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Difference between revisions of "User:GuyPerfect/Bob the Biohazard"

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Sure enough, in came Arachnos and out went the Destined One. And of course, Rachel followed. She managed to escape detection and boarded the flier that Arachnos had waiting outside the prison, and stowed away while the target inmate was also brought on board and returned to the Rogue Isles. Disembarking at Fort Darwin in Mercy Island, no one seemed to notice that she wasn't supposed to be there. Just as well. If any of those Arachnos personnel were bright enough to realize that something was amiss, it would be difficult to talk her way out of it. But fortunately, it didn't come to that.
 
Sure enough, in came Arachnos and out went the Destined One. And of course, Rachel followed. She managed to escape detection and boarded the flier that Arachnos had waiting outside the prison, and stowed away while the target inmate was also brought on board and returned to the Rogue Isles. Disembarking at Fort Darwin in Mercy Island, no one seemed to notice that she wasn't supposed to be there. Just as well. If any of those Arachnos personnel were bright enough to realize that something was amiss, it would be difficult to talk her way out of it. But fortunately, it didn't come to that.
  
After registering with the Arbiters, Rachel was taken in for an assessment and classification in the Arachnos record books. Her combat suit completely hides her identity, and the gas mask she wears alters her voice to divert suspicion of her true nature. Masquerading as a male villain, she was officially registered in the Rogue Isles under the moniker Bob the Biohazard. Psychological testing revealed Rachel's--or Bob's, as it were--ability to plot and execute schemes in a role of battlefield commander to be superior to other villains, and she was thusly identified as a Mastermind. When asked where she would be recruiting for minions, she expressed no interest in doing so. Much to her delight, none of the personnel took her seriously, which is just what she wanted. Now she would be able to set out on her own and finally have a job worth waking up to in the morning.
+
After registering with the Arbiters, Rachel was taken in for an assessment and classification in the Arachnos record books. Her combat suit completely hides her identity, and the special potion-emitting gas mask she wears alters her voice to divert suspicion of her true nature. Masquerading as a male villain, she was officially registered in the Rogue Isles under the moniker Bob the Biohazard. Psychological testing revealed Rachel's--or Bob's, as it were--ability to plot and execute schemes in a role of battlefield commander to be superior to other villains, and she was thusly identified as a Mastermind. When asked where she would be recruiting for minions, she expressed no interest in doing so. Much to her delight, none of the personnel took her seriously, which is just what she wanted. Now she would be able to set out on her own and finally have a job worth waking up to in the morning without the ever-watching eye of Arachnos keeping tabs on her activities.
  
The idea of taking down Lord Recluse on his own turf was a wonderful notion, and Rachel couldn't pass up such an opportunity. She'd also get to spend every hour of every day bashing in the heads of other villains. She'd even get to lay some smack-down on Longbow, who have a history of opposing the Vanguard, an organization defending the entire world from the Rikti menace. It's a win-win-win situation, and it sure beats sitting around in a lab coat all day every day.
+
The idea of taking down Lord Recluse on his own turf was a wonderful notion, and Rachel couldn't pass up such an opportunity. She'd also get to spend every hour of every day bashing in the heads of ''real'' villains. She'd even get to lay some smack-down on Longbow, who have a history of opposing the Vanguard, an organization defending the entire world from the Rikti menace. It's a win-win-win situation, and it sure beats sitting around in a lab coat all day every day. Once she makes a name for herself in the Rogue Isles, Rachel plans to bring her new Bob the Biohazard identity back to Paragon City where she can fight evil as a bona fide hero.
  
 
Another day, another beaker. Rachel prepares for her activities once again by concocting a new round of poison for her combat suit. Each time she busts some evil laboratory, she gets some more toys to play with, and is constantly designing new and unusual ways to intoxicate her foes. Though only armed with a pair of handguns and relatively weak body armor, Rachel has finally found one place that makes her happy in a twisted sort of way.
 
