Character Idea: The Arsenal

I had another character type idea the other day, one who could build weapons from parts, or from taking apart existing weapons to get at their components. This character could be called a "Weaponeer", though the dictionary definition of that word is "one who designs atomic bombs"... heh), so even better, "Arsenal". (I personally prefer "Gadgeteer", but this is the wrong genre for that, and since he specifically builds guns, the other is more appropriate.)

I think his defining characteristic would be building custom weapons. However, this couldn't be his main skill because every character's base skill is an immediate combat skill. So instead, his would be something I call Signature Weapon. heh However, the only thing I can think of immediately is sort of a rip on the Soldier's Scorpio Turret and to a degree, the Hunter's Bloodwing. I was thinking some special weapon would pop into the Arsenal's hands, perhaps a specialized rocket launcher with seeking qualities. *shrug* There's gotta be all sorts of better ideas out there. Maybe scattering a fan of "bomblets" like a bunch of mini-grenades. I dunno, something different. Maybe a unique Eridian weapon? eh. This is not my main thrust for the character. Help me.

The main purpose of this character is for the building of custom weapons, a skill called Weaponsmith. I think the way to do his skill is to limit the weapon by level, depending on skill level. I believe the class mods' skills go up to +4, max. That means level 10 with max skill. Since the maximum game level now (currently, heehee) is 61, we could have each level of skill allow the Arsenal to create a weapon 6 levels higher than the level below, i.e. up to lvl 6 weapon crafted at lvl 1 Weaponsmith skill, and so on up to a max of 36, or 60 with a +4 from a class mod. Or, the easier thing would be to not have this skill in a class mod and just go up to lvl 10 weapons per skill level. Yes, this is the better way, as each level would give the Arsenal far more functionality and freedom, and power.

In any case, how it would work is that when activated, the skill would open in his ECHO a diagram, for the Arsenal, and he would design what he wants to build, giving stats here and there, i.e. setting damage and accuracy and fire rate, as well as placing and setting Zoom and Elemental Effect and their levels and so on. In realtime, as the Arsenal was designing this, the diagram/ECHO display would be displaying the level of the planned weapon, rising and falling with changes. When completed, and the diagram is within the Weaponsmith's level range, the Arsenal would hit Go!, and then the game would generate all the parts necessary for the weapon, and it would effectively become a Quest that displays the parts needed, but would award no XP or $, just the completed weapon.

These parts could be found in two ways, either one or the other, or perhaps both. One way, the way of Sacrifice, is that weapons the Arsenal comes across can now be "seen" in a new way, and if that weapon has a part the Arsenal needs for his current quest, that portion of the weapon in its displayed picture would glow blueprint-blue. Some weapons might very well have more than one needed part, if the Arsenal is lucky. In any case, the Arsenal would have to make the conscious choice to break apart that weapon in order to get at the needed part(s), thus destroying the weapon. I would think that rarity would play a role in this, to make it more of a sacrifice for the player. The higher the rarity of weapons, the better the chance for applicable parts, especially at high Weaponsmith skill levels when such quality would be needed anyway.

The problem with this method is there is no "quest" factor in the building of a weapon. Its pure random chance, though that's true of everything we get in the game, excepting certain quest rewards.

The other way to do it would be much simpler, but could take the Arsenal into nasty territories. As I mentioned similar to a previous post, once the design is submitted and the "Quest" is on, the game would generate all the pieces, spread all over the map, more similar to the ECHO-gathering missions, than the weapon-part gathering ones, as the latter are always closeby one another. In fact, I think the game could make things really difficult and spread the pieces everywhere the Arsenal has accesss to, e.g. everywhere he's been or perhaps soon to go (i.e. directly linked to his current locale but as yet unexplored).

Hmm, just thought of this, but perhaps the Arsenal's Signature Weapon could be changed on the fly to whatever weapon he wanted; essentially a combination extra weapon slot, and the flexibility to set his most latest, nasty creation as his (or her; we need more female characters!) signature weapon. I think that's appropriate. And at the beginning, when the Arsenal achieves 5th level, that slot is taken up by some rather nasty but random weapon generated by the game. Or perhaps the Signature Weapon slot would allow the Arsenal to use a weapon 10 levels above his experience level. I think that's fair, especially given the power of the other characters' main skills.

I have some more ideas for other skills the Arsenal would have. Since he is a master of weaponry, he should have a skill that amplifies the damage of grenades, Demolitionist, and another skill that amplifies the protectiveness of shields, Armorer. Everyone has that latter one in one way or the other, anyhow.

I have another, very nasty ability and no doubt low on the skills tiers, called Weaponmaster. It directly affects Weapon Prioficiencies, though I have two ideas for it. One is that, with each level put in it, all the Arsenal's Weapon Proficiencies go up a level. Too nasty? So, my other idea is that instead, with each level of Weaponmaster, the Arsenal may choose a single weapon proficiency and gain a level with it. This is another skill that could not be class modded. ... Hmm, the more I think about it, getting a single Proficiency level isn't all that great or difficult, and maybe the all-up idea is more befitting a skill. Plus I was thinking of this as a bottom tier ultimate skill for that column.

Ooh, another very interesting skill that would further make the Arsenal unique: Reverse Engineer. Basically, this would allow the Arsenal to examine any item, weapons or shields mainly, and see exactly the design of the weapon and its exact stats and what it does. Like his Weaponsmith skill, it would only work on weapons and shields (I don't think there's anything special to be seen in grenade mods) up to lvl 10 at the first skill level, and 10 levels higher with each skill levelling. This would prove very useful on items such as "Reaver's Edge", "The Spy" and "Wee Wee's Super Booster" to see what they really do, as well as other named weapons. Also, if you went the route where the Arsenal assembles his weapon by taking apart other weapons, this skill could work similar to a +Rare Find class mod element in increasing his chances of finding what he needs. Either way, I think its a cool idea as I'd always wanna examine all my stuff and also get a TRUE Compare going.

Finally, for now (I'm wiped), I think another ultimate skill for the Arsenal would be Upgrade, and with it he would be able to enhance an existing item's characteristics: raising damage, fire rate, accuracy, weapon zoom... Imagine a Sledge's Shotgun with 70 Accuracy and 7 shots, base. UGH! I would imagine that doing this might just cost gobs of money, since the weapon already exists, the Arsenal is just using his consummate skill to improve it.I'd say that each level allows the Arsenal to enhance one feature of the weapon by 10%. In other words, at lvl two, 2 features 20 % better, third level: 3 features 30% better, and so on. And yes, this COULD be class modded *shudder*. I would say to keep this sane, the Arsenal would see what its new level would be with the enhancements, and could also control the level of enhancement since he's obviously raising the weapon's (or shield's, or grenade mod's) level. No, children! No one is allowed to Upgrade class mods. *slapping hand with ruler* NO!