New viking hero idea - the Druid
My idea for a new viking hero would be an assassin called the Druid. This hero would be an Irish/Celtic warrior who has an alliance with the vikings (just like the Highlander). Historically, druids were high-ranking individuals in Celtic cultures and served as religious leaders, legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals, and political advisors (feel free to check out https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid for more info). I recently finished the Wrath of the Druids DLC for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so this design is heavily influenced by the druids depicted in that, i.e., a creepy fanatical cult known as the Children of Danu (feel free to check out https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Children_of_Danu for more info, but there are spoilers, so read at your own risk).
Key visuals:
>Lots of bones (human and animal), fur, and tattered cloth.
>Would have male and female options for the gender.
>In terms of height/size, he’d be somewhere around heroes like the Berserker or Orochi.
Weapon(s):
Double sickles.
>Most of the visuals would be asymmetrical, but there can be a few symmetrical ones.
>Feel free to check out https://youtu.be/HOR5CBpCXhw?t=78 and https://youtu.be/X01jbHj8R9Q?t=23 for some visuals.
Themes/concepts:
>Designed for killing other heroes by isolating them and engaging them in 1v1 situations (similarly to the Nuxia).
>Celtic/Irish warriors that have an alliance with the vikings.
>Darker hero concept similar to the Harbingers.
>Fanatical cultist like the Jormungandr.
Fighting style/moveset:
>Quick and agile.
>Fast attacks.
>Short range.
>Would have several opportunities to hook opponents and throw them in order to isolate them (or throw them into other opponents). Basically, the Druid would put one of the sickles around the enemy’s neck and then throw them in the desired direction. Check out https://youtu.be/aqz1GwI1OwY?t=314 if you want to see this in action.
>The sprint attack would be similar to the following: https://youtu.be/aqz1GwI1OwY?t=369. The Druid would slide, spin around, and then slash.
Possible feat options:
The ones in bold are my top choices for each tier, but feel free to comment if you think another one would be better.
>Tier 1:
>Deadly duet: deal 20% more damage in close quarters combat against an enemy who is alone (passive)
>Stealth: hide yourself from the HUD, radar and aim assist (passive)
>Rush: trigger to gain movement speed for a short duration
>Bounty hunter: gain health and stamina when you kill another hero (passive)
>Deadly: attacks deal more damage (passive)
>Tier 2:
>Marked for death: reveal target position and lower its attack and defense
>Flesh wound: gain moderate damage reduction (passive)
>Bloodlust: killing heroes grants temporary attack and defense boosts (passive)
>Doom banner: nearby enemies have lower defense and attacks while within range
>Executioner’s respite: the base healing of executions are increased by 50% (passive)
>Tier 3:
>Takedown: throws make enemies fall to the ground (passive)
>Sharpen blade: attacks inflict low damage over time
>Fury: raise sprint speed slightly and attack and defense greatly
>Slip through: dodging raises attack for a short duration (passive)
>Vital leech: life leech when at low health, increased when at critical health (passive)
>Tier 4:
>Fire flask: throw a projectile creating a fire area of effect
>Nail bomb: a trap dealing bleed damage in an area of effect
>Scout: all enemies are marked for death and show up on radar
>Fear itself: enemies around you have lower stamina regeneration and defenses
>Regenerate: regenerate your health when out of combat (passive)
Custom feat idea(s):
>Wrath of Danu: gain increased attack when in critical health (passive)
>This would be a tier 3 feat.
>Green-colored runes would appear around the sickles when the feat is unlocked.
>Would replace fury in the possible perk choices for this tier.
>The Morrígan’s favored: gain increased damage reduction when engaging 2 or more opponents (passive)
>This would be a tier 4 feat.
>Would replace regenerate in the possible perk choices for this tier.
Possible perk options:
These are my top choices (with the one in bold being their default perk), but feel free to comment if you think another one would be better. Keep in mind that vanguards tend to have offensive and/or defensive perks, heavies and hybrids tend to have defensive and/or assist ones, and assassins tend to have offensive ones. However, there are some exceptions to this, such as the Tiandi, who has assist perks.
>Devourer: upon execution, heal an additional +10 health
>Galestorm: upon hero kill, gain 20% movement speed for 10 seconds
>Early reaper: upon spawn or when revived, first attack deals 30% more damage
>Endurance: when gaining a renown level, receive 3% stamina cost reduction (max 4 gains)
>Survival instinct: when it critical health, gain 25% stamina cost reduction
>Crush them: upon hero kill, your next attack deals 30% more damage
>Head hunter: for each unique player/bot hero executed, increased max health +4 (max 4 increases)
Execution ideas:
>The Druid puts one of the sickles around the enemy’s neck, and then punches their head off by forcing it into the sickle’s blade (similarly to https://youtu.be/aqz1GwI1OwY?t=205).
>The Druid puts one of the sickles around the enemy’s neck, and flips them over onto the ground. He then pulls up on the sickle, cutting off their head (similarly to https://youtu.be/aqz1GwI1OwY?t=23).
Other info:
>The ornaments would go on the shoulders.
Some images to help paint a picture:
These are armor sets from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids.
These first few images are what some of the cult members look like, and ideally what I would want the hero to look like:
https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1622468622
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1622466250
https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1622469806
These next few are a wearable armor set in the game:
https://i.imgur.com/xjqMIH3_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium (tier 1)
https://i.imgur.com/uUtZVtc_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium (tier 2)
https://i.imgur.com/BfGkbBn_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium (tier 3)
https://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki...jpeg?width=960 (tier 3)
This last few are concept art for “heavy” druids, but the clothing can still work:
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619016384
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619016390
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619016395
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619003004
https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619002999
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619002993
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1619003914