Hello! This is a concept by LPFinale. I think it’s a very good concept! We workshopped it together a fair bit, but most of the creative credit goes to LPFinale, and I’ve only modified his language slightly for clarity. Builds are his suggestions — lots of great mods, hard to know what to take. Also, here’s the Reddit Thread for the latest version if you want to comment directly to him!
Super Short Summary — Aethelinde is a medic that uses stim darts to heal allies and damage enemies. Her special power is regeneration / poison, healing or dealing damage over time. She also has some nifty thematically appropriate moves.
Aethelinde, the Field Medic
Affiliation: Hyperbotics
Role: Support
Hit Points: 140
Lore: Aethelinde is one of Hyperbotics’s most esteemed medical scientists. As such, she has had a hand in almost every medical marvel the soldiers of Hyperbotics make use of, including Blackburn’s adrenal stims. An inquisitive woman, she often conducts experiments to see what effects she can bring about in the soldiers, occasionally bending ethics for the sake of progress. Needless to say, Blackburn is her most willing test subject.
Abilities:
Primary — Stim Darts — Blast Phase
Fires a spread of two darts, targeted like Celeste’s Strong Arm with a smaller maximum cone (roughly 90 degrees between the two darts). Each dart can hit an enemy or an ally, and will deal 18 direct damage or heal for 12, respectively. The darts have a special effect if both hit one target.
If an enemy is hit with both, damage isn’t increased, but they’re Venomed, dealing 10 indirect damage at the start of the Blast Phase for two turns, totaling 20 damage. If a Venomed enemy receives any healing, Venom is removed. (Note — Venom is considered applied at the beginning of Blast Phase, same as when it deals damage in future turns. That means a simultaneous Blast Phase healing effect can instantly remove the Venom the same turn it is applied.)
If an ally is hit with both, healing isn’t increased, but they gain Regen, healing for 10 during Prep Phase for the following two turns. Venom and Regen can’t be stacked for, say, 3 turns of effect or increased amounts, but they can be refreshed to their original 2 turns of effect while still active. Gain 5 Energy for each dart that hits an enemy and 3 Energy for each dart that hits an ally.
Note: We considered having the damage from Venom be an exception to the usual rule that taking damage shows your position — as this would be fairly powerful, not to mention ruining Dashes into camo spaces and Fade. The proposed solution was that when an enemy is no longer visible for any reason and they are Venomed, their health bar will appear over their last known location when calculating damage and a “damaged” grunt will play as normal. However, this was inelegant and we sought alternate solutions. However, with the recent change (any healing removes Venom), it may be balanced to have it reveal position on damage, and that way an exception to a fundamental game mechanic is not needed.
Mods:
- Life and Death (2 Points, Default): When the darts hit both an enemy and an ally in a single volley, increase the damage and healing by 3.
- Immediate Dose (2 Points): Poison and Regen increase to 15 per turn, but only last 1 turn.
- Chronic (3 Points): Poison and Regen now last 3 turns, but the damage / healing is lowered to 8 per turn.
- Nerve Endings (1 Point): When both darts hit a single target, gain 3 additional Energy.
- Bend the Rules (1 Point): Widens the maximum spread between the darts to 120 degrees.
2 — Asclepius Serum — Prep Phase — Free Action — Cooldown 3
Adds additional medicine to Stim Darts. Using Stim Darts this turn will increase damage and healing by 5. In addition, enemies hit are Slowed and allies hit are granted Haste. Does not increase the double dart Venom/Regen effect. Gain 4 Energy on use.
Mods:
- Leftover Dose (2 Points, Default): If both darts hit the same enemy, deal 5 additional damage. If both darts hit the same ally, Aethelinde recovers 10 health.
- Inquisitive Rush (1 Point): Increase the Energy gain of Stim Darts by 3 per dart hitting an enemy and 2 per dart hitting an ally.
- Muscle Meds (2 Points): Enemies are Weakened instead of Slowed, and allies gain Might instead of Haste.
- Brimming Stim (3 Points): If both darts hit one target, the status applied changes. An enemy will be Rooted instead of Slowed, and an ally will gain Unstoppable instead of Haste.
- First Aid (1 Point): Allies hit also gain 5 Shields at the start of the next Decision Phase. The Shields last until the end of that turn.
3 — Snake Bite — Dash Phase — Cooldown 4
Dashes to a targeted enemy. If the dash hits the enemy (i.e. enemy does not also dash), Aethelinde will inflict Venom on the enemy and grant herself Regen. (Neither occurs if she misses.) (Venom and Regen are affected by the Immediate Dose and Chronic mods.) The dash has range 6, and the end location can be chosen anywhere up to 3 tiles away from the target. Gain 8 Energy on use.
