Frame Concept: Hades - The Gatekeeper, The Houndmaster (Revised)

[Cobalt313]

Revised edition of my most recent Frame idea, hopefully should address some concerns presented by the former.

This is Hades. The Gatekeeper. The Houndmaster. Named for a mythical Lord of the Dead, Hades summons forth spectral Hounds from otherworldly gates to exact his judgement on the living and send them to their final destination

Health: 75-225
Shield: 100-300
Energy: 150-300
Armor: 150
Sprint Speed: 1.1

Passive - Hounds

Hades abilities revolve around the summoning and command of a loyal pack of Hounds, each with their own distinct abilities but all drawing from the same Exalted Companion mod pool in the Arsenal. Enemies damaged by a Hound's attacks or abilities are Sentenced, inflicting them with a status that visibly marks them to Hades; killing Sentenced foes counts toward stacks of a resource called Judgement used in some of Hades' abilities. Every five Sentenced enemies killed earns one stack of Judgement, and Hades can store up to ten Judgements at any given time.

Summary: Self-explanatory; Hades' abilities command Kubrow-like minions called Hounds whose base stats are modified by an Exalted Companion mod loadout slot in his Arsenal. Enemies damaged by Hounds are marked with a debuff called "Sentenced", which places a floating marker visible to Hades over their heads for 5/8/10/12 seconds. Every five Sentenced enemy killed by Hades grants him a stack of a resource called Judgement, which his other abilities may consume as part of their casting cost or to produce additional effects. Stacks of Judgement do not decay but are lost upon death.

First Ability - Gates of the Underworld

Tapping Hades' first ability lets him cycle between his available Hounds, and holding it conjures an ephemeral Gate that summons forth that Hound into the field. Summoned Hounds are chained to their Gates, and can only move and attack foes within a limited area centered on it, known as its "Inner Radius". Gates, once placed, will remain indefinitely until Hades moves beyond that Gate's "Outer Radius", or until he uses his abilities to move or re-summon that Gate at a new location.

Hades has three distinct Hounds at his disposal:

• Tartarus, Judge of the Wicked: This crimson Kubrow specter with a fearsome iron helm is bloodthirst incarnate, able to viciously execute foes damaged beyond a certain percentage 
  of their maximum health and desecrate their remains, leaving nothing behind but unspent munitions to be used by his master and his allies.
• Asphodel, Warden of the Masses: Ever vigilant, the blue Kubrow specter bearing stylized pauldrons stands ready to defend Hades from foes within his reach, grappling and tearing weapons from the grasp of any who dare harm his master.
• Elysium, Companion of the Righteous: Within this green Kubrow specter's protective cuirass beats a heart almost too kind for its own good, as he has been known to attempt to play and frolic even with foes in the heat of battle. Fortunately, no mortal can resist the charm of this kindly Kubrow, and enemies near him during "playtime" will be temporarily entranced, unable to move, attack, or take their eyes off the playful Hound.

Each hound deals the same damage as a Kubrow (304 Slash damage, 10% crit chance, 3x crit modifier, 5% status chance) increased by Exalted Companion mods as well as Ability Power.

At the start of a mission, Hades can only summon one Hound at a time, and will need to spend Judgements to unlock the ability to summon more at a time. Otherwise, attempting to summon a different Hound will replace the current oldest one, while re-summoning an already summoned Hound will simply relocate it to the chosen new position. Hades can never have more than one of each Hound in the field at a time.

Summary: Tap to cycle between Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium (unlocked at ability levels 0, 1, and 2 respectively) in that order, hold to summon that Hound's Gate on the ground near Hades' cursor within a maximum range of (XX/XX/XX/XX) meters at a cost of 25 energy. Each Gate projects a misty area effect matching its color on the ground surrounding it in a radius of (X/XX/XX/XX) meters, henceforth known as its "Inner Radius" Each gate also projects an invisible area effect marked by a luminous border in that Gate's color over a span of (XX/XXX/XXX/XXX) meters, henceforth its "Outer Radius". Each gate spawns a Hound within its Inner Radius, visibly tethered to the Gate by a length of chain of the same color of the Gate and Hound. The Hound automatically moves toward and attacks enemies that stand within its Gate's Inner Radius, and cannot move beyond this area of effect. Hounds cannot take damage and are invulnerable once summoned, but will be dismissed alongside their Gate if Hades moves outside their Gate's Outer Radius.

