**** Punisher (Max) ****

ErikPeter

I'm with you on theme and 'grok' value but I think mechanical color balance is super overrated. But this isn't the right place to have a discussion about it.

If this green was red it would need insane DPA to compete with Hulkbuster's flat rate. As a green it can do equivalent base damage and the "per downed enemy" extra damage will make up for the awful drawback and it will be a welcome addition to the game. He's going to complement HB in for heavy single-target/strikes despite overlapping on two colors.

Soitswritten

D4Ni13 wrote:

It's The Punisher, no doubt about it. I'm guessing it will be a 5* though (when Black Suit Spider was released they intentionally made the Unknown character a 4* so nobody had a clue about it... i think this is also the case here... or another typo which I'm already used to see).

Was thinking the same. Also given that his colors don't fit the 4* Archetype. He's definitely a 5*.

GrumpySmurf1002

I don't know why I would think this, but the stun your allies thing I thought would trigger a secondary power for his black.

Maybe that thing I thought is why he's now a 4 and not a 5, but I still think there's something left out.

Just a thought.

rkd80

Lets say it is 4* Punisher. I am curious how the devs are going to handle the fact that the current champed 3* Punisher needs to have its rewards retroactively changed in terms of which 4* it awards. What about those people that already have pushed beyond level 183 on their 3* pun?

If indeed it changes it would probably be the first time that a 3* can give a 4* reward so quickly.

Philly484

Why is it Punisher? If people are already saying it's him then whats the point of this thread, if someone hacked the coding?

ErikPeter

I dunno, because it sounds like him. And the "Stay Vigilant" thing in the patch notes; and the new season of Netflix's Daredevil (aka Daredevil vs the Punisher) is coming out at the same time as this guy.

4* Bullseye would also make a lot of thematic sense. Unless there's a low cap on his his Black power, it's going to be insane with 3* Bullseye. Which is no big deal because 3* Bullseye isn't a PvP heavy. Speculating, it seems like Ghost Rider was going to be the actual 4* Punisher. Maybe this guy was going to be 4* Bullseye and then they switched it up. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was just Punisher from the beginning.

Philly484

Well I hope this is not another variant. As I said earlier fix the one they have don't add another variant of character we already have in game. I'd much rather get new content or features then the repeat of the same character with different abilities.

GrumpySmurf1002

Philly484 wrote:

Well I hope this is not another variant. As I said earlier fix the one they have don't add another variant of character we already have in game. I'd much rather get new content or features then the repeat of the same character with different abilities.

Assuming correctly that it's Punisher, and given the timing, they may not have had a choice on this one.

Tatercat

The Vigilant thing lends itself to a soldier like character, from the saying "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance". That's why a lot of people are thinking of soldier characters like Punisher or Winter Soldier (still too early for him I think, they've save it for the late April or May release.) Also Punisher shows up on Netflix in DD season 2, which the dev's may have marching orders to support.

As for the abilities:

Damage - 10 AP - Deals damage plus additional damage for every friendly strike tile on the board.
(Too vague. "Damage plus a additional damage for every friendly strike tile" describes EVERY power damage done with friendly strike tiles on the board. Is it double? Are the number of tiles a multiplier?)

Damage/Stun - 10 AP - Stuns allies for 2 turns and deals damage to the enemy team plus extra damage for every downed enemy.
(Kinda of a hail mary, isn't it? It could finish off a fight quick, but I'm not looking forward to this character's 4*DDQ Crash of Titans fight.)

Special tile/Passive 8 AP - Creates strength black strike tiles and (PASSIVE) friendly strike tiles’ strength are increased.
(this looks promising, at only 8 ap, at least)

Kinda indifferent on this so far, we'll see how it goes when they hammer out the kinks.

GrumpySmurf1002

Tatercat wrote:

Damage/Stun - 10 AP - Stuns allies for 2 turns and deals damage to the enemy team plus extra damage for every downed enemy.
(Kinda of a hail mary, isn't it? It could finish off a fight quick, but I'm not looking forward to this character's 4*DDQ Crash of Titans fight.)

See my comment above.

In the theoretical sense, there's supposed to be a reason for the stunned allies, thematically speaking.

Philly484

It's already been rumored for Winter Soldier as a coming champ, but X-Men Apocalypse is coming out at the end of May as well. Hopefully this game isn't directly and only linked to the MCU, due to us having a plethora of other characters not yet linked to MCU. If would have thought this would be a female champ since its the women of Power month but if they actually wait another 2 weeks upon release we wont get this champ until April. Plus I am assuming that if they waited till April 1st to release the champ then this may very well be the rumored Howard the Duck we may be getting. Reason I could see this being him is that he uses weapons similar to that of Punisher and Rocket and the Black ability could be "Quack-Fu." I'm not completely against variants, depending on the champ, but if Marvel is forcing the Devs hands and this indeed Punisher, it is what it is. I personally hope it is Jessica Jones if it released this month, since there was no real hyper other than in Contest of Champions when that Netflix original came out. She also herself is a Vigilante, which to a degree is a different meaning than Vigilant.

Legasher

I'm not a big fan of the Punisher, so I don't know a lot about the character, but this seems awfully team-focused for what I know of him. He always struck me as a huge lone-wolf. Maybe people are putting too much stock in the timing. One character that came to mind for me was Black Bolt. He's a leader and a bit aloof, but definitely a team-player. His power is massive but not directional enough to spare his allies. Here's also a quote from Wikipedia:

"Because of this limitation, Black Bolt must be constantly vigilant of even the softest of utterances lest he destroy anything or anyone in its path."

