POLL: More abilities like...

Unknown

So while D3 is polling as to which new character you'd most like to see, I think I speak for a lot of players when I say:
I don't care about the character. I care about the abilities.

Hence this poll. I realize these aren't mutually exclusive options, so you can vote on up to 5 options.
Hopefully, whatever new character the polls show (Gambit?), Devs will take note of this thread when developing his/her abilities.

Personally, I want to see more abilities that lend themselves to strategy. And by this I generally mean those that require some level of decision making.

For example:
C.Mag Blue: "should I activate now, or wait to see if I can get more red/blue pairs on the board?"
2* Wolvie Green: "should I activate now, or collect a few more red first?"

Also, tile-placement abilities are great, as their optimal use is board-dependent.

Please also use this thread to express what abilities you DON'T want more of:
For me, here's my list of "please no mores":
- High cost protect tile abilities
- Abilities that sap AP from other colors
- Randomized abilities
- Abilities with long execution times (..cough..Loki purple...)
- Overly complicated abilities

Unknown

I'll add a core ability function in most fantasy games that I haven't seen yet in MPQ that's not on the list: debuffer.

Why not add a character with a power who weakens strike/attack/protect tiles?

Unknown

I want more cheap abilities (~5AP)

And I don't want any abilities above 12 AP. It's just too random if and when I can launch that in a match.

over_clocked

Whatever mHawkeye/She-Hulk/Daredevil/Psylocke/Nick Fury do with enemy AP, it can't compare to oBW/Hood. Not saying every AP steal should be as strong but can it least be always reliable, never random and delayed? (In case of Daredevil it may never trigger during the match.)
The former characters don't see more play exactly because their AP-related abilities are so meh, Nick Fury at least has some straight-up damage to offer besides maybe stealing AP.
X-Force AP drain: very good, predictable and can be planned ahead, same as oBW/Hood.

mohio

Just for the love of god stop making healing abilities that aren't true healing. No one wants them. Turn them into shields and people might use them.

HailMary

I voted for board shakeup and tile placement, but really want new mechanics, like Rogue's ability-steal.

Spoit

locked wrote:

Whatever mHawkeye/She-Hulk/Daredevil/Psylocke/Nick Fury do with enemy AP, it can't compare to oBW/Hood. Not saying every AP steal should be as strong but can it least be always reliable, never random and delayed? (In case of Daredevil it may never trigger during the match.)
The former characters don't see more play exactly because their AP-related abilities are so meh, Nick Fury at least has some straight-up damage to offer besides maybe stealing AP.
X-Force AP drain: very good, predictable and can be planned ahead, same as oBW/Hood.

Yeah, random AP depletion doesn't do any good, especially since hte highest AP counts are probably for ones it can't even cast. Now if there were targeted depletion, that might actually be more useful.

over_clocked

Easy-peasy insta-buff for all these AP shenanigans not called Aggressive Recon/Dormammu's Aid: pick the colour you want to steal/drain. It's NOT OP because these abilities are slow, vulnerable (rely on CDs/traps), add nothing to offense if they just lower AP and don't steal it, these characters need major something to be even considered usually for PvP, etc, etc.
Daredevil should have a weaker steal (maybe max steal of 3-4 AP per colour), but he should steal at least 1 of at least 3 chosen colours on a friendly match, this way the trap is not useless for its high cost.
She-Hulk: useless fake healing attached, randomness ahoy, let her drop the heal and pick the targeted pools and also drop the cost to at least 3 matches range (she doesn't steal, just drains). Also for the love of God move the ability to purple to match her nice outfit, and her AoE to green to match her Hulkness.
mHawkeye: SAME ISSUE AGAIN, DEMIURGE!! The best marksman in the world can't target his AP-stealing arrow?? Meaning it lands randomly in the enemy's reserves whereas it should be at the very least targeted. Drop the CD to 2 turns.
Psylocke: MOVE TO PURPLE, insta-buff. Target the colour she acquires. Maybe make it a 2-turn CD at all levels. High tier (not godly), better than Punisher, instantly (covers a super-rare colour), not OP in the slightest.
Guess Fury doesn't need even minor improvements.

Unknown

Noticed some rarer options that aren't on the list:
Damage dependent/Retaliation - Raging Tempest, Anger, Life of the Party...
Targeted board destruction/transformation - Supernova, Surgical Strike, Technopathic Strike, Chemical Reaction, MOTE, Polarizing Force, Fireball
Enemy tile destruction - Gravity Warp, Redwing, Payback Mission, Settlement (kinda?)
Stuns - Wind Storm, Electric Arrow, Symbiote Snare, All Tied-Up, Peacemaker, Equalizer ...
Minor board shake-up, eg destroying/swapping 1 or 2 tiles.

Other proposed ones that don't seem to fit the paradigm:
AP Steal link - dmg when AP is stolen from/by you.
AP shuffling between pools
Death/critical hit avoidance

Not sure how stuns didn't make the list, but I guess they're not used by most players who would prefer faster/quick damage. In the original puzzle quest I always gravitated towards druid spells, with vast transformations of one colour to another. That and match 4/5 bonuses (eg bracelet of the gods).

