another Gambit spec [with a build poll]

Pogo

Edited! My first run at this was clumsy and cost-ineffective, so I'm trying a different approach, thanks to feedback on the original attempt, which I've preserved inside this spoiler tag if you'd like to see it.

Pogo wrote:

Luck of the Draw (9AP)
Gambit charges a card. He won't miss his target, but stay clear of the blast.
Choose a basic Purple tile to become a countdown tile. When countdown resolves: Destroy, at random, either the row, column, or 3x3 centered on the countdown. Destroyed tiles do not [initially] deal damage or gain AP.

1. 4-turn CD
2. 3-turn CD
3. 2-turn CD, can now select any basic colored tile to become a Purple countdown
4. 1-turn CD, destroyed tiles now deal damage
5. 2-turn CD, destroyed tiles now gain AP and deal damage

The Purple was intended to be the headliner, but I think it might be too boring. In my original draft, there was no countdown, but the affected tile was going to be selected at random. This seemed to put more of an emphasis on luck (hence the title) than I really associate with Gambit, and it also made the power feel like a Green. This way, there is still a luck component but it's a board control power.

The power effects already kinda straddle Magnetic Flux and Iron Hammer, which was unintentional. I tried to find a good balance between AP cost, CD duration, and number of tiles destroyed without having to add flat bonus damage

Kinetic Burst (7AP)
Deals low-moderate damage and creates Purple charged tiles

1. Low damage, 2 basic Purple tiles become charged
2. 3 tiles become charged
3. Damage is increased
4. 4 tiles become charged, damage increases a little more.
5. Instead of 4 purple tiles becoming charged, 4 random tiles become Purple charged tiles (enemy special tiles are valid targets, but not friendly special tiles)

The main idea here is to feed the Purple, so damage shouldn't really rival heavy Reds. After looking at the damage dealt by other Reds with secondary effects, I was thinking that at level 166 he'd deal around 1000 at rank 3, 1300 at rank 4 & 5

Pickpocket (7AP + rank up)
A random basic Black tile becomes a countdown tile. While at least one such tile is on the board, any time an enemy fires a power, steal 1AP of that color.

1. (7AP) 3-turn countdown
2. (8AP) Also steals up to 2AP of a random color when the countdown is placed
3. (9AP) countdown increases to 4 turns. If matched by the player, the countdown relocates and resumes.
4. (9AP) If the enemy has 0AP to steal after their power is fired, deal [3 of Gambit's strongest tile] damage to the enemy who fired the power.
5. (13AP) the 2AP casting bonus is gone, but Gambit also steals 1AP when he is damaged by enemy matches

I like this one, but I'm not super confident about it. I wanted a castable theft-based ability that hadn't really been done before, but I don't know about the balance. The initial draft required that Gambit take damage from an active power, but that made this power feel useless unless it was at rank 5

I would figure Gambit for a mid-range, health-wise, due to his armor.

Here is the newer build:

Kinetic Burst (8AP)
Deals flat damage, then spawns new purple charged tiles in random locations.

1. Deal damage + create 1 charged tile
2. increase damage + 2 charged tiles
3. 3 charged tiles
4. Increase damage + 4 charged tiles (can overwrite enemy A/S/P tiles)
5. Increase damage + 5 charged tiles (can overwrite enemy countdowns)

My rewrite for this power was going to be a little different, but then I realized the rewrite was almost exactly the same as 4-star Thor's Smite. Here, it's practically the same as in the original draft.

Biokinetic Overload (9AP)
Clears out charged tiles. Does not generate AP. If no charged tiles exist, removes purple tiles.

1. Convert up to 3 random charged tiles into basic tiles, dealing [3x Gambit's strongest color] per tile. If no charged tiles exist, destroy up to 5 random basic purple tiles, without dealing damage or generating AP.
2. Destroy up to 3 random charged tiles, dealing [3x best] per tile. Else, remove 7 random basic purple tiles.
3. Destroy up to 4 charged tiles, dealing [3x best]. Else, remove all basic purple.
4. Destroy up to 5 charged tiles, dealing [4x best]. Else, remove all basic purple.
5. Destroy all charged tiles, dealing [4x best]. Else, remove all purple.

Pickpocket (8AP + rank up)
A random black basic tile becomes a repeating countdown tile. Each time the countdown resolves, steal AP. If the countdown is matched away, a random basic colored tile becomes charged.

1. 4-turn CD. Create 1 charged tile on CD match. Steal 1 Purple + 1 Black + Red each CD refresh
2. 4-turn CD. Create 1 charged tile on CD match. Steal 1AP of every color (but not TU) with each CD refresh.
3. (9AP) Countdown reduces to 3 turns.
4. Matching the CD now charges 2 tiles. CD can also steal TU
5. (11AP) Countdown reduces to 2 turns. Matching charges 3 tiles.

