NINJA Assault (Stalker Primary Idea)

The following Stalker Primary powerset was inspired by several recent threads including an interesting one started by Leo_G here;

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=237766

With this powerset I am attempting to capture a Ninja assault set full of tactics and visually appealing animations. It would require new tech within the game, and may seem to be a hybrid Ranged/Melee set, but next to sets like Dark Armor and Ninjitsu, I think it would fit the bill as a versatile and unique "controllery" primary with many possibilities.

So, without further ado: NINJA ASSAULT

The following powers are not in order, but arranged simply for presentation. Consider how they would interact with each other and in-game playstyle tactics.

The basics:

This is a dual handed weapon set, but due to the nature of the animations, the weapons would be small "fist-style" weapons like ; Claws, Knuckle-dusters, Punching Daggers, Cestus, Reverse Grip Kamas (Mantis Blades), Bo-Sticks (with Baton-style grips), etc...

The Powers:

(1) Placate : Standard Stalker power

(2) Assassin Strike : Animation and effect just as Dual-Blade version. Another standard Stalker power

(3) Ninja Barrage : 1-2 Punch attack with good damage, recharge, and animation similar to Energy's Barrage power. Tier 1 or Tier 2. Since the powerset is light on melee single targets, this power should require a minimum of recharge bonus to tighten up an attack chain.

(4) Ninja Fury : A flurry of blows using either the Shadow Maul or 1K-Cuts animation. This long-ish animation should come with a very good DPA/DPE ratio and together with Ninja Barrage should form the core melee assault of the powerset. This should NOT be an AoE like Shadow Maul due to the other powers I am presenting here (which include 2 AoE powers).

(5) Crane Kick : Straight copy of the Martial Arts attack with great damage and knockback. Alternate animations should include the Storm Kick option to allow the player to better customize their assault style.

(6) Dragon's Tail : Straight copy of the Martial Arts attack with similar damage activation and effect. This is one of 2 AoE attacks, but due to the lower damage of the AoE powers would not make the set an AoE powerhouse, but simply add AoE capabilities that combine damage and mitigation. Refer to the next power for comparison.

(7) Ankle Chains : Using the ball lightning animation you throw several spinning ball-and-chains in a cone at your enemies lower legs. These should do damage similar to (or less than) the Dragon's tail attack above, but in a 90deg cone with a medium range 30-40 feet. The damage could be a dot or single hit and have high magnitude (Mag 3 min) immobilze as well as NO -KB protection (refer to the next power for the reason why).

(8) Tow Line : Using a two handed animation, you throw a line that wraps around the neck of your target and applies a reverse knock back effect. Normal KB attacks push the target away from the caster, but what I envision is that the target is knocked toward the caster. Where they land is un-important, but this power and Crane Kick are the reason that "Ankle-Chains" should not have a Knockback protection component. The damage could be anything from low to high depending on how much dps would be considered fair after taking all powers into consideration. My gut says this would hit like a Tier 2 attack, but have a long-ish recharge (14-20 sec). Consider the 1-2 effect of ; Ankle Chains + Tow Line, followed by : Barrage + Fury + Crane Kick. "Did that Hurt ? It sure looked like it hurt."

(9) Shadow Step : What is it ? The signature move of a true Ninja. You animate in a half-turn plus a fade-away/smoke-cloud effect, and reappear next to your target cmpleting the attack with the two-handed "ripping" attack from Claws/Thorns (minus the somersault). The range should be the same as Ankle Chains (30-40feet) and would involve some clever coding for line-of-sight and teleport options. Because of the combination of Half-turn+Fade to Grey+Eviscerate the animation would be rather longish so the damage and critical chance should be similar to Eagle's Claw. Your weapons would be visible in this attack.

***I tried to minimize the re-draw possibilities within the set by using 2 kicks combined with the 2-fisted melee attacks (Barrage, Fury, Shadow Step). Depending on how the attacks were animated, "Tow Line" and "Ankle Chains" would not necessarily cause the fist weapons to be put away. Additionally, my thoughts are that the basic weapon attacks should apply some consistent debuffs. Perhaps something like "Swap Ammo" could be applied here to simulate various toxins that the ninja has applied to their weapons. Slow Toxins, -Regen Toxins, -Def, -Dmg, etc...

Thoughts ??

Meh. We've already got three 'Ninja' sets. One of them is even called Ninja Blade. Claws and Martial arts, heck even DB make more than enough sets that are 'Ninja'y enough already.
It basically seems like a helluva lot of work ("Clever coding") for something that really doesn't grab the attention. Would much rather see something like 2-handed weapon sets or something.

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.

I really like the Swap Weapon concept Leo.
Unfortunately, they would probably require seperate animations for each weapon style in order to look right.

You are right, the idea for the set WAS to have a hybrid, weapon/ranged/martial/tactics powerset. The only weapons that would allow this versatility AND use the same animations would be "fist-type" weapons. If you made your weapons Brass Knuckles, for instance, you would look almost totally martial art-sy, with Fury, Barrage, Shadow Step, CK, and DT. You could have claws, or punching daggers if that was your "thing" or my personal desire to have Bo Sticks. All these options for weapons would let you customize your Ninja's weapons without a "swap weapon" mechanic. They would just need to have custom animations to help tailor the combat better.

I am not sure if everyone is missing the tactics that are present or if I am just overstating their effectiveness. Ankle Chains plus Tow Line, means that you would have the bad-guys all bunched up taking damage but unable to beat on you while you take out the guy you "pulled" (literally) to you. Then there is the Crane Kick plus Tow Line combo; "Wait... get back here !". Combine in the powers from Ninjitsu like Smoke Bomb and you have some interesting ways to divide and conquer. And of course there is Shadow Step. This ONE power would be worth all the effort to create it. It may seem like the tactical advantages are small, but they are enough combined with the cool-factor of the animation, that I would love to have it.

As for making it a Dominator set. Well, I like dominators, and have been playing them alot lately, but Doms have one problem; their Primary. Seriously, they don't have enough choices. There are so very few controller primaries that I like and Doms don't even have all of the choices. When they add Dark Control and some form of Gadget Control (Crowd Control), THEN maybe a ninja assault would work great for them. Until then, I guess me and Mind Control are just gonna have to be happy together.