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purplekoop · 7 months

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yeah as a Sicilian from Milwaukee, I've been really wanting an Italian character NOT MAFIA THO I HATE THAT STEREOTYPE ITD BE FINE IF IT WAS ORIGINAL MAFIA DEFENDING SICILY FROM EVERY INVADER BUT NO EVERYONE JUST DOES MOB BOSS anyways, that Firefighter idea. 575 HP. Passive is like Pharah but water jets and just to Hover like 5 ft up. Primary is water Cannon, 200 ammo,, pushes slightly & damages. Phoschek Fog Ability, Undoes Ally debuffs like burn. Axe Swing Ability, takes 15% hp from enemies or 50% hp from builds/barriers. Fireproof forcefield, I think 700 hp, curves like orisa old Shield but held. Ultimate gives all nearby allies +200 armor.idk I'm not the best at making concepts.

Oh yeah, I definitely see an Italian character as something that'll happen at least eventually. And I think the Overwatch team has a pretty decent track record about not playing too hard into broad harmful or tacky stereotypes. Like, Zarya's strong and Reinhardt likes beer, Widowmaker's a snob, there's some smaller stuff like that, but these tend to be natural parts of their characterization. I doubt they'd do something as basic and vaguely tasteless as making them a mob boss.

I guess it's worth noting that Rome is in Italy, so if we are getting a Roman gladiator character like a lot of people expect, then they would be the game's first Italian character on the roster.

As for the firefighter concept, hell yeah that's actually a pretty decent hero concept!

I like the idea of a more utility-focused Tank, with (what I'd presume at least to be) lower damage output relative to the aggro brawler tanks OW2 has focused on introducing. I like playing those tanks, but I think limiting the tank design space to those kinds of playstyles is ignoring the potential for more variety in playstyles and character-specific roles that a tank can fill. I imagine even a high-powered water cannon wouldn't be dishing out damage on par with laser beams or chainguns, so having it be more of a direct anti-aggression weapon rather than a weapon focused around damage would be interesting. A possible mechanic that comes to mind though to both reward aim and also make the pushback mechanic less irritating to play against would be that the push is more effective the lower the target's health is. A full health enemy barely feels a thing, but as the stream wears down their health then they get pushed back more and more.

A tank with a dedicated cleanse ability would be interesting, and obviously makes sense with the theme. We do already have Zarya's bubbles, capable of cleansing most debuffs that aren't outright stuns or sleeps or whatnot, so it's not totally unprecedented either. Cleanse abilities do tend to have some other benefits so they're not deadweight in matchups against enemies who don't apply debuffs, which is why Kiriko's Suzu has that contentious intangibility benefit and minor heal, and every other cleanse ability has it as a part of invincibility as well (recall, fade, translocator, zarya bubbles). I don't think that giving allies invincibility would be mechanically or thematically for... fire retardant foam, but it'd ideally have some other utility as well. Maybe the foam also slows enemies, or maybe gives allies a brief bit of overhealth (like the foam makes a protective layer around them or something).

The axe ability is also cool, an anti-build/shield ability is something I'm surprised OW hasn't tried more outside of an early concept for Pharah's knockback rocket, or Symmetra gaining ammo and shield health from damaging barriers. I think a normal ability also doing percentage-based damage could be interesting, making it stronger against tanks but less threatening to other players. Maybe a whole 60% of Symmetra's wall or Lifeweaver's tree (fitting as that would be) would be a bit much, so either the percentage it takes off is reduced for those, or the ability does normal set damage to all players and just does bonus damage to non-players. My hypothetical concern would be that it's too similar of a basic concept to Queen's axe swing, but I think with the lower damage to players and different functionality, it could justify being different by simply being a much faster swing. Ramattra and Doomfist both block with a big arm (or two) but the specific execution is distinct to where it's fine.