Each Hound has a unique ability they may use with a cooldown of (X/X/X/X) seconds:
 -Tartarus: Executes a single enemy below (20%/40%/50%/60%) HP, causing them to drop additional ammo.
-Asphodel: Grapples with an enemy in reach that has dealt damage to Hades for (6/5/4/2) seconds before disarming them
-Elysium: Attempts to interact with a nearby enemy, Charming all foes within (X/X/X/X) meters for (5/7/9/12) seconds, causing them to stop moving or attacking and turn to face Elysium for the duration of the effect.

At the start of each mission, two out of Hades' three Gates will be "locked", restricting the maximum number of Gates Hades can place at a time to one, regardless of this ability's level. Attempting to place an additional Gate of any color will replace current one unless Hades has at least one (1) stack of Judgement available, in which case a single stack of Judgement will be consumed to unlock a second Gate for the remainder of the mission. Unlocking the third Gate requires Hades to do the same using two (2) stacks of Judgement, which is also permanent for the mission. Attempting to place a different Gate from one that is already summoned active without unlocking the requisite number of Gates will dismiss the current oldest Gate to make room for a new one; placing another instance of a currently active Gate will always replace the previous instance of that Gate. Hades cannot summon more than one instance of a specific Gate at once; he may only summon a maximum of one gate of each color at a time for a grand total of three.

Augment: Fell Winds

Opening a Gate unleashes a burst of elemental energy within its Inner Radius that deals (XX/XXX/XXX/XXX) damage with 100% status chance. Tartarus deals Fire damage, Asphodel deals Cold damage, and Elysium deals Radiation damage.

Second Ability - No Escape

Hades' second ability has multiple effects depending on which of his Hounds is currently selected:

• Flames of Tartarus causes a wave of hellfire to erupt from the ground in a line in front of Hades, damaging and igniting all enemies in its path. If Tartarus has been summoned, he will join in the assault by launching a vicious charge attack from his Gate that intersects with Hades' cursor, dealing Puncture and Impact damage and knocking down all enemies in his path.
• Chains of Asphodel throws a spiked bolas forward to entangle foes on impact- enemies chained in this manner have an additional chance to drop Energy Orbs. If Asphodel is nearby, the dutiful Hound will leap from his post to the entangled foe, using his chain to forcibly drag them to his gate along with any other foes caught in an inverted cone between his quarry and his Gate.
• Casting Song of Elysium causes Hades to howl like his Kubrow, invigorating himself with a small amount of health and removing any ongoing status effects. Should Elysium hear his master's call, he will answer with a howl of his own, restoring additional health to Hades and any Tenno allies within a radius of him, as well as temporarily stunning nearby foes.

Furthermore, as long as the respective Hound's gate is open, Hades may spend one Judgement by hold-casting No Escape to relocate their respective Gate to any point marked within its Outer Radius, while its Hound unleashes a powerful ability as it takes its new post:

• Tartarus furiously charges toward his gate, tearing through all foes between the old location and the new and leaving a lingering trail of hellfire in his wake.
• Asphodel leaps to his new post, upon landing causing two cones of entangling chains to radiate outward from his position perpendicular to the direction he traveled to reach it.
• Elysium's unbridled glee over his new playground causes him to unleash a slow-moving wave of vibrant energy upon reaching his Gate, which increases in radius with distance from its previous location. All allies caught in this wave of jubilation are granted health regeneration and status immunity for a short time, while enemies are overcome with positive feelings that sharply cut their movement speed and ability to deal damage.

All enemies that take damage from any of these abilities are inflicted with the Sentence debuff, and automatically count toward Hades' Judgements if killed by the effect.

