newbienice909
New member
Basic Concept - Versatile Ranged DPS
Character with an ability or abilities that change their primary weapon properties. Starting out with a generic feeling assault rifle, they could swap to weapons with different use cases - bouncing grenade launcher, flamethrower, rifle with long range, etc
Ideally each of these weapons should be balanced around slightly different things, while still obviously scaling with weapon damage. IE, grenade launcher explosion benefits from reach, while flamethrower benefits more from duration. This will force the player to either have a weaker weapon, or invest very heavily in various items to have a flexible kit.
Swapping weapons should be a meaningful choice - if opponents see that you swapped to flamethrower, then they can counterplay by putting more space between them. This adds interesting choices around how you start fights, and when you swap your fighting style.
I believe the niche they fill is a good midrange fighter that can do consistent damage for a long period, but has trouble doing spike damage to finish enemies. This forces them to stick with team members, or be aggressive in chasing enemies to keep pressure up. Their presence can force action, because otherwise they will just keep dishing out damage.
Ability 1 - Arsenal (Medium-Low cooldown, possibly charges)
When taken, player is prompted to choose what other weapon they want. So, they might start off with their default, and a flamethrower. Or default/grenade launcher. Some of these weapons might do spirit damage instead of weapon damage.
As they upgrade, they get additional options. There is design space for adding "on swap" effects, like temporary buffs.
When they use the ability, it swaps to the next weapon in their kit. This could add some interesting gameplay around opponents knowing "They just had X, so Y is next". Adding charges allows for some mind games around when they can swap.
Ability 2 - Rally / Stimpack (Medium cooldown)
I think a character like this shines in medium length skirmishes, especially with team members. Ideally, they can do good sustained damage, but not have absurdly powerful finishing power. As such, an AoE buff or debuff could be good. If not that, something to sustain them in longer fights like a little stimpack. Combat drugs that buff them and heal them over time.
Ability 3 - Determination (Passive)
Arsenal has a lot of micromanagement happening, so to relieve some of that pressure, I believe the 3rd ability should be passive. It could be as simple as giving them extra ammunition or weapon distance, again to help them stay active in long fights.
An 'off brand' Fixation style ability could be a good design space. Fixating on an enemy gives chances of not using ammo - it doesn't make him deal more damage, but it does mean that he will keep dealing consistent damage without having to invest in reload items.
Alternatively, he could gain fire rate as he damages enemies - instead of applying fixation, he builds up a battle rage effectively.
Ultimate
Honestly, I kind of want to leave this up to the devs, as it should reflect the theme they land on. If they are going with the theme of this character teleporting the weapons into their hands, or pulling them from a pocket dimension, maybe this could be a little teleport power. Give it charges so it's like a Warp Stone as an ultimate. Show off individual skill by confusing enemy and getting away from danger so you can continue doing your protracted fights.
Or, maybe it is a big AoE buff to help the team win those protracted team fights. Give everyone resists, reload their weapons, shields, or whatnot right as you push in. Shows off teamwork skill via proper timing and coordination.
Potential Themes
- Special operations guy, this is probably the most boring option but it is also a popular trope.
- Pulling weapons from a pocket dimension like Pocket's briefcase, or teleporting them in from undisclosed location
- Former team member of Haze's organization, they could have a history and some dialogue together. Perhaps they are working for an opposing faction, and their team is the one teleporting them weapons (and reloading them!)
- Reloading could literally be the "I'll just teleport in a new weapon" animation, which is always fun.
- None of your characters have noticeable scars or injuries (Geist has her arm, but that was kind of a willing thing). Maybe they were injured and angry about it, want revenge or justice (which seems to be a theme with the characters). Maybe they've had the injury for a long time, and it's not even part of their motivation.
Design Pitfalls
- Careful numerical balance is necessary, otherwise everyone will gravitate towards using one weapon choice at all times
- Weapon ammunition questions - do weapons stay empty if you swap away from them? Arsenal could slowly reload unused weapons over time.
- How swapping between arsenal weapons works is key. Is it set in stone? Decided based on the order you choose them? Can it be changed mid game? Having to choose a menu option mid fight is not really viable. What about a quick context menu, a bit like the voice line menu? Hold 1 and move mouse to select.
- Skill ceiling is probably lower, since long drawn out fighting isn't as flashy. But McGinnis proves that just quietly dealing damage from the side of a fight is very useful.
- They're a Gun Haver, which tends to draw in newer players. If weapon swapping is easy to get your mind around, they're a good new player hero - stay alive and shoot to be useful. If it's difficult to micromanage, new players might be surprised and have a bad time.
