Unleash The Tides Of Doom - A Hydroid Rework/concept

[Oranji]

So we all know that Hydroid is by far one of the least used frame due to the level of difficulty getting and using him. From what I can see most people, if not all considers him a mediocre frame or to put simply a troll frame.

This is what I actually have in mind. (Pls. take note that this is something that I thought of out of boredom/sleeplessness and your feedback/suggestion is very much welcome.)

1. Tempest Barrage - Imo it's fine as it is IF only we can cast this for (m̶u̶l̶t̶i̶p̶l̶e̶) at least 2 instances.
Why?
A. Modding it for damage only works vs weaker enemies.
B. Even if u mod it for duration enemies will still bypass it due to its limited range.

2. Tidal Surge - Wouldn't it be nice if upon ending the dive all enemies hit would be lined up at the end of the wave? It's just basically asking for a wave be a wave.

3. Undertow - A few things
A. It's pretty hard to make this work without proper communication from ur group.
B. Team can't hit the enemies below.
C. DOT is a joke and once u release them, they get up 1 sec. after ur animation.

I have 3 things in mind to replace this however.

A. A Whirpool

Thought of 2 ways on how it may work.
1. Summon an instant whirpool that sucks enemies and clusters them together. More like vortex that lasts for about 3 seconds.
2. OR Instead of turning into a pool of water summon a whirpool that acts like undertow in which bullets fired inside the hole spreads and divides damage on everyone caught in it for a limited duration.

3. Submerge and turn into a whirlpool sucking enemies and clusters them together upon deactivation. Still doing minimal damage, enemies are untargetable inside. (almost the same principle as the original undertow but with the addition of #1 above.)

B. Or simply summon a bubble.

1. Summon a clear bubble for a set duration. Enemies caught inside the bubble are imprisoned for 5-10 seconds and If placed at a choke point, remaining enemies are unable to pass for the said duration. Shooting the bubble has a 20% chance to proc viral.
(No idea as to how many u can imprison prolly 4-5)

And finally.
4. Tentacle Swarm - So instead of flailing enemies around untargetable and doing mediocre damage how about:

Tentacles appear to strangle / grip enemies.
Targets caught are unable to move and are slowly pressed by them tentacles doing increasing 5-10 ticks of DOT damag ie. 50 100 150 200 etc. Then finally slamming them to the ground on the last tick for 1000 damage.

End notes: Numbers indicated are merely samples which are subject to change in order to scale or have a proper balance.

Let me know what y'all think.
Will be editing this later to add spoiler tags since I only posted this using Android and forgive my drawing. Tnx.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Oranji

[Seanjuju]

I have absolutely no problem with my hydroid. I really don't know where this is coming from.

[Guest Tehnoobshow]

Whirlpool idea is good. as long as you yourself turn into the whirlpool. Tidal Surge lining up enemies would be nice, but it's mainly a movement ability anyway. Every other one of Hydroid's abilities is fine, I mean Tentacle Swarm does as much damage as Blade Storm without the Bleeding.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Tehnoobshow

[Noble_Cactus]

Yes.

 

Yesss.

 

I came up with something similar for Tentacles recently, but your drawing trumps anything I could put out. And I like the second rework for puddle, except maybe it should still keep the "Hydroid turns into a puddle" component? It's actually a decent survival tool before enemies are able to oneshot you, since it lets you regen shields and stave off DoTs. Maybe enemies who are released from the pool are slowed for a short duration as they stand up as if they were hit by Cold. Anyone who's taken a dip in cold water can tell you how it feels to get back out on land.

 

I also like the bubble idea, and was surprised to see him not get an ability like this. Maybe as an alternate ability, if those are ever implemented?

 

Though it does remind me of Rikuo/Aulbath/Fish's Water Jail from the Darkstalkers series:

 

 

The horror. The horror.

 

I have absolutely no problem with my hydroid. I really don't know where this is coming from.

