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Hi,
Maybe some of you remember City of Heroes/Villains mmorpg series? Maybe even played it. Fondly/sentimentally remembering the game I got the idea of trying to make Captain Mako or well something similar to him and here's my ideas/ramble.
I am wondering what Class our dear Captain would be?
Trying to make very similar to him but will naturally try to fit him into the game mechanics and the limits of the game.
Here's what I know/remember:
He is a human/shark mutant with a focus on melee natural attacks,some sort of "water manipulation" abilities and stealth skills. Now I don't consider the water manipulation stuff too important but it would be cool to have somehow such abilities without losing the main focus of being melee striker/stuff.
Somewhat of an assassin/heavy striker maybe?
Thus so far I've limited my initial choices into Ranger, Slayer or Barbarian. Also these would be the mechanics I very much would consider him having:
-D10 HD
-Full BAB
-Some way of gaining natural attacks
All these classes fulfill these requirements.
I mean none besides the ranger can fulfill the "water" part of Captain Mako and even the ranger does it barely/not really.
Now what would people suggest? Does anyone even remember/know the game series? I hope so, please do lend your advise and knowledge or just sentimentally ramble of the game :)
Screw him, it's all about Ghost Widow (and Johnny "The Pipes" Sonata)!
That barely memorable white wallpaper bah!
Took your reminder to even remember her.She can't even be shark food.
Edit: Well actually no, somehow it didn't even cross my mind...
Thought it does make me ponder what bloodline could you pick? Aberrant or what mutant one was it?
Screw him, it's all about Ghost Widow (and Johnny "The Pipes" Sonata)!
...
Well, okay...it's not at least one of my Villains (my "pure, genuinely Evil" one, as it happens) didn't pledge Mako.
It's not perfect either, but have you given any thought to Bloodrager?
Actually could an Unchained Monk work? Since he has the "magical" abilities and is fast, hits hard etc? Would need to roleplay maybe the "natural attacks" of unarmed strikes?
If the shark aspects come from race, you can get the water powers and melee power from water elemental bloodrager.
The skinwalker race has a were-shark option.
The skinwalker race has a were-shark option.
Seems like I forgot to write that part... I'm 98% sure I wrote it but then I started retyping parts of the post.
Yes the skinwalker Seascarred (wereshark-kin) is a must.
If the shark aspects come from race, you can get the water powers and melee power from water elemental bloodrager.
Should one then pick the Primalist archetype to get claws?
In my opinion draconic if it was reflavored would be much better but alas at this point no idea how that'd work.Our campaign highly unlikely gets to level 12 and to wings.
Draconic primalist would work, to reflavor swap the offending draconic powers for suitable rage powers.
Synthesist Summoner is the usual go-to for super heroes. That's not allowed in a lot of games though. So, a slayer or ranger with the natural weapons combat style is probably your best bet.
Synthesist Summoner is the usual go-to for super heroes. That's not allowed in a lot of games though. So, a slayer or ranger with the natural weapons combat style is probably your best bet.
I would have to agree but I would have to cover myself with melted cheese when I joined the table.
I would have to agree but I would have to cover myself with melted cheese when I joined the table.
If you stay away from the multi-armed multi-attack monstrosities, it's not that cheesy at all. It's hard to turn away from the dark side though.
Loved CoH/CoV. Kinda liked CoV more though. :)
Elemental Annihilator kineticist might work for the water powers and focus on hurting people. Beastmorph alchemist would get you the shark pieces (swim speed from Beastmorph, bite from Feral Mutagen) and extracts to enhance them.
Loved CoH/CoV. Kinda liked CoV more though. :)
Elemental Annihilator kineticist might work for the water powers and focus on hurting people. Beastmorph alchemist would get you the shark pieces (swim speed from Beastmorph, bite from Feral Mutagen) and extracts to enhance them.
He gets swim and bite from wereshark-kin.