Another day, another beaker. Rachel prepares for her activities once again by concocting a new round of poison for her combat suit. Each time she busts some evil laboratory, she gets some more toys to play with, and is constantly designing new and unusual ways to intoxicate her foes. Though only armed with a pair of handguns and relatively weak body armor, Rachel has finally found one place that makes her happy in a twisted sort of way.
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|-
 
|-
 
|'''Server:'''
 
|'''Server:'''
|Triumph
+
| ---
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Alignment:'''
 
|'''Alignment:'''
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|-
 
|-
 
|'''Threat Level:'''
 
|'''Threat Level:'''
|28
+
| --
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''Primary:'''
 
|'''Primary:'''
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|-
 
|-
 
|'''Updated:'''
 
|'''Updated:'''
|July 12, 2008
+
|July 9, 2009
 
|}</DIV>
 
|}</DIV>
 
| Width=16 | &nbsp;
 
| Width=16 | &nbsp;
 
|'''Powers:''' (Hover mouse)<BR>
 
|'''Powers:''' (Hover mouse)<BR>
[[Image:Thugs_TargetedRangedMinorDmg.png|Thugs/Pistols]]
+
''Pending...''
[[Image:Thugs_TargetedRangedHeavyDmg.png|Thugs/Dual Wield]]
+
[[Image:Thugs_ConeRangedModerateDmg.png|Thugs/Empty Clips]]
+
[[Image:Poison_Alkaloid.png|Poison/Alkaloid]]
+
[[Image:Poison_Envenom.png|Poison/Envenom]]<BR>
+
[[Image:Poison_Weaken.png|Poison/Weaken]]
+
[[Image:Poison_NeurotoxicBreath.png|Poison/Neurotoxic Breath]]
+
[[Image:Poison_ElixirOfLife.png|Poison/Elixir of Life]]
+
[[Image:Poison_Paralytic.png|Poison/Paralytic Poison]]
+
[[Image:Invisibility_Stealth.png|Concealment/Stealth]]<BR>
+
[[Image:Fighting_Boxing.png|Fighting/Boxing]]
+
[[Image:Fighting_Kick.png|Fighting/Kick]]
+
[[Image:Fighting_Tough.png|Fighting/Tough]]
+
[[Image:Flight_ArialAssault.png|Flight/Air Superiority]]
+
[[Image:Flight_TravelFlight.png|Flight/Fly]]<BR>
+
[[Image:Teleportation_RecallTeleport.png|Teleporation/Recall Friend]]
+
 
| Width=16 | &nbsp;
 
| Width=16 | &nbsp;
|'''Costumes:'''<BR>
 
[[Image:GuyPerfect_BtB_Costume1.jpg|80px|Classic Bob]]
 
[[Image:GuyPerfect_BtB_Costume2.jpg|80px|Grim Glacier look-alike]]
 
[[Image:GuyPerfect_BtB_Costume3.jpg|80px|Good lord, where are the batteries?]]
 
 
|}
 
|}
  
  
== Will Gimp for Food ==
+
== Why on Earth!? ==
A lot of people advocate efficiency and character performance. While only a few people dream about spreadsheets, there are certain considerations that remain present in the majority of the population in the game. Things that are expected of people. Things that a character needs to be worthwhile. It is as though a character that is numerically inferior is no fun to play. I disagree. To me, it's not about maximizing the efficiency of a character. I did that once. It was a Brute, took Hasten, Quick Recovery, Stamina, the whole nine yards. It was not my first character, so having something geared towards turning entire missions to rubble was a fresh and novel concept for me at the time. Then it got to level 50 in near record time and I hang it up in the character closet. I will admit that it was entertaining, but now I've been there and done that. I don't want to do the exact same thing for the next character. Over and over and over again. I don't find that very fun. This character, Bob the Biohazard, is just one of my many flavors of variety that I find entertaining in the game.
+
If you read through the wall of text that is the character biography, you'll probably be wondering what was or was not going through my mind when I decided to make a [[Mastermind]] with no Henchmen. If you're not disappointed enough already, also know that I will be skipping other so-called "required powers" such as [[Fitness#Health|Health]], [[Fitness#Stamina|Stamina]], [[Speed#Hasten|Hasten]] and [[Leadership]] (since it's a Mastermind) among other things. Oh, and the build focuses on melee damage as well as ranged. A gimp doomed to fail you say? Well, maybe so, but I've played this concept in the 30's before a number of non-performance-related issues convinced me to delete it. Well, things are different this time, so I'll be re-rolling.
  
To be without is not something that most people want. I decided to deviate from tradition and create a character that not only refuses to make decisions that are commonly accepted to be good, recommended or even required. What has resulted is something that is not as inept as one would reckon. Certainly not optimal by any interperatation of the word, but certainly not incapable either. It just goes to show that when you are resourceful in the midst of hardship, you will be able to carry yourself through to the end nonetheless.
+
With the advent of [[Dual Pistols]] coming with (or before) the [[Going Rogue]] expansion and the introduciton of [[Leviathan Mastery#Knockout Blow|Knockout Blow]] and retention of [[Leviathan Mastery#Bile Spray|Bile Spray]] for Masterminds, I've made a decision. Bob the Biohazard ''must'' have guns and shark vomit. [[Corruptor]]s will be getting the guns, but they don't have access to the shark vomit. Ergo, Bob the Biohazard must remain a Mastermind. This is the ''what'' of the situation. Now for the ''why''...
  
