SCIENCE CHAMP IMPROVEMENTS (Gamma & Spiders)

Ok, so in the past I suggested introducing The Leader to have unique synergies that would benefit any champion with the Gamma Tag if he is paired with Hulk, She-Hulk, Abomination or Red-Hulk. The nature of them would add a condition that make Gamma champs align a lot more with what they are known to be capable of in the comics and movies: able to heal and able to build strength with rage; but in a way that does not make them ridiculous to fight with or against [i.e. not OP].

To keep it simple, Kabam smartly linked damage taken with anger and that with extra damage output for Hulk and Joe Fixit. Additionally there is the fury buff, and of course, the new HULK SMASH! However, fury is common to many characters and the idea of Hulk potentially having higher and higher damage output is dwarfed by many other champs AND what he does have]his comes at the expense of his health. So all that was missing was a mechanism to return health to him while keeping extra damage output, so it works in this way:

All Gamma champs under the Leader/Hulk synergy effect would be able to regenerate 1/4of their health by consuming 1/2 of their Power Meter if they keep their Power Meter full for more than 5 seconds (compare to Cosmic Supremacy with Black Bolt and Ronan or Ms. Marvel (Kamala Kahn version) benefiting essentially all Cosmics)
The caveat would be that Hulk's fury buffs would rise to 3x the starting attack rating if he lost up to 99% of his health, and remain even if he healed all the way back to 100% health
Then his fury could rise up to nearly 6x the starting attack rating if he lost up to 99% health again
Rinse and repeat for 9x, 12x, 15x, etc. up to some limit that potentially slightly outclasses the current damage toppers like Star-Lord and Loki. This would have the wink and nod to the Strongest There Is title

Since this is not reliant or limited by keeping a combo, it would have its built in restraints:

This applies only to Hulk's FURY state, not to his base attack, so most of his non-buffed attacks top out at 3x the attack rating when down to minimal health, and goes back to 1x if he was to return be returned to 100% health
This would not be reset by losing a combo since a main part of it is taking damage then reclaiming health, but stunning him would reset it, putting fury back at its typical effectiveness
This requires The Leader to be on the team, who would benefit from regenerative abilities as a #Gamma champ, but not Fury building (this makes at least two champs Science, bringing the inherent roster disadvantage to Skill to two of three or two of five)
It has several restrictive nodes to not let this favor Summoners in certain content too much where Heal Block, Power Drain, Plagued Mind, Power Leak, Special 1 or 2 locks, etc. can complicate or outright deny the higher limits of this Unique Ability

Not to be left out, other Synergies with Leader combine with the Hulk one to give growth ability to the other #Gamma's as well. If She-Hulk, Abomination or Red-Hulk are paired with the Leader, as their health is lost, their effect duration and potency increases in unique ways:

She-Hulk extends the length of Stun and how much extra damage her heavy attack does to stunned opponents, adding that she would also benefit more from Citation as well by using aspects of what she restricts in opponents' classes. At lower health vs a Mystic she would gain power faster, vs a Skill champ she would have greater critical rates, vs a Cosmic her debuffs (stun) would last even longer, vs Mutant her Special Damage resistance would increase while her output would increase, vs Tech her ability accuracy would increase, and vs Science her Physical Resistance would go up

Sticking with this structure, Abomination's radiation and fury would go up, and Red Hulk's incineration, as well as the potency of each of his ten charges. Even Rhino would benefit from greater fury and increased physical resistance. To keep things within acceptable playing limits, these may have to cap off at a point though: like say +300% (i.e. only Hulk's hit power goes up until it surpasses Star-Lord and/or Loki's abilities to inflict massive damage.

