Character Traits

swedsandbro

This was an old idea I posted on the old forums a loooooooong time ago. I've finally linked accounts and figured that I might as well rekindle the old bugger.

With On Alerts, we got ourselves a brilliant new way of costumizing our heroes in the form of Specializations. I for one is always For more customization options and think this addition was great on pretty much every aspect. So, furthering the idea of tailoring our very own hero, I came up with the idea of Character Traits

Think about it, every hero has a few traits that makes him unique, it's not all about what he/she can or can't do:

Should the fearless vigilante shudder in their boots against a group of henchmen just cause they happen to use darkness powers?

Is it really plausible that my Automated robot gets poisoned?

Should my Heavy Mech be slung around like a leaf in the wind just because I don't superstat Strength on it?

These are all some, I'll admit primarily conceptual, problems I've had when creating toons of my own, however what if this could be rectified with an additional parameter to the game, namely Character Traits.

Character Traits would come in many different forms (Some of which will be described below) and they would be gained through Leveling AND certain missions. They would all incorporate some sort of bonus (Such as +dodge rating or +Knock resist) as well as penalty (-% all damage strength etc) and Equipping them would be COMPLETELY up to you. This is to make sure that people don't just only pick the highest bonus character traits to max out, but instead has to mix and match to get the most out of them.

Traits gained through Levels
My initial thought was that one gains ONE character trait Every 4th level, for a total of 10 Character Traits at max level. For Freeform, these would obviously be any of your choice, however I'm uncertain if AT's should have free choice as well (I'd voice this) or, like with their powers, Preset Traits to go with the theme of the AT. (Inferno being Fireproof, for instance)

Traits gained through Missions
These traits would be available to anyone who completes a certain mission, such as Teleios Tower or an adventure pack like Resistance. There would be no limit to the amount of Mission Traits one could get, however one can only pick ONE trait after each mission (Several options will be available). However, there's one catch I have yet to mention...

Active Traits Limit
Or ATL. This means that while you can have 10 Level Traits and any number of Mission Traits, all of them cannot be active at the same time. Yep, you read that right. I'm thinking between 3-5 traits can be active atone time, HOWEVER you can have Different Traits in different Builds.

This is one thing that has always confuddled me: What role does Build slots play for AT's? They can't have different power setups, they can't change their role and they only get 2 costume slots without paying. With Character Traits, builds slots will suddenly play a much larger role (pun unintentional) in the game.

Example:
The Inferno. Finds itself struggling with taking just a little bit too much damage to beat the boss. Change to a build that has Damage resistance Traits at the cost of some healing bonus or Crit chance.

Finds a hardy tank to shelter behind, change into all the damage-buffing and threat-wiping traits available and wreak Havoc.

Time limit on that darn Dockside Dustup draws near. No holds barred, Entire team goes all-out damage buffs, to bring the villain down the last meter.

See what I'm getting at here? Anyhow, it's about time I wrote down some ideas I had as more examples. Mind you, these aren't ALL the traits I could think of, just a few:

IMMUNITY TRAITS
As the name suggest, these traits offer a complete immunity to a certain DEBUFF when granted from enemy NPC's. However, against Bosses and Other Players (PvP) it instead lowers the effect or magnitude of the debuff by 50%. This to make sure builds relying on such debuffs isn't stumped in PvP. The animation, such as whirling eyes for DISORIENTED or shivering from FEAR, is still removed however. As these are very specific Traits, they come without a penalty.

Fireproof - Clinging Flames
Insulated - Chill
Grounded - Negative Ions
Shielded - Plasma Burn
Quick Coagulation - Bleed
Fearless - Fear
Immune - Poison
Balanced - Disorient
Immovable - Stagger
Protected - Shredded

Damager Traits
Adds a bonus to your offense, crit chance/severity or directly to your damage strength. Includes penalty.

Elementalist - Increases all your Elemental damage by 10%, but decreases all other damage by 15%

Overloaded - Increases all your Particle Damage by 10%, but decreases all other damage by 15%

Powerful - Increases all your Physical damage by 10%, but decreases all other damage by 15%

Arcanist - Increases all your Paranormal damage by 10%, but decreases all other damage by 15%

Hot-headed - When over 90% Health, you deal 10% more damage. When below 90% Health, you deal 10% less damage.