Summary: No Escape produces multiple effects depending on which Hound is selected in Gates of the Underworld, and further augmented by that Hound's presence in the field:

• Selecting Tartarus casts Flames of Tartarus, which deals (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) Fire and Impact damage with 50%/60%/75%/100% chance to trigger Heat proc on affected targets in a (XX/XX/XXX/XXX)-meter line in front of Hades. Tartarus, if present, will also perform a charge attack in a line from his Gate to the edge of its Outer Radius, passing through a point or enemy marked by Hades' cursor while dealing (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) Puncture and Impact damage and knocking down all enemies along the path, before immediately returning to his Gate's Inner Radius.
• Selecting Asphodel casts Chains of Asphodel, which launches a thrown bolas projectile with a range of (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) meters affected by gravity at Hades' cursor. Upon striking an enemy, the projectile deals (X/X/XX/XX) Puncture damage and entangles that foe and up to (0/1/2/3) additional adjacent enemies, immobilizing them for (X/X/XX/XX) seconds and granting an additional (XX/XX/XX/XX)% chance to drop an Energy Orb if killed during the duration. If Asphodel is active, he will jump to the initial target entangled by the Chains and wrap them in his leash before pulling them quickly toward his Gate, meanwhile producing an inverted cone effect starting at the entangled target's location and widening toward his Gate's Inner Radius, staggering all living foes in the area-of-effect and pulling them up to (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) meters toward Asphodel's Gate.
• Selecting Elysium casts Song of Elysium, which causes Hades to stand still for 1.5 seconds and howl, healing himself for (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) HP and remove all current ongoing negative status debuffs. If Elysium is summoned, this self-heal is increased by (XX/XX/XX/XX) points and Elysium will also howl for 3 seconds, creating a (X/X/XX/XX)-meter area effect centered on himself that heals any Tenno standing in it for (X.X/X.X/X/XX)% HP per second and immobilizing any hostile entities that enter the radius for the duration of the howl and for (X/X/X/X) seconds after it ends.

If the respective Hound is active and Hades has at least one stack of Judgement available, he may hold-cast No Escape to consume a single stack of Judgement to relocate that Hound's Gate to a point within that Gate's current Outer Radius marked by Hades' cursor, as well as produce one of the following effects:

• Relocating Tartarus's Gate causes him to perform a burning charge attack in a (X/X/XX/XX)-meter-wide line going from his old Gate's previous location to his new Gate's current one, dealing (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) points of Heat, Puncture, and Slash damage with (25%/50%/75%/100%) status chance to all enemies in his path, as well as leaving a lingering trail of flames that lasts for (X/XX/XX/XX) seconds and deals (XX/XX/XX/XXX) points of fire damage per second to all enemies within it for its duration. Enemies damaged during the initial charge are all marked with the Sentenced debuff, and enemies killed during the charge are immediately counted toward stacks of Judgement.
• Relocating Asphodel's Gate causes him to immediately leap to his new Gate over a course of (1.5/1.25/1/0.5) seconds, upon landing producing two opposing cones (XX/XX/XX/XX) meters wide and (XX/XX/XX/XX) meters long, perpendicular to the line drawn between the previous Gate and the current one. Enemies caught in these cones are damaged and entangled as if struck by Chains of Asphodel, in addition to being marked with the Sentenced debuff.
• Relocating Elysium's Gate causes him to rush to his new Gate and release a wave of energy that spreads outward from the Gate at a speed of (X/X/X/X) meters per second to a maximum radius of (XX/XX/XX/XXX)% of the distance traveled between the old Gate and the new. Allies touched by the wave receive a buff that heals them for (X/X/XX/XX)% of their health per second over (X/X/X/XX) seconds, and grants immunity to negative status procs for the duration. Enemies caught in the wave are inflicted with a debuff that reduces their movement speed and damage dealt by (XX/XX/XX/XX)% for the same duration.