 

He's kind of a poor team player. The reworks for Tidal Surge, Undertow, and Tentacles help turn Hydroid into a strong and unique CC frame.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Noble_Cactus

[Seanjuju]

He's kind of a poor team player. The reworks for Tidal Surge, Undertow, and Tentacles help turn Hydroid into a strong and unique CC frame.

Team Relief+CC+Survivability. I don't see what you mean.

[Oranji]

I have absolutely no problem with my hydroid. I really don't know where this is coming from.

Good for you bro but I guess not for the majority of the community who hates him so much.

[Noble_Cactus]

Team Relief+CC+Survivability. I don't see what you mean.

 

Tempest Barrage is inaccurate, but decent when it does hit something.

 

Tidal Surge has basic, but not great, CC by knocking things down. Melee jump attacks can do the same thing.

 

Undertow is the game's worst griefing skill.

 

Tentacles is good when it can kill things, but beyond that, it's a nuisance because it makes trapped enemies much harder to hit. The OP's suggestion is a good compromise between making the ability useful (holding enemies in place for players to shoot), having it feel powerful (slamming enemies around), and looking cool (tentacles!).

 

Most importantly, the OP's suggestions make Hydroid an overall more engaging character. Pressing a button and watch the ability do all the work isn't fun for many players. Pressing a button and having to take advantage of the opportunities your skills create for you, however, is fun.

 

Hydroid isn't unusable, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd much rather have another frame on my team if I wanted CC or damage.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Noble_Cactus

[Kestral9999]

I have absolutely no problem with my hydroid. I really don't know where this is coming from.

If it ain't broke don't fix it?

That's some disturbingly conservative logic you've got there. 

 

Hydroid has very underwhelming CC. His puddle is a joke... (like seriously, I've seen a number of jokes regarding how useless it is) Tentacle Swarm is one of the derpiest abilities in the game from a visual standpoint and Tidal Surge and Tempest Barrage are far from perfect abilities since their main feature is enemy knockdown.

[notionphil]

Though it does remind me of Rikuo/Aulbath/Fish's Water Jail from the Darkstalkers series:

 

 

The horror. The horror.

 

Thanks for making me waste 9m and 31s of my life watching Darkstalkers :D

 

Damm that was some good character design, totally forgot about it.

[Seanjuju]

Tempest Barrage is inaccurate, but decent when it does hit something.

Tidal Surge has basic, but not great, CC by knocking things down. Melee jump attacks can do the same thing.

Undertow is the game's worst griefing skill.

Tentacles is good when it can kill things, but beyond that, it's a nuisance because it makes trapped enemies much harder to hit. The OP's suggestion is a good compromise between making the ability useful (holding enemies in place for players to shoot), having it feel powerful (slamming enemies around), and looking cool (tentacles!).

Most importantly, the OP's suggestions make Hydroid an overall more engaging character. Pressing a button and watch the ability do all the work isn't fun for many players. Pressing a button and having to take advantage of the opportunities your skills create for you, however, is fun.

Hydroid isn't unusable, but in the grand scheme of things, I'd much rather have another frame on my team if I wanted CC or damage.

Tempest Barrage is one of the best of the first abilities. Reign in its range using narrow minded.

Tidal Surge does great CC when using appropriate duration.

Undertow can keep hydroid alive, provide team relief, and cluster enemies.

Tentacles Swarm doesn't serve well as a damage dealer and is best suited for area of denial for a very long duration. It can provide great team relief but isn't for spamming.

Suggestion 1: Would make tempest barrage OP

Suggestion 2: Doesn't serve any purpose but I don't mind one way or the other

Suggestion 3: Eliminates undertows use as a recovery tool.

Suggestion 4. Appears to place target limit on tentacle swarm which reduces its effectiveness as area of denial. I wouldn't mind as long as there's no target limit and duration doesn't change.

Hydroid is a duration-based frame. Use narrow-minded (stretch if you want).

Edited September 9, 2014 by Seanjuju

[Arabaxus]

I'd love a stronger Tempest Barrage, you know, one that does more than 45 damage with a 8/10 Blind Rage on level 30 infested.

