I don't know about the rest of you, but many of the ability ideas we had so far are all over the place in different threads where the focus isn't necessarily on the abilities. So...
If a spitball has an ability neatly wrapped in it, it goes HERE!
Weaving some lore into their description, the story behind their creation or their function may enrich and build the world of the game.
e.g.: the The Warp Beacon for my Astral Ranger build, uses D-Shift technology, which can be added to the description, referencing the history of space-exploration in the game's universe.
Warp Beacon: Basic ability restricted to recon-type builds or any sufficiently light frames. A wrist-mounted launcher fires a beacon, the fall-off allowing for extreme-range use. It stays active until a secondary input is made or the signal deteriorates. Upon the former, it uses D-Shift technology to wrap the user into a bubble that passes through space-time to the location of the beacon, causing minimal to moderate damage to any organic life along the path the jump is made.
Ability Modding:
Through specific customization, the beacon can be given different properties and effects, all of which have benefits and trade-offs.
Example: the beacon could be turned into a remote stun-mine, releasing elemental (incendiary, cryo, shock, acidic or warp) damage in a radius, harming and potentially stunning enemies, before the user is teleported to their location. Builds specializing in close-range or melee can make especially effective use of this by firing the beacon into the fray, then, as the enemy is stunned or slow to react, deal considerable damage, before they recover.
This modification (prefixed: Explosive Warp Beacon) could extend the cooldown on the ability or make it more cumbersome and consume more energy, as the beacon would become more robust, considering the payload it would carry.
Expanded Warp Beacon: a different modification that expands the bubble and its effect to a single ally, very close to them, warping them, with the user, to the Beacon's location. This can also be used with a downed ally, even in the middle of the revival-process, to escape from a dangerous zone, while potentially dealing damage to the enemy. It can increase the Warp Damage done, since two objects are warped along the path, but at the expense of more energy and a longer cooldown.
Extended Warp Beacon: Can give the user considerably more time before the Beacon expires, allowing for more actions to be taken, before warping.
* Inspired by something that was mentioned by @Mahdi , in this post (click 'this'), we could eventually modify how our abilities function in more profound ways by using Time-Affected Tsi-Hu tech or minerals.
Enter:
Time-Remnant Technology: By modifying a Warp Beacon with technology recovered from the Tsi-Hu and the artifacts from the sites once occupied by them, it will no longer use D-Shift technology. Instead it utilizes a pattern extrapolation for the Time Anomaly associated with the species to return the user, in time, to the place of the beacon and to the physical state they were in when it was deployed. Using the ability with this modification can potentially heal the user, if timed correctly. However, these alterations will have a negative impact on the Beacon's effective range and since it no longer uses D-Shift technology, the damaging effects of warping will also disappear. (Inspired by @Silv3r Shadow mentioning Tracer's ability from Overwatch. It's essentially that! As I understand it.) Call this particular modification Retracer Warp Beacon.
...
Graviton Bolt: Basic ability restricted to light-frames. A shoulder-mounted launcher fires an emitter into an organic or inorganic enemy, with the fall-off allowing for long-range use. Upon embedding itself, it creates a warp-field at its center, affecting gravity. The target hit, as well as any other target within short and melee range, is slowed and are pulled towards the center, temporarily trapping them.
Voltaic Graviton Bolt: Shocks the target, as well as all affected and nearby targets for the duration of the effect, while they are also slowed. Enemies vulnerable to eletricity may cease up and be stunned, leaving them vulnerable, even after the effect wears off, as they recover.
Scorching Graviton Bolt: Severely burns the target and generates a haze around it, disorienting nearby enemies with the heat. Enemies vulnerable to heat and fire will be more severely affected, suffering stronger impairments to their movement speed and aim. The burning can cause the main target to panic, temporarily rendering it incapable of engaging in combat. WARNING: Certain enemies may become Enraged from the affects.
Freezing Graviton Bolt: Slows the affected targets even more while applying damage through frost-bite. Enemies vulnerable to cold and cryogenic effects may become Frozen, rendering them immobile and more susceptable to Kinetic damage. Larger projectiles and melee strikes may shatter small targets.
Corrosive Graviton Bolt: Produces and acidic cloud that does increased damage to armored targets and rapidly oxidizes their protective plating, making it more vulnerable to attacks and to sundering. Unless the target possesses extreme regenerative capabilities that applies to both the organic and inorganic parts of them, this effect is permanent.
