I've been playing Escalation alot lately, and figured that a few new abilities would be good for giving characters extra individuality, and add a whole new level of strategy to the game (not all of these are intended for Multiplayer): R2 Abilities: Hypnotise: Mindwipes ability. When used, he shoots rippling waves of hypnotic energy from his eyes a short distance, which cause the same damage as a point blank EMP shotgun blast. If this is enough to overcome his targets remaining energy, their colour changes Decepticon purple (accompanied by him saying something suitably sinister like 'You vill obey me!/You are mine to command!') and they join you as a 'pet' until they are destroyed. Obviously Machine Gunners are easy to hypnotise but arn't particularly effective, but if you're patient enough to hypnotise a Titan, then you'll have some fun! Crusher: You unsheath your weapon and corkscrew dive in a straight line through a line of enemies at awesome speed, inflicting heavy damage (ala M.Bison, hence the name). Also good for getting out of a scrape. Aura: Very simple this one, a healing bubble expands from your character which lasts around twice as long as an Energon Grenade (intended for Ratchet or First Aid). Minefield: A watered down version of the Thermo Mine Respawner Killstreak, causes you to drop three mines in succession - use it in conjunction with purchasable mines to quickly lock an area down. Surplus: Like the Ammo Matrix Killstreak (though this time only affecting you), you immediately recieve a full ammo refill for all your weapons, aswell as as infinate ammo with no need to reload for a few seconds - great when you're being swamped! L2 Abilities: Lookout: Deploys a transparent energy platform in front of you around waist height, which rises further into the air the longer you hold L2. Its a tactical ability intended to help less mobile characters reach higher vantage points, enable you to set up better angles for your fire (especially in those cramped times when you and your team mates are all trying to fire on the same target), and it also provides protecion from above and below. Fence: An alternate version of Barrier, which deploys a (non damaging) laser grid in front of you. Unlike Barrier, it can be fired through, but it DOES count as a physical obstacle which cannot be moved through (though melee hits can smash it). Use it to create choke points and no access zones. Wall: Fence and Barrier combined - creates a solid, opaque roadblock which can neither be moved nor fired through (though again, melee can smash it). Safezone: The daddy of all Barrier derived skills (and also takes much longer to charge between uses), Safezone deploys four Barriers around you simultaneously, providing fantastic protection from gunfire and a perfect opportunity to rescue team mates and give yourself a chance to regroup and fight back when you become swamped. Shield: You raise your left arm and deploy an Energon Riot Shield rather like those carried by Brutes, which absorbs incoming gunfire like a Barrier. It reduces you to walking speed and doesnt offer total protection on your right side, but you can still fire whilst carrying it, and its a fantastic skill to use when you're standing in place and sniping enemies as they approach, or need to cover an allies retreat. Haggle: Swindles ability! It can only be used in Escalation, and only when standing in front of a pay point. Once deployed, a (-$) sign will appear in front of the pay point for 30 seconds, and during this time any energon you feed into it will count as double - basically, you can open doors, purchase energon/grenades/ammo/weapons and even activate various traps and healing stations for half price! The recharge time between uses is even longer than that of the Ammo Beacon, but used wisely by the team, this ability would no doubt prove exceptionally effective. I'd also like to transfer into Escalation a few more of the Multiplayer abilities like Mark Target and Orbital Beacon 2.0, those two in particular would be perfect for characters like the Predacons, enabling the team to single out and 'hunt down' weakened, vulnerable targets.
Another way I'd alter the game, is to give a greater sense of individuality to the existing characters by increasing the amount of abilities/equipment they can carry, based on class (Campaign and Escalation only). For example, Leaders and Scientists would now get FOUR abilities - two recharge based ones on L2, and two energon based ones on R2, and you can choose which pair you want to use at any given time by pressing SELECT. Soldiers and Scouts only get two abilities as normal, but can carry up to three different guns and two different kinds of grenades for a total of six (and in their case, SELECT is used to choose between the grenades you have equipped). Alterations like this would greatly changes the game experience depending on whom you choose to play.