Augment: [Undecided]

Third Ability - Master's Call

Hades's third ability allows him to summon a currently active Hound to his side at the cost of one Judgement, leashing it to Hades and allowing it to temporarily move and fight alongside him beyond the normal range of its Gate, as if Hades himself were temporarily serving as that Hound's own Gate. Hounds may still not stray further from Hades than they could their own Gate, and will automatically move to remain within this distance of Hades at all times. Each particular Hound confers a buff upon Hades that lasts for the full duration of the ability:

• Tartarus's Bloodlust grants increased fire damage and status chance for all weapons
• Asphodel's Dilligence grants damage reduction and knockback resistance
• Elysium's Kindness grants bonus maximum health and increases healing from all sources

At any time while a given Hound is under the effects of Master's Call, Hades may select that Hound to cast Gate of the Underworld at no cost, or hold-cast No Escape at reduced cost, to  remove that Hound from his grasp and tether it instead to the Gate spawned when the ability was cast. Note that this ability allows Hades to use himself as the point of origin for both the tap- and held-cast versions of No Escape for any Hound currently leashed to him. Buffs granted by Master's Call will not expire prematurely should Hades relinquish his tether on the Hound that granted it.

Hounds return to their posts automatically should they remain tethered to Hades at the end of their respective buff, so long as Hades remains within the Outer Radius of that Hound's Gate. While Hounds leashed to Hades can be moved alongside him beyond even the Outer Radius of their Gates, be warned that they will be dismissed should Master's Call expire outside the reach of their Gate, and will need to be re-summoned at full cost.

Summary: At the cost of one (1) stack of Judgement, Hades whistles for an active Hound highlighted by Gates of the Underworld to vanish from its post at its respective Gate and appear at his side, becoming attached to Hades himself via a length of glowing energy-colored chain trailing from the Hound to Hades' left hand. This ability may only be cast if 1) the currently-selected Hound has already been summoned and 2) Hades has one or more stacks of Judgement at his disposal. If one or both of these conditions are not met, this ability will be greyed out and unable to be cast, returning an "Ability Not Ready" notification if attempted. Hades may have a maximum of (1/1/2/3) Hounds tethered to him at a time; attempting to summon another Hound outside the maximum dismisses or returns the oldest Hound from Hades' control as if that Hound's duration had expired.

Any Hounds summoned to Hades' side will be able to move and attack enemies freely within a distance of (XX/XX/XXX/XXX) meters from him, same as the Inner Radius of a Gate. Should Hades move further than this maximum distance from his Hound, said Hound will automatically be forced to move alongside Hades to maintain a distance less than this maximum.

When Hades summons a Hound to himself via Master's Call, he is granted one of the following buffs for (X/XX/XX/XX) seconds depending on the Hound in question:

• Summoning Tartarus to his side grants Tartarus's Bloodlust, giving an additional (XX/XX/XX/XX)% fire damage to all melee weapons, and increases status chance on all weapons by (X/X/XX/XX)%
• Summoning Asphodel to his side grants Asphodel's Dilligence, reducing damage to Hades' health by (X/X/XX/XX)%, and gives a (X/XX/XX/XX)% chance to negate or resist a knockdown effect
• Summoning Elysium to his side grants Elysium's Kindness, increasing Hades' maximum health by an additional (XX/XX/XX/XX)%, as well as boosting health restoration from health orbs and Warframe abilities by (X/X/XX/XX)%

Hounds may remain tethered to Hades for as long as their respective buff persists, and will return to their respective Gates if Hades is within that Gate's Outer Radius at the time the ability expires. Otherwise, any Hounds taken beyond the borders of their Gates when their Master's Call expires will be dismissed along with their Gate, requiring Hades to summon them anew.

Hold-casting Gate of the Underworld while a Hound currently tethered to Hades is selected incurs no energy cost, and removes the Hound from Hades' side as it spawns chained to the new Gate created by the ability.

Casting No Escape using a Hound currently tethered to Hades casts the respective ability at a 50% reduction in energy cost (i.e. base 25 instead of 50), with the caveat that Hades himself serves as the origin point for any Hound-related effect that would normally originate from that Hound's Gate. Hold-casting No Escape using a Hound currently tethered to Hades relinquishes the tether to that Hound to the new Gate created at the targeted location in a similar manner to Gate of the Underworld.

Relinquishing control of a Hound to a Gate does not cause the buff granted by that Hound to expire prematurely, and it will continue to its full duration with or without said Hound's physical connection to Hades. Re-casting Master's Call on a select Hound while currently benefitting from that Hound's buff resets the duration; any time remaining of the old duration is lost.

