This one is based of the Starcraft 2 carrier:
When a Carrier attacks, Interceptors launch and then attack automatically in a swarm around their Carrier. They return to the Carrier that launched them when the Carrier moves away or there are no more targets in range. Interceptors are entirely dependent on their home Carrier for survival - they instantly explode if their Carrier is destroyed. Interceptors are not individually selectable, and they cannot be given orders directly. When given no specific target, Interceptors are free to attack any target in range. They automatically prioritize targets with anti-air capabilities that might harm the Carrier or destroy the Interceptors themselves. Individually, each Interceptor is relatively weak, but in large numbers, their collective firepower can quickly overwhelm opponents.
So what would a DB merc look like?
- Engineer with four drones permanently circling around him. Imagine the manhacks from HF2. The drones just follow the engineer wherever he goes.
- It doesn’t take a lot of damage to put down a drone
- The engineer can point drones ‘agressively’ to a direction, striking enemies with melee attacks near the spot as long as the engineer keeps painting the target.
- The engineer can also lock player targets/turrets/EV’s (much like the ETQW rocket artillery)
- The engineer doesn’t need to keep line of sight, he however has to keep holding the ‘offensive’ button for the drones to remain agressive. Releasing the offensive button makes the drones swarm back to the engineer again.
- The drones replenish through the cooldown, just like fletcher’s nades.
- The four drones are fragile but have large hitboxes. This both serves as an ease for the opponent to ward them off as well as a minor form of interception for the engineer or players very close to him.
- Drones that are shot down fall to the ground and after a quick fix can be reclaimed (instantly refilling one cooldown).
So what we got here is a merc that plays completely different from any other mercs. His main mode of defense and offensive are all done through indirect orders. At the same time, if he wants to retain this power he needs to be careful with his four drones as they’re vulnerable at all times. Unlike Fletcher he can’t chose to ‘unload’ his cargo which means opponents can strip him from his herd before he even sees action.
It makes him the most mobile indirect support class. Should this guy find a nice vantage point then he’ll be able to send his drones wherever they’re needed the most. Could be a group of team-mates refilling at a station, or someone doing an objective, or a medic moving in to revive or simply someone getting his ass kicked. The option to repair fallen drones (and forego the cooldown) also means that skilled players will be active in the field replenishing their drones rather than ineffectively hanging back and waiting for the cooldowns. So a nice skill curve going on there as well.