I took a look through the available powers in the game and identified the ones I feel people rely on perhaps too much. These are the powers that Bob the Biohazard will not take:
+
[[Poison]] is... well, it's downright amazing. A relatively uncommon decision with Masterminds, which itself is a relatively uncommon (on most servers, at any rate) decision when choosing an archetype. You simply don't see much of Poison, and most people don't have any extensive experience with it. But that doesn't change the fact that it's completely awesome. It's generally overlooked in favor of [[Radiation Emission]], so Corruptors tend to ignore the fact that Poison even exists. What's left are the few Masterminds who pick the set, and of course they'll be playing it as though they were a Mastermind, which kinda cobbles together the aspects of their primary and secondary powersets.
:[[Image:Thugs_EnlistBoss.png|18px]] [[Image:Thugs_EnlistLieutenant.png|18px]] [[Image:Thugs_HirePosse.png|18px]] [[Image:Thugs_TargetedSummonMob.png|18px]] '''Pets'''
+
::Henchmen or otherwise, a Mastermind's true source of effectiveness comes from the pets available for summoning.
+
:[[Image:Fitness_Quick.png|18px]] [[Image:Fitness_Hurdle.png|18px]] [[Image:Fitness_Health.png|18px]] [[Image:Fitness_Stamina.png|18px]] '''Fitness'''
+
::Popular way to increase character performance in the areas of movement and longevity.
+
:[[Image:Leadership_Defense.png|18px]] [[Image:Leadership_Assault.png|18px]] [[Image:Leadership_Tactics.png|18px]] [[Image:Leadership_Vengence.png|18px]] '''Leadership'''
+
::Can provide a variety of buffs to oneself and teammates. Very popular on Masterminds, and Bob is technically a Mastermind.
+
:[[Image:Jump_CombatJump.png|18px]] [[Image:Jump_Acrobatics.png|18px]] '''Leaping'''
+
::Combat Jumping and Acrobatics are common ways to increase Defense and  protect your character from certain status effects.
+
:[[Image:Flight_CombatFlight.png|18px]] '''Hover'''
+
::Common buff to Defense
+
:[[Image:Fighting_Weave.png|18px]] '''Weave'''
+
::Another common buff to Defense
+
:[[Image:SuperSpeed_AcceleratedCombat.png|18px]] '''Hasten'''
+
::A popular boost to attack rate. The more powers you can use in a minute, the more effective your combat.
+
  
If you're still reading, the word "gimp" probably comes to mind. Simply taking away Henchmen from a Mastermind is torture enough, but I've also done away with any boosts Defense as well as the powers that let me attack and recover faster. What's left of my selected powersets is but three ranged attacks, and I need to Enhance those for accuracy, endurance reduction and damage all manually because I have no self buffs to do that for me. To supplement this shortened number of attacks, Bob the Biohazard has taken most of the melee powers from the power pools, including Boxing, Kick and Air Superiority. So now we have a Henchman-less, un-buffed, melee-oriented Mastermind. Does it get any better than this!? (-:
+
'''Why #1''': I will be playing Poison as a Corruptor would to showcase its features without having the usual Mastermind aspects getting in the way. I simply find this fun to do.
  
In all seriousness, though, it's not as bad as you might think. It takes longer to defeat enemies and getting hit tends to hurt, but all-in-all, the character is still capable of performing at an acceptable level and will still improve through the levels as more powers and Enhancement slots become available. The key element of Bob's successes is the effectivness of the debuffs in the Poison set, which is similar to Radiation Emission but for individual targets. Enemies become easier to defeat, but find that they cannot land hits as often and deal less damage when they do. With reduced attack rate, they aren't able to use their attacks very often throughout the duration of the fight, so it really must be pretty aggrivating for them. It's almost an insult when they're defeated by a Mastermind with no toys.
+
Next comes the issue of archetype attribute modifiers for Mastermind. Masterminds have the lowest HP of any archetype and no defensive capabilities, which places Bob the Biohazard in a rather compromising situation. Masterminds can draw HP from their Henchmen when in Bodyguard mode, but with no Henchmen, this Mastermind is completely unprotected. Next, Thugs only gives access to three ranged attacks, which, coupled with the Mastermind's low ranged damage output, makes for a rather unimpressive display when dispatching enemies. The archetype's inherent power, Supremacy, is completely worthless in this situation and all of the aforementioned drawbacks need to be addressed. Ah, but I have a plan!
  