Character with an ability or abilities that change their primary weapon properties. Starting out with a generic feeling assault rifle, they could swap to weapons with different use cases - bouncing grenade launcher, flamethrower, rifle with long range, etc
Ideally each of these weapons should be balanced around slightly different things, while still obviously scaling with weapon damage. IE, grenade launcher explosion benefits from reach, while flamethrower benefits more from duration. This will force the player to either have a weaker weapon, or invest very heavily in various items to have a flexible kit.
Swapping weapons should be a meaningful choice - if opponents see that you swapped to flamethrower, then they can counterplay by putting more space between them. This adds interesting choices around how you start fights, and when you swap your fighting style.
I believe the niche they fill is a good midrange fighter that can do consistent damage for a long period, but has trouble doing spike damage to finish enemies. This forces them to stick with team members, or be aggressive in chasing enemies to keep pressure up. Their presence can force action, because otherwise they will just keep dishing out damage.
Ability 1 - Arsenal (Medium-Low cooldown, possibly charges)
When taken, player is prompted to choose what other weapon they want. So, they might start off with their default, and a flamethrower. Or default/grenade launcher. Some of these weapons might do spirit damage instead of weapon damage.
As they upgrade, they get additional options. There is design space for adding "on swap" effects, like temporary buffs.
When they use the ability, it swaps to the next weapon in their kit. This could add some interesting gameplay around opponents knowing "They just had X, so Y is next". Adding charges allows for some mind games around when they can swap.
Ability 2 - Rally / Stimpack (Medium cooldown)
I think a character like this shines in medium length skirmishes, especially with team members. Ideally, they can do good sustained damage, but not have absurdly powerful finishing power. As such, an AoE buff or debuff could be good. If not that, something to sustain them in longer fights like a little stimpack. Combat drugs that buff them and heal them over time.
Ability 3 - Determination (Passive)
Arsenal has a lot of micromanagement happening, so to relieve some of that pressure, I believe the 3rd ability should be passive. It could be as simple as giving them extra ammunition or weapon distance, again to help them stay active in long fights.
An 'off brand' Fixation style ability could be a good design space. Fixating on an enemy gives chances of not using ammo - it doesn't make him deal more damage, but it does mean that he will keep dealing consistent damage without having to invest in reload items.
Alternatively, he could gain fire rate as he damages enemies - instead of applying fixation, he builds up a battle rage effectively.
Ultimate
Honestly, I kind of want to leave this up to the devs, as it should reflect the theme they land on. If they are going with the theme of this character teleporting the weapons into their hands, or pulling them from a pocket dimension, maybe this could be a little teleport power. Give it charges so it's like a Warp Stone as an ultimate. Show off individual skill by confusing enemy and getting away from danger so you can continue doing your protracted fights.
Or, maybe it is a big AoE buff to help the team win those protracted team fights. Give everyone resists, reload their weapons, shields, or whatnot right as you push in. Shows off teamwork skill via proper timing and coordination.
Potential Themes
- Special operations guy, this is probably the most boring option but it is also a popular trope.
- Pulling weapons from a pocket dimension like Pocket's briefcase, or teleporting them in from undisclosed location
- Former team member of Haze's organization, they could have a history and some dialogue together. Perhaps they are working for an opposing faction, and their team is the one teleporting them weapons (and reloading them!)
- Reloading could literally be the "I'll just teleport in a new weapon" animation, which is always fun.
- None of your characters have noticeable scars or injuries (Geist has her arm, but that was kind of a willing thing). Maybe they were injured and angry about it, want revenge or justice (which seems to be a theme with the characters). Maybe they've had the injury for a long time, and it's not even part of their motivation.
Design Pitfalls
- Careful numerical balance is necessary, otherwise everyone will gravitate towards using one weapon choice at all times
- Weapon ammunition questions - do weapons stay empty if you swap away from them? Arsenal could slowly reload unused weapons over time.
- How swapping between arsenal weapons works is key. Is it set in stone? Decided based on the order you choose them? Can it be changed mid game? Having to choose a menu option mid fight is not really viable. What about a quick context menu, a bit like the voice line menu? Hold 1 and move mouse to select.
- Skill ceiling is probably lower, since long drawn out fighting isn't as flashy. But McGinnis proves that just quietly dealing damage from the side of a fight is very useful.
- They're a Gun Haver, which tends to draw in newer players. If weapon swapping is easy to get your mind around, they're a good new player hero - stay alive and shoot to be useful. If it's difficult to micromanage, new players might be surprised and have a bad time.
