Focused Feedback: Enemy Group - Blackwing Industries

[MTeague]

I can't get past the idea that Blackwing, raven familiar of Vaarsuvius from Order of the Stick webcomic, is now charge of a large paramilitary group. 

 

 

 

Ok, ok, I know, it's nothing but a similarity in names. No such crossover actually exists. But Rule of Cool trumps all, right?

[Outback]

1 hour ago, ExeErdna said:

A part of me likes them being uniform in a way. BWI are the best of some really tough groups. They clearly got some former Seers(Widows), IDF, and Syndicate members. They're uniform and super deadly to rush into like Malta. Seeing a group use teamwork and are more than simply reactive. Once they notice you and you're flatfooted it's over even for Tankers.

Are we gonna see a BWI version of Praetorian Duray in the future? If he's not dead but still that would be a nice call back. 

Malta units have tell-tale signs of who does what, and Malta doesn’t have 10+ different debuffs and threats you need to manage. Not a fair comparison. 

[High_Beam]

I like this group.  Good challenge for high level.  Its great seeing them use trip mines and such.  Well done.

[PBiz]

Just a quick one, but the hurt box on the PEACE Keeper is waaay too low. On my flying melee character, it looks like I was punching the air below its feet. And then when it knocked me up, it flew up to accommodate the hurt box way above me again to get back into melee range. The hurt box can probably stand to be lifted a little bit.

 

Linked two images of my character in melee range. Looks very off.

 

[Starhammer]

Thematically, I'd like to see the medics stand out even more. Something to say to civilians in an emergency "I am here to help." Obviously as a private organization, they may not actually be, but it would still be a good PR move for the company to project that image. Not necessarily flipping to full white and red, but maybe some red glowing crosses on chest and shoulder pad, something Tron-esque?

Also thematically, why the weakness to Toxic damage? Game balance wise it seems neither here nor there, just something for variety, but I'd like it to make sense in the world.

Finally, I know this would be a bit of extra work kinda late in the game, but I'd love to see them field a specialized Fire Suppression support unit. Fire Res bubbles, -Fire damage debuffs, and some cold/water attacks, mostly AoE... Not necessarily all over the place, but at least one in most big groups. 

[ExeErdna]

15 hours ago, Outback said:

Malta units have tell-tale signs of who does what, and Malta doesn’t have 10+ different debuffs and threats you need to manage. Not a fair comparison. 

 

So does BWI as I said they're nasty when they group up since you have to deal with such a mixed group. Since you're dealing with multiple damage and mez checks. As a threat they're Malta but much more dangerous

[Starhammer]

1 hour ago, Starhammer said:

Finally, I know this would be a bit of extra work kinda late in the game, but I'd love to see them field a specialized Fire Suppression support unit. Fire Res bubbles, -Fire damage debuffs, and some cold/water attacks, mostly AoE... Not necessarily all over the place, but at least one in most big groups. 

FWIW, this will be what I likely use for my Blackwing Fire Suppressor, a Fire Truck themed power armor, "Firebreak"

BTW, that Blackwing style would look real snazzy on the Tech Knight belt. I'm sure the IDF belt is fine, but it's a shame Blackwing doesn't have a belt of their own...

Feel free to copy, borrow, or ignore as needed.

Edited yesterday at 10:01 AM by Starhammer

[Cobalt Arachne]

1 hour ago, Starhammer said:

a Fire Truck themed power armor, "Firebreak"

Seeing people create their own Blackwing Industries characters/critter types was one of the big reasons I felt motivated to give all their parts to players! 😄 Very cool!

Unfortunately for the actual critter group, I think they're already quite complex and deliver a robust challenge, so adding even more critter types to the main NPC group would make it that much harder to balance them.

Always love seeing people's original takes though! It was something I explicitly wanted to encourage by giving players all the tools to build their own Blackwing baddies.
It should be very doable to create custom AE groups with Blackwing's critters + added original variants to create perfect custom groups.

🙂

[Cobalt Arachne]

2 hours ago, ExeErdna said:

As a threat they're Malta but much more dangerous

This was essentially the vibe I was going for.

They're a highly trained group of professionals outfitted in some extremely cutting-edge gear, stuff that was prototyped using stolen Praetorian tech.
All of them trained specifically to take down super power threats, but in a non-lethal capacity.

I'll be doing a full Dev Diary for Blackwing closer to release, that will explain the group's origins, how they ended up in my hands to finish them, why I chose XYZ design elements for each critter, and what parts were written before they came to me and I had to design around.

• The minion's Cold/Toxic guns are directly inspired by a CIA weapons prototype that operated by shooting frozen poison darts. Google 'CIA heart attack gun' and you'll get results for it.
• Coordinators, Neutralizers, and the Keeper Giant Monster were the only Blackwing critters that I personally added to the group.
• More trivia to come in the proper Dev Diary!

 

2 hours ago, Starhammer said:

Also thematically, why the weakness to Toxic damage?

They were originally weak to Cold, but after reviewing weaknesses, it was found that Toxic was the least represented type amongst high-level enemy groups and Cold was actually the most represented, so we changed it.

Thematically, it's because the Excelsion emitter wiring interiors are very sensitive to corrosion. I could probably add a blurb about that to their critter descriptions, actually.

[FupDup]

2 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

They were originally weak to Cold, but after reviewing weaknesses, it was found that Toxic was the least represented type amongst high-level enemy groups and Cold was actually the most represented, so we changed it.

Thematically, it's because the Excelsion emitter wiring interiors are very sensitive to corrosion. I could probably add a blurb about that to their critter descriptions, actually.

Ironically enough, Malta also has a hole to toxic resistance, so maybe there's a link there? 

 

[ryuplaneswalker]

On 5/30/2025 at 11:57 AM, MTeague said:

I can't get past the idea that Blackwing, raven familiar of Vaarsuvius from Order of the Stick webcomic, is now charge of a large paramilitary group. 

 

 

 

Ok, ok, I know, it's nothing but a similarity in names. No such crossover actually exists. But Rule of Cool trumps all, right?

My Mind goes straight to Yugioh with Blackwing Dragon.