A favourite character thread!


Favourite Characters  

101 members have voted

  1. 1. Favourite Characters

    • Brian Deckard
    • Maria 'Internationale' Valdes
    • Raymond 'Shalem 11' Malik
    • Jolie 'Banks' Murphy, 29
    • Tony Xu
    • Nika Muratova


Recommended Posts

I don't see how an extra inventory slot makes Shalem more flexible. It's the easiest thing to buy when needed. As for replacing the ammo requirement - I don't think this is a good idea, because with aug that removes raising the alarm on kills it'd be too much, given how cheap it is to clean up. Cooldown and no starting melee weapon would make him less flexible than he is now. With all that said Shalem already is a powerful killer and the ammo requirement makes him both more powerful (1 AP + 2 bullets per mag) and more costly to not use it lightly (400$ for each mag + clean up cost + raising the alarm tracker).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How so? 4 turns cooldown would mean less flexibility than what we have now (one hit per turn). Perhaps you're talking about ammo cost? I don't think the other poster said anything about removing ammo requirement. So I don't really see how this could make rifle OP. For me it's a significant nerf (enough to drop the agent entirely while now it's one of my favourites).

 

I was assuming ammo was replaced by the cooldown, since it's labeled as a laser rifle. The opportunity to kill a guard for free every 4 turn (with armor piercing 1) is not so strong if you get it in the late game, but if you start with it it can carry you through the early levels and be combined afterwards with other items to have an extremely effective combat build. Without any need for ammo, it always starts the level ready for use and doesn't require money investment or more than 1 inventory slot.

 

The way this was written, it's OP. Take away just a few details and you can balance it out. As you said, if it needs ammo as well as a cooldown, it's trash. Which is why I figured it didn't.

 

About Shaleem being a skilled killer : I like the idea. I think the rifle is perfect as it is. Perhaps he needs a garrote instead of a neural disrupter. Once used on a guard, Shaleem can't do anything else until the end of the turn (he's holding the choke), at which point the guard is killed. No cooldown. If it is used for melee reaction, the guard dies at the end of your turn, not the enemy's, so Shaleem still loses the turn.Not very efficient in combat, but otherwise very useful. Thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About Shaleem being a skilled killer : I like the idea. I think the rifle is perfect as it is. Perhaps he needs a garrote instead of a neural disrupter. Once used on a guard, Shaleem can't do anything else until the end of the turn (he's holding the choke), at which point the guard is killed. No cooldown. If it is used for melee reaction, the guard dies at the end of your turn, not the enemy's, so Shaleem still loses the turn.Not very efficient in combat, but otherwise very useful. Thoughts?

I like the idea too, but I am not sure it should be changed. With a proper augment you could kill guards left and right (it's really easy to outflank them), while in the current system you either have to tie them down or kill, spending ammo (which translates into money and is costlier than clean up cost). I really don't think Shalem needs to be balanced any more than he already is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was assuming ammo was replaced by the cooldown, since it's labeled as a laser rifle. The opportunity to kill a guard for free every 4 turn (with armor piercing 1) is not so strong if you get it in the late game, but if you start with it it can carry you through the early levels and be combined afterwards with other items to have an extremely effective combat build. Without any need for ammo, it always starts the level ready for use and doesn't require money investment or more than 1 inventory slot.

 

The way this was written, it's OP. Take away just a few details and you can balance it out. As you said, if it needs ammo as well as a cooldown, it's trash. Which is why I figured it didn't.

 

About Shaleem being a skilled killer : I like the idea. I think the rifle is perfect as it is. Perhaps he needs a garrote instead of a neural disrupter. Once used on a guard, Shaleem can't do anything else until the end of the turn (he's holding the choke), at which point the guard is killed. No cooldown. If it is used for melee reaction, the guard dies at the end of your turn, not the enemy's, so Shaleem still loses the turn.Not very efficient in combat, but otherwise very useful. Thoughts?

 

Good points. I think the current version of his rifle could be made a little stronger (+ 1 ammo) to make him more useful and your garrotte (great idea) would improve his usefulness further.

 

The augment should reduce the alarm level only by 1, because killing guards should always be difficult.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good points. I think the current version of his rifle could be made a little stronger (+ 1 ammo) to make him more useful and your garrotte (great idea) would improve his usefulness further.

 

The augment should reduce the alarm level only by 1, because killing guards should always be difficult.

If you make augment reduce alarm level by 1 and give garrotte then I don't think rifle needs one extra bullet. Garrotte itself would suffice on soft targets (no armor), while weapon could be used against ranged and armored enemies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you make augment reduce alarm level by 1 and give garrotte then I don't think rifle needs one extra bullet. Garrotte itself would suffice on soft targets (no armor), while weapon could be used against ranged and armored enemies.

 

You are right, but there should be an augment that increases the armor penetration of weapons by 1 to make earlier weapons useful later in the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Untrue. Some augments improve KO time - which is melee only - but other ones will improve AP capabilities. For both ranged and melee. Unless it has been changed in the last patch, but I didn't read anything like that in the patch notes.

That was changed in update 2 iirc, so you would not have found that in last updates notes.

/edit

Yep, update 2, under balance changes.

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/topic/40683-early-access-update-2-active-recon-patch-notes/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the idea too, but I am not sure it should be changed. With a proper augment you could kill guards left and right (it's really easy to outflank them), while in the current system you either have to tie them down or kill, spending ammo (which translates into money and is costlier than clean up cost). I really don't think Shalem needs to be balanced any more than he already is.