The element annihilator seems fine but what about the bab and actually hitting?
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If the shark aspects come from race, you can get the water powers and melee power from water elemental bloodrager.
My thoughts exactly.
Kineticist doesn't sound like Captain Mako at all. As a matter of fact, it just flat-out ISN'T. Mako was the iconic Stalker, and Kineticists are basically ALL what the CoH/CoV system would classify as Blasters (maybe some of them could be Corrupters, or *maybe* Dominators).
The above back in mind, of course, he should probably have at least 4-5 levels of Slayer as well.
The element annihilator seems fine but what about the bab and actually hitting?
Elemental Annihilator gets full BaB with its kinetic weapon, additional stacking to-hit bonuses for it, continually threaten, and get a progression of bonus combat feats when using it. At 6th they can use 2-weapon fighting and full attacks with it. It doesn't really behave like most kineticists.
I didn't see his full range of powers much Villain-side and it's been a while. I was picturing water-based melee attacks.
Based on this, it looks like his powers were mostly:
Stealth/Invisibility (Hide, Mako Placate)
Generic stabbing damage (Strike, Slash)
Sneak attack (Shark Attack)
Hurt everyone around him (Spin, Bellow)
Slayer would get you most of these. You might need to pick the Major Magic rogue trick to get Vanish to pull off invisibility.
Spirit Sharks (Circle of Sharks, Spirit Shark)
Acid (Chum Attack)
Knockback/Stun (Water Spout)
Haste (Elude)
Summoner would get you these. Several acid spells on the list (Acid Splash, Corrosive Touch, Acid Pit), and some stuns (Daze Monster). Biggest problem is probably that sharks can't normally fly, and you can't summon an animal into a harmful environment. You can probably work around it with a serpentine Eidolon for the big shark, though.
If you're not worried about the more caster-y bits (acid, stuns, haste), then a Slayer with VMC Summoner (which gets Summon Monster at 3rd and Eidolon at 7th) would probably be close. Otherwise Slayer and dip into a few levels of Summoner.
The Stygian Slayer can get you the stealth components pretty well.
I didn't see his full range of powers much Villain-side and it's been a while. I was picturing water-based melee attacks.
Based on this, it looks like his powers were mostly:
Stealth/Invisibility (Hide, Mako Placate)
Generic stabbing damage (Strike, Slash)
Sneak attack (Shark Attack)
Hurt everyone around him (Spin, Bellow)Slayer would get you most of these. You might need to pick the Major Magic rogue trick to get Vanish to pull off invisibility.
Spirit Sharks (Circle of Sharks, Spirit Shark)
Acid (Chum Attack)
Knockback/Stun (Water Spout)
Haste (Elude)Summoner would get you these. Several acid spells on the list (Acid Splash, Corrosive Touch, Acid Pit), and some stuns (Daze Monster). Biggest problem is probably that sharks can't normally fly, and you can't summon an animal into a harmful environment. You can probably work around it with a serpentine Eidolon for the big shark, though.
If you're not worried about the more caster-y bits (acid, stuns, haste), then a Slayer with VMC Summoner (which gets Summon Monster at 3rd and Eidolon at 7th) would probably be close. Otherwise Slayer and dip into a few levels of Summoner.
I'm somewhat more aligned towards full BAB classes and usually sticking nearly completely to them with maybe 1-3 dip tops.
I think it's fine in sacrificing the water "spells" etc to get the "stalker" abilities from Slayer.Thus Slayer does seem like a good bet especially the Stygian Slayer just like Melkiador pointed out. What makes me wonder is what is the best source for natural attacks. The ranger's natural weapon style gives you a 1d4 claw attacks which is mediocre at best. It's true that rangers and slayers rely more on statistical bonuses like favored enemy/studied target but still I find the 1d4 somewhat lacking and unwilling to put another feat to improved nat attack to get that 1d4 to 1d6.
Any other sources for a slayer to get the nat attacks? I can't remember myself any.
