Came up with an idea I think is cool for a new tank hero at work today, and while I don’t actually expect Blizzard to consider my suggestion, I thought it might be fun to talk about.
There are currently no Italian heroes in the game, which is a shame, I guess. There are also no sword melee characters (not counting Genji because it’s mostly a sidearm.) So, this tank, named Gregorio, would use a Plasma Zweihander (the Italian version is called a montante but they’re basically the same thing) and carry a shield on his back. His playstyle would focus on rushing in to deal AOE damage with his greatsword, gaining quickly decaying shields with every strike. Because of his relatively low health pool, if he’s not dealing damage he would be the squishiest tank. He’s very feast or famine, with fantastic area denial abilities, and would likely excel in brawl comps, probably filling the same role as a Rein/Zarya. If Brig was a tank, perhaps she would function similarly to Gregorio.
I’ll list his abilities first and then talk about some very basic visual/character design ideas later.
Name (Tentative): Gregorio (because Mario is too obvious)
Health: 150
Shields: 300
Any overshields are capped at 100 points above maximum except when he ults.
Cyber Greatsword (Main)
A laser greatsword style after the Italian Montante. Attacks in a wide arc and provides 25 points of rapidly decaying shields with every enemy struck. Teammates within 10 meters receive 10 overshield per swing. Has a three swing combo, with the third swing being an overhead strike with a longer recovery/startup that knocks the enemy back 5 meters. Can also perform this third swing by holding attack input, like a power attack. Can perform a plunging attack which deals x1.5 damage when falling at least 5 meters and double when falling at least 10 meters.
-Damage: 40 + 20 burning damage per second for 3 seconds. (Burn does not stack but additional hits refresh the timer.)
-Tip Crit Damage: 60 + 30 burning dps over 3 seconds. The last 0.5 meters of the blade deals extra damage.
-Max Range: 10 meters (Rein Hammer is 5 meters and Zarya beam is 15 meters, for reference.)
-Rate of burning: 1 swing every 0.5 seconds
-DPS: ~120
Back Mounted Jet Barrier (Alternate Fire)
Gregorio carries a barrier shield that he usually wears on his back while fighting. It provides passive protection while worn on his back. He can project it in front of him to protect his front, and while he can’t swing while doing so, the jets mounted either side of his shield increase his speed by 20%, but only while moving forward.
-Health: 900 (Rein’s has 1200)
-Healing: Regenerates 175 barrier health per second after being broken for at least two seconds.
-Move Speed: +20%
-Area of Effect: 4 meters tall, three meters wide. (Rein’s is 4 meters tall, 7 meters wide)
Plasma Bulwark (Left Shift)
Gregorio briefly overcharges his greatsword and sweeps it on the ground in front of him, creating a 5 meter high wall of plasma in a half-circle 6 meters around him for three seconds. While high velocity projectiles can pass through, slow moving projectiles burn up in the flame. Any enemy walking through catches on burning for 40 damage over 3 seconds and any enemy standing in the flame takes double burning damage. Additionally, any enemy hit by the actual attack takes normal damage and is pushed just beyond the flame, within tip crit range.
-Damage: 40+20 burning damage on impact, 40 burning damage while standing in the arc. 60 + 30 at the tip, doubling to 60 burning damage while standing in the arc.
-Duration: 3 seconds
-Cooldown: 15 seconds
Blade Dance (E)
Gregorio whirls his blade overhead and around his body, twirling in place allowing him to attack enemies on all sides. While initially the spin starts off slow, dealing less dps than his normal swing, the blade dance slowly builds in speed, reaching parity with the primary after 2 seconds. After 3 seconds the blade builds momentum and attacks 1.5 times faster than his primary, and after 4 seconds becomes a flurry of strikes, where it reaches its maximum speed at 4 swings per second. Finally, after 5 seconds, the blade overcharges and begins to deal double burning damage to any opponent struck. However, Gregorio cannot move while performing this ability but he can perform it while falling, and boops don’t interrupt it.
-Damage: 40 impact + 40 burning damage at half speed for the first second, ramping up to 40 + 80 burning damage at double speed at 5 seconds.
-Max Range: 6 meters in a smaller cone. Less than primary due to the angle of his attacks.
-No Cooldown and Infinite Duration
Plasma Blade Overcharge (Ultimate)
Gregorio overcharges his blade and armor, increasing the reach by 5 meters. The entirety of the extra 5 meters deals tip crit damage. Additionally, he and his team receive double overshields, 50 per enemy struck, his maximum overshield becomes uncapped, and he immediately receives 100 overshield.
-Casting Time: 0.5 seconds
-Duration: 10 seconds
-Ultimate Cost: 2500 ultimate charge.
Design Ideas
I don’t have a ton besides him being Italian, having a big moustache, and wearing some form of futuristic Milanese-inspired armor. His sword would be a plasma Zweihander, which I imagine you can picture.
As for his backstory, well his father was a pizza chef, but after the family business was destroyed in the omnic war (maybe) he decided to become a soldier/mercenary. Maybe he joined the mafia, which stepped up to defend Italy and then after retaking his homeland he left to fight the omnics elsewhere, where he was recruited by Talon/Overwatch. I haven’t put too much thought into this part.
Well, that’s it, thanks for reading. And for dealing with my inconsistent use of tense and rambling sentences. If anyone has any feedback, questions, or character ideas of their own I would be glad to read/reply to them. I work IT so I have long stretches of downtime and nothing better to do.