CDC #7: John Torque

Hero and Skin Suggestions
1

John Torque

Universe: Nexus(Vigilante 8 series)
Role: R. Assassin

**Why him? **
*The contest called for gamechangers, and who better to call than one of the most well-acclaimed black characters in gaming history? (Link below) Aside from that fact, his kit would not be set or finite. It would change as time goes, and it also forgoes the concept of the traditional cooldowns as well, at the cost of having permanent skills, having to earn and re-earn them instead of having it from the get-go.
https//m.ign.com/articles/ 2000/03/01/three-for-64

Statistics:

Health : 1700
HRegen : 0.5 per 2s
Attack : 85 per 2s
ARange : 5(average)
ASpeed : 7(above average)

UI: You can see Torque himself in the Hero portrait, but you only see and control the Thunderbolt(his car) in the game, like Sgt. Hammer. In the Hero Select and Shop screens, he can be seen along with his car.

Gameplay: You don’t have a set Q, W, and R skill. Instead, you have to earn it thru killing Minions, enemy Mercs, helping kill Bosses/Objectives, and helping eliminate Heroes. You don’t have cooldowns either, but all your skills, including your special all work on ammo. Once spent, the skill leaves you until you find a replacement.

Minions give standard weapons, Mercs can give either Standard or Special Weapon, Heroes/Bosses/Objectives give Special weapons.

Rarity: 1/3 per melee, 1/3 per ranged, mage auto-drops a weapon when killed, per wave. Mercs give one upon being defeated, Heroes drop a Special and 1-2 Standard weapons.

1, 2, and 3 keys empower your Standard weapons to do different things, depending on the weapon, obtainable via Talents at different tiers. Weapons drop automatically when Torque is within range of eliminated stuff. Also spawns when you help cap Mercs/Objectives sucessfully. UI: 1 combos(Full House) is an orange orb, 2(Straight Flush) is green, 3(Royal Flush) is blue.

First thing you pick up is the Q, second is W, and third is R, which is empowered if is a Standard Weapon, but gives way for the Special if picked up or Level 10. When you pick up another weapon and your slots are full, it would replace the last weapon you used, dropping a short distance from you, still obtainable, despawning in 5s.

Trait
Salvage- Slain bosses/objectives/Heroes give off Salvage Points which only Torque can see and pick up, which bolster Thunderbolt throughout the fight. They may be:

Shield: Gives 0.5 Armor. Maxes out at 30
Arrow: Gives 2% Speed. Maxes out at 30
CrossHair: Gives 2% Weapon Accuracy. Maxes out at 30
Bullet: Gives 1% dmg. Maxes out at 30

If all departments are maxed out, press D to Hot Rod your car, giving a 10% increase in all mentioned stats, changing your car’s visuals dramatically, sprouting a hood scoop, armored bull bar, and other enhancements… If a category is maxed out, chips of that type will no longer drop.

Possible Weapons:

*All weapons have 0.75s cooldowns, including specials. Combo moves take 1s before you can do it again.

Standard
Interceptor Missiles: 12 charges
*Launch a homing missile at an enemy within 6 Range(1 step bigger than your AA range)that deals 145dmg upon hitting. Click and point skill(Like Chain Lightning) Can be blocked by terrain

Bruiser Cannon: 12 charges
*Pelt a cannon shell at the enemy, dealing 102 dmg on impact, also dealing 21dmg per s over 2s. Targets whoever you are AA-ing.

SkyHammer Mortar: 10 charges
*Let loose a mortar shell anywhere with allied vision, dealing 120 dmg in an area(smaller than Lunar Flare) upon impact.

Flamethrower: 20 units
*Fire a trail of fire in front of you that sways with change of direction, dealing 91 dmg on impact, leaving 37 dmg per s for 2s. Press button longer to spray more fire, each unit adding 1s of DoT

Bull’s Eye Missiles: 10 charges
*Launch a missile in a straight line from where are you facing that damages the first enemy it hits for 115 dmg. Comes out from your cars left side.

Road Kill Mines: 6 charges
*Drops a mine behind you, arming after 1s. Enemies stepping in the mine activate it for 115 dmg in a small area.

Combo Effects
To activate, press 1, 2, or 3 key + Q, W, R.