Augment: Long Walk

If any Hounds remain in Hades' control at the end of their Master's Call duration, their buff will automatically refresh itself for (25/50/75/100)% of its full duration at the cost of one stack of Judgement. Master's Call will expire as normal if no stacks of Judgement are available.

(Aside: I am considering the implications of allowing Master's Call to summon inactive Hounds to Hades' side at an increased energy cost in addition to one or more stacks of Judgement, either as part of the base ability or enabled via an Augment mod. Hounds summoned in this manner would be treated as constantly outside their Gate's Outer Radius and dismissed at the end of the ability's duration unless a Gate was summoned for them via hold-casting Hades' first or second abilities.)

Ultimate Ability - Cerberus

Cry havoc, Tenno, and unleash Hades' most loyal and most powerful ally: Cerberus.

Once all three Gates of the Underworld have been unlocked, Hades can spend three Judgements to open the final Gate and loose its 3-headed Kubrow guardian upon the battlefield. Unlike Hades' other Hounds, Cerberus is not bound to his Gate, and can freely move and attack anywhere on the battlefield as a true Exalted Companion. Furthermore, Hades and Cerberus share a powerful bond that allows each to empower the other so long as both are on the field. Cerberus gains Health, Armor, and Shield based on a portion of Hades' own after mods, and Hades has his abilities empowered in the following ways:

Cerberus is Hades' true Hound, the others being mere spectral imitations based on aspects of the original. Cycling through Gates of the Underworld will change Cerberus's passive ability to match that of the chosen Hound. Tartarus bestows his vicious execution, Asphodel his defending disarm, and Elysium a terrifying growl that makes surrounding foes paralyzed with fear and unable to turn their backs to Cerberus- it would seem Cerberus's Kindness is reserved only for Hades.

When Hades quick-casts No Escape, Cerberus can join in at the cost of a Judgement to empower Hades' attack, creating further synergies if its respective Hound is on the battlefield.

• Flames of Cerberus supplements Hades' line of flames with a charge attack from Cerberus along the same vector. If Tartarus has been summoned, his charge will deal extra fire damage and leave a trail of hellfire of its own; should the two Hounds' paths intersect, a damaging burst of magma will erupt from the ground at that point after a short delay.
• Chains of Cerberus sends the Hound to follow-up on Hades's bolas, entangling additional enemies in a radius surrounding the target in his leash. Asphodel will still attempt to pull the entangled mass of bodies toward his Gate, with enough force to crush and damage other enemies trampled by the condemned en route.
• Song of Cerberus creates a howling duet between Hades and Cerberus that heals and cleanses them and any allies in their proximity. Should Elysium join the song, the resulting harmony will bestow status immunity upon allies and deafen foes within earshot of either Hound.

Finally, Master's Call can be held-cast to order Cerberus to focus on a group of enemies close to Hades' cursor- Cerberus will viciously assault all marked foes until none remain alive unless Hades calls him off or issues a new attack order by recasting Master's Call.

Though powerful, Hades is still a creature of flesh and blood capable of taking damage and receiving mortal wounds. Once Cerberus's duration expires, or upon receiving lethal damage, Cerberus will retreat into the Underworld to recuperate, causing his health to regenerate rapidly while in Hades' pocket domain. If Cerberus was dismissed due to taking lethal damage, he will not be able to be summoned again until his health is restored fully. 

Summary: Summons an Exalted Kubrow wearing the combined armors of Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium to give the appearance of having 3 heads. This ability cannot be cast until Hades has unlocked all 3 Gates of the Underworld from his first ability (requiring a total of 3 Judgements to be spent in the process) and requires an additional 3 Judgements to cast for the first time, henceforth only requiring 100 base Energy and 1 Judgement to cast.

Cerberus has XXX(XXX) base Health and Shield and base 150 Armor, as well as an innate 50/75/100/125% health-link and 25/50/75/90% Armor- and Shield-Link with Hades. Cerberus's attacks deal 304 Slash damage with 20% crit chance, 4x crit damage, and 10% Status chance, further augmented by Exalted Companion loadout and Ability Power.