I'm somewhat more aligned towards full BAB classes and usually sticking nearly completely to them with maybe 1-3 dip tops.
I think it's fine in sacrificing the water "spells" etc to get the "stalker" abilities from Slayer.Thus Slayer does seem like a good bet especially the Stygian Slayer just like Melkiador pointed out. What makes me wonder is what is the best source for natural attacks. The ranger's natural weapon style gives you a 1d4 claw attacks which is mediocre at best. It's true that rangers and slayers rely more on statistical bonuses like favored enemy/studied target but still I find the 1d4 somewhat lacking and unwilling to put another feat to improved nat attack to get that 1d4 to 1d6.
Any other sources for a slayer to get the nat attacks? I...
Improved Natural Attack can bump that to 1d6, but the die you're rolling probably isn't going to matter a lot. At low levels, the fact that you're doing 3 attacks per round will mean you're dealing a lot of damage for your level. At higher levels, your 1d4+Strength bonus+Studied Target+Sneak Attack+everything else (magic items, buff spells, etc.) will seem pretty big when you're doing claw/claw/bite all at full BaB.
If you're willing to dip, the earlier suggestion of an alchemist with Feral Mutagen still applies. You get your first discovery at 2nd level, so a 2-level dip will get you 1d6 claw/1d8 bite for 20 minutes a day, on top of a sizable stat boost from Mutagen (and since Mako is a mutant, that's even thematic). You'll get access to some nice 1st-level extracts, poison resistance, and if you go Vivisectionist, you'll get a Sneak Attack die out of it. The expanded buff options will probably make up for losing a point of BaB, which you're not as dependent on in a natural attack build anyway (since you care less about what level you get iterative attacks, since you can already do 3 attacks).
I'm somewhat more aligned towards full BAB classes and usually sticking nearly completely to them with maybe 1-3 dip tops.
I think it's fine in sacrificing the water "spells" etc to get the "stalker" abilities from Slayer.Thus Slayer does seem like a good bet especially the Stygian Slayer just like Melkiador pointed out. What makes me wonder is what is the best source for natural attacks. The ranger's natural weapon style gives you a 1d4 claw attacks which is mediocre at best. It's true that rangers and slayers rely more on statistical bonuses like favored enemy/studied target but still I find the 1d4 somewhat lacking and unwilling to put another feat to improved nat attack to get that 1d4 to 1d6.
Any other sources for a slayer to get the nat attacks? I...
Improved Natural Attack can bump that to 1d6, but the die you're rolling probably isn't going to matter a lot. At low levels, the fact that you're doing 3 attacks per round will mean you're dealing a lot of damage for your level. At higher levels, your 1d4+Strength bonus+Studied Target+Sneak Attack+everything else (magic items, buff spells, etc.) will seem pretty big when you're doing claw/claw/bite all at full BaB.
If you're willing to dip, the earlier suggestion of an alchemist with Feral Mutagen still applies. You get your first discovery at 2nd level, so a 2-level dip will get you 1d6 claw/1d8 bite for 20 minutes a day, on top of a sizable stat boost from Mutagen (and since Mako is a mutant, that's even thematic). You'll get access to some nice 1st-level extracts, poison resistance, and if you go Vivisectionist, you'll get a Sneak Attack die out of it. The expanded buff options will probably make up for losing a point of BaB, which you're not as dependent on in a natural attack build anyway (since you care less about what level you get iterative attacks, since you can already do 3 attacks).
That actually sounds like a great combination, too bad they never made any alchemisty archetype for slayers.
Full alchemist could work mechanically also but not sure if it would fit themathically.Full vivisectionist seems somewhat superior mechanically to the slayer though a slayer using the executioner archetype works quite well especially in this campaign of ours which has mostly humanoid enemies 90% of the time.
Should propably just try and craft a couple builds using slayer and alchemist simply to compare numbers wise.