Combos with #1 are obtainable at Lvl 4(Full House) , combos on #2 are attainable at Lvl 7(Straight Flush) , and no. 3 combos can be picked up at Lvl 13(Royal Flush).

Interceptor Missiles
1: Missile Swarm. Launch 4 missiles at the same time.
2: Afterburner. Boost your vehicle by 30% for 2s, for 2 charges
3: Halo Decoy. Launch an orbiting missile that strikes whoever it comes near(just a little over melee range). Expires after 7s if no one comes close.

Bruiser Cannon
1: Buckshot. Pelt 6 shells at an enemy in a fan shape. Costs 6-2 charges.
2: Cow Puncher Deal knockback when the attack connects. Consumes 2 charges.
3: Ricochet. Launches a ricochet shot at an enemy that can bounce 3x on terrain. Consumes 2 charges.

SkyHammer Mortar
1: Crater Maker. Launch a big mortar shell that deals 1.5x to 3x(depending on the amount of charges left, in increments of 0.5x) the AoE and dmg of a regular mortar shell. Causes a temporary mini crater at max charge. Consumes 5-2 charges.
2: Turtle Turnover. Launch a green mortar shell that Stuns for 1.5s. Consume 2 charges.
3: Tire Buster. Launch a blue-colored mortar shell that Slows the enemy for 3s for 30%. Consume 2 charges.

Bull’s Eye Missile
1: Stampede. Launch 2-5 missiles in a line. Consumes 2-5 charges
2: Bastion Rockets. Launch 3 USA-colored rockets similar to how Li-Ming’s Arcane Missiles aim. Consumes 3-2 charges.
3: Road Runner. Launch a green-tinged missile that drags away the first target hit, similar to Haymaker with less knockback. Consumes 2 charges.

Flamethrower
1: Brimstone Burner. Launch an AoE at a desired area that knocks back and deals 45dmg per s for 5s. Consumes 10 units.
2: Oil Slick. Splotch a puddle of oil that Slows enemies passing through by 25% for 2s. Consumes 5 units.
3: Fire Wall. Set out a wall of fire(as wide as Tyrael’s Smite) that damages for 45 dmg per s for 5s. Consumes 3-10 charges, but wall width determined by units left.

Roadkill Mines
1: Cactus Patch. Launch a mine that when armed, splits into 5 more mines around the original mine. Consumes 2-6 charges.
2: Magnetic Mine. When an enemy crosses the AoE of this mine, they’re dragged into the center and cannot move until after 1.5s.
3: Hover Mine. Launches a mine that floats above ground, seeking the first target it encounters in it’s AoE.

E Ability/Z Ability(Level 20)
Hover Pods: Lets the Thunderbolt fly across terrain for 7s. Press E/Z to cancel.

Cooldown: 15s, only triggered if spell ended or canceled

Special

Before Level 10, you get either one. Choosing one at Level 10 makes it so that the Special Crate gives only what you had chosen.

(R1)Wheel of Fortune: 6 charges
*Launch a massive missile that deals 245 dmg in an area, blasting enemies away when hit.

(R2)Bass Quake: 6 charges
*Unleash a sonic storm, Slowing enemies for 3s in an area similar to Earthquake. Damages enemies caught in the blast receive 81 dmg per s over 3s

(complete Abilities)

Note: Because John Torque rides a car, he doesn’t have a Z. At level 20, if the player chooses, the E ability becomes the Z ability, in exchange for an additional weapon.

Torque has +20% Movement Speed to compensate for his lack of Mount, only losing it in favor of the E skill.

8

Total Score - 15/20

Creativity - 4/5
The way that Torque dynamically assembles his ability kit while he plays is certainly a unique and interesting idea. Each ability also having access to 3 different combo effects adds to this. His Salvage trait is also somewhat interesting, but a trait quest building up passive stats feels like the Butcher, so it’s not so unique in my eyes. Also, while Torque has many different abilities available to him, a lot are various forms of single projectile attacks, so lots of the missiles blend together a bit.

Cohesiveness - 3/5
Even though the kit is fairly creative, the abilities mostly don’t feel like they work together. On top of that, the amount of different ways all of his abilities can work, with 6 base weapons and 3 modifiers per ability (plus 1 for the unmodified use), leaves Torque with 24 things to worry about (not factoring in heroics/special weapons). I can see Torque feeling like a mess to play with all of this going on, so I’d recommend condensing his abilities a bit; maybe removing the combo system, adding a couple more base weapons, and working some of the former combo effects into the base weapons.