Warping Graviton Bolt: Using an extremely scaled-down D-Shift generator, the device warps space-time, creating a deliberately unstable field that either moderately or severely damages organic tissue and weakens the integrity of inorganic matter. Armor nearly becomes paste and is, then, unable to properly resolidify, causing it to suffer permanent damage to its strength.*
*This can be balanced by setting a threshold for how badly armor can be damaged. e.g.: its base damage-reduction value cannot fall below X%. But, once an enemy, of managable size, is hit, its different parts and areas of its armor are permanently affected.
A larger energy-core (medium or heavy) can allow for two bolt-launchers. Yep. My original Twin Graviton Bolts concept evolved. It is, now, the end result of modifying the base ability and the energy-core. Ha!
Phasing Bolt (Time-Remnant Technology Mod): This mod uses Tsi-Hu tech to temporarily displace the target from the dimension it's occupying and freezes them in place. It remains visible, but immobile, unable to attack and invulnerable to attacks. The larger the target is, the shorter the duration of the effect. Category-4 Tsi-Hu may only be effected for merely a few seconds, while any possible Category-5 entities are predictably immune. The ability can be used to give the user and their allies time to reload, recover, repair, regroup and reduce ability cooldowns, while those with the right skill set can use the time to paint the target for orbital strikes or to set up traps along its intended path. Particularly useful for keeping Category-3 Tsi-Hu from reaching a base or at the very least, it can greatly reduce the destruction it may cause.
...
Slug Storm: Ability specific for medium-frames single or dual-wielding shotgun-type weapons. Temporarily gives a massive boost to reload-speed and clip-size.
Upon activation, energy is diverted to the weapon-systems and the user automatically reloads their gun as its chamber opens, exposing the inner-mechanism and additional space for ammunition. Over-charging its capacity allows for more rounds to be loaded for the duration of the ability. Specific modifications and additional tweaks affecting reload-speed can give users sufficient time to empty and reload multiple times, before the cooldown.
Using the ability makes the user more vulnerable as it exposes certain parts of their frame, which can potentially lead to severe damage to specific systems, impairing reload-speed, fire-rate and damage fall-off that has to be repaired to fully function.
*Referenced in my female OC's logs. The crazy woman, Janice, wields to shotguns. And when they're used with this ability, it becomes a slug-storm. Hence, the name.
So, those were from the top of my head. Probably 10x more, in there, Just can't shake them ideas lose, at the moment. Also, Time-Remnant Technology sounds cool, until one uses the abbreviation and it unfortunately spells TRT, like "tart."
Time-Touched Tech? 3T?
Time-Affected Tech? Tats?
Time-Infused Tech?
If a spitball has an ability neatly wrapped in it, it goes HERE!
Weaving some lore into their description, the story behind their creation or their function may enrich and build the world of the game.
e.g.: the The Warp Beacon for my Astral Ranger build, uses D-Shift technology, which can be added to the description, referencing the history of space-exploration in the game's universe.
Warp Beacon: Basic ability restricted to recon-type builds or any sufficiently light frames. A wrist-mounted launcher fires a beacon, the fall-off allowing for extreme-range use. It stays active until a secondary input is made or the signal deteriorates. Upon the former, it uses D-Shift technology to wrap the user into a bubble that passes through space-time to the location of the beacon, causing minimal to moderate damage to any organic life along the path the jump is made.
Ability Modding:
Through specific customization, the beacon can be given different properties and effects, all of which have benefits and trade-offs.
Example: the beacon could be turned into a remote stun-mine, releasing elemental (incendiary, cryo, shock, acidic or warp) damage in a radius, harming and potentially stunning enemies, before the user is teleported to their location. Builds specializing in close-range or melee can make especially effective use of this by firing the beacon into the fray, then, as the enemy is stunned or slow to react, deal considerable damage, before they recover.
This modification (prefixed: Explosive Warp Beacon) could extend the cooldown on the ability or make it more cumbersome and consume more energy, as the beacon would become more robust, considering the payload it would carry.
Expanded Warp Beacon: a different modification that expands the bubble and its effect to a single ally, very close to them, warping them, with the user, to the Beacon's location. This can also be used with a downed ally, even in the middle of the revival-process, to escape from a dangerous zone, while potentially dealing damage to the enemy. It can increase the Warp Damage done, since two objects are warped along the path, but at the expense of more energy and a longer cooldown.
Extended Warp Beacon: Can give the user considerably more time before the Beacon expires, allowing for more actions to be taken, before warping.
* Inspired by something that was mentioned by @Mahdi , in this post (click 'this'), we could eventually modify how our abilities function in more profound ways by using Time-Affected Tsi-Hu tech or minerals.
