Block Alternative Power Idea

[Radicaljoe]

Block, exists.
I must say I do not understand the implementation. Why would I spend a 90% armor piece, and 4 pins to make an armor that blocks 100 damage by 80% every minute.
I've heard it's supposed to combo with the electric circuit, but like, how hypothetical is this scenario where this combo is actually useful more than one time every 20 hours?
I know, supposedly the block will gain the ability to aggro other enemies onto WX like Wig's song, but I'm already going to say that isn't very good for the current implementation. If I want to save my friends or whatever, why would I want to get beaten up? Just use the screech and save everyone anyway, AND not get punched down.

I propose a redesign of block in a way that still benefits the player, the player's friends, and is more fun or at the very least more interesting.
If any of you have played Deep Rock Galactic, there is a character that has a deployable shield bubble. Players inside the shield are safe from enemies, and enemies are too scared to go inside the shield. But, it's very short lived, it's truly just enough time to get everyone together, reload, and get your breath back. Then it goes back down. (there's other stuff like you regen faster in it, and can leave the shield with some repelling aura, but that's not important for this)
I think something like this would be interesting for WX to have. Now, these are very different games, so it will be a different implementation, but that's the inspiration.

For WX, I think that it should be an activated shield bubble, similar to a big version of the thulecite crown's bubble. That pushes enemies away. However, unlike the DRG version, this shield should be able to be broken by the enemies that are attacking it. I think it would have X hits to break for most mobs, and for bosses it would have like, 3-4 hits to break since their larger and would do more damage to the shield bubble. 
This version of block I think would actually have a better use case for the aggro stealing upgrade, since the enemies wouldn't be attacking WX, but instead the giant shiny shield bubble while everyone else can either run away, or set up some defensive position from within the shield.

The gamma skill buff would be a slight increase in the radius of the shield bubble. And that it can combine with some other circuits.
as example, electic circuits plugged in + gamma skill block would make the shield do the aoe charge explosion when the shield goes down.

[Baark0]

You could spend a low durability shelmet to get a full circuit, but that would require you to waste time farming for a shelmet in the first place, when you could instead rush the ruins (wx's specialty) and craft some thulecite crowns, while also getting plenty of other helpful items and resources.

The circuit highkey just seems like a waste of slots to me, as I'm probably not gonna do facetank strats with electric circuits, since I find facetanking to be pretty boring. The only thing that could make facetanking more boring is if you stood there and literally did nothing but just tank hits. 

The only thing I can think of that could make the circuit more fun is if it became a parry, where landing the parry would shock the target and stun them for a few seconds, giving you a small period of time to freely get some extra hits in.

[Radicaljoe]

8 minutes ago, Baark0 said:

You could spend a low durability shelmet to get a full circuit

I forgot to mention this part, I would also just make it not take a shellmet, idk why it even costs that in the first place. I would replace it with costing either scrap + charged glass. Or instead costing a thulecite crown in its recipie.

[YouKnowWho142]

ive been trying to give this circuit the benefit of the doubt since it just doesn't align with how i like to play and figured others would like it more than i would. However, the more i look at it, the more i seriously cannot even justify using it or giving it a chance in a normal run. 4 slots is extremely demanding (albeit fine for now since there is basically zero gamma circuit competition), and shelmets are difficult enough to find to make gaining the circuit extremely tedious and time consuming. Even when it gets the taunt effect, which will at least maybe make it helpful in team settings (though it competes with supersonic circuit for this...), as radicaljoe said you're not exactly helping much by just sitting there taking hits as opposed to actually fighting, especially when every taunt effect we've seen already in the game is extremely finnicky and unreliable. Unless you really really want to utilize electrification circuits, i seriously cannot think of any particularly good uses for it.

I really like your suggestion, the only issue i have with it is that beanboosters already have a shield and hardy circuits already have damage resistance. then again, that's probably the reason a blocking circuit shouldnt have really existed in the first place. I don't think it'd be too much of an issue though, I'd love to see the blocking circuit change to this.

[Radicaljoe]

54 minutes ago, YouKnowWho142 said:

I really like your suggestion, the only issue i have with it is that beanboosters already have a shield and hardy circuits already have damage resistance. then again, that's probably the reason a blocking circuit shouldnt have really existed in the first place. I don't think it'd be too much of an issue though, I'd love to see the blocking circuit change to this.

yea, but that's the idea. is instead of a personal shield, it's a team one. 

[ZeRoboButler]

I tried real hard to make it work but it really is just bait.