I guess the lesson here is that you should never assume what a character will be like until you actually try it. Though I'm not sure I'll ever find someone who will say "A Mastermind with no Henchmen probably wouldn't be so bad."
+
'''Why #2''': Can a Mastermind with no pets, but with clever use of Set Bonuses, outperform the average character? I intend to find out.
  
 +
After selecting ''all'' of the powers I wish to take from my primary, secondary, epic and all power pool sets, the build still has 5 power vacancies. These are going to have to be dummy powers that likely will never be used. On the other hand, that comes out to 23 Enhancement slots just begging to be used for something. All of my selected powers will be fully-powered, and specific dummy powers can be picked for the sole purpose of providing Set Bonuses not available by any other means. What exactly is possible through all of this is anyone's guess at this point, and I won't have a conclusive response until all of this is carried through.
  
== Media ==
+
In the end, I remember how much fun it was to play the character even though it underperformed. I'd like to play it again, even if I can't get it to overperform.
=== Screenshots ===
+
:[[Image:GuyPerfect_BtB_Snap1.jpg|190px|Fighting Wolf Spiders]] [[Image:GuyPerfect_BtB_Snap2.jpg|202px|Amidst the Golden Giza]]
+
  
=== Videos ===
+
 
:<YouTube Width=250 Height=213>vTdaaMTeJfQ</YouTube>
+
== Build ==
 +
''Come back later. This character doesn't exist yet.''

Revision as of 23:46, 9 July 2009

Another Day, Another Beaker

Another day, another beaker. Working at WetWare Engineering has its ups and downs. The pay is great, but working as a research assistant could bear to be more exciting. Instead, it's boring. Dreadfully boring. Time that could be spent performing actual research is replaced instead by refilling the researcher's no-spill coffee cup and gazing longingly at the eyepiece of the microscope while it's already in use. Just how long does this kind of internship even last? Such were the sentiments of Rachel Biggers, the assistant of research in the Biological and Cybernetics department. She'd rather go work at a coffee shop, where at least there will be a sense of satisfaction in filling cups all day long.

Rachel is an endeavorous type who finds inspiration in every corner of life and seeks ways to put these ideas to use. Using the knowledge and techniques that she learned at WetWare, she privately conducted her own research and development on various short-term narcotics. These toxins could either be beneficial or detremental to the subject affected by them, but their effects are entirely harmless and wear off after a few seconds. She sold a few recipes to the highest bidder on an underground scientific website run by one of Dr. Vahzilok's former colleagues, but didn't find the proceeds worthwhile. Many villains in the Rogue Isles are making good use of these narcotics, which they simply call poison, but they're only making a minor splash in the grand scheme of things. Rachel eventually took to finding other ways to apply her skills and curiosities.

Not too long ago, Rachel found through her channels that Arachnos was planning to execute a jailbreak on Zigursky Penitentiary in Brickstown, supposedly to retrieve someone whom they thought possessed the qualities necessary to fulfill some kind of destiny. Rachel saw quite a bit of opportunity in such an event, and got straight to work. She integrated her poison technology into a combat-capable suit and tested it out on some of the lesser gang members in Paragon City before instating herself into the Zig. It's not certain how she managed to infiltrate such a powerful prison and register herself as an inmate without ever even having been arrested, but if the records say she should be there, then prison security isn't going to argue with it.

Sure enough, in came Arachnos and out went the Destined One. And of course, Rachel followed. She managed to escape detection and boarded the flier that Arachnos had waiting outside the prison, and stowed away while the target inmate was also brought on board and returned to the Rogue Isles. Disembarking at Fort Darwin in Mercy Island, no one seemed to notice that she wasn't supposed to be there. Just as well. If any of those Arachnos personnel were bright enough to realize that something was amiss, it would be difficult to talk her way out of it. But fortunately, it didn't come to that.

After registering with the Arbiters, Rachel was taken in for an assessment and classification in the Arachnos record books. Her combat suit completely hides her identity, and the special potion-emitting gas mask she wears alters her voice to divert suspicion of her true nature. Masquerading as a male villain, she was officially registered in the Rogue Isles under the moniker Bob the Biohazard. Psychological testing revealed Rachel's--or Bob's, as it were--ability to plot and execute schemes in a role of battlefield commander to be superior to other villains, and she was thusly identified as a Mastermind. When asked where she would be recruiting for minions, she expressed no interest in doing so. Much to her delight, none of the personnel took her seriously, which is just what she wanted. Now she would be able to set out on her own and finally have a job worth waking up to in the morning without the ever-watching eye of Arachnos keeping tabs on her activities.

