Leading by Example! The Commander (Pet/Armor AT)

[dangeraaron10]

THE COMMANDER

PET / ARMOR ARCHETYPE

 

"Leading by Example"

 

Give me a summary!

 

The Commander is an idea for a new tanking-centric archetype utilizing primarily Pet power sets and secondarily Armor power sets.  The Commander differs from the Mastermind by focusing all the attention on him or herself while henchmen act as support.  While such a playstyle can be played by specifically built "Tankerminds", the Commander exemplifies this playstyle and offers a true tank AT that is competitive with Tankers and Brutes.  This is achieved through native threat generation via the Commander inherent "Beacon" (which I lovingly call "Petvoke"), where by all threat ordinarily gained by your minions will instead be redirected to you so long as your pets are nearby.

 

The Commander trades in the relatively weak attacks of the Mastermind for stronger melee attacks to help form an attack chain to keep you swinging throughout the fight.  And while the Mastermind has the ability to enhance his or her minions with one of two upgrade powers, the Commander gains access to Taunt as well as a special power shared between all powersets called "Rally", which summons all of your henchmen to your side with full health.  While Mastermind henchmen deal more damage and have more attacks than Commander henchmen, the Commander him/herself is stronger and tougher than a Mastermind.  

 

Give me the stats!

 

Base HP (at Level 50): 1606.3 (Tanker=1874.1, Brute=1499.3)

HP Modifier: 1.5 (Tanker=1.75, Brute=1.4)

Max HP Cap: 3,373.3 (Tanker=3534, Brute=3212.7)

Max HP Modifier: 2.1 (Tanker=2.2, Brute=2)

Melee Damage Scale: 0.9

Ranged Damage Scale: 0.9

Damage Cap: 500%

 

Survivability: 9

Melee Damage: 6

Ranged Damage: 2

Crowd Control: 2

Support: 2

Pets: 7

 

Inherent: Beacon

 

Commanders have an inherent ability focused on gathering threat and taking the heat off their henchmen: Beacon.  Where as Masterminds increase the Accuracy and Damage of their henchmen within a certain distance of themselves (in addition to damage sharing when in Bodyguard mode) via Supremacy, henchmen within the same distance (60) to the Commander will redirect all threat they generate through their attacks to the Commander.  In addition, your presence inspires your henchmen and unnerves your foes, granting an Accuracy and Defense bonus to henchmen within Beacon range of the Commander.  Your followers are more likely to hit and less likely to get hit in your presence.  

 

Unique Ability: Rally

 

Replacing the Tier 9, the second upgrade power, in each primary is a power unique to Commanders; Rally!  Rally acts as a Recall Friend power that summons all active henchmen to your side and completely refills their health.  In addition to restoring your henchmen's health, Rally will raise the DEF(All) and RES(All) of your henchmen for a short while.  

 

Primary Powers: Pets

 

The Commander uses Pet Powersets as its Primary Powerset.  This includes all Mastermind Primary Powersets: Beastmastery, Demonology, Thugs, Robotics, Necromancy, Ninjas, and Mercenaries.  Commander Primaries are far from a carbon copy of Mastermind Primaries, with the key differences being:

 

• The Tier 4 and Tier 9 Upgrade powers from each Pet Primary has been replaced.  Upgrading pets is and should stay a Mastermind feature as Masterminds are meant to support their pets.  Rather, Commanders replace these powers with Taunt (as the new Tier 4 across all primary sets) and Rally (as the new Tier 9 across all primary sets).  
• The Tier 1, 3, and 5 Ranged powers have been replaced with Melee powers of similarly themed Melee powersets.  Most of these melee attacks are single target but some AoE does exist in certain sets.  This is to provide the Commander with a single target attack rotation.
• The unique Tier 7 power in each Pet powerset has been repurposed to directly benefit the Commander as opposed to buffing henchmen.  