Comments

Bajan_Samurai

The Spiders
To separate the Spider-characters from the Gamma characters a bit, this is its own sub post. Their 'improvement' is really a focus on Spider-Gwen predominantly, with an added Synergy that makes her suggested ability shine more while benefiting other Spider champs a bit. Spider-Gwen is an example of having a champ unique by having a non-attacking Sp1; however, the BALANCING of the champ could have been handled better by treating any detriment with a trade off benefit that outclasses other champs in a significant enough way to be worth it. In this case, take the closest example of Karnak. His Sp1 is an attack, but a short ranged one that, if missed, leaves him open for a counterattack for a significant enough time; however, the trade off is increased damage potential via True Strike and Criticals (he doesn't benefit so much that he outclasses many other champs, but the idea behind it is what I am getting at). Here is what would improve Spider-Gwen while keeping the Sp1 as a non-attack:

Make her Sp1 be accompanied by a set of webs that will be her web snare
These webs will linger on the ground for the length of her increased dodging ability
While an opponent is standing on the webs, like a real Spider, Spider-Gwen would be tracking their motion
Tracked motion on the webs means their evasive abilities are compromised
Tracked motion also means her evasive ability is also enhanced
While the buff is active, also enable her to have Kinetic Instigation
That ability covers the loss in non-attacking potential by trading in potential faster power gain back to the Sp1 point because she would still be gaining power from a blocking opponent
Hunt and Trap modes would also give various other benefits
On Hunter Spider each blocked hit allows her probing with her Spider-Sense to know the best strike points for her Sp2 or 3. Building extra critical damage based on an icon counter that will build to a max +60% extra damage for Sp2 or 3 (unless stunned before that point)
On Trap Spider each blocked hit would reduce the opponent's Power Gain rate
Additionally, since the effect would be a visible layer of Web on the Battle Stage's ground, this is where she would also be unique in having a customized Sp3 screen. Similar to Rocket's screen or MODOK's, Spider-Gwen would have the fixed animation of her dodging a Special 3 entirely, but only if this is while the opponent launches it from standing on the active webs before the Sp1 effect wears off.

For someone with no attack on a Sp1 it would be considered Balanced to have some potential to thwart one of an opponent's ultimate Special attacks. Then, bringing a Synergy into it, adding Black Cat can play up some bad luck effects with Spiders (or Squirrel Girl and make it a joke thing off of both being 'SG') that make it so the SP3 evasion is active even if the opponent isn't standing on the web trappings as long as the SG's Sp1 buff is still active, and extends 100% evasion of other specials (Sp1&2) if they are on the webs. The spread of the webs would be a fully stretched screen (quarter stage) to the length 1 champ on each far end of the viewable screen.

Benefits of the Synergy with Black Cat would be to other Spider Champs by making their evasion of opponents' Sp1 or 2 100% for 5 seconds after a Sp1 (with the exception of certain Champs' evasion reducing abilities).

To reiterate and clarify, create a 2nd Cutscene for Spider-Gwen for if she is attacked by an SP3 while her Sp1 buff is active; this one shows her dodging a series of attacks that can be fixed on any champ (like they pull out MODOK's guidance system or kick Rocket into a wall. Maybe she flips backward from several attempted hits then lands high on a wall.

JDunk2291

I like these ideas...Nice!

Silas_Feanor143

Very nice! I agree with you that Gamma champs need some extra regen. I hope that Kabam takes some inspiration from your ideas!

Bajan_Samurai

Yeah, thanks guys.

I think the trick to adding something as common and useful as regen to even more champs is in applying it in a different enough way. While I hadn't thought of it as a unique synergy way back when (originally it was an equipment item specific to Gamma champs and Unique Synergies weren't a thing) but when Hyperion and then Blade came along [and had regen mechanics too close to my original thoughts] I ended up reworking it to stay unique enough (it was very Blade-like before to trigger while holding block and sapping the power bar - funny enough, Sabertooth also touches on a brief variation I was 'workshopping' with the whole idling thing, but it would have also sapped the power bar).

Time Released after a full Power Bar is, so far, unique for any champ. Being dependent on the Leader being there on the roster also stops it from being too many powers for just Hulk, Gladiator Hulk, or Red Hulk to have in their basic forms too, and resetting it on stun keeps it from being too scary for the additional part where Hulk gets stronger and stronger. Interestingly enough, the Red Hulk rework that added a little regen made me think of the extra limitations it would need to have since they did not want too big of a regen on a Hulk.

