Board 8 > Mercenaries 5 Unveiling Topic: Now Hiring! [New Game]

(+) Yeah! (+)

p.s. perfect montezuma or we will riot
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gonna be honest, I have no idea how to fix Montezuma

lowering your upkeep without affecting infra gains or roster slot costs is fundamentally a bad trade, because more abilities hit weak characters than strong ones. There's probably a way to tackle this but I can't see it ATM.
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you could make it affect infra gains or roster slot costs

(probably the latter; infra doesn't help unless you win)
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it's kinda broken then though

getting to field a 6/week for one slot in low and mid is the good stuff

then again, we could still require that the target be paid down...hmm. Maybe. I'd really have to get the other admins to test it with me to determine if this is comically busted or workable, especially given that we're going to introduce antipaydown measures.
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Look I just want a high tier boss RPG boss battle fight topic with the big bad and his 13 3/week henchmen vs a standard party
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Dantezoid posted...

Look I just want a high tier boss RPG boss battle fight topic with the big bad and his 13 3/week henchmen vs a standard party

I do too

we're gonna try to fix the rostering rules so there's a bit more payoff for fielding a team that's below-tier, we want these gimmicks to be more viable
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you have my spear
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I mean you'd have to make it a pretty good incentive to overcome the dreaded Shiny High Tier Smashes All the Peons voter habit
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yeah tbh I am somewhat conflicted, because I aesthetically like the ragtag army of 3s busting the roster cap, but I probably respect it less than most
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DeathChicken posted...

I mean you'd have to make it a pretty good incentive to overcome the dreaded Shiny High Tier Smashes All the Peons voter habit

AP might be a solution, maybe. We'll see. The theory is that if you gain one or two extra APs you can nuke some threats down and force a more interesting fight - Kratos, Kuja and Dante vs 14 3s is a bad look for the 3s because the high tier dudes roll them, but just Kuja and a couple 5s? That's more interesting.
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That's interesting because Kuja gets a lot of disrespect. Substitute, say, Sephiroth or Zero and suddenly it's a lot less interesting.
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It'd basically be that match I had with Alany where people went "Sephiroth kills every low tier in his sleep while Armstrong may or may not be picking his ass because of how this ability works"

...well, minus the vote rallying and making HGR want to quit the game
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Hi, HGR. How are you?
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Gatarix posted...

That's interesting because Kuja gets a lot of disrespect. Substitute, say, Sephiroth or Zero and suddenly it's a lot less interesting.

Maybe - though I feel a debuffed zero could lose that. If the 3s aren't just totally generic they could stall zero while taking care of his cohorts then take him down. Seph less so since he has stuff like Esuna to help him, but I feel people might buy these scenarios just because MMOs have taught people to envision super powerful enemies being brought low by a coordinated gang of scrubs.

(I would vote for the raid boss tho. I keep my impartiality to the rules, the villain crushing the underdog gets my vote in matches)
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And you gave to consider how easy it can be to get wiped in even just a regular dungeon if your tank or healer fuck up.
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Here's a build free of charge no need to thank me

Jack Baker (Resident Evil 7)
Villainous Male Undead
Upkeep: 2/Week

Jack Baker is as seen in his first two fights in Resident Evil 7, equipped with his chainsaw shears.

Welcome To The Family, Son (Start of Battle) -Jack's family was given a gift, and once every four weeks, Jack can spread this gift to a preselected male merc. That merc will gain similar strength and regeneration powers that Jack shows, but in turn they will become unhinged, psychotic and sadistic and will prefer to work by themselves over helping their team. If an ally is chosen, they will still communicate and cooperate with Jack.

UPGRADES:

(Ability Upgrades)

Jack now welcomes daughters into the family, and can now target female mercs.

(Character Upgrade)

If Jack's body is completely destroyed in battle, he will get back up two minutes later in the form seen in his third fight.

(New Abilities)

You're About To Witness Something Wonderful (Pre-Battle) - Once every four weeks, Jack can show what his gift can really do. After using this ability, Jack will enter the fight without needing to be rostered. At the start of the match, Jack will approach a random post-rosters merc and use their one of their weapons to kill himself. After three minutes, Jack will get back up and fight the enemy team as normal.

We're A Family Now (Trigger) -When any ability with the word Family in it is used and Jack is rostered, Marguerite Baker will come into battle as a free assist for Jack.