 

Agreed. I just think the garrote has more personality, right now this is all Shaleem lacks compared to other agents.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed. I just think the garrote has more personality, right now this is all Shaleem lacks compared to other agents.

Well, according to the patch notes his gun now has 2 AP. Think that makes him more then worth it ;)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was changed in update 2 iirc, so you would not have found that in last updates notes.

/edit

Yep, update 2, under balance changes.

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/topic/40683-early-access-update-2-active-recon-patch-notes/

 

I stand corrected. With Shalem's gun being 2 AP now he can simply pick up different aug if he needs extra melee AP. He's much better now as so far we don't encounter enemies with more than 2 armor points (save for a shield guard),

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now Shalem has my respect. He starts with a decent 2-ammo-1-piercing gun and can improve any gun with a +1 piercing with a augment.

Banks is amazing with her ability of unlock doors plus her sedative.

I didn't like so far Xu and Nika in this new build. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me? It just has to be Deckard. 

When I'm playing the game, I like to strike fast, and get the hell out of there before the alarm level gets too high. The extra AP seems pretty useless on paper, but the small boost in mobility actually makes quite a difference. The stealth also helps me get past sections that would usually need a few turns of preparation in just one. After experiencing that, I just can't refuse him- he's almost always a pick for my team.

 

I'm surprised there's not a lot of love for our good Doctor Xu around here, though. He's pretty much your 1-stop solution for dealing with pesky daemons, which have always been the biggest thorn in my side when playing this game. 

When you want to blaze through levels before the alarm level can get too high, you can't afford to lose incognita for a turn or two, or to need extra energy when the firewalls increase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Banks and Dr Xu are my current dream team. Banks steals everything and opens locked doors while Xu takes care of the daemons and droids. Starting with a shock trap is pretty sweet too, the Banks' paralyzer complements it pretty well. 

 

I love Nika's design but she hasn't been the most effective agent for me so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Torn between Banks, Dr Xu and, if you believe me Shalem 11. Banks is a no-brainer, arguably the best agent in the game currently (if not a little OP), Dr Xu helps you not have to waste PWR or risk Daemons on safes etc. and his shock trap is excellent :D

 

Shalem 11 is an odd case though, he's widely regarded as 'useless' or 'the worst agent in the game' but I actually find him excellent at clearing away those pesky early game Amoured Guards or Elites and though his starting Neural Disrupter is garbage, its pretty easy to get him at least a basic Disrupter within the first mission (depending on where you go), plus, being the Alarm going up isnt that much of a problem as if you're playing like I prefer which is 'Get in, Grab everything you see of relative use as fast a possible and Get out!' then its not that big a deal.

 

Just my thoughts :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Developer

Can I say my favorite character is Shopcat? When will we learn the RICH BACKSTORY of Shopcat?

 

Shopcat was a normal cat once, roaming the abandoned canals of New York City. Lounging quietly by day and Hunting by night, she gave little thought to the comings and goings of the twolegs. Life was simple, and life was good. 

 

But one night, she found a delicious smell coming from a drainpipe. Normally she wouldn't have risked the trouble, but the Hunt had been bad of late. It was rainy season and the rats had gone to ground. She was hungry, and hungry cats make bad decisions. Just two careful steps into the pipe and a hard metal grate dropped down and trapped her inside. Soon after, the Doctor came.

 

She doesn't remember much from the beginning of her time with the Doctor, and she doesn't care to. Bright lights. Loud noises. The smell of burning hair. But most of all, pain.

 

There wasn't a particular moment that marked her transition from cat to something-more-than-cat. It came slowly, each strange new impulse or thought jumping into her head suddenly and then receding for a while. In time though, she came to realize what was happening to her - what the Doctor was trying to accomplish in his unlicensed laboratory hidden deep within the creaking hulk of an abandoned skyscraper in the middle of the Manhattan Flood Zone. She knew that she wasn't the first of his experiments, and that she wouldn't be the last. She came to realize what she had to do if she was going to survive. 

 

She bided her time. She endured the 'treatments', getting smarter and getting stronger with each, but always trying to hide the true extent of her transformation. If her plan was going to work, she would need to keep a part of herself secret. She would have to maintain the element of surprise.

 

 

Afterwards - after the fire, the blood, and the darkness, as she dug her way out of the rubble of what was once a laboratory, she asked herself: 'What now? Were do I go from here?"

 

She knew that she wouldn't last long back in the canals. She still loved the Hunt, but she knew that it wasn't enough. The foreign chemicals sloshing around in her head and the bright flashing machinery that bent her thoughts into man-shapes wouldn't run on the carcasses of rats and birds. They would slow down and eventually grind to a halt, and as they did, they would kill her. She was more-than-cat now, and she had more-than-cat needs.

 

A tiny corp drone flitted overhead as night began to fall. She had seen them all over the Zone for her entire life, but had never until now given them a second thought. It must have a base station somewhere close by, with a power source and replacement parts, and most importantly, a data uplink. The thought bender knew what to do with that. It whispered instructions to her inside of her head, and then she knew too.

 

The next time a drone flew past, she took off in pursuit. It felt good to be back to the Hunt after so long inside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shopcat was a normal cat once, roaming the abandoned canals of New York City. Lounging quietly by day and Hunting by night, she gave little thought to the comings and goings of the twolegs. Life was simple, and life was good. 

 

...

 

and here I thought shopcat was just an avatar... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Please be aware that the content of this thread may be outdated and no longer applicable.