Because someone mentioned sidekicks.
Long ago on the paragon studios forums, I mentioned an idea for a new AT. I haphazardly called it a "Sidekicker" we can probably find a better name for it maybe "Leader".
What is it? It is a Pet summoner, but unlike masterminds it can only summon minimal pets. usually 1 pet. but the pet is practically equal to just below one player (I'll explain more of this coming up).
The Primary Powerset would be a mix of armor, team buffs, and attacks.
The Secondary Powerset however, contains some variation of "Call Sidekick" as the first power, the powers after that are just for the sidekick, but may have some teamwork attributes where SOME defense, accuracy, damage buffs etc. are shared.
The Leader/player character(primary powerset), supplies self buff, team buffs/enemy debuff, and damage.
The SideKick (Secondary Powerset), supplies Control, Support, team buffs/enemy debuff, and damage.
The AT Specific Inherent power could be called [Team Synergy], where all their powers are increased in potential when a Plan of Action is being followed.
What is a Plan of Action? unlike the mastermind Pet Controls, the pet controls for this AT are more like battle strategies, Referred to as Plans of Action. things like (these are examples):
[Split Up] where your Sidekick Pet tries to take on any enemy/group except your target/group, going as far as their perception radius away from you to find trouble.
[My Target] same as the mastermind, attack what you are attacking.
[Current Target] attack the one I selected right now regardless if I switch targets.
[Fallback] tells the sidekick to get some distance from the enemies and use Ranged and Control only.
[Retreat] tells the sidekick to run away.
[Support] tells the sidekick to focus on buffs/debuffs and control
[Cover Me] Tells the Sidekick to attack with AoE, and run past enemies to distract enemies from you (get their agro).
[Hide] tells the sidekick to avoid enemy perception radii
[On my signal] coupled with any other Plan of Action, the side kick will not do anything till you either tap the same plan of action again, OR engage in combat/action.
One Big ability in [Team Synergy] is that in example when the Leader is defeated, if the sidekick is still alive, the player's control can switch to the Sidekick rather than being given the standard defeat message, the sidekick is not auto-defeated with the leader(also enters doors and transport before being 86ed from the map. thats just a graphic thing), the same vice versa if the sidekick is defeated, they do not disappear until resummoned or dismissed or until BOTH leader and sidekick are defeated, at which point the control switches to the Leader and the Sidekick disappears. While in control of the sidekick when the leader is down, the sidekick can employ all your Pool Powers as well such as Recall and Resuscitate if you have chosen those. This benefits the player in that they can leave their sidekick hiding in a safe place, go challenge something mean, die and then TP themselves out and resuscitate themselves, if they chose those pools, also it does not count as debt until both are down. In other words "Down, but not Out"
Each Plan Of Action grants a Specific Team Synergy buff in example:
[Hide] might grant [Peace of mind]; an increase in attack speed, defense power potential, Accuracy and Damage. but it's based upon your primary.
Team Synergy Buffs are ONLY granted if you follow your own orders. the side kick will, but if in example you switch to their target While [Split Up] is enagaged, you both lose the synergy buffs! or if they are discovered when using [hide], you'll then lose [Peace of Mind].
Team Synergy Buffs are granted differently in different situations:
You and your sidekick are both alive, and in perception radius of eachother: Power Value + Power Value (I.E. 15% S/L Res +15% = 30% Smashing/Lethal Resistance)
You and your side kick are both alive but out side of eachother's perception radius (but still enacting the Plan of Action): Power Value + 1/2 Power Value (I.E. 15% + 7.5% = 22.5%)
You or your sidekick are defeated, but in perception radius (and the defeated one died keeping the plan of action): Power Value + 1/2 Power Value
You or your sidekick are defeated, but either not in perception radius or were not following the plan of action on defeat: Power Value alone (I.E. 15%)
In addition there should be some small buff for having Team Members or League members Follow the plan of action in and out of perception radius. like +10%% of the Power Value. (I.E. 15% + (1.5%* Team Member following the plan)) and 1%% for each league member following the plan (I.E. 15%+ (0.15%* league member following the plan)), Team and League buffs could also be added to the team and league respectively!.
