So I went down a lil Beta Ray Bill black hole recently (*hint hint*), and my oh my do I have high hopes for this dude. Brief background on the character:
Alien race's protector enhanced with cybernetics that altered his appearance (hence, the HONSE). Fought Thor for the right to wield Mjolnir, as he was the only other person worthy to lift it, and was granted Stormbreaker, the warhammer/hammer-axe duo everyone knows and loves, by Odin after he ~sorta~ beat Thor.
Source Info: This is where things get complicated. Bill is...how do I put it? An absolute monster.
6' 7", 480 lbs, so def Size: #L. We're talking super strength, super speed (increased while flying with Stormbreaker
to freakin' surpass the speed of light), super stamina/durability, immunity to disease/sickness, strong regeneration, and just a *dash* of nigh immortality. To top it off, Stormbreaker literally opens portals between dimensions...bruh.
So, to say the least, we have a LOT to work with. Broad strokes, I'm thinkin' a very Recoil-tree-friendly kit featuring power gain, furies, massive crits, and the use of Crush to further decimate.
Passive Abilities: Always Active
- +7000 Physical Resistance
- +7000 Energy Resistance
Bill's Korbinite muscle tissue has to result in immense resistance to both physical and energy attacks (he basically isn't affected by physical attacks, AND he survived energy blasts that destroyed planets in the comics). This could be substituted with an indefinite +7000 Resistance Up passive. The value of this is very reasonable, considering Absorbing Man's refined form resistance values (+9000 Physical or Energy for Uru and Magma, respectively), or the Resistance Up passive stacking that we see on a maxed Spidey 2099 (at 100 stacks, over 9000).
- Full Immunity to the effects of Bleed, Poison, Rupture, Wither, and Nullify.
His Korbinite tissue cannot be penetrated, he cannot be afflicted with any ailment, and his cybernetic enhancements have made him immune to aging. The Wither immunity will come into play later as well...bear with me. Nullify immunity so he wouldn't just be a potato against Mystics, but the opportunity to counter via Stagger, Neutralize, Fate Seal, and Soul Barb still exists.
- Beta Ray Bill's combat power rate is decreased by 33%.
Bear with me!Basic Attacks:
- Bill's basic attacks have a 30% chance to grant a Fury buff increasing Attack rating by 15% lasting 20 seconds. Max stack: 10.
Decreased combat power rate + RNG to build smaller furies over time. There's a method to this madness.Heavy Attack: When charging his heavy attack, Beta Ray Bill channels the power of Stormbreaker and gains the following effects:
- Passively Unstoppable.
- Power Gain buff granting 33% of a bar of power over 1 second.
- Regenerate 85% of damage received.
- Each hit received while charging the heavy attack activates a passive Fury effect on Beta Ray Bill, each increasing attack rating by 30%, and expiring after the next special attack.
The devs mentioned upon announcing Bill that charging his heavy would be a big part of his kit. Hoping it looks like this!! Also, THIS is why the Wither immunity exists - no one can stop Beta Ray Bill.Special Attacks:
- Upon activation, Beta Ray Bill gains a Cruelty Buff increasing Crit Damage Rating by +3000 and lasting 20 seconds.
- If activated while charging his heavy attack, gain a Precision passive increasing Critical Rating by +20,000 and lasting the duration of the special attack. After the special attack ends, this passive converts to a Precision buff, increasing Critical Rating by +10,000 and lasting 10 seconds.
- Knocking down the opponent with a special attack inflicts a 1.5 second Crush passive on them.
Special Attack 1: Each hit inflicts a Shock debuff lasting 6 seconds. If activated while charging his heavy attack, Beta Ray Bill inflicts Critical Shock passives instead, dealing 150% more damage.
Because, well, Stormbreaker controls weather. Don't think too hard about it.Special Attack 2: Gain a True Sense and True Damage buff, each lasting the duration of the special attack.
The REAL money-maker. We're talking insane multi-hit, teleportation animations, all just going nuts capitalizing on all the work up to it. Can't be evaded, can't be auto-blocked (thanks Herc), and the damage cannot be reduced (thanks Adam). Magnificent.Special Attack 3: Upon activation, gain the following effects:
- Immunity to Nullify for 60 seconds.
- Activate an indefinite Vigor passive, increasing all damage dealt to the opponent by 25%. Max stack: 1.
Because why not make him absolutely unstoppable lol, and introduce Vigor into a champ's base kit for the first time. This also introduces the opportunity for Bill to be used in long form content as well.Signature Ability: When charging his heavy attack, Beta Ray Bill uses Stormbreaker to open portals to other dimensions, gaining the following benefits by drawing upon their energies:
- Pause the duration of all buffs on him.
- Passive Fury effect potency is increased by 2-10%.
This was a hard one. I want Beta Ray Bill to be a champ that doesn't NEED it the dupe to be busted, but greatly benefits from it, without locking a gameplay changing piece of utility. The duration of the buffs don't NEED to be paused. But opening the door for a higher stack of buffs is cool. The Fury potency increase is another way to just juice him up even further, and make the pursuit of the sig 200 a "nice thing" to do over time, rather than a necessity.So the logic here is not too different than the typical Cosmic thing - build buffs, use specials, big yellow numbers, big yay. However, I would love to see Beta Ray Bill be a champ kinda like Gladiator, where you WANT the defender to hit you while you're charging your heavy, with some built in safeties. Stormbreaker powers Bill up, even further increasing his durability, activating his regeneration factor, and by cancelling into your special you get to reap insane benefits. The Crush passive is there to further punish and get some beefy hits in right after you schmack em down. All in all, the goal is to remain comic accurate but have a logical playstyle and flow.
Counters: Slow, Stagger, Fate Seal, Neutralize, Soul Barb, Heal Block are what you're looking for here. That, and being good at dex'ing multi-hit specials, lol.
For those who stuck around and read all of my yappin, I hope you enjoyed and much thanks. Give me any changes you think are better, or ideas you have yourself that you're hoping to see! TWELVE MORE DAYS TILL BILL!!!