Unknown

I would quite like a retributive protect tile generator. Make it something like Hulk's anger, so when you take 5% or more damage on that hero they slap down a protect tile (rather than a CD for anger).

I quite like the idea as a general mechanic and it directly counters sentry

Unknown

daibar wrote:

Stuns - Wind Storm, Electric Arrow, Symbiote Snare, All Tied-Up, Peacemaker, Equalizer ...

I was looking for stuns to add my vote to. I'm a big fan of stunlocking my opponents.

Unknown

I was looking for stuns to add my vote to. I'm a big fan of stunlocking my opponents.

Shoot, I don't know how I missed "stun abilities" as an poll option. Unfortunately, only 15 options are permitted.
Also, retribution/health-dependent skills such as those given by daibar would be nice to add to the list.

From the limited number of votes thus far, it appears that people are wanting to see more:
1. AP Stealing/Generation type abilities
2. Board shake-up abilities
3. Tile placement abilities

If Gambit is indeed the next new character to be developed, a skill set of the above ((2) would also have to damage) would work well (and match his character description quite nicely). With the above abilities (assuming appropriate colours), he'd be a great utility character!

CrookedKnight

Lyrian wrote:

I'll add a core ability function in most fantasy games that I haven't seen yet in MPQ that's not on the list: debuffer.

Why not add a character with a power who weakens strike/attack/protect tiles?

An ability that weakens or nullifies enemy strike tiles would be an instant must-have. It fills a niche that is currently empty and it counters the most powerful effect a move can have (short of one-hit kill damage).

orionpeace

I predict that if Gambit is the next character, he will have a unique "Counter Strike" passive ability. Take X damage and strike back dealing Y damage.

Along with a single target attack that puts new modified tiles on the board.

His third ability will explode all those tiles.

orionpeace

CrookedKnight wrote:

Lyrian wrote:

I'll add a core ability function in most fantasy games that I haven't seen yet in MPQ that's not on the list: debuffer.

Why not add a character with a power who weakens strike/attack/protect tiles?

An ability that weakens or nullifies enemy strike tiles would be an instant must-have. It fills a niche that is currently empty and it counters the most powerful effect a move can have (short of one-hit kill damage).

I think this is the role that IW should have.

Force fields that reduce overall incoming team damage, slow down enemies, and messing with strike/attack/countdown tiles.

Unknown

Along with a single target attack that puts new modified tiles on the board.
His third ability will explode all those tiles.

Add this to my list of ability types I DON'T want to see any more of.
Abilities that depend on the execution of other abilities (e.g. IW blue/green, Beast blue/green) are terrible, especially if they are expensive.

If abilities are affected by special tiles, it's much better if they are general special tiles (e.g. number of strikes/protects/countdowns), rather than specific tiles that only the one character (e.g. IW force bubbles), or limited characters (e.g. web-tiles) can actually create.

If based on the number of general tiles, at least the ability can be a deterrent for other character's abilities.
e.g. if force crush were based on the number of strike tiles on the board (friendly & hostile), it'd be a viable counter to characters that place a lot of strikes (e.g. Daken).

Unknown

I really like tile placement abilities such as GSBW and MNMags Purple but I hate how useless they are in the hands of the AI. I would even be okay with overlooking that fact if they had other abilities that were good enough to make up for that fault.

daibar wrote:

paradigm:
AP Steal link - dmg when AP is stolen from/by you.
AP shuffling between pools
Death/critical hit avoidance

These are some great ideas for new ability concepts that I'd also love to see. AP shuffling especially could be great for when you dont have an active ability of a particular color on your team you could maybe convert 2:1 for something actually useful.

I think in general I'd like to see characters that can generate AP early to be able to make any team a little faster and more competitive against Sentry/Daken/Hood

orionpeace

Oh, I'm not saying it's what I want. I was just saying what I believe they will do.

In this case though, it may work.

Low cost attack, say 5AP. Does moderate damage and adds a tile.

Big attack that does X base, + destroys those tiles for Y damage each + potential cascade.

I just hope they don't tie the tile generation to the counter-attack passive. Then he has to get hit to generate them and that would suck.

rixmith

I'd like to see an ability that adds Heal tiles, which would be the exact opposite of Attack tiles, healing whoever is in front on your team when your turn starts (doesn't have to be True Healing). Then you could enhance Loki (or another character) to switch Attack and Heal...

Unknown

Anything but aoe abilities.

BP and Thor killing your entire team in one move is just too much.

Or at least don't put them on tanks, like those two.

MAx health for a character with an AoE heavy damage ability should be 6800.

Unknown

onimus wrote:

Anything but aoe abilities.

BP and Thor killing your entire team in one move is just too much.

Or at least don't put them on tanks, like those two.

MAx health for a character with an AoE heavy damage ability should be 6800.

If BP or Thor is to much then what do you think about Sentry?