Help with a concept character...

[BjorJlen]

Hi all...

 

   Having altitis, and loving it (lol), I am working on a concept character based on Unicron, from the Transformers series; specifically the one from the Transformers: The Movie (1986)... well, movie, when he first appeared onto the scene. I have his look basically down, though of course NOT an exact replica (of course), but I am sort of stuck on what AT to give him, and what power sets.  As I want him to have the ability to fire energy beams from his eyes and have some sort of melee attack too, that sort of leaves me with the following options...

 

* Blaster: Radiation Blast/??? (Atomic?)

* Corruptor: Radiation Blast/??? (Radiation Infection?)

* Dominator: ???/Radiation Assault

* Sentinel: Radiation Blast/???

 

   Using Radiation, in the above forms, does give him X-Ray eyes, which would fit the bill of him being able to fire energy beams from his eyes, but I am nowhere near set on it as I "think" there is a power pool I can tap into which would give him a similar eye attack (or am I wrong here?). So I come to you all seeking your wise counsel... What AT/power sets would you think would make for the beest "Unicron" type character? I do want him to be very effective during solo play, as well as good on a team to of course, without sacrificing the "theme" of the character concept. Also remember, Unicron is the Transformers version of Galactus (from Marvel), so he's gotta be powerful against enemies (at least in looks lol). So what do you all think? I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas, so thank you in advance (and btw, everything is on the table here... so long as it doesn't break the character theme 😉)...

 

[Snarky]

I would make him a Tank.  He is supposed to be planet sized...   You can use the Energy Mastery Pool to get laser eyes.  Or a Brute, since from my quick read he is some sort of chaos diety?  Then you can go Radiation or Energy Melee.  I always prefer a Hyperstrike Invul build for gold standard toughness.  But you could do good things with Rad armor.

[Sir Myshkin]

Eh, that's kind of a tough one, Unicron isn't the kind of thing I'd initially think of as giving support, but maybe to an extent it's more manipulation so if you were going to go with something like a Corruptor, I'd suggest maybe Radiation Blast/Time Manipulation, but that doesn't quite give that... mass feeling of presence or size you could achieve with Melee. Going more for presence and longevity on the field as Melee: Radiation Melee/Energy Aura Brute (Since you can't go Tank) and grab the Laser Beam Eyes out of Energy Mastery Epic.

[BjorJlen]

   Thanks Snarky, I didn't think of making him a Tank (or brute). The only issue is, Unicron is more of a ranged attacker than a melee type character, even though making him a Tank would certainly make him the most durable. Interesting idea though, thank you. 🙂 A question though... the Ancillary power pool is the only way I can get any form of "eye beams", right? I only ask because I really, really don't want to wait until at least level 35 to give him them. Usually it wouldn't be an issue, but as I don't/can't play as much as I even used to (and I can't stand power leveling, or door sitting... most times), that is something that would take way too long for a poor fool player such as me. 🙂 Another good idea for thought though, thanks Snarky... 🙂

[BjorJlen]

   Thanks for the imput @Sir Myshkin. A Unicron type character is sorta hard to nail down right, in such a way to give it that "mass feeling of presence" as you said. That being said though, Unicron (as I mentioned) is more of a distance character than a in your face melee one. Or think of it this way... Galacticus (who Unicron is very much like btw) can do both... melee and range... but he would rather destroy you at range than otherwise.... BUT, if you get in close, he is more that willing to give you a beat down. Then when he knocks you back due to it, he will go back to blasting you to atoms lol. Hence, why I was thinking of a energy set that did mostly ranged/control/x-ray eyes, with a touch of melee... just in case. 🙂

 

[Snarky]

8 minutes ago, BjorJlen said:

   Thanks Snarky, I didn't think of making him a Tank (or brute). The only issue is, Unicron is more of a ranged attacker than a melee type character, even though making him a Tank would certainly make him the most durable. Interesting idea though, thank you. 🙂 A question though... the Ancillary power pool is the only way I can get any form of "eye beams", right? I only ask because I really, really don't want to wait until at least level 35 to give him them. Usually it wouldn't be an issue, but as I don't/can't play as much as I even used to (and I can't stand power leveling, or door sitting... most times), that is something that would take way too long for a poor fool player such as me. 🙂 Another good idea for thought though, thanks Snarky... 🙂