Thematic - 4/5
I’m not familiar with John Torque or the series he’s from, but the concept does effectively convey the ideas of a combat-oriented car game (which I assume is where Torque is from) in a MOBA kit. The ability pickup based kit is also an interesting and game changing concept that can be built on in the future, though I don’t think that in it’s current implementation, it’s enough to justify full points.

Interaction - 4/5
In terms of what Torque’s abilities do, nothing is unfun to play with or against. Additionally, all of the skillshot elements add counterplay for Torque’s enemies. However, the way abilities are set up in their current form, all of the weapons seem horribly overtuned. You don’t specify how rare weapon drops are, and also note that they don’t work on a cooldown system, so being able to pump 12 Interceptor Missiles in rapid succession and quickly find another weapon is far too powerful and not fun to play against. Along with the changes I mentioned above, I think that each weapon should have a small cooldown between charge use (1 second or so), weapons should be rarer (so using them takes more consideration), and weapons should have less charges (so that Torque cycles between weapons more often).

Just a random thought, it would also be interesting if you gave Torque a more unique movement system. The only other vehicle hero in the game is Hammer, and tanks aren’t known for being very fast or crazy to drive. Torque seems like he’d be driving a high performance car, so some form of unique movement (acceleration, slower turning, something like that) to make it feel more like driving a car would be neat. Of course, don’t add anything that interferes from the style and theme of Torque as he is, but if you can come up with a way to implement this in a way that augments the kit and makes it feel more unique and fun, I think that’d be awesome.

1 Like
9

Thank you Mr. Nortin for the quite high review. :slight_smile:

Now added CDs as per critique.

…now to discuss some points.

That would separate the ordinary JT from a pro. Besides, I’m all about capturing the source material’s flavor.

The Thunderbolt is basically a lawyer-friendly version of the Pontiac GTO. :sweat_smile:, in response, I gave him 20% base speed(can be augmented) that he sacrifices when using his E skill.

Just played more 2nd Offense and I realized that the weapons there also have a cooldown. :smile: Also, I put in a rarity system, edited into the original topic.

that’d be all points.:wink:

ONTO WEEK 2 THEN…

Talent Tree

Level 1

*High Roller(E)
Hover Pods last 1s longer

*Weapons Boost(Q/W/R)
Gives your current weapons 20% more dmg

*Bounty Hunter(Trait/Passive)
If you comprise 70% and above of a Hero take-down, you get 3 stacks of Salvage(of the same stat).

*Stinging Attack(AA)
Your basic attacks are 25% faster, but dealing 25% less dmg.

Level 4

*Big Air
Skills/weapons fired while Hover Pods are active hit for 20% more.

*Deflector Shield(Active)
Deflect all damage for 2s. Has a 20s cooldown.

*Small Fry(Trait)
Random Minions also drop Salvage stacks, 1 per 3 Melee, 1 per 3 Ranged, and drops from every Mage.

*Full House(Q/W/R/Active)
Grants you abilities that enhance the effects of Standard weapons. Grants all combos at #1(See Combo Table)

Level 7

*Guns Blazing
Basic attacks ramp up the longer Torque stays on an enemy Hero, starting from 5% to 15%, on increments of 0.5% per s.

*Blast Fire(Q/W/R)
Removes all weapon cooldowns. Does not apply to combo-enhanced moves. [a reference to a cheat code in the source game wherein if entered, would remove weapon delays]

*Overdrive(Q/W/R)
Weapons hit 10% harder for the last 2 charges/units of a weapon. (last 1 for Mines)

*Straight Flush(Q/W/R)
Grants enhanced abilities to your Standard Weapons. Grants you the #2 combos(see Combo Table)

*Level 10 has been skipped, see Heroics.

Level 13

*Prime Parts(Trait)
Salvage gives 2 stacks per icon instead of just 1. Applies only to Heroes/Objectives.

*Risky Gamble(Active)
Choose one Standard weapon to bet on from a HUD. If your next pickup is the one you betted on, it has +10% dmg and has twice the charges. Bonus runs until charges last. Cooldown: 75s(Success) 15s(Fail)

*Rev It Up(Passive)
Thunderbolt gains +20% speed after exiting the Hall of Storms and after exiting combat for 3s.