 

Here are a few examples of what a Commander Primary powersets might look like:

 

Thugs

Tier 1: Initial Strike

Tier 2: Call Thugs

Tier 3: Heavy Blow

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Sweeping Cross

Tier 6: Call Enforcer

Tier 7: Gang War

Tier 8: Call Bruiser
Tier 9: Rally

 

Ninjas

Tier 1: Sting of the Wasp

Tier 2: Call Genin

Tier 3: Gambler's Cut

Tier 4: Taunt
Tier 5: The Lotus Drops

Tier 6: Call Jounin

Tier 7: Kuji-In Toh

Tier 8: Oni

Tier 9: Rally

 

Beastmastery

Tier 1: Savage Strike

Tier 2: Summon Wolves

Tier 3: Maiming Slash

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Vicious Slash

Tier 6: Summon Lions

Tier 7: Fortify Pack Leader (improves you rather than your pets)

Tier 8: Summon Dire Wolf

Tier 9: Rally

 

Mercenaries

Tier 1: Pummel

Tier 2: Soldiers

Tier 3: Buckshot

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Bayonet

Tier 6: Spec Ops

Tier 7: Serum (improves you rather than your pets)

Tier 8: Commando

Tier 9: Rally

 

Necromancy

Tier 1: Shadow Punch

Tier 2: Zombie Horde

Tier 3: Smite

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Shadow Maul

Tier 6: Grave Knight

Tier 7: Soul Extraction (sacrifice 25% health to summon a Lich equivalent Soul, rather than a dead henchman)

Tier 8: Lich

Tier 9: Rally

 

Demonology

Tier 1: Scorch (or Melee Whip equivalent)

Tier 2: Summon Demonlings

Tier 3: Cremate (or Melee Whip equivalent)

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Incinerate (or Melee Whip equivalent)

Tier 6: Summon Demons

Tier 7: Hell on Earth (improves you rather than your pets)

Tier 8: Summon Demon Prince

Tier 9: Rally

 

Robotics

Tier 1: Barrage

Tier 2: Battle Drones

Tier 3: Energy Punch

Tier 4: Taunt

Tier 5: Bone Smasher

Tier 6: Protector Bots

Tier 7: Repair (instead of fully healing henchman, you give yourself a +Recovery and +Regeneration buff)

Tier 8: Assault Bot

Tier 9: Rally

 

Secondary Powers; Armor

 

Exactly what it says on the tin!  Commanders get Armor powersets as their secondary powers, and have the same power picks and only slightly smaller values as Tankers, but better than Brutes.  Commanders also gain access to Energy Aura and Ninjutsu!  Nothing special or gimmicky here!  Powersets are Bio Armor, Dark Armor, Electric Armor, Energy Aura, Fiery Aura, Ice Armor, Invulnerability, Ninjutsu, Radiation Armor, Regeneration, Shield Defense, Stone Armor, Super Reflexes, and Willpower.

 

Epic Pools

 

Epic Pools are designed to give a given AT access to powers they don't normally have access to.  Commanders natively have access to single target (or cone) melee attacks, defensive powers, and summons.  Commander Epic Pools focus on additional attacks including at least one Ranged attack and one AoE attack in each pool.  Several pools also include Immobilization powers or debuffs.  The first two powers are acquired at level 35 with no prereqs, the second two powers are acquired at level 41 with having to take one of the level 35 powers, and the last power requires level 44 and at least 2 other powers from the rest of the pool.  Power placement on the lists are intentional.

 

Burn Mastery

• Fire Breath
• Char
• Fire Ball
• Fire Cages
• Rain of Fire

 

Frost Mastery

• Ice Blast
• Block of Ice
• Sleet
• Shiver
• Ice Storm

 

Artillery Mastery

• Burst
• Taser
• M30 Grenade
• Targeting Drone
• Time Bomb

 

Assassination Mastery

• Shuriken
• Focused Accuracy
• Web Grenade
• Smoke Grenade
• Exploding Shuriken

 

Radiation Mastery

• X-Ray Beam
• Superior Conditioning
• Electron Haze
• Physical Perfection
• Neutron Bomb

 

Plant Mastery

• Entangle
• Thorn Burst
• Strangler
• Roots
• Toxins

 

Leviathan Mastery

• Arctic Breath
• School of Sharks
• Bile Spray
• Spirit Shark Jaws
• Water Spout

 

Mace Mastery

• Mace Blast
• Web Envelope
• Disruptor Blast
• Power Boost
• Web Cocoon

 

Mu Mastery

• Electrifying Fences
• Mu Bolts
• Electric Shackles
• Mu Lightning
• Ball Lightning

Soul Mastery

• Gloom
• Soul Tentacles
• Soul Storm
• Darkest Night
• Dark Obliteration

 

I got some questions!

 

Q: Seriously though, Tankermind is a thing.  Isn't a Pet/Armor AT redundant?

A: Masterminds can be built to be quite tanky, but so can every AT to an extent.  Masterminds don't have native threat generation and are geared more towards supporting their minions.  Commander offers an AT choice that is better suited to this playstyle.  

