The Avian Aviator - Feed the birds

[OMGparticles]

This isn't really a full fleshed out hero concept but I thought I would brainstorm out loud here and let people contribute or take whatever inspiration from it they'd like.


Character
I was thinking about a character wielding an umbrella gun. I thought if you used the umbrella as a shield you would want to be able to see through it, so I tried replacing the umbrella canopy with plane propellers that spin around and made the character an aviator. I considered making the character have black feathers like a crow, but Vindicta already has crows covered. Things take place in NYC, which is swarming with pigeons, so I gave them pigeon feathers instead. I found the pigeon's mix of neutral grey and vivid iridescent feathers can look very interesting and beautiful. While googling, I also found out that aviators actually used "War Pigeons" in WW1 and WW2 to send messages. Cool.
Here's what my vision board looks like (mix of AI and google images since I can't draw):



Weapon
For the weapon, I couldn't get an AI to draw what I imagined nor could I find anything similar online. I see it having a U-shaped umbrella handle with a trigger attached to a gun barrel. At the end of the gun barrel there are propeller blades that can either be folded in alongside the barrel or they could spread outward at an angle and spin to create the umbrella's canopy. Primary attack would be to fire bullets from the barrel, while the propeller blades could be used for melee attacks and/or abilities. Maybe one of the blades could extend out like a bayonet when meleeing.




Mechanics
Shield
The spinning propellers could be channeled to protect the hero from bullets from the front, and could possibly create a vortex shield large enough to protext allies behind them as well. Turn rate could be limited like with Bebop's ult to allow enemies to counter play by flanking.

Gust
The propeller could blow a gust of wind forward that pushes enemies away.
It could also push the hero back, allowing them to use it as an extra dash or jump.

Flying
There are already multiple flying/hovering characters in the game, so I'm not sure if there should be another flying character despite this one being an aviator. If they did fly it would probably be a forward momentum flight using the propeller and wings rather than hovering and strafing around like Grey Talon or Vindicta.

Pigeons
The hero could send a pigeon to scout around for enemies in an area on the map.
They could also throw seeds at someone and have the pigeons peck at them to deal damage and/or debuff them.

Bombing run
The hero could call in aircraft to drop bombs on an area.
The hero could jump high in the air and hold the propeller with one hand to hover while throwing multiple bombs down on the battle below with the other hand.

Feathers
The hero could throw razor sharp feathers to damage enemies, similar to Xayah from LoL.


Feel free to reply if you think of anything else.

 

[marlon]

I love your concept! Fits really well with the setting, as pigeons are city dwellers. Same thinking lead me to a rat-inspired character, might write it up at some point. Obviously the Bombing Run immediately had me think "bird-poop"

Some thematic ideas:

They could Steal from nearby enemies, for example ammo - I'm thinking how city birds flock to food and leftovers. This would also reinforce movement mechanics which has much higher potential than we're seeing so far in Deadlock.

They could alter the map by constructing nests in strategic locations, to play around. If it works similar to TF2 dispensers, nests could provide the team with resource-regen. Another function could make a nest serve as a forward base like a portal, or even as a spawn point.

Similarly I could see this character perch at unusual locations, like ledges, beneath an overhang roof or a bridge arch, on lanterns

Dota Phoenix also comes to mind, something something eggs.

In terms of movement, this character might have a special dash-jump which lets them do a sort of running-start / dive jump takeoff into a glide fall to cover more distance from high ground, and could even upgrade it with talon attacks. This enhanced movement could make this character a versatile mix of hit&run tactics (dive in with talons, steal ammo while being safe among enemies with the umbrella, dive out) , and being able to quickly jump into battle to protect teammates with the umbrella and support them around the nest and with perching, at least from high-ground (pigeon overwatch Mercy?)

And its name has to be Archimedes!