*Royal Flush(Q/W/R/Active)
Grants you access to abilities that enhances your Standard Weapons. Grants you the #3 combos(See Combo Table)

Level 16

*Package I(Q/W/R)
Set your Standard pickups to only 3 weapons, including 2 homing weapons and a non-homing weapon.

*Package II(Q/W/R)
Set your Standard pickups to only 3 weapons, including 1 homing weapon and 2 non-homing weapons.

*Big Easy(Q/W/R)
Weapon pickups have 2 more charges/units.

*Easy Come, Easy Go(Passive)
Enemy Heroes who attack John Torque are Vulnerable by 15% for 2s. If within 5s Torque dies, the killer(last hit) is revealed to your allies, and Minions prioritise the killer if nearby. Can only be triggered every 60s.

Level 20

*Always Bet On Black(R1)
Wheel of Fortune’s last 2 rounds deal +20% damage and also deal a 0.5s Stun, in addition to stronger knockback on every round.

*You Ready, Bro?(R2)
Every second Heroes stay in Bass Quake’s AoE ramps up from 2x up to 3x, also inflicting an additional +10% Slow.

*High Stakes(Q/W/E)
Grants you an additional weapon slot, securing the R button for your special weapon. Hover Pods now move to Z button.

*The Cards Have Been Dealt(Passive)
Attacks are 10% faster when targeting an enemy Hero below 10% Health.

*Vegas, Baby!(Passive)
Every takedown on a different enemy Hero gives +5% atk dmg on all your attacks, including Heroics. Bonus expires when eliminated.

End Talent Tree section

Talent Count Pattern: 4-4-4-4-4-4(excluding unselected Heroic upgrade)
#mistagonnabetriggered :joy:

14

Overall Score

Creativity - 4/5

Cohesiveness - 3/5

Thematic - 5/5

Interaction - 5/5

Total - 17/20

Creativity - 4/5

I’m really happy with how creative the core concept of this character is, having a dynamic kit that the player must adapt to as the fight progresses. The combo system, the multiple abilities, the character, all are very interesting. My only issue is that several of the abilities and effects blend together. I think each ability could be made more distinct, because with how all the abilities bleed together, the incredibly interesting variance with the abilities is diminished with how most of them start to feel like they will be used in the same way. If you cut the number of abilities from 6 to 4, you could make each of the abilities themselves feel more interesting, bringing out the strengths of the character more. More on this in Cohesiveness.

Cohesiveness - 3/5

The character has serious ties amongst his abilities that really do attribute to a collective playstyle in a fun and interesting way. My biggest issue with the design is that I think with 6 abilities that each have 3 combo effects, with talents added on, the trait, the unique way abilities are gathered, it starts to become overwhelming. Yes, there should be higher skillcap characters, but the amount of variance and output this character can have far exceeds the limit of what would be inviting to the game. Even some of the most complex characters in MOBA history, for example the Invoker, wouldn’t be able to compete with the sheer amount of things going on. I think if you cut down the abilities from 6 to 4, and made each feel more interesting at their core that actually shake up how the player would play with each one active, the character would be more cohesive and fun to play in general. I would also possibly remove the active talents, as you might just be flooding the keyboard with even more complexity that takes away from the design. That being said, Risky Gamble is really, really cool.

Thematic - 5/5

This character exemplifies the contest in many ways, and it fits his home series quite well. There is nothing really to discuss here.

Interaction - 5/5

The character performs pretty well altogether in terms of interaction. The abilities all feel pretty fair, though the Interceptor Missiles might be overwhelming with their burst potential. Overall, this is pretty solid.

15

Wow, now that’s a raise worth waiting!

Thanks a lot @Bliztron!

Now to Week III business…

Cosmetics

Skins

*All on the same box indicate a skin and it’s recolors
*(color/color) indicate color scheme
*text below is for the skin/box above it.

Default(Black/Gold), Firebolt(Red/Gold), LuxBolt(White/Gold), DeepBolt(Blue/Silver), NeonBolt(Green/Fuschia)

His default skins.

*Jefferson(his car from the first game, White)
Lemon Squeeze(Bright Yellow)
Funky Neon(Cyan)
Stately(Black)
Romantic(Red).

