An archer merc

(eerieLatch) #1

why? lots of games lack a lot of versatility with weapons and characters, but Dirty Bomb does not do that. All im asking is for an archer merc who is Indian (yes i am Indian deal with it). plus it makes sense

(Amerika) #2

I’d be 100% onboard with this. And I am not Indian but I would absolutely love an Indian merc in the game.

(CCP115) #3

An Indian Archer?

Or an archer, and an Indian?

That would be pretty sweet, I’d love to see the racial stereotypes the writers try to tackle with the Indian accent.

(Grave_Knight) #4

[quote=“CCP115;82589”]An Indian Archer?

Or an archer, and an Indian?

That would be pretty sweet, I’d love to see the racial stereotypes the writers try to tackle with the Indian accent.[/quote]
He (or she) would probably sound suspiciously British (which has to do with being a member of the Commonwealth).

If they do this I want him (or her) to have cool trick arrows including maybe an explosive arrow akin to Fletcher’s sticky bombs, an EMP arrow that shuts down devices without destroy them (they’re not destroyed so it seems like they’re working fine), and an echo arrow that detects anyone near it’s flight path and anyone near where it lands (though it makes a repetitive ping sound). Q equips the bow and E switches arrows.

(Gh0st1e) #5

Inb4 this happens and the devs make him/her an Indian from India and not Native American.

(Eox) #6

I have nothing against that idea, but we have to find a good ability idea that is not already covered by another merc first. If possible something that adds to the current gameplay.

(Amerika) #7

I’ll spitball this a little bit. Let him choose arrow types. Sniper-like arrows that work as you’d expect. Needing to lead a bit and account for some drop over distances but do good damage. EMP arrow to temporarily stop things like healing stations and turrets or heartbeat sensors. Or a tracking arrow that works pretty much exactly like a heartbeat sensor. The latter two would have CD’s on their charges but the sniper arrows would not.

Maybe give them a machine pistol primary and a regular pistol secondary similar to Sparks.

There is probably more original and creative abilities to add but I definitely wouldn’t mind something like that as it would cover all of the basics of what is needed to be good + useful to a team.

(Eox) #8

I’ll spitball this a little bit. Let him choose arrow types. Sniper-like arrows that work as you’d expect. Needing to lead a bit and account for some drop over distances but do good damage. EMP arrow to temporarily stop things like healing stations and turrets or heartbeat sensors. Or a tracking arrow that works pretty much exactly like a heartbeat sensor. The latter two would have CD’s on their charges but the sniper arrows would not.

Maybe give them a machine pistol primary and a regular pistol secondary similar to Sparks.

There is probably more original and creative abilities to add but I definitely wouldn’t mind something like that as it would cover all of the basics of what is needed to be good + useful to a team.[/quote]

So far abilities are triggerable with A or E, with the only exception of Phoenix and Nader who have an ability only triggerable when downed (use F) : there may be an issue about giving three abilities to a single merc that are not only activable when downed… I’d more try to work around something that won’t really shake up the game basis.

After some shower thoughts I came to this :

  • His ability is a sort of experimental compound bow. He has four arrows, with 10 seconds CD each.
  • Arrows hit around 50 damage minimum, and can headshot. However they are not hitscan.
  • Headshots that bring health to 0 (or less) are instakill (like sniper rifles).
  • You can prime the bow, a bit like Fletcher’s Stickies.
  • Arrows have a reverse falloff : this means than the farther you are from the target, the more damage you’ll deal.
  • In addition, enemies hit by the bow will be spotted for 30 seconds. This is made like this, because hitting with the bow should be hard, and it allows you to track your target down and finish her off. This stops if the target gets downed or if you are downed.

Probably not the best idea, but it should be pretty safe. This ability have a pretty high skill cap, with a nice risk/reward mechanic. Not sure about what I should give him as weapons though. I’d find it funny to give Shotguns to a recon, but machine pistols feel more suitable. I think SMGs would be a tad bit too powerful for him, and there’s no need to give him ranged ARs as you are supposed to use the bow for long range encounters.

About the stats, how about 110 hps and 420 speed ?

(Amerika) #9

I’d personally prefer them to have higher HP as opposed to being the nimble archer since higher HP tends to work out better for most mercs in DB. Especially when this would definitely be a high skill-cap character.

Well, the reason why I thought my idea would work is you would use one button to bring up the bow and the other button will toggle through your three options. Switching between them quickly would be a skill and help to add a bit of depth.

I’m not sure I like the idea of an archer character only being able to fire an arrow once every 10 seconds. That seems extremely high considering the high skill cap involved. And you would potentially be limiting their primary/second weapons severely (ala Sparks).