Mods:
- Coiling Grasp (2 Points, Default): The enemy is also Slowed if hit.
- Wound Brace (2 Points): Gain 15 Shields until the end of the turn.
- Mad Adder (3 Points): Aethelinde is Energized and Unstoppable until the end of the next turn, regardless of whether Snake Bite hits.
- Bounce Back (1 Point): If Snake Bite doesn’t hit, reduce the cooldown by 1.
- Slip Through (2 Points): The range of the initial Dash is increased by 1.
4 — Supply Drop — Blast Phase — Cooldown 5
Calls in a supply crate to the target tile, dealing 20 direct damage to enemies in a 3×3 grid centered on the crate’s drop point. This damage ignores cover. The crate drops a Major Health Powerup where it lands. Range 7, can be targeted through walls.
Mods:
- Reinforced (2 Points, Default): Deals 6 additional damage to the center location.
- Efficient Supplier (2 Points): Reduce the cooldown by 1.
- Aerial Aid (3 Points): When the Major Health Powerup is dropped directly on an ally, they recover an additional 10 health.
- Damaged Goods (1 Point): The crate drops 3 Minor Health Powerups in a line instead. The line is horizontal from Aethelinde’s perspective (ex. if west or east of her, the line is vertical; if perfectly diagonal, the line is diagonal).
Ultimate — Metabolism Spike — Blast Phase — 50+ Energy (At least 50, but consumes all when used)
Sprays an airborne chemical in a cone (90 degrees with 7 range, like the darts’ max range) that causes the metabolisms of all enemies, allies and self to overclock, damaging enemies and healing allies/self. Damage/healing is 15 base, plus 1 for every 5 Energy consumed beyond the requirement (so a maximum of 15 + (50/5) = 25 at 100 energy). Consumes all Venom and Regenerative Effects on enemies/allies/self to instantly damage/heal for the amount remaining. All damage dealt by this ability is direct. The 15-25 initial damage is affected by cover, but the Venom consume is not.
Notes: Only Venom is consumed on enemies and only Regen is consumed on allies (in case of both teams having an Aethelinde). Additionally, effects such as Second Wind and Phaedra and Rask’s self-healing are included as Regenerative Effects (for UI clarity and additional synergy). In case you were wondering, the maximum damage of this ability on a single target is 35 (at 100 energy, on a recently poisoned target — 10 of the 20 will tick at beginning of Blast Phase and the other 10 will be consumed — total of 45 during that Blast Phase), or 41 if you have the Chronic mod (49 total).
Mods:
- Field Medic (2 Points, Default): Reduce the Cooldown of Asclepius Serum by 1.
- Fixed Dosage (3 Points): Only consume 50 Energy on use, but lose the bonus damage/healing.
- Gas Chamber (1 Point): Widens the cone to 120 degrees.
- Numb the Pain (3 Point): When 100 Energy is consumed on use, grants allies hit and self 15 Shields at the start of the next Decision Phase. The Shields last until the end of that turn.
- Atrophy (2 Points): When 100 Energy is consumed on use, Slows all enemies hit.
Potential Builds:
Nerve Endings (1), Inquisitive Rush (1), Mad Adder (3), Aerial Aid (3)/Efficient Supplier (2), Atrophy (2)/Numb the Pain (3)
- A build focused on gaining Energy for the 100-Energy effect of Metabolism Spike’s mod, with a mod for Supply Run picked to make up for healing lost by taking Energy mods. Aerial Aid/Atrophy for Slow on enemies, Efficient Supplier/Numb the Pain for team Shields.
Life and Death (2), Muscle Meds (2), Coiling Grasp (2), Reinforced (2), Field Medic (2)
- A build whose goal is to increase the damage output of Aethelinde’s team with Might and additional damage mods while lowering the opponents’ damage output with Weaken. Coiling Grasp gives Aethelinde access to the Slow effect she loses by taking Muscle Meds, while Field Medic lets her apply Might and Weaken more often.
Chronic (3), Brimming Stim (3), Bounce Back (1), None, Fixed Dosage (3)
- A build looking to get the most out of Venom and Regen. Chronic keeps the effects on the targets for longer, Brimming Stim offers a better status applied on Asclepius Serum while inflicting Venom or Regen (since both darts must hit anyway to cause these effects), and Fixed Dosage lets Aethelinde burst damage/heal the Venom/Regen more often. Bounce Back is taken to get Snake Bite back more quickly should an enemy dash out of the way. Since it inflicts Venom and grants Aethelinde Regen, both of which would burst with Metabolism Spike, it’s vital to the strategy.
Changelog:
Venom now shows location when it deals damage, and isn’t nerfed as to numbers. However, healing in any way will REMOVE the Venom. (Tigg’s suggestion, but we both loved it.)