How about new vehicle abilities? Scout Sludge: For when you are being pursued. Drop a puddle of slippery slime behind you to stun ground based opponents that land on it. Light Trail: Set up a Tron-style barrier as you dash forward. Leader Alloy: Extra protection for the truck mode. You turn silver to denote extra protection. Heavy cannons: Flip out a set of cannons from your truck mode to mow down opponents. Scientist Cluster bomb: Drop a series of bombs on enemies. Act like thermo mines. Proton torpedo: Enhances the power of your missiles. Soldier Slam: Move quickly to the right or left to smash opponents. EMP: Launch a powerful EMP from your cannon.
Aura: your character exudes a field of energy that damages, and blinds enemies near by, about 12 points of damage per sec, lasts 12 secs. upgrades: radiation; makes aura last longer.9from 12 sec, to 18 sec) fallout; deals residual damage to enemies who have been subjected to aura. mutant; adds a 25% health buff for the duration of aura. Minion: Spawns a holobrute, or three spiders, depending on whether you're an autobot, or a decepticon. Upgrades: Squadron;doubles the number of spiders ot holobrutes Armored Escort: rases the health on the minions. unlocks at level 15 Omnipotent gives you a personal orbital beacon, lasts for 20 secs, recharge time is same as drain Upgrades: Prolonged surveilance; adds 10 secs time limit.unlocks at level 15 paranoia; de-buffs enemy weapons (subtracts 15% damage) unlocks at level 24
A few more character specific abilities: Magmablade (R2): Grimlock holds out his hand and summons his burning sword. Whilst active he can't use ranged weapons but his melee attacks are doubled in power. Metalli-katana (R2): Similar to the above, Bludgeon unsheathes his katana and loses his ranged attacks, but moves at double speed and his melees recover twice as fast as usual, allowing you to really slash through the opposition. Hunger (R2): Hun-Grr and Skullcruncher are well known for their love of chowing down on fallen Autobots, and this ability lets them turn the enemy ranks into an all-you-can-eat buffet! Once activated, they will immediately transform into their respective beast modes (this ability activates automatically if you collect enough energon crystals whilst already in beast mode), and for a limited time, their speed is greatly increased and striking an enemy with their bite based melee attacks will heal you. Kamikaze (R2): Used by the mentally unhinged Wildrider, this ability is basically Shockwave but with a much greater blast radius and damage output. The downside is that when used, it damages Wildrider too, reducing his remaining energy to a single point (so don't use it right after purchasing an Overshield) and leaving him a sitting duck - though there probably won't be many enemies in the vicinity left to shoot him Contagion (R2): Allows you to use the vile stench of Blot and Snapdragon to your advantage. When used, it causes them to glow green and emit a cloud of toxic green gas, leaving a trail behind them as they move. Any enemy which passes through this cloud will be infected for a while, suffering corrosive damage and speed reduction as though they were in the vicinity of a Moleculon Bomb. Cosmic Rust (R2): Oil Slick throws a cannister in the same way as he would a grenade. Any Autobots caught in the rusting blast are again slowed and corroded in the same way as the above. Teleport (L2): Finally allows Skywarp his signature ability! It works much the same as a regular Dash, except that it goes around 10 times as far, makes Skywarp transparent (leaving a glowing trail as he moves) and immune to damage for its duration, and takes much longer to recharge between uses. Being a teleport, Skywarp will move straight through friends and enemies when using it, but can't go through solid obstacles otherwise the ability would be broken.
Multiply Character creates 1 other exact copy of yourself. Has limited health and is very weak. Cannot be used to speed up node capturing.
Deployer Releases a Minicon onto the battlefield to assist you (e.g. Frenzy/Rumble). Health bar is equal to 1/3 of yours. Stays near friendly units; shoots at enemy ones. Armed with an Energon Battle Pistol (single-shot). Upgrades: Firepower - Energon Battle Pistol is replaced with the Photon Burst Rifle (3-shot burst). Air Strike - Ground-based Minicon is replaced with an aerial one (e.g. Laserbeak).
