot of ults silence something so that’s like good and fun, but I really like the ult applying like taser shot to multiple people so that could be THE ult and higher levels would silence something.

Again the alien motif you have is fitting-where they’re a literally an alien but not unique because we have literal beings from another dimension/realm already in New York . Dandandan vibes

 

[Hawf]

Yea the game could use a lil alien vibe. Perhaps wrecker was intended to fit that motif? I like the design. Spacedandy unfortunately was late to post their idea lol.
So I’m actually most interested in their taser and flash. Because I can see them rolling with those in a kit. I thought about how a flash would exist and not sure why a single target flash didn’t cross my mind but it seems like the only healthy way it could exist that is not an ultimate.
The taser is sweet, did you pull from Tesla ? I like it alot.
I’ know a lot of ults silence something so that’s like good and fun, but I really like the ult applying like taser shot to multiple people so that could be THE ult and higher levels would silence something.

Again the alien motif you have is fitting-where they’re a literally an alien but not unique because we have literal beings from another dimension/realm already in New York . Dandandan vibes

The taser is sort of a combination of Zeus's Bolt and Disruptors Thunder Strike from Dota 2. A bolt of magic damage that lingers on a target that affects other people around them. Think of it like applying Torment Pulse to an enemy. The flash is more of a single target Flashbang from counter strike. One idea was for it to also add a short "deafen" to the target so they can't hear you while they're also blind. I'm not sure how useful flashbang would actually be in practice, I imagine it'd be annoying.

As for the ultimate it's more like Disruptors Static storm minus the innate damage over time.
I thought about just incorporating Global Silence but given that you can't really see what's going on across the map in deadlock the same way you can in Dota, Global Silence doesn't really fit. So making it a large bubble like Seven's Storm Cloud feels more fitting, especially if it amplifies the effects of your other abilities.

One idea to make Psionic Disruption feel more useful could be to make it amplify the effects of allied spells too.

 

[Comeau]

The flash is more of a single target Flashbang from counter strike. One idea was for it to also add a short "deafen" to the target so they can't hear you while they're also blind. I'm not sure how useful flashbang would actually be in practice, I imagine it'd be annoying.

Honestly, I think there's something in the idea of either granting Stealth to Ros (and maybe nearby allies) for a short duration (or something similar to Drifter's Ult), or else maybe affecting stuff like Parry or Stamina recovery (essentially 'stunning them' for a moment, and giving Ros a window to either back off or approach with allies in close quarters).

 

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lg_a8G3sic]

Perfect!
I think it fits the game's aesthetic wonderfully. Love that old sci-fi men in black feel. I really do like the idea that nobody realizes they're an alien because of how odd the setting itself is.

 

[mikro236]

Honestly, I think there's something in the idea of either granting Stealth to Ros (and maybe nearby allies) for a short duration (or something similar to Drifter's Ult), or else maybe affecting stuff like Parry or Stamina recovery (essentially 'stunning them' for a moment, and giving Ros a window to either back off or approach with allies in close quarters).

What about slightly blurring the target's screen + reduced visibility distance like Drifter's ult?

 

[Hawf]

Thank you, I'm glad you like it!


Slightly updated model sheet with some adjusted weapon designs, and some supplementary poses.

Her gun is based on a Whitney Wolverine with some curved bevels and groves to give it a more unique appearance.

I wanted to make her Flashbang Camera feel more in tune with Deadlock's approach to tech design. So now the lens has a little Illuminati motif and the flash component is a zippo style spirit flame lighter that's right next to the shutter button. So functionally you can flick the lighter flint and press the button at the same time to take a flash photo.

Additionally I wanted to illustrate how her Tazer is shot from the little plug circuit that runs along the limbs of her body suit.

I also wanted to make her outfit stand apart more from the other heroes who wear similar overcoats, so I unbuttoned all the belt straps and added one to her collar, I feel like all the dangling straps coupled with the dark body suit gives her a very slight "Borg" vibe. These straps could also add a lot of fun secondary motion to her movement.

I had some other thoughts on how to expand on her kit but I still have some theory crafting I want to do before that. Anyway here are some additional bonus sketches.

 

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lg_a8G3sic]

I like the choice of the Wolverine since it has that very deliberate 50's space age feel. I also like the red on purple color compliments. They look good. Reminds me a bit of Dick Dastardly to be honest.

This is just a suggestion, but, if you want to make her profile stand out more, why not have her be a bit shorter than normal? They are called LITTLE green men after all? See what I did there? Aha. Ha. Sorry.
Not like Rem levels of short, but like five feet or so tall, especially given the average person in this game is a six foot giant. All the old depictions of martians had them being shorties.
That, plus an unusual walk animation given the differences in her knees compared to Humans, would make her profile seem more unique

 

[supremejester28]

You cooked very hard and this is a really neat concept. I hope a Valve employee sees it.

 

[Torchwix]

she’s so cool!!! ive honestly been waiting to see a character based around the green alien depiction and I think you knocked it out of the park. while im not an ability buff or knowledgeable on that end, I wanna say that the character design itself is well done. the simplicity of the full body suit + the more colorful and intricate coat + hat give such a nice and balanced look. doesn’t feel out of place for the deadlock universe and I love that!

 

[Amni3D]

Deadlock taking place in the 1940-1960s puts it at the height of alien crash news stories, but I worry it would be a weird faction to introduce when there's already so much supernatural activity. However, saying that aliens came to Earth to investigate the maelstrom (and giving her period accurate clothing) I think makes it much easier to digest and is a solid choice.

Also nice forum signature

 

[hiiamnotthelaw]

I joined the forums just now because I absolutely love this concept and needed to like it! Ros seems like such a fun and unique hero. Definitely my favorite fan concept I've seen so far.

 

[Hawf]

I'm glad you all like Ros!
I took the time over the weekend to try and make a more detailed hero poster.



I also tried to mockup some more detailed abilities, but im not 100% sure if these are formatted properly or
even balanced.

 

[Claylex]

Really love this character dude