Vanguard LVAS

There have been, over the years, several comments that there's nothing to do with Vanguard Merits once you've got the costume parts. Well, here's the Solution: The Light Vanguard Assault Suit (LVAS).

Purchasable for the Vanguard Merit cap (9999 if I recall correctly), the LVAS is a temporary power with no charges and no duration, ie it's permanent once earned, like the Ouroboros Portal. When used, it summons a Vanguard Heavy, scaled down to the size of the Veteran non-combat pets. This pet has all the attacks of the Heavy, but all the attacks deal 0 damage, have no secondary effects, and are flagged "Enemies do not notice this attack" and "Ignores buffs and enhancements." Also, the pet is untargetable, and ignores all attacks, just like various existing player pets, such as Voltaic Sentinel.

The end result is a cute little 'bot that goes ballistic on nearby enemies, but never gives any combat advantage, so balance becomes a non-issue.

/signed, neat new little stuff is always fun

...for 9999? I don't think so...
What'd be nice is to have a wearable VAS.

Now, I know Vehicles as, say, travel powers are technically impossible as of right now.
However, Shape-shifting is not. And my proposal for that'd be thus;

The LVAS would be a scalled down, stripped down version of the HVAS, maybe without the frontal armour and, essentially, having a cockpit area. So, slightly larger than Granite Armour or Dwarf Form, but still small enough to fit through doors and such. (Maybe with a tad of clipping. It doesnt kill anyone!)
The LVAS would be be either a self-contained toggle-power, or a clicky transform power. Either version would be unslottable.
The LVAS would either have all the HVAS powers with a slight scale down on power, or slightly different power selections.
For now;

Light Vanguard Assault Rig
Set ammount of HP, Regen, Recovery and Res. Exclusive to other armours

Plasma Blast: Moderate damage (Energy). A single shot with one of the rigs arm mounted Plasma Cannons.

Plasma Barrage: High Damage (Energy), - Regen. A high powered volley of Plasma fire, that deals high damage and slows regeneration.

Frag Grenade: Moderate Damage AoE (Smash/Fire), Knockback. A standard MkIII Frag from the Grenade launcher mounted on the back of the LVAR.

Seeker Drones: Disorient, -DMG, -ACC, -Perception, Low DMG(Energy). Two seeker drones deployed from the back-mounted rack.

Air-Bomb: High Damage (Fire) DoT, Knockback. A large explosive round fired from the back-mounted launcher. Slow recharge but good damage.

So. Just my idea. Would need building and animating and all that schtick. But more useful than a 9999 cost pet that does nothing. We get them for free with vet rewards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

1. We don't get vet pets already. You do. And people with a lot more time than I have do. Not everyone does.

2. It doesn't do nothing. It spams attacks. Useless attacks, granted, but do you want to see 8 of these on every team? Maybe cut the cost some, but keep it high enough that most people only get it on one or two characters.

Those who want the badges from raiding have to do 10 raids minimum, earning (from my experience) 200-400 Merits per raid. So that's 3000 or average by the time you've got the badge. A full suit of armor (minus shield and/or weapon) is just over 1000 merits, and the salvage sack is 500. Perhaps 1500 or even 2500 Vanguard Merits for the pet instead?

As far as the transform goes, I'm not so sure. If that adds to your character, like Granite does, it seems too much to include attacks. If it replaces your character, well, I've never been a fan of that form of transforms. Plus, those powers make it look better than either Kheld form. It would have to be a single use click with a set effect time, or a toggle with a duration. Way too powerful for a permanent power.