Marguerite Baker is as seen in Resident Evil 7 in her second fight.
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I don't need to thank you but I will

Thanks, excella
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There is always a need to thank excella
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GANON1025 posted...

At the start of the match, Jack will approach a random post-rosters merc and use their one of their weapons to kill himself. After three minutes, Jack will get back up and fight the enemy team as normal.

What weapon is chosen? Because if it's something explosive, does that mean AoE damage?

I think he would start the battle already dead, do thered be no interaction with it.
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target wa mou shindeiru
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muda da
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Indeed
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A while ago I made a better Ganondorf. Again, save your applause.

Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda Series)
Villainous Male Otherwordly
Upkeep: 3/Week
Min Bid: 63 GP

Ganondorf is as he appears in Hyrule Warriors, fully upgraded and wielding his best swords and trident (though they do not have any random modifiers) but none of the subweapons or potions. He additionally has all the abilities seen in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. He can transform into ____ Ganon form for the week.

Customization: Each week, Ganondorf's leader can pick which Ganon form he can take into battle:

- Four Swords Adventures Ganon
- Ocarina of Time Ganon
-Twilight Princess Ganon
-Hyrule Warriors Ganon (If this option is chosen during a low tier week, Ganondorf uses two slots if rostered)

The King of Evil (Passive)- As the King of Evil, Ganondorf is immune to any abilities used on him by heroic Mercs. This immunity only applies to single-target abilities and abilities which may target Ganondorf directly (like the Shell), not "blanket effect" abilities. If a single-target ability would be negated in this way, it fizzles and does not go on recharge.

Triforce of Power (Start of Battle)-When about to face defeat, Ganondorf can tap into the Triforce of Power to unleash his full strength. Once every 4 weeks, Ganondorf will revive immediately and permanently transform into his chosen Ganon form after being defeated in battle regardless of his state upon said defeat, and his opponents will not be aware of this until it happens.

UPGRADES:

(Ability Upgrade; 20 EXP)

Upon Ganondorf's defeat, the terrain will be laid to waste. Any buildings or structures in the terrain will be turned to rubble and the sky will darken. Ganondorf is immune to any damage from this destruction.

(New Abilities; 20 EXP)

You DARE Bring LIGHT Into My Lair? (Start of Battle)- Ganondorf will not take kindly to people trying to exploit his weakness in battle. Once every three weeks, Ganondorf's leader may select one preselected enemy mercenary. If Ganondorf's team wins the terrain bid, Ganondorf will seal the merc's holy powers. The enemy cannot use any Light/Holy spells during battle, nor use any Light/Holy-attribute abilities and additionally any armor,weaponry, or items with Light/Holy attributes on them will be drained of their power (i.e. the Vampire Killer would be turned into a normal whip by this ability). This ability can also hit any merc with "Light" in their name, preventing them from using any magic in battle as well as the above effects.

... You Must DIE! (Results) - If Ganondorf's team is victorious, there is a 50% chance the merc hit with You DARE Bring LIGHT Into My Lair? will be injured.
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oh so if we're gonna be posting rebuilt mercs, I have to bring back this:

Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts)
Villainous Male Human/Otherwordly
5/week

Ansem, Seeker of the Darkness is as he appears in his first two phases of the final boss fight in Kingdom Hearts. He may freely summon Xehanort's Guardian and use all of his attacks from both KH1 and Chain of Memories. Riku will not influence him and he may not summon any other heartless.

Terra-Xehanort is as he appears in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, after having possessed Terra's body. He has access to all of his attacks seen during his boss fight with the Lingering Will and the first phase of the final battle, but may not summon his Guardian or perform any attacks unique to the second phase of his last fight.

Xemnas is as he appears in the final boss fight of Kingdom Hearts II and its cutscenes, with all of his abilities except for Invitation to Nothingness.

Abilities

My twelve selves would welcome me here on this day (Peacetime) - Every week, Xehanort may choose which of his forms to fight in. However, the strain of switching between forms will take its toll; each form except Terra-Xehanort will go on cooldown after being used. If no form is selected, it will default to Terra-Xehanort.

-Terra-Xehanort. He is a Villainous Male Human. His upkeep will be 5/week. He will not go on cooldown after being used.

-Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless. He is a Villainous Male Otherwordly. Ansem's upkeep will be 5/week. He will go on a 1 week cooldown.

-Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody. He is a Villainous Male Otherwordly. Xemnas' upkeep will be 6/week. He will go on a 1 week cooldown.