Cerberus moves and attacks freely about the map as an Exalted Companion, rather than being tethered to a Gate like the other Hounds.

Cerberus uses the passive ability of whichever Hound is currently highlighted in Gates of the Underworld's selection wheel (see that ability for more details) with the exception of Elysium's Charm being replaced by a cosmetically different but mechanically identical "Fear" effect.

While Cerberus is on the field, and Hades has at least one stack of Judgement at his disposal, the tap-cast versions of No Escape will be replaced with the following:

• Flames of Tartarus becomes Flames of Cerberus, which calls Cerberus to Hades' side and sends him charging forward along the same vector as Flames of Tartarus, causing the attack to deal an additional XX/XX/XXX/XXX points of Impact and Puncture damage. If Tartarus is summoned, his charge attack will deal an additional XX/XX/XXX/XXX points of Fire damage and leave a lingering trail of flames similar to that left by Hades. If the areas of both Cerberus's and Tartarus's charge attacks overlap, a damaging eruption will occur at the point of intersection, dealing an additional XX/XX/XXX/XXX points of Fire, Blast, and Impact damage to enemies in a XX/XX/XX/XX-meter radius after a 2/1.5/1/0.5-second delay.
• Chains of Asphodel gets upgraded to Chains of Cerberus, in which Cerberus will rapidly encircle the target hit by Hades' thrown Bolas to a radius of X/XX/XX/XXX meters, entangling all enemies caught within in chains and pulling them toward the center of the area of effect. If Asphodel is summoned, he will still attempt to pull the mass of entangled foes toward his Gate, with the additional effects that non-entangled enemies within the knockdown area will also receive XX/XX/XX/XXX points of Puncture and Impact damage for each entangled enemy caught in the mass.
• Song of Elysium becomes Song of Cerberus, which summons Cerberus to Hades's position to replicate the radial healing and status-debuff-removing effect of Elysium's howl from the base ability. If Elysium is also present, both Hounds will produce the same healing radius at both Hades's and Elysium's respective positions, with the added effect of granting status immunity to Hades and all allies in either area of effect for the same duration as the health regeneration buff, as well as permanently deafening all enemies in either radius.

Finally, Master's Call can be held-cast to mark enemies in a 5-meter radius of Hades's cursor; Cerberus will prioritize attacking these marked enemies until all have been killed or Hades hold-casts the ability to prioritize a new target. Recasting Master's Call in this manner removes all currently existing death marks in favor of the new ones; Hades may in essence "call off" Cerberus by hold-casting Master's Call at empty space. No stacks of Judgement are consumed by this ability if no enemies are marked by that casting.

Cerberus, once summoned, lasts for XX/XX/XX/XX seconds before he is automatically dismissed; he can be dismissed before this duration expires by hold-casting Hades's Ultimate ability or immediately upon Cerberus's health reaching 0, whichever comes first. When Cerberus is dismissed, his health will regenerate at a rate of XX/XX/XX/XX% per second until full, and can be re-summoned at his current health level by paying the requisite energy and Judgement costs. If Cerberus was dismissed by reaching 0 HP, he will not be able to be summoned again until his health has regenerated fully.

Augment: [Undecided]

-------

No mere mortal can tame the Hounds of Hades, Tenno; a true Lord of the Underworld must be as clever as they are merciless.

[baldy117]

i pretty sure Hades only has 1 Dog to his name being Cerberus  might be better to replace your concept with Hecate who is more closely related to dogs in Myth

[Cobalt313]

7 hours ago, baldy117 said:

i pretty sure Hades only has 1 Dog to his name being Cerberus  might be better to replace your concept with Hecate who is more closely related to dogs in Myth

technically so does Hades- Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium are technically just spectral minions derived from aspects of Cerberus, who is Hades' only "real" corporeal Kubrow, but that's a mild spoiler.

Will consider using "Hecate" and "Persephone" as names for his alt helms though, once I come up with them.

And the base design...

[Cobalt313]

Three abilities and two augments down, one ability to go, stats still pending.