 

Q: How will Commanders fit in with Tankers and Brutes already vying for a team role that's not needed in most content?

A: Commanders offer an interesting alternative to existing options that rewards micromanagement with unmatched threat generation, as well as a different take on pet classes that opens up new themes for player concepts.

 

Q: What new character concepts can this make that can't be replicated with something else?

A: Masterminds are a quintessential villain concept overall, and it might be difficult to get into the Mastermind mindset as a hero.  The Commander is a leader, rather than a manipulator, and can come off as more inherently "heroic".  In addition, being able to combine henchmen, melee attacks, and armors can open up some interesting and thematic combinations such as Thugs/Willpower, Demons/Fiery Aura, Necro/Dark Armor, Ninjas/Ninjutsu, etc.

 

Conclusion!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read through my proposal.  This was a fun thought project of mine that I finally got around to posting.  I know actually adding a new AT is likely not going to happen, let alone one with Pet powers, and that other AT suggestions have more popularity (like Melee/Support or Assault/Composition).  Still, I think the Commander could fulfill a fun niche and allow more character concepts to come to life that a traditional Mastermind or Tanker falls short of. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by dangeraaron10

[TheZag]

There have been several archtypes suggested previously but this looks like a closer fit to something that could exist in the game and not feel out of place.  

 

If it were to be adopted im sure the numbers would be tested and rebalanced as necessary so ill hang on to my opinions on that.  

 

Perhaps something to consider would be having less pets - possibly not the weakest 3 or strongest 1 - in favor of keeping the lower upgrade power and to leave the mastermind on top in pet count and make the 2 classes even more distinct.

[dangeraaron10]

Thank you.  And you make some good points about the pet number.  I feel like if there was only going to be 2 pet powers and one upgrade power, I imagine the Tier 3 would be removed since the Commander is supposed to be the boss man/boss lady.  Though every set would be better served if the low level minions got axed for the Tier 2 and 3 ones to remain.  I do, however, like the idea of all the pets being there (so nobody who likes the Pet Primaries can't get one of the pets they like) and removing upgrades as most of the damage comes from the player.

[blue4333]

This might feel like Sentinel v Blasters 2.0. Especially when masterminds can tank when IO’ed and ATO’ed. 

[Greycat]

7 hours ago, dangeraaron10 said:

Exactly what it says on the tin!  Commanders get Armor powersets as their secondary powers, and have the same power picks and only slightly smaller values as Tankers, but better than Brutes. 

I'm thinking this might be a place to .. perhaps fit in something suggested for masterminds on occasion. Since your pets are acting as offense as well as "health" (in that something attacking them is not attacking you, despite you having threat generation,) your armor value would *de*crease slightly with each pet you have. If you have none, you're at your maximum value (and are basically... well, not a scrapper, but can stand alone, soemwhat.) Have all your pets? You lose some armor percentage. One dies? You get some back.

 

This would also help with the early - mid game when you have fewer pets (and when MMs, to me, are most frustrating.) (Minor tweak to it for your version of soul extraction, with a buff for X time due to the health cost.)

 

Not going into numbers, since I"m not a numbers person. Would I play it? Well... yes, since I make alts. Many, many alts. I don't know that it would be a go-to AT for me, but that's only from not really being able to picture how I'd play it yet.

[SeraphimKensai]

Interesting albeit repetitive concept. Not saying it would make a bad toon. I think you're numbers are overtuned.

• HP which I don't feel should be higher than a Brute's as they are meant to be the Redside equivalent of a tank albeit doing more damage than one, given the taunt bot nature of the AT, I'd agree to match it with Brutes.
• Damage, since the primary amount of damage coming out of this is obviously pet damage, the actual Commander damage scales and cap seem higher than they should be. As such its much closer to a Mastermind, so damage cap seems 400% like an MM seems equitable, the melee scale that you suggest given a 400% cap seems fair.
• Resistance Cap, without stepping on a Tanker/Brute's toes, perhaps mirroring that off the Kheldian damage resistance cap of 85% might also be in order.

Realistically, taking the lower values I suggest still when properly built makes you pretty damn sturdy.

The reason for my counter suggestions is to account for the fact that you'll have essentially 6 "immortal" pets, as if I read correctly as long as they are near you, you take the damage not them, running around attacking things for you, I'm trying to think of some balance or kryptonite to balance this out. 

[Doc_Scorpion]

What happens to Bodyguard mode?