<Let me preface this by saying this fits in with my personal theory on how it's going to go, but I will still provide examples for the "missing faction". Also I put improving in quotes because I'm essentially saying "hey, how can we make the Taken even MORE annoying?"
And before we get to the new things, let's discuss what will happen to the old things.
Old Taken will stay exactly the same. Same models, same attacks, same animations. In order to differentiate them from the newer Taken, I was thinking maybe adding "old" or "ancient" to the older Taken. Alternatively, you can add "neo-" to the new Taken.
Alright let's move on.
[u][b]Cabal[/b][/u]
[b]Centurion[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now releases two Axion Darts instead of one. The upside is that they are now capable of being destroyed with one shot instead of two+.
[b]Phalanx[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, shield charges twice as fast and launches you twice as far.
[b]Psion[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now has a secondary ability. The Blight Wave works similar to the Arc Wave Psions had in D1, but it reaches the height of a Guardian and does significantly more damage.
[b]War Beast[/b] - Instead of charging you like their normal counterparts, they stand as far back as possible and essentially become snipers... but with laser breath. I went kinda crazy with this idea. If someone could draw a Taken War Beast shooting lasers out of its mouth then I'd be happy.
[b]Gladiator[/b] - Another new one. Essentially take Grask's ability to use a "Taken Tether" and apply it to the Gladiators. To make up for it, very few will spawn.
[u][b]Hive[/b][/u]
[b]Thrall[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Matrix-dodge more often. Straight up ignoring every shot. Gotta wait until they're REALLY close.
[b]Acolyte[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. When the Acolyte Ball is summoned, it tithes to the Acolyte, allowing the latter to essentially become a mini-Ogre. Think of it like the Adept mechanic in King's Fall.
[b]Knight[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Fire lasts like it did for Sylok the Defiled in CoE.
[b]Wizard[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Instead of summoning temporary Shadow Thrall, the Wizard does a new wavy hand motion that ends with an actual Taken Thrall splitting from her hands.
[b]Taken Ogres[/b] become much more common.
[u][b]Fallen[/b][/u]
[b]Captain[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, Darkness bolt now tracks you. Cannot pass through things like walls, it's the same thing just with hardcore tracking.
[b]Vandal[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now creates a bubble where Taken can shoot OUT of it.
[b]Marauder[/b] - Another new one. The difference is that now it is COMPLETELY invisible (no shimmer unless firing or meleeing). It also can pull you closer if you're too far away from it.
[u][b]Vex[/b][/u]
Now here's where things get different. In my version of Savathun's Taken War, the story takes a Dynasty route and the Vex, under Quria, rebel. So every Neo-Taken Vex will look half-normal.
[b]Goblin[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Shields other Neo-Taken Vex ONLY.
[b]Hobgoblin[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Quadruple shots things after the bolts launch, like Brakion.
[b]Minotaur[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Completely invisible, but shows up on map.
[b]Neo-Taken Hydras[/b] also exist... and are just Hydras with Blighted Shields.
So there we are. A new batch of Taken, 1/4 of them our frenemies. All of them more annoying... or helpful if the NTV are on our side. At least that's what I'm thinking. Like imagine Quria knows that we are the only ones who can BEAT Savathun so it and its army help us destroy her forces. That'd be -blam!-ing cool.
Before saying anything, yes these things were designed to make things WAY more difficult and WAY more annoying.>
-
No, phalanxes are already capable of launching a guardian off the map with little effort. That would be a nightmare.