The 3rd Sp3 screen for Spider-Gwen is definitely a unique thing - probably not that easy to code going against the structure of all other champs working so differently, but it seems worth considering. She definitely needs some reworking while respecting the idea would be to keep the non-attack Sp1 on her/someone. It would be good if the web covering on the ground at least applied to opponents' Sp1 and 2 though. We already see lingering ice under Ice-Man, and other effects, so there is some basis for extending the visual coding for it.

Some built in counter to the effect would be some ineffectiveness on floating/flying champs like Rocket, Magnetos, Sentry, Phoenix, Rogue, Vulture, DS, DV and Archangel (unless it is portrayed as hanging webs as well). Of course the counter for non-flyers would also be to clear the section of the stage it's covering until it dissipates.

Worth some test runs in the Beta Tester thing like they had for Luke Cage and Red Hulk, IMO.

Bajan_Samurai

Update on how Half Life would work:

The #Gamma champ must hold their Power Meter 100% full for at least 10 seconds
Their Health Meter must be between 75% and 25% to enable and use Half Life
After 10 seconds they would automatically begin to consume 25% of their Power Meter over 5 seconds
This will Gamma Regenerate 12.5% of their health
It will boost a key (Primary) ability by 6.25% up to a max of 200% of its original potency
It will boost another key (Secondary) ability by 3.125% indefinitely
It would be reset with well-timed blocks or abilities that stun or concuss, but not by just losing combos
This would affect Hulk (classic), Hulk (rag), She-Hulk, Joe Fixit, Abomination, Red Hulk, Rhino (who isn't a typical hulk but is gamma powered), The Leader (the new addition who would carry this as a Unique Synergy) and even The Maestro (if he's playable by Summoners), plus any new #Gamma champs potentially to be added like a Harpy or Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross) or Professor Hulk
A special Unique Synergy is also recommended for Hulkbuster, so that when certain teammates are together, the suit is piloted by Bruce Banner instead of Tony Stark (a la Infinity War) and slightly different abilities become available. He too would benefit from Half Life, but a proposed rework would allow him to build Armor, repair via Veronica, and covert some into Prowess and have more attack power to improve further by Half Life

With that Primary and Secondary abilities of some examples would be

Hulk | [pr] Fury potency (rating, frequency and duration) | [sec] Hulk Rage (attack:damage increase)
The technique here is to balance damage taken and healing between 75%-->>26%-->>75%-->>26%-->>75% to capitalize on a higher and higher base attack so he can deal the most damage per hit (to be The Strongest There Is) eventually; especially when a 200% more potent Fury enhances his hits even further

Red Hulk | [pr] Heat Charge count, phys resistance & regen rating | [sec] Heat Charge damage potency
Receive and heal damage between 75 and 25% health repeatedly to eventually be able to store up to 20 heat charges, each of which can heal 200% more or incinerate an indefinite amount more

She Hulk | [pr] Citing Precedent & Exhaustion | [sec] Fury duration
Receive and heal damage between 75 and 25% health repeatedly to eventually have 200% more effective Citations and an indefinitely more potent Fury

Abomination | [pr] Irradiate (->200%) | [sec] Fury potency
Rhino | [pr] Toughness (->200%) | [sec] Fury potency
Hulk Ragnarok | [pr] Smash rating (->200%) | [sec] Adoration based attack rating
Hulkbuster | [pr] Armor Rating potency (->200%) | [sec] Armor Break potency
Joe Fixit | [pr] Card 1 potency (->200%) | [sec] Card 2 potency
Leader | [pr] Block/Heavy Inversion duration (->200%) | [sec] Gamma Dome intensity*

Leader's proposed abilities would be inversion and position related. Effects of his Sp1 and 3 would cause controls for Heavy Attacks and Blocks to switch; and he would erect stationary Gamma Domes that drain exotic power into him as opponent's cross in and out of it, causing radiation damage while inside.