[Merc] Raccoon

(lowkeyRocket) #1

Name: Raccoon (or Leech)
Gender: M
Class: Assault technically but more a mix (explained below)
HP: 80
Speed: 410, something like that
Primary: Shotguns probably (because the kills at close range are vital to his ability) Could also use others I guess but they don’t fit as well
Secondary: M9, DE .50
Melee: Beckhill, Stiletto

Backstory:
(I’m not very good at these so if it doesn’t make sense it can change)
Orphaned at a young age Raccoon lived on the streets of [Nationality Devs wish to present - appearance would go accordingly]. At 14 he joined his first gang and got the nickname raccoon for all the scavenging he did while on the streets. A young man when the dirty bomb incident occurred and now high ranking in his gang, Raccoon set out to London to steal military grade equipment from mercenaries in order to sell them on the black market for his gang. However, the only way to get his hands on these is to become a merc and join them in battle! (weak I know but there is enough to buff it up later and it does go with his ability well).

Now for the good part:
Abilities:
Primary: Scavenge
For 3 seconds after a merc has died Raccoon can go up to their body and steal their primary ability. Raccoon gets it with its current quantity and cool down, filling his Q slot. Once used the slot is filled so Primary Scavenge cannot be reused so no cool down.
Secondary: Scavenge
Same as above but only secondary abilities, filling E slot and again no reuse so no cool down.

For both Raccoon has to spend 1.5 seconds on the body to collect or 2.5 seconds combined if they are from the same body.

Tactic: Situation dependent you can get quite a useful mix of abilities.
Execution: Even after your medic or support oe engineer has died, Raccoon can give your team a second wind.
Objective/SW : Offence/Defence: Raccoon can get what is needed for at the moment without a respawn. Medic to keep the team alive to protect caryables, check. Artillery to destroy EV, check. Certain deplyables for a trap, check. As long as his team-mates have his back, he has got theirs!

Fightback: Raccoon has a low HP and has to spend time on the body so he is quite a vulnerable target. Get him early because late in the game (or his spawn) he can be quite a threat with his acquired abilities!

Why not OP: Most people are going to say that he could get a lethal combination but his weak points mean this is hard to do. In order to stay alive and actually use the abilities he can only get those easily available.

Anyways, tell me what you guys think about my first merc suggestion and if there are any tweaks that should be made!

(Naonna) #2

Do we really want a merc who gets access to the reivir gun and frag nades? - My concern with this merc is that he isn’t unique: he’s a leech-like character.
While nice on paper, it would be infuriating to play against.

Also as a programming issue, how would Fletcher’s manually-detonated mines work, or other deployables? Would one have to deal with non-proxy mines and a non-Bushwacker turret at the same time? Stealing a Fragger or Nader’s explosives could also be very dangerous for team-balance. While versatile and seemingly fun, the pain-in-the-rear factor of the merc may be just too much. (Also, the low HP makes him far less useful in a team-oriented firefight.)

(Others can tell me why I’m wrong below.)

(lowkeyRocket) #3

[quote=“Naonna;136515”]Do we really want a merc who gets access to the reivir gun and frag nades? - My concern with this merc is that he isn’t unique: he’s a leech-like character.
While nice on paper, it would be infuriating to play against.

Also as a programming issue, how would Fletcher’s manually-detonated mines work, or other deployables? Would one have to deal with non-proxy mines and a non-Bushwacker turret at the same time? Stealing a Fragger or Nader’s explosives could also be very dangerous for team-balance. While versatile and seemingly fun, the pain-in-the-rear factor of the merc may be just too much. (Also, the low HP makes him far less useful in a team-oriented firefight.)

(Others can tell me why I’m wrong below.)[/quote]

Thank you for your input because as you can probably tell I’m still working out the kinks on the idea. So, let me address each question and point individually so that the concept may be strengthened. Firstly, to get a mix like revivr gun and frags the player would have to down and kill sparks and fragger or have a team-mate help. If they are killed to far back in their enemy’s line of defence there is no way for Raccoon to get to the body. Thus, his 2 abilities are more up to chance and what is available with a stress on survivalism, even in this fast paced game because he needs to get the abilities.
As a leech character, I have to agree and that is why I see him as the final merc in the 20 originals or the first past that as a concluding element.
For deployables I feel that those already put up remain in the hands of the original merc but those still to be placed are scavenged by Raccoon. Thus if Bushwacker is downed after he has been, lets say protecting the EV for a while, it is probably not wise to scavenge him as his turret will most likely have been placed and the cooldown still a while to go. Thus, Raccoon has a higher learning curve but adds a new dynamic to strategies because players cannot size him up immediately.
For explosives, I have to ask how does this effect team balancing any more than a player committing suicide and coming back as nader or fragger?
For use in firefight, his low HP aimed to balance out the fact he could be the PERFECT team-mate in a fire fight. Beginning of the fight he evaluates what it is his team-mates need and procures it. He then uses it. Thus, his mates provide him cover so he can in return give the team what they need.
Anyhow, thank you for the dynamic viewpoint and I hope this helps make him more potential.

And, since I’m already posting I might as well add some things I had in mind.
For the abilities I am debating two things. Firstly, if he chooses to take both primary and secondary from the same character should it remain as 1.5 sec x 2 or should it be a combined 2.25 or something of sorts. Also I debate saying he can scavenge a team-mate after they are dead but it takes 4-5 sec for each scavenge. My only problems with this second is could that make him OP in the right hands and would people hate him if played by noobs who let their team die just to have a little fun. But if I could get it (team-mate scavenge) to work it would add even more dynamics to the game. The most notable change is in any mode, EX, OJB or SW a losing team could get a second wind if their only medic or support dies because Raccoon has got their back until the end for EX or next spawn in the other two.