Here is the Vanguard, when you need someone brave to take point, to risk their life so that yours may continue, he’s the guy you can have faith in to protect you before he even considers himself. Just follow him around and you should be A-Okay; think of him as your tour guide… in war.
Primary Quote: “I am the frontline; where I go, it goes.”
Profile: Throughout his life Vanguard has gotten into more fights than he cares to remember; whether it be in the school yard or the battlefield he never did know when to back down, and always was it in the interest to protect someone who could not themselves. When he found himself in the military, a lifelong dream of his, he was always on the offense… one day however he realized the military just couldn’t live up to his standards when he was punished for discarding a direct order. When his squad was told to retreat he did not, instead he found himself driving further into battle where he faced his foes head-on. This action saved dozens of civilian lives who were left behind and given the chance to leave while Vanguard held off two squads of enemy soldiers beyond town limits. His bravery has never been rewarded, though it’s always been rewarding.(This is likely a rough draft and could change quite a bit, just wanted to give a representation of who this merc is and what he fights for).
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Nationality: Canadian(Gotta show love for my country)
Health: 150
Sprint: 370
Primary Ability: Prototype Shield(Activated Personal Shield Generator)
Being the unstable prototype that it is, this personal shield can only operate at full power for 5-10 seconds, after exhausting the timer it will deplete rapidly from it’s remaining capacity where it then goes on cooldown for 30 seconds(Debatable). Over it’s duration it will reinforce and protect the wearer from incoming damage equal to one-hundred health points(100 HP), this health is separate from the user’s main health, meaning you will not take damage until the shield has fully depleted(This can be done possibly by adding a secondary health bar on the HUD while active, to differentiate it can be highlighted in blue, visually to other players they see a sphere of energy around the user to indicate the shield is active).
This ability is not activated instantly, it takes 3-4 seconds to initiate, during this time you are completely vulnerable and unable to defend yourself with your weapons(This is to prevent an “I win button” scenario for players who are caught off guard by enemies attacking). Once fully activated it cannot be cancelled, though during the preliminary initiation you can cancel with basic movement(Oh… you have to stand still to activate it, this might change in which case to cancel you simply press the key again, in this case would be Q since it’s a primary ability).
(This is additional information originally forgotten in this post but mentioned later in a comment response, slightly enhanced here)During use, this ability reduces movement speed by roughly 20%, reduces wall jumps by one, and also restricts players to use hip-fire. Now there could still be problems with this, but if there are I think another possible downside to using this seemingly powerful ability should be being unable to do either primary or secondary objectives(i.e. repairing, planting C4) and perhaps not being able to revive teammates. This would be because you’d be almost unstoppable in these actions with the shield up… not really but it’ll help you a lot and it’s not the role of this merc.
Secondary Ability: N/A
Tertiary Ability: N/A
Vanguard has access to the M4A1 and K-121 assault rifles as well as the Hollunds 880 shotgun in his loadout cards. While SMGs may seem to fit better for the up-close-and-personal role of this merc I feel as though they do not have a damage model which reflects the threat value of the target you are intended to be. Any merc-specific augments are up for discussion, none come to mind for this post. Let me know what you think, and I’ll let you know if I have any changes to this concept.
[EDIT]: Possible Merc-Specific augments can be:
- Thorns: Deals a high percentage of melee damage back to attackers; in addition increases melee damage resistance by 20%, this does not affect total reflected damage outcome. Works when downed, so be careful if you’re about to execute a Vanguard.
- Down But Not Out: Allows the player to, while downed, to fire their secondary weapon. Rate of fire and accuracy are reduced for balance and you are unable to reload(Meaning you are limited to one magazine, or potentially none if you empty your secondary before going down). This augment gives the player a very slim opportunity to get revenge on whoever downed them, as well as being able to provide one last service for his/her team. Of course you’ll still be killed relatively instantly on the ground, and you can always give up as you normally would be able to.
Possible “ability use” quotes(Triggers when shield takes damage):
- “I hope you brought spares with you!” reference to the Spares augment.
- “Is that all you got? My team shoots me more than you!” possible inclusion if friendly fire is ever introduced.
- “You’re gunna need a bigger gun.” reference to Jaws, and only appears when hit by(And survive for 3 seconds after) minigun, mounted MG, or any airstrike/orbital strike.
- [Laughter] “Stop it, that tickles!” said to jokily undermine the effectiveness of enemy fire against his shield.
Possible “activation” quotes(Triggers when you initiate your ability):
- “Hey over here numbskull, yeah shoot me!” could use work, maybe a better taunt line. Intended to get the attention of the enemies, as is the point of the merc.
- “Oh shit it actually works?!” reference to the shield being a prototype.
