Alright people before we start I’ve gotten a couple of complaints about his name so you’re going to have to tell me what something better would be. Thus far, I’ve come up with Dominick as an alternate “real” name and Shellshock as an ability-derived alias. If anyone else has something, let me know and I’ll tell you what I think.
First in a possible series of medic suggestions by me. I’m glad you found your way into this thread, and I hope you like what you see! Feedback, questions, and concerns are welcome in the comments. Let me know if you think this has a place in Dirty Bomb!
Profile
Name: Brutus (a.k.a. “Shellshock”)
Gender: Male
Build: Moderate, with a significant (but not comprehensive) amount of armor.
Role: Medic Support
1st Ability: Support Shield
2nd Ability: Defibrillators
Health: 120
Movement: 400
Slightly heavier than Sawbonez
Primary: KEK-10
(Crotzni, SMG-9)
Secondary: DE .50
(Caulden, Simeon .357)
Melee: Beckhill Combat Knife
(Cricket Bat, Kukri)
Unique Ability: Support Shield
Description: A deployable Shield Bubble is emitted by a stationary Shield Projector. The Shield Bubble regenerates the health of teammates inside, reduces the damage of bullets passing through, deflects explosive projectiles and absorbs explosive damage. The Support Shield is a temporary deployable, staying active for a few seconds before destroying itself.
Duration: 7 seconds
Cooldown: 28 seconds
Reclaim: Not Possible
Mechanics:
- Shield Bubble has a radius of ~2.4m/8ft.
- Teammates that step into the Bubble Shield’s radius have their natural health regeneration activated immediately. When standing in the Shield Bubble, natural health regeneration rate is increased by 150%.
- Damage of bullets that pass into the shield from the outside is reduced by 60%, and the damage of bullets exiting the shield from the inside is reduced by 30%. (Bullets that pass completely through the shield are affected by both reductions, resulting in 72% reduced damage overall.)
- Explosive projectiles (Grenades, Airstrike Markers, Sticky Bombs, etc.) will bounce off the surface of the Shield Bubble. (Using explosive abilities inside a Bubble Shield will usually be a bad idea for friendlies.)
- The Shield Bubble can sustain 300 explosive damage from AoE effects before collapsing.
- The Shield Projector inside can be broken easily if the Shield Bubble is unprotected and breached by enemies.
*** Causes slight interference with nearby Aura Health Stations. If an Support Shield is deployed within 3m/10ft of an Aura Station, the Support Shield’s duration is reduced by 40%.
Scoring Details:
- “Support Shield” - Support XP is earned for deploying a Bubble Shield.
- “Healing” - Support XP is gained for time spent by wounded teammates in the Support Shield.
- “Fire Suppression” - Support XP is gained for enemy bullet damage reduced by the Bubble Shield.
- “Neutralize” - Combat XP is earned for destroying an enemy Support Shield.
Strengths and Counters
Having a deployable Support Shield on hand makes Brutus the ideal defensive medic for preventing enemies from capturing key objectives. Using the shield to interrupt enemy pushes and wear down opposition at critical defensive points would be his obvious strong suits, providing temporary protection from enemy gunfire and Assault abilities which becomes very effective in elevated locations with overhead cover. Brutus would also be viable on offensive skirmishes, giving teammates an ideal opening to a confrontation (especially when working with heavy mercs like Thunder and Rhino, who can take full advantage of reduced bullet damage and spray bullets at uncareful defenders). When synergized with an Aura Station, teammates have a brief moment to heal up with the bonus of the shield’s bullet resistance, potentially shifting a dire defensive situation against the attacking team in a matter of seconds. A Bubble Shield can also be used to cover a downed friendly so that you can prevent them form getting finished and allow for a more reliable revive under fire.
The Support Shield has it’s limitations, however: It is not very effective as a healing ability, and is geared towards sustaining and protecting teammates rather than reliably bringing them from the brink of death. The potential that Brutus has for powerful synergies with other mercs is marred by the inability to fight on his own; he may have high health, but his Bubble Shield is not a reliable source of self-healing, and reduced bullet damage both ways means that you can hardly expect to win a 1v2 just because you have a Support Shield around you. Combat-wise, he’s a little better off than Phantom without armor activated, which isn’t saying much.
A well-placed Support Shield with several teammates inside is definitely very tough to counter, but Support Shield placement would hardly be ideal in all cases: If a portion the shield is left exposed to the sky, a Skyhammer Strike can be used to flush out the people inside (since you would hardly want to be grouped all in one spot moments before a massive AoE blast), and Arty would be able to immediately drop an accurate barrage of artillery directly onto a Bubble Shield without much resistance. If a Support Shield is placed in an awkward doorway, enemies might have the opportunity to sneak alongside a wall and drop a devastating explosive ability inside the Shield Bubble. Even a well-placed Support Shield will only last 7 seconds, so enemies can be ready to make a push as soon as it goes down.
An effective Brutus would have to be careful in Bubble Shield placement and timing, as well as enemy combatant awareness, but well coordinated Support Shield synergies and extra protection in the right place at the right time would be valuable assets that can shift the tide of battle. If you need a medic to take hits for your team, Brutus is the guy.
But thats just my opinion. 
