So in the spirit of
Marvel's 80th Anniversary, I thought I'd go back to the early days and try to offer some ways to modernize one of the first Avengers' game kits.
I thought I could pitch a few changes for Ant-Man where I would synthesize my knowledge of Ant-Man, and game design to make him a much better champion than we currently see him.
Disclaimer: I don't mean for this to come across as a champion rework like She-Hulk and Spider Gwen, just an enhancement on the playstyle he already has. People familiar with him won't have to change their way of play.
Scott Lang uses Pym particles in two ways.
1. Having the particles carry his mass into extra-dimensional space, taking away his mass and thus reducing his size. He however retains his normal human strength in doing this. This however comes at the cost of mental exertion
2. Bringing Pym Particles onto his body, increasing his mass, size, and strength. This however comes at the cost of physical exertion.
So how does this help us in-game?1. We can use these two separate uses as pre-fight abilities, where when certain conditions are fulfilled, more Pym Particles are added to the player.
2. We can use the repercussions of the two modes to give Ant-Man more enticing power boosts and ramp ups.
3. The slow acquisition of minor boosts means you don't need to animate any shrinking or enlargening in-game (although a new SP3 where he goes large instead of small would be awesome).
Let's begin with ShrinkingI would consider the shrinking pre-fight setting to be one of utility, debuffs, and light, speedy play. Additionally, Ant-Man could qualify as a Small Champion in this matchup.
Ant-Man's Light Attacks could have a 18% chance to Fatigue the opponent for 15 seconds.
Whenever Ant-Man uses a Special 1, he sheds Pym Particles, losing mass and gaining 1 Stack of Pym Reduction for the fight.
Pym Reduction
- Each stack increases Glancing chance by 2%.
- Each stack increases Light attack damage by 7.5%
- Each stack gives Ant-Man a 3.5% chance to evade incoming attacks on a Fatigued opponent.
- Each stack gives Ant-Man 2% more Offensive Ability Accuracy
Whenever Ant-Man uses a Special 2, his ants carry a canister of Pym Particles to the opponent, converting each stack of Fatigue into Pym Degradation for 18 seconds.
Pym Degradation
- Each stack decreases Offensive Ability Accuracy by 4%
- Each stack gives a poison dealing 75% of Attack over 18 seconds.
If Ant-Man reaches 10 stacks of Pym Reduction, the Pym Particles begin to take a mental toll on Scott. Every subsequent use of Special 1 gives Ant-Man a stack of Fatigue, decreases his Block Proficiency by 10%, he gains Unstoppable for 6 seconds, and the opponent is prevented from throwing a special attack during the Unstoppable.
Using a Special 3 clears all of these negative effects. And now the GrowingI would consider the growing pre-fight setting to be one of overwhelming offense, physical endurance, and heavy, slow play. Additionally, Ant-Man could qualify as an XL Champion for this matchup.
Ant-Man's Heavy attacks could have a 50% chance to Armor Break the opponent for 15 seconds.
Whenever Ant-Man uses a Special 3, he gains a small increment of Pym Particles that increase his strength and durability, gaining 1 Stack of Pym Addition for the fight.
- Each stack increases Glancing Chance by 5%
- Each stack increases Attack by 8%
- Each stack gives Ant-Man a Physical Resistance buff
- Each stack gives Ant-Man 10% more Offensive Ability Accuracy
Whenever Ant-Man uses a Special 2, his ants carry a canister of Pym Particles to the opponent, converting each stack of Armor Break into Pym Encumbrance for 18 seconds.
- Each stack decreases Critical Rating
- Each stack decreases Attack by 4%
- If 4 Stacks are converted, the opponent is inflicted with Slow as well
- If 5 stacks are converted, Ant-Man power steals 50% of their current power.
- If 6 stacks are converted, the opponent is inflicted with Armor Shattered
- If 8 stacks are converted, the opponent is Paralyzed for 5 seconds.
If Ant Man reaches 10 stacks of Pym Addition, the Pym Particles begin to take a physical toll on Scott. Every subsequent use of Special 3 gives Ant-Man a large Weakness debuff, a small poison dealing 5% of his maximum health, decreased Block Proficiency by 45%, and Unstoppable for 3 seconds whenever he blocks an attack.
Using a Special 1 clears all of these negative effects.------------------
So at the End of the Day:1. Ant-Man has a more dynamic playstyle that allows him to face a larger variety of opponents and make better use of all three specials.
2. His Shrinking setting allows him to continually weaken his opponents and rapidly ramp up his damage and reliability (which is a major problem of the current Ant-Man). This setting is quite reminiscent of the current Ant-Man as well.
3. His Growing setting allows him to slowly ramp up minor damage and major defense, and with proper management of power, utterly cripple your opponent and become untouchable.
4. Before Ant-Man gets way too overpowered in the fight, you are forced to accrue massive penalties and lose fight momentum to clear them. So.. balance!
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Please feel free to add constructive criticisms at the bottom