As you can see this AT CAN be pretty Tanky, getting buffs that could rival a brute or tank in SOME situations. So the Res Cap could be higher than 75%, keep in mind they WILL NOT be able to reach it if their Sidekick is down. I suggest a Res cap between(including) 50 and 90. it could be possible the Res cap could change Depending on Team Synergy effects being active, so long as you are following the plan of action the res cap could be 90%, it could be 75% if you're getting +1/2 Power Value, or 51% if getting no extra power value (if your side kick is down and out of perception radius, regardless team or league presence "Nooo! Why did they have to kill my sidekick!").
So the Caps as well as the Team Synergy bonuses all scale from the weakest link on the team to Tankin' like a pro.
Lets talk about the Sidekick being ALMOST equal to a player, They'll never exceed the abilities or stats of the Leader, maybe 10% less down the board, 10% less max HP, 10% Less max End, 10% less total Resistance, 10% Less total Defense, 10% less damage, 10% less accuracy 10% less to hit, 10% less regen, 10% less Recovery etc. This is not a Given! just a rough estimate based on default values! it can change if for example the Leader's first buff only applys to self, it wont raise the sidekick's stats! so there can be a large discrepancy.. plus by default sidekicks have 1 less power (which is Ironically taken by their summon). but other than that with a good build this is one pet that could maybe with inspirations stand up to a hit from an AV and keep fighting.
The WEAKNESS of this AT is that some powers, such as Attacks are NOT shared though they may have some secondary Team Buff and add Team Synergy, and over all the Leader's PowerSet (Primary) is a mix of self buff, team buffs/enemy debuff, and damage. out of 9 powers thats roughly 3 of each or 1.5 team buff/debuff (2 of one, and 1 of the other). So you'll only have 3 main attacks! plus whatever pools you get. Where the Sidekick splits Control, Support/team buffs, enemy debuff, and damage between 8 powers, so maybe 2 attacks, 2 control, 1 buff and 1 heal, and 1 debuff, AND NO ACCESS to POOLS UNLESS Controlling them. this means at any time a little more or less than HALF your potential is server (CPU) controlled.
Perhaps Team Synergy should allow the player to switch whether they are playing as the Leader or Sidekick as they wish.
Primaries will have to be specially made, and could look like;
Names like "Invulnerable Leadership" instead of "Invulnerability", or "Will of the Team/Leader" instead of "Willpower"
L1: Self Buff(Toggle or Auto)
L1: Attack.
L2: Team Buff/Enemy Debuff (Toggle)
L6: Attack
L8: Self Buff(Toggle or Auto)
L12:Team Buff/Enemy Debuff (Toggle)
L18: Self Buff/Rez(Toggle or Click type)
L26: Team Buff (Toggle)
L32: Final Big AoE Attack/ Tag Team Attack
Secondaries would also have to be specially designed, and could look like;
Names Like: Firey Sidekick, Icy Sidekick, Psionic Sidekick, Electrical Sidekick, Grim Sidekick, Staff fighting Sidekick, Mace Weilding Sidekick, Energetic Sidekick, Ninja sidekick, Gadget Making Sidekick, Weaponmaster Sidekick, Duplicate Sidekick, Robotic Sidekick etc.
L1: Summon Sidekick (they come with a power [Sidekick Brawl], or [Sidekick kick], or a ranged power similar to your Origin Inherent Power [Dart], [tazer bolt] etc, but they are weaker than yours and don't have things like stun nor kb etc.)
L2: Ranged or Melee Attack based on the Powerset.