Alterations: Hero Portrait(to match his first game costume)

*War Wagon(WoW-Horde theme, Red/Bronze)
Elemental War Wagon(Green)
Firelands War Wagon(Orange/Black)
Blackrock War Wagon(White/Black/Grey).

Alterations: Hero Portrait(converted to an orc), Abilities, Animations, Quotes

*Phantom(OW themed, White/Blue)
Midnight(Indigo/Ne. Blue) Dawn(Orange/Yellow)
Daylight(Yolk Yellow/Orange)
Dusk(Light Blue/Nv. Blue)
Oasis(Blue/Gold).

Alterations: Hero Portrait(Torque retains the Afro, but wears something related to Overwatch verse.), Abilities, Animations.

*Alliance War Construct(WoW-Alliance themed, Nv. Blue/Gold)
Theramore(Lilac/Indigo)
Kul Tiras(Turqoise/Gray), Ironforge(Green/Gold).

Alterations: Hero Portrait(JT resembles a WoW human, although losing the Afro in exchange for something traditional.), Abilities, Animations, Quotes

*Starstrider(SC-themed, Grey/Ne.Blue)
Umojan(White/Ne. Blue)
Raiders(D. Blue/Ne. Blue)
Arc. Dominion(Red/Ne. Blue)
Moebius(Black/Ne. Red).

Alterations: Hero Portrait(jacket/shades relates more to Starcraft), abilities, animations, voice(radio filter)

*Ne: Neon, Nv: Navy

Mounts

*All are sourced from V8: 2nd Offense.

Dakota Stunt Bike(based on the Flying All Star Trio’s vehicle; 3 recolors; USA colors default)
Dakota Stunt Chopper(upgraded version of DSB; 3 recolors(same recolors from DSB); same default colors)
Tsunami Rider(Based from Obake’s vehicle, but slightly altered; 3 recolors; red w/ shark teeth default color)
Tsunami War Rider(based on the upgrade for Tsunami, same 3 recolors, same default color, but no shark teeth)

16

Creativity - 4/5

The concept as a whole, and the talent tree as well both have some really good, interesting ideas. However, none of his basic kit feels particularly interesting, and blends together somewhat outside of how to hit them.

Cohesiveness - 4/5

While I’m for higher skill heroes, I do feel like having so many options for basic weapons may be a bit unneeded. I agree with Bliztron above; Perhaps lowering the number of weapons by 1-2 and focusing on making them more distinct wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Thematic - 5/5

Within my limited knowledge of his series, he seems to fit it quite well. The pickup system combined with being a character from a different franchise is enough towards the contest theme, as well. Nothing of note here.

Interaction - 3/5

Bluntly: I detest chance effects in games like this. The variance between weapons, when some are bound to be better at any particular moment for whatever reason, whether balance, map, team comp, what have you, is an issue when introduced with a system with no reliable way to consistently get what you need for each given moment. There’s only two talents that reduce the variance at all, and those are on the same tier, meaning you’re stuck with a mid to high level of chance no matter what you do. On top of this, while nothing major, I think a couple of abilities could perhaps use a little tuning, as I feel like some of them are a little weak/strong for how you need to hit them. Otherwise, I feel like most of his abilities and talents have been done well in terms of interaction.

Overall Score

Creativity - 4/5
Cohesiveness - 4/5
Thematic - 5/5
Interaction - 3/5

Total - 16/20

Additional Notes

The weapons I’m looking at are Interceptor Missiles(Strong), Skyhammer Mortar(Weak), maybe Flamethrower(Strong), Bullseye Missiles(Weak), and the Mines(Weak). In order, I think they’re a little wrongly tuned for: High Damage on Point & Click at 12 charges(Interceptor); Probably the hardest one to hit on only medium damage(Skyhammer); maybe a couple too many charges(Flamethrower); Weird aiming scheme on lower damage(Bullseye); Low charges and/or low damage(Mines).
Nothing with them is major, just some tuning you may want to consider in my eyes. (^_^)

1 Like
17

ZealotJC94 - 80/100

Creativity: 7/10
Cohesiveness: 5/10
Thematic: 10/10
Interaction: 9/10
(+1 Thoughtfulness, +0 Game Fluidity)

1 Like