You see, darkness is the heart's true essence (Pre-Battle) - Each week, Xehanort's chosen form may open a pre-selected mercenary's heart to DARKNESS. The mercenary will become villainous for the week, and their personality will be altered to care only for winning at any cost. Xehanort may target an additional mercenary for an additional week of recharge per mercenary targeted.

Upgrades

Character Upgrade - Choose one of the following: Xehanort will be accompanied by Vanitas; Ansem can summon Darkside once per battle; Xemnas will have access to his attacks from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, but will not be able to cast illusions. This upgrade can be taken up to 3 times.

Ability Upgrade - Add the following options to the My Twelve Selves:

-Young Xehanort. He is a Villainous Male Human. His upkeep will be 6/week. He will go on a 2 week cooldown.

-Master Xehanort. He is a Villainous Male Human. His upkeep will be 7/week. He will go on a 4 week cooldown.

Young Xehanort is as he appears in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, during the final battle. He has access to all of his attacks, including his clock summon, but it will not turn back time nor require a Reality Shift to hit, only allow him to perform his attacks exclusive to his second phase. In addition, he has free access to all of his attacks as the Mysterious Figure from Birth By Sleep that don't involve clones, and may use his clone attacks after he summons his clock.

Master Xehanort is as seen throughout Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and has all feats from its cutscenes. He cannot summon creatures of darkness or possess mercenaries. Guardian and Vanitas will not accompany him during the battle.

New Ability - You are such fools of light (Start of Battle, Recharge 3) - Once every 4 weeks, Xehanort's chosen form may use Invitation to Nothingness, Xemnas' final attack as seen in his boss battle in Kingdom Hearts II. The attack will hit a randomly selected enemy Heroic mercenary, with a 20% chance of hitting a second. The selected mercs will start the battle surrounded by hundreds of lasers flying in their direction.
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Terrain
Keyblade Graveyard - A massive barren wasteland littered with thousands of fallen Keyblades driven into the ground.

of course there might need to be changes once KH3 is released
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Cancel KH3
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Would rather have ganon be calamity ganon I think

gives him more niche
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Im not impressed by calamity Ganon.
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Yeah, aside from having an assload of health (if he isn't preemptively zapped by lasers), he isn't terribly impressive
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I kinda disagree there, dude has really large aoe attacks and if he gets calamity he'd also get dark beast (who has big honkin lasers to disrupt with)

there's some big value to having lots of AoE and never ever dying, IMO. I can't see more 3s dealing with him at all in a team context.
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hm
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...hahaha!
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im wacthing the grumos play Okami

Amatersu kind of sucks so far
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dum dog :(
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when I tried to play Okami I got stuck on the part where you have to draw a straight line
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speaking of straight lines and stuck

we'll have some new stuff very soon guys

get hyped for a new bit of development coming soon to a topic near you
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...
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DeathChicken posted...

...

Still coming, worry not

but we want to have this in the best shape possible before we show you guys a direction we're working on so you can maul something that looks at least vaguely presentable and not half-baked!
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I love half-baked.
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How much is the contest going to influence new builds
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Also I love my bass.exe but more battle network mercs imo
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how about just regular mega man mercs
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Days late, dollars short, but quality-controlled, it's time for a couple new previews!

First off, I want to introduce everyone to the Ability Primer Mk. II, now refitted for use with the AP system! Give it a look and lemme know if there's anything about it that doesn't make sense, everyone. This document is very, very important when it comes to helping make the game easier to follow and more understandable: https://pastebin.com/zdVHMZij

But that's not all. This time, I want to take the opportunity to introduce two new mechanics as well! Both of them belong in Peacetime, and the goal is to address the problem of paydowns and preserve some degree of ability spam in the new, much more restrictive ability system.

In general, we believe the paydown system is fine as is. It's not improperly priced relative to your income, the number of slots mercs take is on point, and generally speaking it was a sensible piece of design from the M4 admins. The issue is that while paydowns expand your options if you choose to favor big dangerous mercenaries, there is no equivalent option expansion for people who choose to fight with a low-tier heavy team. This is a problem, because it introduces inequivalent paths to power. Thus, the Bounty Hunting mechanic was born, to provide players who want to field low heavy squads with more tools.

