iknowinternet
12-23-2009, 12:20 PM
So I was playing around with a few ideas for a mechanik-themed caster (Yes, I realize we have Darius, but I figured this would be significantly different). My idea was to have the kind of "Bodger" caster we never had, one that would focus on jacks almost exclusively, providing them with thematic "modifications." Picture the Chief Mechanik, warcaster-fied. Here's what I came up with, though I was a tad delirious at the time.
Decklan Goodsmith
SPD 5 STR 6 MAT 6 RAT 5 DEF 14(?) ARM 16 CMD 7 FOC 5
FA: C
WJ Points: +5 (?)
Base Size: Small
Damage: 16 (?)
Feat: Uncanny Awareness
Warjacks in your battlegroup in your control area each gain +2 SPD, STR, and ARM for one round (or should it be turn?). This bonus does not stack with Latent Modifications.
Goodsmith
Tough
Steady
Cohort/Cadre [Field Mechaniks]: Friendly Field Mechaniks models gain Tough.
Iron Sentinel (B2B effect as per Field Mechanik ability)
Repair [8] (Scratch if too redundant with Darius)
Latent Modifications: During your control phase, Goodsmith may spend one focus to give one warjack in his battlegroup in his control area either +2 SPD, STR, or ARM for one round. This ability may only be used once per turn.
Weapons
Trusty Wrench: POW:5 P+S:11
-Dismantle
Screwhammer: POW:7 P+S:13
-Magical Weapon
-Beat Back
Scrapshot: RNG: SP8 POW:10
-Critical Grievous Wounds
Snare Gun w/ cumbersome?
Spells
Explosivo (if no other antimagic option presents itself)
Havoc (as per Kromac, only with warjacks. I don't want the SPD boost from full throttle, as I feel it would be too overpowered with Latent Mod and take away Darius' one remaining trick)
Inhospitable Ground (Not as bad as it seems, considering cost and small CTRL area)
Iron Flesh (The only infantry support spell and only upkeep, and he's more likely to have it on himself. Still has to choose between this and AS from JWC)
Fluff Stuff:
- Latent Modifications is his key ability. I hope the mechanic I've use for this version is better than the other ideas I was using, which involved wreck markers and were really weird. The ability should give a specific boost to a specific jack for a pretty cheap 1 FOC. You can make your Arc Node faster (though I do not know why he'd need one) or your Centurion run into position much faster. You can make your Ironclad hit like a ton of bricks. You can make that Defender pretty hard to bring down. But you can't do them all at once (at least not til your feat turn!)
- As his wrench should clue you in, I envision him as much an ANTI-jack caster as a Jackbuff caster.
-His scattergun is envisioned as him cramming a whole bunch of shrapnel in and shooting it off. The crit effect is when it gets embedded. It's his only real anti-Hordes ability, and he has to be close to use it. Smart players will set up their assassination runs by hoping for grievous wounds to stop transfers and then pounding the hell out of the warlock with Havoc'd jacks.
- His cohort ability makes Meks an even better tarpit unit in a cinch.
- VERY low CMD. This guy doesn't care as much about troops as he does his precious jacks.
Concerns:
-Goodsmith is designed with ONLY jacks in mind. He's not terribly versatile in that sense. Only one of his abilities will directly buff infantry, and even it comes with a SPD penalty.
-His low FOC mitigates the issue of spamming Havoc and Inhospitable Ground in the same turn, though with addition of a Squire, it's possible. This could be an issue, along with the added 2" to CTRL, another of Goodsmith's shortcomings.
-Goodsmith is also heavily reliant on BATTLEGROUP specific abilities, so he won't be buffing Marshalled and JWC'd jacks at all. Additionally, even though Havoc is great, and allows for free charges, power attacks, etc and a boosted attack roll, Goodsmith doesn't have much actual focus to divvy up, making Chargers kind of a wash. He also provides next to nothing for ranged jacks.
-At SPD 5, he's a bit slow, and if he upkeeps Iron Flesh on himself to avoid incoming fire, he slows to a crawl. He's one of the rare jack casters who could have trouble keeping up with his jacks.
-I worry about the Feat being too OP, but I don't see it stacking up buffs to any more of an insane degree than Circle. It certainly makes a retinue of Hammersmiths unbelievably scary, and if kept as "one round" makes the Centurion both fast and nigh unscratchable. Potentially, the Stormclad's sword could get absurd. For these reasons, I am considering just making it a turn-long ability, with the ARM buff serving as a freestrike deterrent. It is almost expected that any feat turn will be accompanied by Havoc. Basically, how can I stop this from being too OP?