I think a barrier would be an okay addition to this kit, though I'd argue for something more distinct than just something like Rein's shield but only temporary or something. I admit it's hard coming up with unique defensive abilities for tanks though, to where I don't fault OW2 for retreading old ground with some of the newer tank abilities, or anyone else for that matter.

As for the ult... yeah ults suck for me too, don't worry. But it's worth keeping in mind that with Overwatch, roles tend to have only a few different categories of ults, and only dip into other roles' ult archetypes sparingly. Support ults tend to be major offensive boosts (Nano boost, Amp matrix, Kitsune rush) or big defensive saves (Sound barrier, Transcendance, Tree of Life), though sometimes can fall somewhere in the middle (Valkyrie, Coalescence), and often a defensive ult can be used aggressively, or an offensive ult can be used defensively. Damage ults tend to, predictably, enable more reliable means of scoring a kill with a big flashy single attack or a temporary boost to their lethality. Damage, being the varied role it is, tends to cheat and have ults that feel like they fit more in other roles. Symmetra's wall is more like a defensive support ult, Widowmaker's infra-sight is purely utility-focused and aids her entire team, and Mei's ult is so tank-like that I felt zero need to change it a bit with her Role Requeue kit.

Tank ults then tend to be very specifically focused around either zoning out space or setting up for a big team play. Whole Hog and Primal Rage make space very directly and literally by pushing back enemies out of your space, while Self Destruct and Minefield are potent means of area denial more than they are reliable for getting kills directly. Annihilation's main counterplay is also getting out of Ramattra's space in order to survive, more indirectly making it a zoning ult too. Then there's the more "supportive" tank ults. Earthshatter, Graviton Surge, Gravitic Flux, and now Cage Fight all limit the enemy's ability to move and thus makes them prime for followup from the tank's team. Rampage doesn't affect literal positioning, but puts enemies in a more figurative bad position with its lethal antiheal and bleed combo that makes just a bit more followup damage enough to secure a kill. Orisa's Terra Surge is ironically both a setup ult with its initial pull and slow, and a zoning ult with the following slam making the entire impact range a lethal danger zone. The only outliers are Orisa's old supercharger, which straight up is effectively replicated by a currently existing support ult (Valkyrie with damage boost) and Meteor Strike... which has a halfhearted slow effect that nobody ever notices, so it should be a setup ult but it sucks so it doesn't count.

I break this down not just because I find it neat, but also because I think it'll better inform what kind of ult would fit a tank better than a basic defensive buff more on par a support ultimate. It's a weird paradox of how Overwatch's tanks are designed that I wanted to elaborate on because it'd be helpful to consider when thinking about concepts like this, since I also find ultimates hard to think of unless I think it through first.

All that said, my suggestion is...

Giant pressure washer laser. I think that says it all.

oh yeah right they have a passive too forgot to comment on that

Honestly I think we should let at least one tank get a fun movement passive, damage and supports get so many of those and I think at least one tank deserves some freeform movement too. I think it also works for a concept that isn't as focused on direct aggro, as beefy brawlers with high self sustain and good damage typically have much more limited movement options, if any (sorry to Roadhog, who along with Ana is the only character in the game with literally no movement abilities, boosts, or tech besides basic walking).

So yeah, fun concept! Hope you don't mind me giving a... much longer than even I anticipated critique of it. I like talking hero design, it's why I'm making both an AU focused on it first and foremost and my own hero shooter just so I get to play with concepts from the ground up. y'know a firefighter character wouldn't be a bad fit for War Bots, but ehhh, feels kind of similar to other characters I already have on that roster, plus I'd feel bad more or less stealing the idea even with permission. Plus I think the specific ties to Midtown are what make me like this concept so much, it already fits into Overwatch's world in a really natural way, even if maybe a little more cheesy than most of the other existing characters. But look, if one tank is a hamster in a giant ball with guns, then I think a high-powered firefighter going into a warzone isn't that much more silly.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #asks #I don't know what else to tag this as besides like #overwatch hero concepts #I guess?#is this an oc. is this an oc review.#I don't think I can answer that question

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