I have a Invul Kinetic Melee Tank at 50.  It was a lark to see if I could get a ranged Tank.  It mostly worked.  Now, the range is really short, but 50%? of his attacks are not in melee range.  Also, Kinetic Melee is on very few peoples favorite list of power sets.  "race car sounds" (mike work for robots) a strange stacking build up mechanic.  And mediocre damage.  But it fits certain concepts.  And laser beam eyes are 38.  I can get a toon to 38 in about 30 min.  Or, if I do not use my alt acct to PL them maybe (does quick math) 8-10 hours play?  4 DFBs, then start running TFs TFs TFs.  Keep an eye out for high level teams taking anyone.  double exp booster.  Grind!!!

[Sir Myshkin]

16 minutes ago, BjorJlen said:

Hence, why I was thinking of a energy set that did mostly ranged/control/x-ray eyes, with a touch of melee... just in case. 🙂

 

yeah I get where you were going with the thought, I was looking at it from a Squish factor. Support classes tend to be ... squishier unless you push around building that way. I'll be honest, even despite you mentioning it, I completely glossed it, and forgot about Sentinels, but yes a Sentinel would do the job probably perfectly for you. Rad Blast/Energy Aura, and then you'd be able to grab a couple of control type effects out of an epic if you wanted. Gets your X-Ray, your ranged, and your ability to take a hit in one package.

[ranagrande]

Here's a bit of an off-the-wall and likely sub-optimal suggestion: a human robot-only kheldian.  You've got eye beams from level 1, a variety of good melee and ranged attacks, and some decent utility and defense in the secondary.

[BjorJlen]

 Great replies all, thank you. 🙂

 

   First off, Sir Snarky... getting to level 38 in like... 30 mins?!? Holy, that's some grinding you got going there (even by using a 2nd account it appears); mucho respect... though that is really not my cup of tea, as I really do just enjoy playing the game itself and not PL'ing the character (heck I still love playing the single digit lower level's lol). Interesting idea though, just doing 4 DFB's & TF's up the whazoo; might be something to think about, thank you.

   And @Sir Myshkin... the Sentinel is an interesting concept indeed, for all the reasons you stated. I have never used Energy Aura before however, so my experience/knowledge of it is fairly next to none. So how would a Rad Blast/Energy Aura Sentinel be actually? And how is Energy Aura as a whole? Might have to do some more research on it, especially seeing as (from what I hear) Sentinels are nowhere near "top tier" as far as either their primaries or secondaries goes. Any input anyone has on the combo, especially on a Sentinel, would be helpful, thanks... 🙂

   And finally @ranagrande, it is very interesting and ironic that you would mention a Kheldian. Because not only did I not think of it at all (and yes, a human only Peacebringer would fit nicely), but last night as I was sleeping, I had a dream where he was in fact that; talk about symmetry. lol Of course, there would be the pesky Quantums and such to deal with, which can be definitely annoying as hell (though I do think I have a keybind saved somewhere that would look & target them specifically first), but having played one for a bit in the past, I did find it enjoyable. The question(s) is, how is a human only Kheldian nowadays; especially for solo play? Is it still a viable way to go, and more importantly, "powerful" enough to take on most things in the game, survive, and be of good use on teams? Great idea though @ranagrande! So add that one to the list too... 🙂

 

* Kheldian: Human only Peacebringer

 

   In either case, thanks for all the thoughts, replies, and ideas so far guys! And please, keep em' coming too... 🙂

 

[Skyhawke]

Think outside the box and make a Robot/Radiation Mastermind. Name the bots after the Decepticons from the movie with the final one called Galvatron. 🤖

[Tiger Shadow]

I'd go Rad/Martial blaster just for the Ki Push/X-Ray Eyes combo 😁

[Bionic_Flea]

5 hours ago, BjorJlen said:

Is it still a viable way to go, and more importantly, "powerful" enough to take on most things in the game, survive, and be of good use on teams?