L4: Control
L10: Support/ Team buff
L16: Enemy debuff
L20: TAoE Control
L28: Support/ Team Buff
L35: AoE Attack
L38: AoE/Cone Enemy Debuff
Notice there is no Build-up style power in either set. this is because they get build-up like effects from Plans of Action(when executed correctly), sometimes. they are permanent (while in battle and while the plan of action continues to be successful) unenhancable build-up style powers, but yield much less accuracy/to hit and +damage output, as they may include (an)other effect(s) like +Res, +Def, +Regen, +Recovery, -Rech, or a foe debuff Foe -ToHit, the effects of each could be based on your primary. in example if "will of the team" you'll see effects like: +regen, +defense, +recovery, +Status Protection, Enemy -ToHit in the bonuses from the Plans of Action. That is to say the plans of action just boost your primary and secondary abilities and effects. so Plans of Action will have "+Special" and buff based on power type. "+Special: Buff, secondary effect, +ToHit, +Damage"
It may be possible that SOME Secodary sets, Have another Summon Sidekick at a later level, Perhaps some mastery sets will have it as well for this AT. "Summon Arachnos Soldier" for Black Scorpion's Last Patron power, and maybe a fortunata for Ghost widow's patron. and maybe a Longbow Warden somewhere in a munitions mastery.
Survivability: 5 to 9
Melee Damage: 5 to 7
Ranged Damage: 5 to 7
Control: 3
Support: 3
Pets: 4
Of course they should be able to name sidekicks. and maybe, because it's so few "pets" even costume design for SOME of them and adjust body type.
What things do Sidekicks Inherit from their Leader?
Team Buff effects
Plan of Action Bonuses
Any and all Set Bonuses
Team Group Pool Power Effects and Enhancement of effects.
Perhaps Toggle based Pool Powers that are switched on by the player while controlling the sidekick, (I.E.: Stealth, Invisibility, Fly, Group Fly, combat jump, super jump. and maybe tough, weave, and leadership toggles, maybe. "Maybe" in that perhaps they should stay on till sidekick defeat even when switching back to control of the leader.)
What things do Sidekicks NOT Inherit from their Leader?
Leader's ToSelf power effects
Pool Powers (except when the player is in control of the sidekick, or in the case of effects from Team/Group pool powers (those count), toggle powers turned on will stay on when switching control back)
Holds, Sleeps, immobilize, -speed and other Debuffs dealt to the Leader etc.
Enhancement from the Leader's powers (except for Team/Group Powers).
Player Effects Applied to the Leader. such as single target buffs from another player.
The Leader's Location (big difference from other pets that TP to you when following and lagging behind. Sidekicks do not)
Endurance ( they both have their own endurance. End Bonuses or End mod from Team/Group/Support powers will still apply)
There may be more constraints.
There could be more Special interactions like Power Sharing, or Temp Powers(for example L10 or L28 Support/Team Buffs might be this), for Example a Gadgets Sidekick could have a "Make Gadget" power which makes a random gadget from a list (Temp Power) they can then give to the Leader or another player or use it themselves Or Immediately Grant to the whole Team. There could be a "Team Strike" attack that only works when you are both in the same place and alive and casts on your target the next available chance, it could be a way to Break eachother Free from Holds Immob and Mezes etc. and do a mega tag team attack(L32).
Then we get into the "Duplicate Sidekick" where the Duplicate's Attacks are weaker versions of your own, and rather than Support/Team Buff you could have "Summon Triplicate"(summon one more in addition to your duplicate) and "Summon More Duplicates" (upto some max number), where Control could be [Dog Pile] (all sidekicks attack the same target/group with a hold)(smashing+your primary damage type), or there could be an [Absorb Duplicate(s)] power to allow you to self heal your leader or another sidekick, gain their End, and get a temporary power boost. the downside would be that your duplicates have very few powers other than being duplicates (just 2 attacks from yours, no or limited Support/team buff, no Debuff) but you can have lots of them.
It really depends on what sets the player chooses. but these are the mechanics in this idea.
Yes, It's complicated. it would take a ton of work compared to making any other AT. but it's a tempting thought isn't it?
To Balance the fact you could basically Rez yourself and Apply Vengeance from a pet's defeat, the recharge on their summons should be much, much, much longer. 2nd and higher sidekicks (if using a set that gives more than one), could have to be resummoned after defeat, disappearing like a normal pet on defeat.