-
[quote]"hey, how can we make the Taken even MORE annoying?"[/quote] Plz no. Wait, were' still going through with this? Oh....oh...... [quote]Old Taken will stay exactly the same. Same models, same attacks, same animations. In order to differentiate them from the newer Taken, I was thinking maybe adding "old" or "ancient" to the older Taken. Alternatively, you can add "neo-" to the new Taken.[/quote] Just an idea, but since the old Taken were Oryx's, they should also fight the new Taken since they serve different masters. [quote][u][b]Cabal[/b][/u] [b]Centurion[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now releases two Axion Darts instead of one. The upside is that they are now capable of being destroyed with one shot instead of two+.[/quote] That's not too bad, though imo the Axion bolts should have less stable tracking as a result. [quote][b]Phalanx[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, shield charges twice as fast and launches you twice as far.[/quote] Just no. The D1 Phalanxes are already annoying enough with when and where they often spawn. [quote][b]Psion[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now has a secondary ability. The Blight Wave works similar to the Arc Wave Psions had in D1, but it reaches the height of a Guardian and does significantly more damage.[/quote] Why not just make it their only ability to differentiate then from their D1 counterparts? Looking back at the others and the old ones going forward, it would make sense for them to all have different abilities since they are Taken by a different Hive God. [quote][b]War Beast[/b] - Instead of charging you like their normal counterparts, they stand as far back as possible and essentially become snipers... but with laser breath. I went kinda crazy with this idea. If someone could draw a Taken War Beast shooting lasers out of its mouth then I'd be happy.[/quote] With how War beasts often come in large packs, this would be ridiculous fighting a group of snipers unless the mouth blasts do light damage. [quote][b]Gladiator[/b] - Another new one. Essentially take Grask's ability to use a "Taken Tether" and apply it to the Gladiators. To make up for it, very few will spawn.[/quote] This sounds like like Psion ability overall. Maybe give the Taken Gladiators "God of War-esque" long range blades similar to Kratos's to make up for them being a melee restricted enemy. Making htem run faster could also allow them to close the gap faster. [quote][u][b]Hive[/b][/u] [b]Thrall[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Matrix-dodge more often. Straight up ignoring every shot. Gotta wait until they're REALLY close.[/quote] Just make their dodges avoid your shots entirely with a cooldown after having to dodge 3-4 times in a row. Unlimited matrix-dodge spam is simply cruel on stuff like Heroics (let alone if -blam!-ing Blackout is active). [quote][b]Acolyte[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. When the Acolyte Ball is summoned, it tithes to the Acolyte, allowing the latter to essentially become a mini-Ogre. Think of it like the Adept mechanic in King's Fall.[/quote] Not a bad idea actually. [quote][b]Knight[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Fire lasts like it did for Sylok the Defiled in CoE.[/quote] What about just making them the Sword Knights but have a shockwave slam to hit far away targets? [quote][b]Wizard[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model. Instead of summoning temporary Shadow Thrall, the Wizard does a new wavy hand motion that ends with an actual Taken Thrall splitting from her hands.[/quote] Seems like it's just weaker if you ask me. Why not give it the ability to summon either a small group of weaker taken ads like Thrall/Acolytyes, or just one stronger Taken like a Knight? [quote][b]Taken Ogres[/b] become much more common.[/quote] I'm down with that. [quote][u][b]Fallen[/b][/u] [b]Captain[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, Darkness bolt now tracks you. Cannot pass through things like walls, it's the same thing just with hardcore tracking.[/quote] If the tracking isn't Slova Bomb levels of tracking then I'm fine with this. Otherwise, -blam!- that. [quote][b]Vandal[/b] - Updated to fit D2 model, now creates a bubble where Taken can shoot OUT of it.[/quote]Make that only possible for the Taken Vandal itself, or make the shield far weaker as a result. Having groups of Taken attacking you without you unable to shoot back is ludicrous. [quote][b]Marauder[/b] - Another new one. The difference is that now it is COMPLETELY invisible (no shimmer unless firing or meleeing). It also can pull you closer if you're too far away from it.[/quote] Remove the last idea and make them unable to spawn at all when Blackout is active then I won't mind. [quote][u][b]Vex[/b][/u] Now here's where things get different. In my version of Savathun's Taken War, the story takes a Dynasty route and the Vex, under Quria, rebel. So every Neo-Taken Vex will look half-normal.[/quote] Sound good. Hope something like that happens. [quote][b]Goblin[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Shields other Neo-Taken Vex ONLY.[/quote] Make them only able to shield unshielded Neo-Taken (so you don't have 3 of those bastards shielding one boss) and not themselves and we got a deal. [quote][b]Hobgoblin[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Quadruple shots things after the bolts launch, like Brakion.[/quote] What do you mean Quarduple shot? As in he will always four-shot minimum? I'd personally remove the tracking bolts for the void flames similar to Brakion except they go farther. [quote][b]Minotaur[/b] - Updated to fit new model. Half normal. Completely invisible, but shows up on map.[/quote] If that's already what the Taken Marauder is going to do then why bother with one or the other? [quote][b]Neo-Taken Hydras[/b] also exist... and are just Hydras with Blighted Shields.[/quote] Why not allow them to summon smaller Taken Vex ads similar to the Wizards? [quote]So there we are. A new batch of Taken, 1/4 of them our frenemies. All of them more annoying... or helpful if the NTV are on our side. At least that's what I'm thinking. Like imagine Quria knows that we are the only ones who can BEAT Savathun so it and its army help us destroy her forces. That'd be -blam!-ing cool. Before saying anything, yes these things were designed to make things WAY more difficult and WAY more annoying.>[/quote] I don't think making them more annoying should be the focus if you ask me. There's still plenty of unique roles that the new ones can take up without having to "update" the older Taken save for maybe the models.