• Your armor still takes the same damage it would normally take so you just lose armor
• You can't do anything during it so you just waste time that could be spent actually hitting the thing hitting you
• it takes up way too many slots, as if it is some how just that valuable that it takes up that much space but just isn't
• Requires a shellmet, when if anything it should require the snurtle shell, and is so out of the way that you have to dedicate way too much time to fighting snurtles. And this is with the improved methods of farming them via electricity and stuns! 

I'd say make it behave similar to wig's battle shield where it is directional, where it doesn't hurt you or your armor and it blocks for a set time.

Bubble shield is a very cool idea, they could repurpose some of the stuff they used to make the umbra-la's rain shield for the visuals, so that could work too.

I have no idea why anyone is so set on a taunt though. Honestly, some people think that wig's shield is bad but in reality it's the taunt stinger, that thing stinks. The concept of a taunt is cool in a team setting like the forge back when it was around, but it really is super impractical and the theoretical situations it would be good in are way waaaaay too rare to even justify. 

I say Buff/Rework/Adjust, what ever you wanna call it, a lot of other idea's would be better then this one. I have done my fair share of testing and I am sick of 2 things, farming slurtles instead of snurtles, who's armor is more valuable anyway, and trying to not go crazy from looking for a decent use case for the block circuit. 

In pretty much every test I used it in, either the snurtle shell you can hide in is just a better choice or literally any other method of just avoiding the damage is a better option. It doesn't help the player, it just waste armor and time so far. Love Wx, hate this circuit, the only good thing about it is that I can use a deconstruction staff on it to get back the helmet. 

Rant over, spent way too much time trying to find a decent application for this...

[Sofy Happy]

Wouldn't changing it like this just go to waste the new blocking animation?

[Jussatoon]

30 minutes ago, Sofy Happy said:

Wouldn't changing it like this just go to waste the new blocking animation?

The sonic circuit's old animation went unused, so I don't think they're above that.

[Radicaljoe]

30 minutes ago, Sofy Happy said:

Wouldn't changing it like this just go to waste the new blocking animation?

Not necessarily, the block animation could be repurposed into a sort of casting for the bubble. But the animation would go to waste if the circuit isn't worth using anyway so....

[Kvetevk]

I think having cheaper version and expensive version like the stat circuits, would fix most of the problems with the new circuits, making them accessible earlier with more slots and a bit worse effect, and later upgrade them to their current form that could be a bit buffed.

[ArcAngela]

This is a fantastic idea! It gives WX a defense unique to themselves that anyone can capitalize on and I can already imagine a dozen scenarios where this becomes useful, specially in boss fights where everyone needs a breather to heal up or deal with nightmare creatures.

This course-corrects the current application that feels too niche, like the long cooldown, the uptime being indefinite unless interrupted, and the limit of damage it can take before breaking. Making it an area Bubble that your allies can hide behind is perfect.

It could be a boat's length bubble just for added utility against boarders.

Also, here is a visual for anyone who doesn't know Deep Rock Galactic:

Edited April 8 by ArcAngela
added visual reference

[Edible Coal]

12 minutes ago, ArcAngela said:

This is a fantastic idea! It gives WX a defense unique to themselves that anyone can capitalize on and I can already imagine a dozen scenarios where this becomes useful, specially in boss fights where everyone needs a breather to heal up or deal with nightmare creatures.

This course-corrects the current application that feels too niche, like the long cooldown, the uptime being indefinite unless interrupted, and the limit of damage it can take before breaking. Making it an area Bubble that your allies can hide behind is perfect.

It could be a boat's length bubble just for added utility against boarders.

Also, here is a visual for anyone who doesn't know Deep Rock Galactic:

isnt that just same as screeching, making enemy panic 

[ArcAngela]

4 minutes ago, Edible Coal said:

isnt that just same as screeching, making enemy panic 

You can't scare bosses.

[Edible Coal]

14 minutes ago, ArcAngela said:

You can't scare bosses.

so like all dmg within the bubble gets redirect to you?

 

[Radicaljoe]

1 hour ago, Edible Coal said:

so like all dmg within the bubble gets redirect to you?

nono, bubble is its own health. noone (ideally) should take damage while in the bubble unless it's like a nm creature that wouldn't be stopped by anything anyways.

The bubble is essentially a safe zone from all enemies and bosses temporarily. And separate from screech, bubble is always effective for saving your friends, I've had enemies still attack while I was mid-activation of screech and it made me start and immediately stop, so only got that 8 seconds of fear effect. 
The bubble would last as long as it takes for the enemy to break through.