 

I mean it doesn't have to be soulcrushingly powerful, but seriously, 45 damage?

Edited September 9, 2014 by Arabaxus

[Oranji]

Tempest Barrage is one of the best of the first abilities. Reign in its range using narrow minded.

Tidal Surge does great CC when using appropriate duration.

Undertow can keep hydroid alive, provide team relief, and cluster enemies.

Tentacles Swarm doesn't serve well as a damage dealer and is best suited for area of denial for a very long duration. It can provide great team relief but isn't for spamming.

Suggestion 1: Would make tempest barrage OP

Suggestion 2: Doesn't serve any purpose but I don't mind one way or the other

Suggestion 3: Eliminates undertows use as a recovery tool.

Suggestion 4. Appears to place target limit on tentacle swarm which reduces its effectiveness as area of denial. I wouldn't mind as long as there's no target limit and duration doesn't change.

Hydroid is a duration-based frame. Use narrow-minded (stretch if you want).

While I agree on some of your points here's what I think:

#1: Changed it to x2 cast instances - would not make him OP but at least on Par with other frames that are really good at what they do. (ie: Trinity is awesome as support & Rhino being tank)

#2: Pushes clusters of enemies away from a downed/dying team mate or lines them all up for better targeting overall.

#3: Edited and added a 3rd one.

#4: It works almost the same way as the current tentacle swarm, they just don't fling enemies around. Solves the issue that most ppl have of enemies being untargetable on most situations. A great idea imo since we are modding hydroid for duration.

[Seanjuju]

While I agree on some of your points here's what I think:

#1: Changed it to x2 cast instances - would not make him OP but at least on Par with other frames that are really good at what they do. (ie: Trinity is awesome as support & Rhino being tank)

#2: Pushes clusters of enemies away from a downed/dying team mate or lines them all up for better targeting overall.

#3: Edited and added a 3rd one.

#4: It works almost the same way as the current tentacle swarm, they just don't fling enemies around. Solves the issue that most ppl have of enemies being untargetable on most situations. A great idea imo since we are modding hydroid for duration.

1. For a first ability, it would be OP. There's no way around it. It's already one of the best of the first abilities. 

2. Tidal Surge already pushes and clusters enemies.

3. Fine

4. If the tentacles aren't moving, how do they capture enemies.

 

I'd love a stronger Tempest Barrage, you know, one that does more than 45 damage with a 8/10 Blind Rage on level 30 infested.

 

I mean it doesn't have to be soulcrushingly powerful, but seriously, 45 damage?

Tempest Barrage isn't for damage.

[Oranji]

1. For a first ability, it would be OP. There's no way around it. It's already one of the best of the first abilities. 

2. Tidal Surge already pushes and clusters enemies.

3. Fine

4. If the tentacles aren't moving, how do they capture enemies.

 

2. No it doesnt. Yes it knocks them down but leaves them scattered.

4. Tentacles pick enemies within range then strangles them to death. Like I said works the same way as xept they dont fling them around to do damage instead put them in place while dealing dot. Exactly the same way a phyton would kill its prey.

[Kestral9999]

1. For a first ability, it would be OP. There's no way around it. It's already one of the best of the first abilities. 

2. Tidal Surge already pushes and clusters enemies.

3. Fine

4. If the tentacles aren't moving, how do they capture enemies.

 

Tempest Barrage isn't for damage.

1. Hall of Mirrors is a first ability. 'Nuff said.

2. No, it doesn't. It knocks them down in place.

3. Yup.

4. Not auto moving doesn't mean they can't have scripted AI to attack approaching enemies.

 

Shouldn't it be capable of scaling for semi decent damage? 

[Seanjuju]

2. No it doesnt. Yes it knocks them down but leaves them scattered.

4. Tentacles pick enemies within range then strangles them to death. Like I said works the same way as xept they dont fling them around to do damage instead put them in place while dealing dot. Exactly the same way a phyton would kill its prey.

How does it pick up additional enemies within range and keep an enemy in place at the same time?