 

It's not terribly difficult to make a perma-Light Form Kheldian.  Although you do get the crash, you have 2 heals to rely on.  I don't remember Unicron, but all human PB can certainly be 85% damage resistance to all, has an eye beam, other blasts, some melee attacks, and can fly from level 1 on.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Bionic_Flea

[Lazarus]

Unicron literally only showed 1 ranged attack the EYE BLAST.

 

every thing else he did was all melee from eating planets and moons to attacking CyberTron. 

 

IMO tank is probably best AT  to use,.as for power sets invulnerability and what ever attack set u want.

 

also keep in mind incarnates might be able to fill in holes.

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

Unicron literally only showed 1 ranged attack the EYE BLAST.

 

every thing else he did was all melee from eating planets and moons to attacking CyberTron. 

 

IMO tank is probably best AT  to use,.as for power sets invulnerability and what ever attack set u want.

 

also keep in mind incarnates might be able to fill in holes.

I think the issue is the OP does not play enough to get to 38 and eye blast on a Tank and that is a huge part of the concept.  I think one of us forumites should hook up and PL the thing to the correct level.  I'm anti social as heck.  I nominate you.

[Sir Myshkin]

On 5/31/2023 at 5:38 AM, BjorJlen said:

Any input anyone has on the combo, especially on a Sentinel, would be helpful, thanks...

 

I wouldn't stress out too much about whether your "top tier" or not, if you're having fun with it then that's all that really matters! There's no real secrets to the pairing though. Energy Aura is a pretty straight forward set. Take most of what is offered from EA, you can likely skip Power Drain and Overload. Grab Tough/Weave to bump up your Res and Def some more and with sets you'll be able to fill the gaps on Defense to get to 45%, Maneuvers can make that a little easier if you want to add it too, but otherwise you'll have plenty of power picks at the end of that journey to play with a few epic choices.

 

Do keep in mind, Radiation Blast's AoE side is really Melee focused between Irradiate and Atomic being PBAoE, and the rest (ST) being Range. You'll likely be moving back and forth a bit.

[twozerofoxtrot]

5 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

between Irradiate and Atomic being PBAoE, and the rest (ST) being Range.

 

;.;

[BjorJlen]

Ok, back (it's been a busy week lol)...

   Thanks again one and all for your replies and suggestions. I did indeed create a Human form Kheldian as you suggested @ranagrande, and so far I have found him to be interesting and fun to play. And of course, using a specific keybind to look for and single out Quantums and such makes things a lot easier to deal with too. 🙂 I will of course test out other builds as well, including a Robots/Radiation MM, a Invulnerability/Radiation Tank, and maybe even a Radiation/Energy Armor Sentinel. Good suggestions all. And your right @Snarky; I am not able to play enough to be able to get to 38th lvl easily or anytime soon, but no, I don't think I'll need any PL'ing (though, thank you very much for the thought).

   Oh, and @Lazarus, while it is true that Unicron did in fact only use eye beams in the Transformers: The Movie, movie, in the comics he is far, far more powerful than just the huge planet eating robot he was portrayed as there. In fact, he's considered to be a Universal level threat, and "supposedly" unkillable, and as such would give even Galactus a run for his money (which would be an awesome fight to see imo! 😁 So just using eye beams is not how I am going to be approaching this... 🙂 And as far as how he looks, well... what do you think of how I created his look, hmmm? 🙂

[Snarky]

That is a fine bit of tailoring sir.  I could never get those pants to do what I wanted.  You have used them well as part of a blended outfit!

[biostem]

Maybe a grav/rad or grav/energy dominator.

 

Could also go with a human-only warshade - kind of fits the theme of using defeated bodies as "raw material".