(Eox) #10

[quote=“Amerika;82925”]I’d personally prefer them to have higher HP as opposed to being the nimble archer since higher HP tends to work out better for most mercs in DB. Especially when this would definitely be a high skill-cap character.

Well, the reason why I thought my idea would work is you would use one button to bring up the bow and the other button will toggle through your three options. Switching between them quickly would be a skill and help to add a bit of depth.

I’m not sure I like the idea of an archer character only being able to fire an arrow once every 10 seconds. That seems extremely high considering the high skill cap involved. And you would potentially be limiting their primary/second weapons severely (ala Sparks).[/quote]

I didn’t though about the “revolving arrow types” idea. That’s intelligent !

I’d be careful about making it a “toolbox merc” though (understand the following : a merc that can do a lot of things by himself). If he can do too much things, he may become a problem for the viability of some mercs, making them a bit obsolete.

He does not fire arrows each 10 seconds actually. It’s like Fletcher’s Stickies, you can throw them until there’s no Stickies left, then you’ll have to wait for the end of the CD of one of your stickies. And so far Fletchers haven’t especially big issues at managing their stickies… At least good ones. It’s a cooldown for when the arrow comes back.

Actually consider this : Each arrows have a 10 seconds CD. This means that you can, without interruptions, fire an arrow every 10/4 seconds (every 2.5 seconds). Demonstration :

  • 0 seconds : first arrow shot.
    Arrow 1 : 10 sec CD.
    Arrow 2 : Available.
    Arrow 3 : Available.
    Arrow 4 : Available.

  • 2.5 seconds : second arrow shot.
    Arrow 1 : 7.5 sec CD.
    Arrow 2 : 10 sec CD.
    Arrow 3 : Available.
    Arrow 4 : Available.

  • 5 seconds : third arrow shot.
    Arrow 1 : 5 sec CD.
    Arrow 2 : 7.5 sec CD.
    Arrow 3 : 10 sec CD.
    Arrow 4 : Available.

  • 7.5 seconds : Fourth arrow shot.
    Arrow 1 : 2.5 sec CD.
    Arrow 2 : 5 sec CD.
    Arrow 3 : 7.5 sec CD.
    Arrow 4 : 10 sec CD.

  • 10 seconds : arrow 1 comes out of CD ! First arrow shot again.
    Arrow 1 : 10 sec CD.
    Arrow 2 : 2.5 sec CD.
    Arrow 3 : 5 sec CD.
    Arrow 4 : 7.5 sec CD.

And it’s going on and on…

It can still be tuned down of course : everything is open to discussion. 8 seconds CD for each arrows, how is it ? Also, defining a max damage value for arrows may make the Bow interesting to play compared to Vassili. How about reaching 100 body damage past a certain range ? Allowing you to kill Rhinos in a single blow.

(Amerika) #11

Yeah, that I could definitely live with. It would allow him to fire pretty often but not be able to spam. And if my idea about cycling through arrow options would give him/her meaningful choice in regards to what you do with your arrows. Do you use one of your 10 second CD arrows to fire an EMP, HBS or simply do extra damage? I don’t think it would make anybody obsolete since they would not have the range of a typical sniper but would offer slightly more utility (utility I’d like to see added to Phantom).

I just like the idea of them being a recon merc with the typical recon tools but have more meaningful choices to make.

I still wouldn’t mind damage arrows not have any CD at all outside of the utility ones I mentioned (put both on the same CD so you have to choose) as I am not against a merc needing to rely a lot more on their ability ala Rhino’s minigun.

(eerieLatch) #12

wow i really did not think this idea would spread around. Thanks for the feedback guys :smiley:

(eerieLatch) #13

when i said indian i meant from india xD just to clarify

(Amerika) #14

That’s what I took it as and why I’m so behind it. It’s an awesome idea and would make the merc pool even more diverse.

(eerieLatch) #15

the bow is a weapon that takes time to learn to the average person, and i want people to integrate that same thing to the player. It isn’t a minigun or a smg. It’s a weapon that takes time to learn fully and master.

(eerieLatch) #16

ill probably post what the merc will look like in another thread so save some hype@ :slight_smile:

(Sussepus) #17

Here you go :tongue:

(deerCat) #18

Give him normal arrows to shoot, and his abilities are different types of arrows, like explosive, EMP, Spotting, eat…

(gg2ez) #19

Refine the details, create a merc profile, post it in “Mercenary suggestions” (like you were supposed to), link it in this thread and voilà. You have a proper Merc suggestion.

(LifeupOmega) #20

See, if this were to happen, I’d like to see the bow be the main weapon - no smg, no shotgun, just the bow, with a pistol sidearm, and the two abilities would be modifying the bow’s use - explosive, spotter, etc.