- Any better spell options than Explosivo? I'm not particularly attached.
- His DEF could potentially get very high... is this a problem?
Decklan Goodsmith
SPD 5 STR 6 MAT 6 RAT 5 DEF 14(?) ARM 16 CMD 7 FOC 5
FA: C
WJ Points: +5 (?)
Base Size: Small
Damage: 16 (?)
Feat: Uncanny Awareness
Warjacks in your battlegroup in your control area each gain +2 SPD, STR, and ARM for one round (or should it be turn?). This bonus does not stack with Latent Modifications.
Goodsmith
Tough
Steady
Cohort/Cadre [Field Mechaniks]: Friendly Field Mechaniks models gain Tough.
Iron Sentinel (B2B effect as per Field Mechanik ability)
Repair [8] (Scratch if too redundant with Darius)
Latent Modifications: During your control phase, Goodsmith may spend one focus to give one warjack in his battlegroup in his control area either +2 SPD, STR, or ARM for one round. This ability may only be used once per turn.
Weapons
Trusty Wrench: POW:5 P+S:11
-Dismantle
Screwhammer: POW:7 P+S:13
-Magical Weapon
-Beat Back
Scrapshot: RNG: SP8 POW:10
-Critical Grievous Wounds
Snare Gun w/ cumbersome?
Spells
Explosivo (if no other antimagic option presents itself)
Havoc (as per Kromac, only with warjacks. I don't want the SPD boost from full throttle, as I feel it would be too overpowered with Latent Mod and take away Darius' one remaining trick)
Inhospitable Ground (Not as bad as it seems, considering cost and small CTRL area)
Iron Flesh (The only infantry support spell and only upkeep, and he's more likely to have it on himself. Still has to choose between this and AS from JWC)
Fluff Stuff:
- Latent Modifications is his key ability. I hope the mechanic I've use for this version is better than the other ideas I was using, which involved wreck markers and were really weird. The ability should give a specific boost to a specific jack for a pretty cheap 1 FOC. You can make your Arc Node faster (though I do not know why he'd need one) or your Centurion run into position much faster. You can make your Ironclad hit like a ton of bricks. You can make that Defender pretty hard to bring down. But you can't do them all at once (at least not til your feat turn!)
- As his wrench should clue you in, I envision him as much an ANTI-jack caster as a Jackbuff caster.
-His scattergun is envisioned as him cramming a whole bunch of shrapnel in and shooting it off. The crit effect is when it gets embedded. It's his only real anti-Hordes ability, and he has to be close to use it. Smart players will set up their assassination runs by hoping for grievous wounds to stop transfers and then pounding the hell out of the warlock with Havoc'd jacks.
- His cohort ability makes Meks an even better tarpit unit in a cinch.
- VERY low CMD. This guy doesn't care as much about troops as he does his precious jacks.
Concerns:
-Goodsmith is designed with ONLY jacks in mind. He's not terribly versatile in that sense. Only one of his abilities will directly buff infantry, and even it comes with a SPD penalty.
-His low FOC mitigates the issue of spamming Havoc and Inhospitable Ground in the same turn, though with addition of a Squire, it's possible. This could be an issue, along with the added 2" to CTRL, another of Goodsmith's shortcomings.
-Goodsmith is also heavily reliant on BATTLEGROUP specific abilities, so he won't be buffing Marshalled and JWC'd jacks at all. Additionally, even though Havoc is great, and allows for free charges, power attacks, etc and a boosted attack roll, Goodsmith doesn't have much actual focus to divvy up, making Chargers kind of a wash. He also provides next to nothing for ranged jacks.
-At SPD 5, he's a bit slow, and if he upkeeps Iron Flesh on himself to avoid incoming fire, he slows to a crawl. He's one of the rare jack casters who could have trouble keeping up with his jacks.
-I worry about the Feat being too OP, but I don't see it stacking up buffs to any more of an insane degree than Circle. It certainly makes a retinue of Hammersmiths unbelievably scary, and if kept as "one round" makes the Centurion both fast and nigh unscratchable. Potentially, the Stormclad's sword could get absurd. For these reasons, I am considering just making it a turn-long ability, with the ARM buff serving as a freestrike deterrent. It is almost expected that any feat turn will be accompanied by Havoc. Basically, how can I stop this from being too OP?
- Any better spell options than Explosivo? I'm not particularly attached.
- His DEF could potentially get very high... is this a problem?