Edit:
Don't think this hurts my case either:
Black Bolt is a limited-time unlockable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
Black Bolt appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.[116]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions.
Black Bolt also appears as a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel's Mighty Heroes.[117]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.
Black Bolt is an upcoming character in Marvel Heroes.[citation needed]

TheWerebison

Legasher wrote:

I'm not a big fan of the Punisher, so I don't know a lot about the character, but this seems awfully team-focused for what I know of him. He always struck me as a huge lone-wolf. Maybe people are putting too much stock in the timing. One character that came to mind for me was Black Bolt. He's a leader and a bit aloof, but definitely a team-player. His power is massive but not directional enough to spare his allies. Here's also a quote from Wikipedia:

"Because of this limitation, Black Bolt must be constantly vigilant of even the softest of utterances lest he destroy anything or anyone in its path."

Edit:
Don't think this hurts my case either:
Black Bolt is a limited-time unlockable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
Black Bolt appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.[116]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions.
Black Bolt also appears as a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel's Mighty Heroes.[117]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.
Black Bolt is an upcoming character in Marvel Heroes.[citation needed]

I dunno if the new team character is THAT much of a team player. I mean look at him, he creates his own strike tiles, buffs strike tiles, has an ability that does more damage based on friendly strike tiles, AND an ability that actually cripples his team. I'd call that a lone wolf.

I'd say the team stun is either going to be like I said earlier, the team standing in stunned silence because the ability is so violent, or else something along the line of him just running recklessly off ahead, guns (or whatever) blazing, leaving the rest of the team behind for a bit.

Tatercat

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

See my comment above.

Sorry, I think I got fixated on that Punisher Babe pic. What was that again?

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

I don't know why I would think this, but the stun your allies thing I thought would trigger a secondary power for his black.

Maybe that thing I thought is why he's now a 4 and not a 5, but I still think there's something left out.

Ah, that's a possibility. An odd mechanic, but as good as guess as any with a description as vague as this. But what power would work with stunned, possibly unconscious, allies....

...wait a minute..could this be "Sandman done right".... the SLEEPWALKER?!?

Dayv

Philly484 wrote:

... champ ... champ ... champ ... champ ... champ... Champions

Nice buildup.

Legasher

TheWerebison wrote:

I dunno if the new team character is THAT much of a team player. I mean look at him, he creates his own strike tiles, buffs strike tiles, has an ability that does more damage based on friendly strike tiles, AND an ability that actually cripples his team. I'd call that a lone wolf.

I'd say the team stun is either going to be like I said earlier, the team standing in stunned silence because the ability is so violent, or else something along the line of him just running recklessly off ahead, guns (or whatever) blazing, leaving the rest of the team behind for a bit.

I suppose you're right. My thinking was mostly that the abilities seem very aware of its allies and for me personally, I consider strike tiles as support for attack tiles and AOE abilities. I mean, part of the passive is buffing friendly strike tiles... why buff your self-made tiles rather than just make stronger attack tiles? For me, the buff indicates you expect to buff ally attack tiles. The Green ability is, as someone put it earlier, a hail-mary. It's a huge drawback at first, When you're 3-on-3, you want to hold back and let your heavy artillery (GSBW, 3hor, KK, JG, IM) soak up all the green while taking advantage of all that ATK support you're laying down. Late in the game, as your allies and opponents drop, you become less worried about "harming" your team (after all, if he's the last one standing, there's no drawback at all) and more worried about finishing the fight. At the same time, the black indicates that whoever it is is no slouch, that is to say, not just support. That does fit the lone wolf, the one-man army. But it also fits the kind of tanks that tend to be rally points for the entire team; the "center-piece" member that's always in the center of the charge. So basically, yes, I do see what your saying, and Punisher makes more sense to me now, but I think what little we have so far could say two things:

Lone wolf focused so intently on his prey that he'll keep piling up his arsenal and screw over, sicken or simply abandon his teammates (very Punisher)
or
Team centerpiece that's constantly aware of the battlefield as a whole, making his team strong through leadership and by coordinating their attacks and holding back their massive power until it's truly necessary (very not Punisher)

Dayv

Legasher wrote:

I'm not a big fan of the Punisher, so I don't know a lot about the character, but this seems awfully team-focused for what I know of him. He always struck me as a huge lone-wolf. Maybe people are putting too much stock in the timing. One character that came to mind for me was Black Bolt. He's a leader and a bit aloof, but definitely a team-player. His power is massive but not directional enough to spare his allies. Here's also a quote from Wikipedia:

"Because of this limitation, Black Bolt must be constantly vigilant of even the softest of utterances lest he destroy anything or anyone in its path."

Edit:
Don't think this hurts my case either:
Black Bolt is a limited-time unlockable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
Black Bolt appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.[116]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions.
Black Bolt also appears as a playable character in the mobile fighting game Marvel's Mighty Heroes.[117]
Black Bolt is a playable character in the mobile game Marvel: Future Fight.
Black Bolt is an upcoming character in Marvel Heroes.[citation needed]

Black Bolt should really be a 5*, though. And I don't think strike tiles match his character well.

Jaedenkaal

DayvBang wrote:

Black Bolt should really be a 5*, though.

I think I just heard Juggernaut sobbing...

I think Black Bolt is a pretty good guess. The strike tile thing could easily be an in-game representation of harnessing some kind of power, not unlike Nova (where it's supposedly speed). Surely Black Bolt harnesses... something. It's definitely a good thematic fit.

(Queue the devs reading this thread and shouting "Dammit... we should have made him Black Bolt instead!")

kirk justice

It could kind of fit as Black Bolt. The green could stun his own team because his voice is just too loud to handle, even for teammates. To be honest I'd rather see Black Bolt than another variation.

FierceKiwi

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

I still think there's something left out.

There almost always is. It's not like it's rocket surgery for them to rip out the flavor text and just post what these abilities actually do in an anonymous way...but what do I know.