Help me make these characters a reality
By
Bionic_Flea,
Posted on: 2010-09-01 09:50 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
For just a moment, let's assume I'm committed to making Duriel a Brute. The primary is already pretty much set to Dual Blades because, let's face it - when else am I going to use those swords? 
Besides, I hear they're good on Brutes, not that I'd know.
Secondary, however, is a problem. Here's what I have to choose from and its pros and cons:
Dark Armour
Pros: Resembles miasma (the term, not the powerset), corrupts, fits an insect, have not used before on a Brute.
Cons: Hate the powerset, has useless power, has full translucency cloak power, lacks knockback protection, lacks NoFX option.
Electric Armour
Pros: I got nothin'. It's a decent powerset, I guess.
Cons: Hard to justify, doesn't inspire me, doesn't look good in black, lacks NoFX option, is ground-bound.
Energy Aura
Pros: Decent set, effects can resemble bugs, looks good in black, is relatively light on effects.
Cons: Hard to justify, obscures model, has full translucency cloak, lacks NoFX option.
Fiery Aura
Pros: I got nothin'.
Cons: Hard to justify, don't like the set, lacks knockback protection, have already used a similar-looking theme, obscures costume, lacks NoFX option.
Invulnerability
Pros: Solid set, looks good in black, has NoFX option, inspires me
Cons: Have used it twice recently, seems sideways of concept, creates redundancy with Cedric and his other minions.
Shield Defence
Pros: Don't matter.
Cons: Cannot be used with Dual Blades.
Stone Armour:
Pros: What the Vulpish One said.
Cons: Ground bound, obstructs costume, lacks NoFX option, is SERIOUSLY endurance-intensive, have sworn off the thing after Ezikiel Bane.
Super Reflexes
Pros: Decent set, looks good in black, has NoFX option, could make sense, have not used before on a Brute.
Cons: Needs work to make sense, seems sideways of concept.
Willpower
Pros: Solid set, has Quick Recovery, has NoFX option, has a strong regeneration component.
Cons: Used it twice recently and a lot overall, needs explanation, creates redundancy with Cedric and his other minions.
I'll have to mull over this list some to come to a decision, but so far it seems like Super Reflexes has the least cons and the ones it has are the least serious. Still don't know. I wish Brutes had Regen.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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How do you feel about Self-Rez powers? Part of being "the swarm" is that you can't really kill it, it will always come back. Having the ability to just get back up on your own would carry that imagery well. Of course, there's the bit in the description about being a "former" Queen, so I'm not sure what all that entrails.
The Abrams is one of the most effective war machines on the planet. - R. Lee Ermy.
Q: How do you wreck an Abrams?
A: You crash into another one.
Quote:
I have great respect for self-rez powers (more respect for the aggressive ones), so I'd definitely take one if I had it. The problem is that, off-memeory, the only self-rez powers Brutes have access to are Rise of the Phoenix, Soul Transfer and Resurgence. Two of those belong to powersets I REALLY don't want to make more of yet, and the third one belonds to Willpower, of which I made two last week, one of whom was Cedric and I don't want to repeat powersets at least within this specific group.|
Originally Posted by M_I_Abrahms
How do you feel about Self-Rez powers? Part of being "the swarm" is that you can't really kill it, it will always come back. Having the ability to just get back up on your own would carry that imagery well. Of course, there's the bit in the description about being a "former" Queen, so I'm not sure what all that entrails.
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I'd take Revive from Regen, but Brutes don't get Regen, so...
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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But you have a point - insects with hair don't really make much sense. Nor do robots with hair or rock creatures with hair and so forth. That's kind of why I've been trying to think outside the box with them. The Wild hair, in actual practice, does not look like hair. Trust me - I played around with this character and it seriously doesn't. It's one more oddity on what is already a VERY odd character. I don't think it detracts from her concept as a weird bug lady as much as tech does simply because it's a bit of weird biology, which while possibly inappropriate, can still be chalked up wonky evolution. But tech parts just really ruin that. If they contrast, they alter the concept and if they don't they just make me scratch my head.
But to answer your question: I don't know. I liked the look when I originally put the character together, so I kept it
Moving on to the power sets
DB/Dark might be what you want. I think with the right color tweaks Dark Armour could probably simulate insects crawling and swarming around her.
I'll say keep it with Stalker because Assassinations Demoralize combined with Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom could complete that insect feel.
Demoralize for that initial reaction and then Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom as her insects start swarming about.
And there's another problem with the Stalker concept, as well. You can't tell from the screenshots because there's no frame of reference, but Duriel is big. Not HUUUGE big, but big. Around 6'6'' - 6'7''. Moreover, those Dragon wings very much are HUUUGE big, and those swords are outright absurd. I couldn't tell you WHY I originally made her so big - like I said before, I was freehanding a concept and that's just how it came out. The thing is that while I COULD just make her smaller, I... Kind of don't want to. Providence only strikes once, and the way she played when I tested her (up to level 4, actually) really felt much more appropriate to a Brute.
Duriel is a large aggressive creature. She has a wingspan bigger than a car and swords that probably weigh more than most men - and TWO of them! In fact, it occurred to me when I made the comment last night that "Stupid Infected! Why would you follow the large bug lady into the back of a truck? You deserve to your insides sliced up!" Right there it occurred to me that what I liked the most about her was that she really WAS big, scary and threatening.
All that said, I decided that I want to go Brute. I can keep the Dual Blades as the developers had enough foresight to give those things to EVERYBODY, but I can't keep Regeneration, which presents me with a problem - what else can I use? Ideally, I'd like to use something which has a NoFX option to it, but I can't really think of anything other than Willpower (which I used twice in the last two weeks) and Super Reflexes (which is "eh" in this case). If I can make a good argument for it, I'll still use something with auras, most likely coloured Dark black/black, but the problem is that Dark black/black auras turn solid VERY fast, especially against a dark body, which just turns her into a giant black blob. I'd actually like to avoid self-stealth powers if I can, as well.
*edit*
Oh, and just to state one more reason why I hate unlockable costumes - I got excited about Duriel and got her a couple of wing recipes just to see what those looked like. Now I'm about to delete her, which not only means I just wasted two wing recipes for almost no reason, but I'll need at least one more for Dragon Wings AGAIN. I certainly hope I don't have to remake her a third time, because I'm THIS close to punching people.
Oh, and in case it seems like this could have been avoided... No. No, it very much could not have. The only way I was able to tell if Dragon Wings, Insect Wings or Demon Wings would look good in actual practice was to make a character with them and try them on. And it was in part because of those wings that I realised the character I had made with them was not fit for the AT which I picked. In essence, I needed to use the recipe in order to realise that I should not have used the recipe. Catch 22.
I will take Booster Packs over unlockable costume ANY DAY!