Power Pool Concept: Secondary Form

[Varkarrus]

Link to the Full Writeup!

 

Here's a quick rundown over how this works. The document has a lot more details!

 

Basically, when you take this power pool, you get the initial choice between "Super Form" or "Weakened Form." After choosing either, you get to make... a whole new character! This character has a unique new archetype called Alter, and the Alter gets to choose between Melee OR Ranged as a primary (taking a hit to defensive scaling if they choose ranged), and Defense as a secondary. You get a new costume and everything. New page of enhancements, too: your Alter can't benefit from your main form's IO set bonuses and vice versa. This means managing your Alter will take some extra investments...

 

Super Form (LVL 4)

If you take Super Form, then you get a long CD ability that lets you become your Alter at will until you run out of endurance (you get a repeatedly stacking debuff to endurance recovery and endurance costs, but you have very high base endurance in this form though). You also get an endurance crash when it wears off. You also get a VERY minor debuff to damage dealt in your normal form. Your Greater Alter has better stats than a normal archetype, but due to its short duration, it isn't THAT impressive a self-buff. You can't take Super Form AND Weakened Form, btw.

 

Weakened Form (LVL 4)

If you take Weakened Form, you get a toggled ability with no endurance drain. You also get a debuff to your maximum health in your normal form, and this debuff is larger than the super form's debuff. Once you are KO'd while toggled on, you become your weakened form with no XP debt. Your Lesser Alter is much weaker than a normal hero (except when it comes to endurance), so again, by default this power isn't a HUGE increase in strength. After 10 seconds, your weakened form gets a Second Wind power that lets you revert to your normal form IF you are at 95% or higher health. Reverting to your normal form gives a large defensive boost for a brief duration, allowing you to turn on your toggles and get healed by allies.

 

Form Survival (LVL 14)

This passive ability gives your secondary form more health, defense, and resist. It provides a larger bonus to Super Form, but also removes some of the health penalty of Weakened Form.

 

Form Adaptability (LVL 14)

This passive ability gives your secondary form more damage, to-hit, and recovery. It provides a larger bonus to Weakened Form, but removes some of the damage penalty of Super Form.

 

Form Mastery (LVL 14)

This reduces cooldowns and provides additional benefits. Weakened Form and Second Wind recharger quicker. Super Form recharges quicker and lasts longer by reducing the strength of the endurance debuff.

 

All three of the above passive abilities have reduced Enhancement Diversification penalties. This is less a way to make them stronger, and more a way to make them require a greater amount of investment. Secondary Form needs to feel impactful, but the only way to do that would be to make require a large investment to bring to its fullest potential!