Enter:
Time-Remnant Technology: By modifying a Warp Beacon with technology recovered from the Tsi-Hu and the artifacts from the sites once occupied by them, it will no longer use D-Shift technology. Instead it utilizes a pattern extrapolation for the Time Anomaly associated with the species to return the user, in time, to the place of the beacon and to the physical state they were in when it was deployed. Using the ability with this modification can potentially heal the user, if timed correctly. However, these alterations will have a negative impact on the Beacon's effective range and since it no longer uses D-Shift technology, the damaging effects of warping will also disappear. (Inspired by @Silv3r Shadow mentioning Tracer's ability from Overwatch. It's essentially that! As I understand it.) Call this particular modification Retracer Warp Beacon.
...
Graviton Bolt: Basic ability restricted to light-frames. A shoulder-mounted launcher fires an emitter into an organic or inorganic enemy, with the fall-off allowing for long-range use. Upon embedding itself, it creates a warp-field at its center, affecting gravity. The target hit, as well as any other target within short and melee range, is slowed and are pulled towards the center, temporarily trapping them.
Voltaic Graviton Bolt: Shocks the target, as well as all affected and nearby targets for the duration of the effect, while they are also slowed. Enemies vulnerable to eletricity may cease up and be stunned, leaving them vulnerable, even after the effect wears off, as they recover.
Scorching Graviton Bolt: Severely burns the target and generates a haze around it, disorienting nearby enemies with the heat. Enemies vulnerable to heat and fire will be more severely affected, suffering stronger impairments to their movement speed and aim. The burning can cause the main target to panic, temporarily rendering it incapable of engaging in combat. WARNING: Certain enemies may become Enraged from the affects.
Freezing Graviton Bolt: Slows the affected targets even more while applying damage through frost-bite. Enemies vulnerable to cold and cryogenic effects may become Frozen, rendering them immobile and more susceptable to Kinetic damage. Larger projectiles and melee strikes may shatter small targets.
Corrosive Graviton Bolt: Produces and acidic cloud that does increased damage to armored targets and rapidly oxidizes their protective plating, making it more vulnerable to attacks and to sundering. Unless the target possesses extreme regenerative capabilities that applies to both the organic and inorganic parts of them, this effect is permanent.
Warping Graviton Bolt: Using an extremely scaled-down D-Shift generator, the device warps space-time, creating a deliberately unstable field that either moderately or severely damages organic tissue and weakens the integrity of inorganic matter. Armor nearly becomes paste and is, then, unable to properly resolidify, causing it to suffer permanent damage to its strength.*
*This can be balanced by setting a threshold for how badly armor can be damaged. e.g.: its base damage-reduction value cannot fall below X%. But, once an enemy, of managable size, is hit, its different parts and areas of its armor are permanently affected.
A larger energy-core (medium or heavy) can allow for two bolt-launchers. Yep. My original Twin Graviton Bolts concept evolved. It is, now, the end result of modifying the base ability and the energy-core. Ha!
Phasing Bolt (Time-Remnant Technology Mod): This mod uses Tsi-Hu tech to temporarily displace the target from the dimension it's occupying and freezes them in place. It remains visible, but immobile, unable to attack and invulnerable to attacks. The larger the target is, the shorter the duration of the effect. Category-4 Tsi-Hu may only be effected for merely a few seconds, while any possible Category-5 entities are predictably immune. The ability can be used to give the user and their allies time to reload, recover, repair, regroup and reduce ability cooldowns, while those with the right skill set can use the time to paint the target for orbital strikes or to set up traps along its intended path. Particularly useful for keeping Category-3 Tsi-Hu from reaching a base or at the very least, it can greatly reduce the destruction it may cause.
...
Slug Storm: Ability specific for medium-frames single or dual-wielding shotgun-type weapons. Temporarily gives a massive boost to reload-speed and clip-size.
Upon activation, energy is diverted to the weapon-systems and the user automatically reloads their gun as its chamber opens, exposing the inner-mechanism and additional space for ammunition. Over-charging its capacity allows for more rounds to be loaded for the duration of the ability. Specific modifications and additional tweaks affecting reload-speed can give users sufficient time to empty and reload multiple times, before the cooldown.
Using the ability makes the user more vulnerable as it exposes certain parts of their frame, which can potentially lead to severe damage to specific systems, impairing reload-speed, fire-rate and damage fall-off that has to be repaired to fully function.
*Referenced in my female OC's logs. The crazy woman, Janice, wields to shotguns. And when they're used with this ability, it becomes a slug-storm. Hence, the name.
So, those were from the top of my head. Probably 10x more, in there, Just can't shake them ideas lose, at the moment. Also, Time-Remnant Technology sounds cool, until one uses the abbreviation and it unfortunately spells TRT, like "tart."
Time-Touched Tech? 3T?
Time-Affected Tech? Tats?
Time-Infused Tech?
Likes:
Silv3r Shadow
