Okay, so, I've got more ideas in my head about how to improve this mod. That idea for a new Champion is something I'll talk about, but I've also developed a different idea for
another new Champion. I will say that I think they'd both work best as Heavy-class, and they're both
hyper-American ultra-patriotic types. Interestingly, neither of them is actually from an IP developed in the United States, though one of them is based on a real life warship. I think I've already spoiled the entirety of that one...
But first, I want to talk about the secondary fire upgrade for the Shotgun, the "Surface Explosive" ability: Honestly, it's kinda counterintuitive to me. It encourages missing your target to get the explosive to go off, but it otherwise only gives a minor damage buff. I just don't much care for the way it works. I've got three ideas and I'd love to see people discuss them, maybe decide which would be best:
- Option one would be "Explosive Slug", which is just what it sounds like, basically converting the Shotgun into a grenade launcher with impact-detonated shots. This could be seen as too similar to the Tribolt, however, so it's honestly my least favorite idea of the three.
- Option two would be "Burst Fire", similar to the "Charged Burst" upgrade for the Combat Shotgun from DOOM 2016, allowing the Shotgun to fire three shells in very rapid succession. This would enable the player to deliver Super Shotgun-like damage at a longer range at the expense of using an additional shell, especially if the "Longer Barrel" upgrade is in effect. However, again, this creates overlap with another weapon, in this case the Super Shotgun.
- Option three would be "Flechette Shot" which would replace the regular buckshot with piercing flechettes that would go through multiple enemies. This would make the Shotgun much better at defeating crowds of enemies, especially weak fodder. However, piercing is normally exclusive to the Railgun, so I don't know how others would feel about that.
Now, on to the ideas I've got for new champions: The first comes from
Kantai Collection, of all things. The pride of the US Navy, hull designation BB-61,
USS Iowa. Her character sprite would depict her as a tall, well-endowed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman wearing the default outfit of
KanColle's Iowa. She would hold a Browning M1918 BAR in her hands, and would have a Winchester trench shotgun slung onto her back and a leather holster with an M1911A1 sidearm on one hip. She would have a normal maximum Health of 125 and normal maximum Armor of 175. Her abilities would be as follows:
- Passive 1 would be "All-or-Nothing Armor", a reference to the real life Iowa's armor layout. It would make it where as long as Iowa has Armor, all normal damage she takes goes purely into it; however, anything that would go through her Armor - either from it being destroyed or from special abilities that bypass Armor - would damage her Health with +20% effectiveness(that extra vulnerability might or might not also apply in PvE modes).
- Passive 2 would be "Radar Screen", based on the real life Iowa's extensive sensor suites. It would provide a similar utility to Eradicator's "Scanner" Active Ability, showing enemy locations relative to Iowa's position; it would also show relative altitude by enlarging and brightening or shrinking and dimming the icons shown on the Radar. However, it would be restricted to solely things within direct line of sight: if it's blocked by map terrain, it won't be shown on Iowa's Radar.
- Active Ability would be "Battleship Barrage": Iowa unleashes HELL with her naval artillery, showering the area near her crosshair with a deluge of 5-inch secondary shells and a single 16-inch primary shot. Comes with NINE charges, one for each of Iowa's primary cannons. Cooldown time would be extremely long, owing to the Ability's massive damage potential, even longer in PvE due to the likelihood of wiping huge swathes of enemies with this attack.
The second idea I've got for a new champion comes from the fact that I got
Metal Wolf Chaos XD on Steam this last Christmas. That's right, it's the 47th President of the Great United States of America,
Michael Wilson. However, due to the relative size of the "Metal Wolf" Mobile Armor, I think it would work better if Michael was depicted wearing a more
Iron Man-style suit with design features and colors taken from the default skin from
Metal Wolf Chaos. This would include two large, red backpacks full of guns attached to the shoulders of the suit. He would have the same maximum Armor and Health as Iowa, at 125 Health and 175 Armor. Abilities would be as follows:
- Passive 1 would be "Shield Pods", granting Wilson limited Armor regeneration similar to BJ Blazkowicz's "Blitz" Passive: Every time Wilson's Armor exceeds a multiple of 25, it will quickly regenerate up to the next multiple of 25. This regeneration will be delayed if he takes damage while waiting for the regen.
- Passive 2 will tie in with his Active Ability, which I'll get to shortly; anyway, it's called "Blaze Charge", and it just means that every kill Wilson gets reduces the cooldown on his Active Ability.
- Active Ability is "Blaze Attack". You remember those backpacks attached to Michael's suit I mentioned? They fold out and reveal one of EVERY common, shared ranged weapon in the mod(minus the BFG), and they all start firing everything they have for a few seconds. That means that you're going to get bombarded by Heavy Machinegun and Super Nailgun fire, Shotgun and Super Shotgun blasts, Tribolt and Rocket Launcher projectiles, and the directed energy assault of the Lightning Gun and Railgun. Oh, and Michael's invulnerable and has infinite ammo for the duration of the ability. Thankfully, it is brief; but surviving it pretty much requires being under an Invincibility powerup if you get locked onto by the player controlling Michael.
So, anyone have thoughts on these ideas?