ErikPeter

Luck of the Draw is an incredibly terrible power. At 5 ranks it's a good deal for the AP. Pretty much like 2-star Magneto's red, with a cheaper cost.
But ranks 1-4 are... so, so bad.

Kinetic Burst seems fine. Again, 5 ranks is ideal, since once in a while you'd just get 1-2 purple matches (and 5+ AP) from the new tiles, but it's not a given. Overall this is the power I like best and fits the character best, but I'd like his powers to center on this more; what if 6+ random tiles became purple, or if already purple, became charged. He could be a strong flooder like Iron Fist, generating fewer charged tiles but with a better chance at matching them than simply converting purple basics (which the opponent often capitalizes on).

Pickpocket has over-complicated progression, over-costed, and kinda crummy. Compare this to Mystique's Shapeshifter. Match and relocate should be a rank 1 perk. Dealing a little damage is fun but again, there's too much going on. At 3 ranks, it gets you 2 AP, then maybe a couple more IF the enemy is firing powers and killing your team. Terrible deal. At 4 ranks, it's just as bad but will do (oh dear lord) a couple matches worth of damage instead of stealing AP--which is almost, almost decent against goons, who fire a lot of powers... And then at 5 ranks it's a totally different power which is fun and interesting and very, very similar to Mystique's, except that the opponent can avoid it by not damaging him in particular.

Here's my rework. Take it with a grain of salt, I'm not putting as much thought in as you did.

I'd build it around Kinetic Burst and charged tiles.

Stack the Deck 7 AP
Adds 3 Purple tiles and 1/2/3/4/5 Charged Purple tiles to the board
(Passive) When the enemy matches a Charged tile, they take minor///moderate damage.

Kinetic Burst 12 AP
Destroys all purple tiles on the board (without gaining AP). Charged tiles explode, destroying 3 adjacent tiles and dealing moderate/good/great damage.

Pickpocket 8 AP
Creates a Black trap tile. If you match the trap, steal 3/4/6/8/10 AP in random colors. If the enemy matches the trap, it deals minor////moderate damage and relocates.
(PASSIVE) If Gambit is damaged while a Pickpocket trap tile is on the board, and the opponent has more AP in reserve than you do, steal 1 AP in a random color.

Pogo

ErikPeter wrote:

I'd build it around Kinetic Burst and charged tiles.

The funny thing is that when I first started thinking about a Gambit spec, it was specifically because I was thinking about who would be a good fit for adding purple charged tiles (it strikes me as an underused mechanic in general, but it seems like it's currently mostly Thor colors). I just strayed further and further away from this core concept as I got wrapped up in trying to "round out" other powers.

I think one of my big obstacles speccing in general is that I'm writing rank 5 and working backward, instead of making my default rank 3 and looking at ways to improve. I want players to struggle to decide which powers get to be rank 5, but I'm failing to make 3 or 4 worth having.

ErikPeter wrote:

Luck of the Draw is an incredibly terrible power. At 5 ranks it's a good deal for the AP. Pretty much like 2-star Magneto's red, with a cheaper cost.
But ranks 1-4 are... so, so bad.

I went through so many iterations of this one and was so invested in it that I couldn't just accept that it wasn't going to work. I had a couple that wiped out bigger chunks of the board, which would probably be okay if it didn't ruin the countdowns and charged tiles from his other powers.

ErikPeter wrote:

Kinetic Burst seems fine... ...I'd like his powers to center on this more

This was, of course, the power that I spent the least amount of time overthinking and overworking.

ErikPeter wrote:

Pickpocket has over-complicated progression, over-costed, and kinda crummy.

The original version of this power was an oversimplified passive, but I couldn't come up with 5 separate ranks without making it grossly OP.

ErikPeter wrote:

Stack the Deck 7 AP
Adds 3 Purple tiles and 1/2/3/4/5 Charged Purple tiles to the board
(Passive) When the enemy matches a Charged tile, they take minor///moderate damage.

Kinetic Burst 12 AP
Destroys all purple tiles on the board (without gaining AP). Charged tiles explode, destroying 3 adjacent tiles and dealing moderate/good/great damage.

Pickpocket 8 AP
Creates a Black trap tile. If you match the trap, steal 3/4/6/8/10 AP in random colors. If the enemy matches the trap, it deals minor////moderate damage and relocates.
(PASSIVE) If Gambit is damaged while a Pickpocket trap tile is on the board, and the opponent has more AP in reserve than you do, steal 1 AP in a random color.

I like the idea of a secondary effect that hits all charged tiles. The advanced utility of that feature in addition to the secondary passives makes this feel like it would be good as a 4-star.

I'm going to take another crack at this one. Thanks for the notes, it really cleared up a lot of the stuff that made me uneasy but that I couldn't articulate.

Pogo

I edited my initial post with updated powers. Still not sure about costs, and I have a feeling the updated Pickpocket is OP, but I figured I'd post it how I have it & find out.