[BjorJlen]

14 hours ago, Snarky said:

That is a fine bit of tailoring sir.  I could never get those pants to do what I wanted.  You have used them well as part of a blended outfit!

 

   Why, thank you very much @Snarky. Honestly, the pants were the easiest part to work on for the character. 🙂 One of the things I enjoy a TON in the game, is coming up with new interesting looks in the character creator. I consider it a challenge to come up with something that looks super sharp based on whatever character concept I am shooting for. In fact, if you (or anyone else here on the forums) would like some help in coming up with a great look for a new (or old) character, please don't hesitate to ask me to help. 🙂 All I would need is some basic idea on the parameters of what you (they) would want, like gender, colors, size, chosen powers, etc. Then I can come up with something that will most assuredly look great and garner some nice comments in game. Heck, I have won many a CC with what I can come up with, so who knows? 🙂 I can easily hook you up...

   Oh, and @biostem, I am not exactly sure I know what you mean by saying "kind of fits the theme of using defeated bodies as "raw material". As someone who has not really used any Kheldian's/Warshades, I do not know a ton about them. Could you please explain by chance? Need input! lol 😁

[biostem]

8 hours ago, BjorJlen said:

Oh, and @biostem, I am not exactly sure I know what you mean by saying "kind of fits the theme of using defeated bodies as "raw material". As someone who has not really used any Kheldian's/Warshades, I do not know a ton about them. Could you please explain by chance? Need input! lol 😁

Well, Unicron was able to use defeated Transformers as raw material to be converted into his minions.  Warshades have powers like Dark Extraction which utilizes the body of a defeated foe to create a temporary minion that serves you.  Their powers are also themed after negative energy, (read: Dark Energon), and control over gravity, which I think are also thematic.  If you didn't want to go human-only, you could also utilize Dark Nova and Black Dwarf as altmodes, (the first being a more ranged-blast-oriented one, and the second being a melee tank form.

Edited June 4, 2023 by biostem

[BjorJlen]

   Hmmm, that sounds very interesting @biostem, thank you for the info. I have only used Peacebringers before and never a Warshade, so I might have to try that out. I didn't think they had gravity like powers though, but as I love the gravity powerset, that sounds very intriguing to me. Does the temp minion Dark Extraction create have the same powers as the original? It would be way cool if it did. 😁 Oh, and while I find that a human only PeaceBringer is a viable option, considering my playstyle and many times solo play, how does the Warshade compair generally speaking? Is it ok running solo, or is it better on teams? And how survivable is it (generally speaking) just in it's Human form?

[biostem]

1 hour ago, BjorJlen said:

I didn't think they had gravity like powers though, but as I love the gravity powerset, that sounds very intriguing to me.

A Warshades powers are not like the gravity control set - they are a mixture of blasts, control abilities, buffs, and debuffs, with the connection to gravity being that some slow enemies.  I recommend giving Warshades a look over at the Wiki...

 

1 hour ago, BjorJlen said:

Does the temp minion Dark Extraction create have the same powers as the original?

It does not.  It has new powers, which amount to some of the blast attacks you yourself have access to.

 

1 hour ago, BjorJlen said:

Oh, and while I find that a human only PeaceBringer is a viable option, considering my playstyle and many times solo play, how does the Warshade compair generally speaking? Is it ok running solo, or is it better on teams? And how survivable is it (generally speaking) just in it's Human form?

It is certainly viable solo or on teams, but the powers generally make use of defeated enemies or ones that are still alive, instead of being wholly self-sufficient like a Peacebringer.  I highly recommend either giving them a read-over on the Wiki or act like you were going to create one in-game and click the (i)/info option to see a description of their powers.

[BjorJlen]

Hey, thank you for the info @biostem. I actually just side Warshade to check it out, and so far I am liking it a lot. like you said, it very much has a feel of being a blast/control set (with debuffs of course added in for flavor), and that is very much right up my ally. 🙂 However, I don't think it will exactly work for Unicron, as it just doesn't have the right "feel" in my mind. So thanks for the help & advice about the Warshade; it's certainly a blast to play! 😁