The second mechanic is tentatively titled 'Supply Duties'. It's a way of acquiring more AP for when you really need it, at the cost of sacrificing ability options down the line. It's fairly simpler than Bounties, but we hope it'll provide a fun, unique way to take care of business when you just want to nuke someone off the face of the earth and get that big win. I'll post the mechanics in the next post, as I think everyone should see them.
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Bounty Hunting

Paid down mercenaries are a terrible force to face, spreading fear across the ranks of the mercenaries in the tiers below them. Fortunately, they also spread rumours, and promises of glory for whoever defeats them. In a time of need, leaders may turn towards the free agents no team has claimed and contract them for a single, specific task: defeating a certain enemy. This, after all, is why they are mercenaries...

During Peacetime, for the same duration as the paydown period, leaders may post Bounties on the heads of enemy mercenaries, of a value equal to half the target mercenary's paydown cost for that week's battle (so for example, 3 GP for a 6/week in a mid tier week). Should the targeted mercenary be paid down, the bounty will become effective immediately, and unbought mercenaries who would normally be rostered for that week's match will offer their services to the bounty-posting leader for that week's battle.

If during Wartime the bounty-posting leader's team fights the team of the paid down merc, they will be able to hire a number of mercenaries for that day's battle equal to the number of roster slots the mercenary would normally take to fight in the tier. The hired mercenaries will appear in their base forms, completely unupgraded, and must be selected either publicly or privately during Peacetime after the bounty has been posted. In addition, the leader will receive 1 additional AP, which can *only* be spent on the bounty hunters' abilities, per mercenary with a relevant bounty to that week's match. Bounty Hunters may not use Limited Use abilities under any circumstances unless otherwise specified.

At the end of the Results phase, additional fees for a job successfully (or poorly) undertaken must be paid. If a bounty is rendered inapplicable by the leader's team not fighting that merc's team that week, the cost of the bounty will be refunded. If none of the mercenaries acquired through a Bounty use abilities with a cost of 1 AP or higher, nor are they rostered in battle, then the leader will not have to pay any additional fees. If any abilities of 1 AP cost or higher belonging to a bounty hunter are used, or if a bounty hunter is rostered in that week's match, the leader will have to pay them additional hunting fees, equal to the Bounty's initial value. Use bounties carefully!

Supply and (AP) Demand

Ability usage is intentionally limited in this version of Mercenaries, to make the game simpler and easier to follow. However, this doesn't mean the massive ability barrages of old are completely impossible to replicate...so long as the price is right. During Peacetime's ability window, mercenaries may be Fatigued for a number of weeks listed on their page, in exchange for an amount of AP also listed on their page. An example is as follows:

Supply Value: 2/1

Here, the two values indicate Fatigue and AP gained, respectively. So a mercenary with these values could be exhausted for the following two weeks, in exchange for 1 additional AP to use that week. Mercs dedicated to Supply may still fight, but may not use abilities (Supports attached to them are not affected, however). Additionally, a merc must not be Fatigued to be used for Supply. Declaring that a mercenary is assigned to Supply duties must be done in bold, as normal, in the Peacetime topic. AP bonuses do NOT apply every week a mercenary is assigned to Supply duties, but only on the week the assignment is declared. If you want more AP, be ready to dedicate more mercs to fueling your AP barrages!
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Up, for everyone who didn't see this yet.
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ooh, I remember way back wanting to make a build for Infinite from Sonic Forces

where would he end up? I'd think he's an easy 6 which ultimately probably means he's a 5 due to Sonic disrespect

As fast or faster than Sonic, flies, teleports, hard light projection, self-cloning (although the clones are basically just one-hit)

some abilities I assume would be restricted (gravity manipulation, illusions, null space, etc.)

most powerful attack had him basically creating a mini sun, which it said would've wiped out the entire resistance if not for plot stuff, although using this attack is a last-ditch effort that will leave him drained
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

unbought mercenaries who would normally be rostered for that week's match

what is this referring to?
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also goddamn that's a lot to process, gonna read over that more thoroughly later
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I believe in earnest that Shadow would get more respect because 'guns', or Metal Sonic because 'made of metal'. "Loses a fight to known coward and loser, The Player", who is also a Sonic, is a pretty rough showing.

Like I could say Marx from Kirby's an interplanetary-speed monster who can turn into a literal black hole that transports people to a dimension filled with literally nothing but explosions and infinite teleport spam... but he lost to Kirby clean with no "anti-villain" weapon to give him plot armor so respect is non-existent.

what stupid kirby character do you want to see, let me know in the comments below.
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