Strong against Adversity - When below 30% Health, you deal 30% more damage.

Last stand - When in HP critical, your critical hit Chance and Severity is increased by 30%

Damager - Increases your Offense with a number scaling with level, but decreases your Defense with a number scaling with level.

Sniper - Increases your Critical Hit Chance by 5% but decreases your Dodge chance by 10%.

Defensive Traits
Deals with defense, damage resist, knock resist, dodge/avoidance etc.

Tank - Increases your Defense with a number scaling with level, but decreases your Offense with a number scaling with level.

Brittle Confidence - When above 90% Health, you gain 10% all damage resistance. When Below 90% Health, you lose 10% all damage resistance

Unfailing - When below 30% Health, you gain 20% all damage resistance

Lightweight - Increases your dodge Rating by a number scaling with level but decreases your Knock resist by 50%

Agile - Increases your Avoidance by 10% but decreases your Knock resistance by 50%

Heavyweight - Increases your Knock Resistance by 100% but decreases your Dodge chance and Avoidance by 10%

Supporter Traits
Deals with Healing done and recieved, Pet and Ally strength, control effects and threat.

Compassionate - Increases healing done and Shield strength by 10% but decreases all damage dealt by 15%

Amicable - Increases all Healing recieved but decreases your resistance to damage by 10%

Sacrificing - Increases all Healing done to others by 20% but decreases all healing recieved by 15%

Manipulative - Increases Hold strength by a number scaling with level but decreases your resistance to all damage by 10%

Threatening - Increases threat generation by 15% but decreases All healing recieved by 15%

Inconspicous - Decreases threat generation by 15% but decreases your resistance to damage by 10%

Mission Traits
Samples of Traits gained through missions.

Quick Learner - Dr. Destroyer's Lab. Increases all XP gained by 3%

Intellectual Adversary - Teleios Tower. Increases your INT by 20

Power of Teamwork - Resistance. Gain 2% all damage strength for each member on your team.

Otherworldly Assimilation - Demonflame. Increases resistance against Paranormal damage by 15%

Bitten - Serpent Lantern. Increases all damage resistance by 5%.

ashensnow

Some interesting ideas in there, many of which I like a lot.

I am not particularly fond of the +10% of one damage type at the cost of -15% of all others though.

CO already pretty heavily discourages cross damage type builds. That aspect of your suggestion would make such even more undesirable.

swedsandbro

To comment on the "+10%, -15%" kind, that was only one idea that I had catchy names for, hence why they made it as suggestions.

I would of course vouch for MANY different kinds, for example one that gives +10% damage, but maybe -10% damage resistance, one that grants +5% damage and -5% dodge etc. But I couldn't fit all that into one post (or come up with enough catchy names for all of them).

These were primarily meant for say AT's such as Inferno or Glacier, or simply freeform who rely on one kind of damage. Of course there'd be different tastes for different people.

ashensnow

swedsandbro wrote: »

To comment on the "+10%, -15%" kind, that was only one idea that I had catchy names for, hence why they made it as suggestions.

I would of course vouch for MANY different kinds, for example one that gives +10% damage, but maybe -10% damage resistance, one that grants +5% damage and -5% dodge etc. But I couldn't fit all that into one post (or come up with enough catchy names for all of them).

Understood but this would still make any character that focuses on one type of damage inherently even more superior to any that try to use two or more types than is already the case.

The guy who only does physical damage can get a 10% damage buff with no drawbacks.

The guy who does physical and fire can get a 10% damage buff to one, but only at either the cost of a debuff to the other, or some other drawback.

Offensive passives are already designed to give those who focus on one damage type an advantage over those who use multiple, amplifying that disparity would be a bad idea in my opinion.

That is about the only issue I have with the idea.

alodylis

If not added to this game. A trait system will be made in a future Mmorpg. Something like this will push the limits of character creation. But think about it tho now this is about traits once we see that added what is nexT? How far can traits go or what can you create with them. Will they create new powers or even start learning a new technique to add to powers.

Great post man i support this system ten fold.

lotar295

this would make the game ALOT more realistic,I mean,do vigilantes really shake in their boots at criminals?....no.Do robots or PA wearing heroes get burned,sometimes maybe but not all the time.This is a AWESOME idea!