[Cobalt313]

Actually, before I move on to putting out stats on Cerberus, I have something I might need some help brainstorming about:

Currently, Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium cannot be killed once summoned. Primarily this is to compensate for limited mobility due to being bound to a finite circular area effect centered on an immobile Gate, which could pose a problem in a game like Warframe where most enemies possess some kind of ranged weaponry. Basically, I made them immortal solely so enemies can't just shoot them to death while staying far enough away from the Gate that the Hound can't fight back.

There's just one minor problem, though: without a need for Health, Armor, or Shields, Hounds don't have much to gain from the Exalted Companion mod loadout, except maybe for mods that add or boost damage, crits, or status chance. Cerberus, meanwhile, is free-roaming, corporeal, and capable of being killed, so he has something to gain from Companion mods relating to health, shields, and armor, but until he's unlocked these mods would be wasted on the spectral Hounds.

Now, technically speaking, this isn't a bad thing; for levels 1-10 while Cerberus hasn't been unlocked yet, you can just give your Hounds a mod loadout dedicated exclusively to boosting damage output, and just save the survivability mods for after Cerberus has been unlocked and you decide you want him to last longer after being summoned. Heck, you might decide to stay focused on increasing damage anyway; theoretically, you can just summon Cerberus again after he dies so long as you can keep paying the requisite Energy and Judgement costs, if you even want to bother letting him out at all. That would be a perfectly valid strategy given the way Hounds currently work.

Before I make that design final, though, I just have some other ideas I want to bring up first to see what everyone thinks (or has any better ideas) before I make anything "canon":

1. Hounds are immortal and do not benefit from mods that increase Health, Armor, or Shields; only Cerberus does. Hounds only benefit from mods that add or boost damage-related stats. Current design, explained above. Lets players wait until after Cerberus is unlocked before bothering to make room for survivability mods in the Exalted Companion mod loadout in Hades' Arsenal.
   1. Extending the above, have Cerberus come with innate Health-Link, Armor-Link, and Shield-Link, which may or may not stack further with mods. Basically, since Cerberus is Hades' BFF and doesn't answer to anyone but him, why wouldn't their stats be innately tied together by default? The option could still exist to boost it further in case you have a thing for exalted companions with obscenely long status bars, but ultimately this would free up at least three major companion mod slots to let you stay focused on a pure damage-buffing build of your choice while still giving Cerberus a decent amount of survivability right out of the gate (pun intended).
2. Hounds are still immortal but receive some other benefit from Health, Armor, and Shield mods What benefit this is I haven't decided yet; maybe Health, Shields, and Armor boosts get converted to damage boosts for Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium respectively. Maybe the bonuses are granted to Hades by their Master's Call buffs instead of or in addition to their current effects. Maybe boosting these stats just boosts other stats relating to Hound-related abilities in some abstract way- I don't really know at this point, the idea would just be to give survivability mods a use for something beyond keeping Hades' Ultimate alive.
3. Hounds can be killed, but only by enemies standing inside their Gate's Inner Radius A bit of a fair compromise- if we are to make the Hounds mortal and thus give them a need for health, armor, and shields, it's only fair that the only things capable of harming them are things that they in turn are capable of harming. May introduce a level of tedium as Hades will need to spend time and Energy replacing slain Hounds (though the latter could be mitigated by making Gates of the Underworld cost less to re-summon a Hound at an existing Gate rather than placing a new one to summon a new Hound) as well as introducing concerns of survivability scaling into higher levels possibly rendering Hades useless for late-game, but if all Hounds must be made killable, not just Cerberus, I feel like this would be the best way to go about doing it.

 

Personally out of all these ideas I think 1.1 might be the best, but I can wait a bit for feedback and other ideas from you lot before moving forward. So, any thoughts?

[Cobalt313]

Got base stats down for his ultimate Cerberus, and with it have completed his abilities. Tried my hand at a couple solid stat numbers for Cerberus's base stats but will probably need to wait on figuring out Hades's own base stats before calculating the rest on account of the innate Health-, Armor-, and Shield-link between Cerberus and Hades.

[Cobalt313]

Added the following base stats for levels 1-30, feedback or suggestions for alteration welcome:

Health: 75-225
Shield: 100-300
Energy: 150-300
Armor: 150
Sprint Speed: 1.1