The idea of taking down Lord Recluse on his own turf was a wonderful notion, and Rachel couldn't pass up such an opportunity. She'd also get to spend every hour of every day bashing in the heads of real villains. She'd even get to lay some smack-down on Longbow, who have a history of opposing the Vanguard, an organization defending the entire world from the Rikti menace. It's a win-win-win situation, and it sure beats sitting around in a lab coat all day every day. Once she makes a name for herself in the Rogue Isles, Rachel plans to bring her new Bob the Biohazard identity back to Paragon City where she can fight evil as a bona fide hero.

Another day, another beaker. Rachel prepares for her activities once again by concocting a new round of poison for her combat suit. Each time she busts some evil laboratory, she gets some more toys to play with, and is constantly designing new and unusual ways to intoxicate her foes. Though only armed with a pair of handguns and relatively weak body armor, Rachel has finally found one place that makes her happy in a twisted sort of way.


Character Details

Statistics:
Name:   Bob the Biohazard
Server: ---
Alignment: Badge defeatrecluse.png Villain
Archetype: V archetypeicon mastermind.png Mastermind
Threat Level: --
Primary: Thugs
Secondary: Poison
Updated: July 9, 2009
  Powers: (Hover mouse)

Pending...

 


Why on Earth!?

If you read through the wall of text that is the character biography, you'll probably be wondering what was or was not going through my mind when I decided to make a Mastermind with no Henchmen. If you're not disappointed enough already, also know that I will be skipping other so-called "required powers" such as Health, Stamina, Hasten and Leadership (since it's a Mastermind) among other things. Oh, and the build focuses on melee damage as well as ranged. A gimp doomed to fail you say? Well, maybe so, but I've played this concept in the 30's before a number of non-performance-related issues convinced me to delete it. Well, things are different this time, so I'll be re-rolling.

With the advent of Dual Pistols coming with (or before) the Going Rogue expansion and the introduciton of Knockout Blow and retention of Bile Spray for Masterminds, I've made a decision. Bob the Biohazard must have guns and shark vomit. Corruptors will be getting the guns, but they don't have access to the shark vomit. Ergo, Bob the Biohazard must remain a Mastermind. This is the what of the situation. Now for the why...

Poison is... well, it's downright amazing. A relatively uncommon decision with Masterminds, which itself is a relatively uncommon (on most servers, at any rate) decision when choosing an archetype. You simply don't see much of Poison, and most people don't have any extensive experience with it. But that doesn't change the fact that it's completely awesome. It's generally overlooked in favor of Radiation Emission, so Corruptors tend to ignore the fact that Poison even exists. What's left are the few Masterminds who pick the set, and of course they'll be playing it as though they were a Mastermind, which kinda cobbles together the aspects of their primary and secondary powersets.

Why #1: I will be playing Poison as a Corruptor would to showcase its features without having the usual Mastermind aspects getting in the way. I simply find this fun to do.

Next comes the issue of archetype attribute modifiers for Mastermind. Masterminds have the lowest HP of any archetype and no defensive capabilities, which places Bob the Biohazard in a rather compromising situation. Masterminds can draw HP from their Henchmen when in Bodyguard mode, but with no Henchmen, this Mastermind is completely unprotected. Next, Thugs only gives access to three ranged attacks, which, coupled with the Mastermind's low ranged damage output, makes for a rather unimpressive display when dispatching enemies. The archetype's inherent power, Supremacy, is completely worthless in this situation and all of the aforementioned drawbacks need to be addressed. Ah, but I have a plan!

Why #2: Can a Mastermind with no pets, but with clever use of Set Bonuses, outperform the average character? I intend to find out.

After selecting all of the powers I wish to take from my primary, secondary, epic and all power pool sets, the build still has 5 power vacancies. These are going to have to be dummy powers that likely will never be used. On the other hand, that comes out to 23 Enhancement slots just begging to be used for something. All of my selected powers will be fully-powered, and specific dummy powers can be picked for the sole purpose of providing Set Bonuses not available by any other means. What exactly is possible through all of this is anyone's guess at this point, and I won't have a conclusive response until all of this is carried through.

In the end, I remember how much fun it was to play the character even though it underperformed. I'd like to play it again, even if I can't get it to overperform.


Build

Come back later. This character doesn't exist yet.