Hey, everyone, I’ve never posted on here before, but I’ve been a big fan of the franchise and doing whatever I can to get through these next few days. I posted this a while back on Reddit but didn’t get much traction as Randy Pitchfork was just quoted to not be interested in DLC characters at the time so if it seems like I’m copying ideas from existing characters you can see the Reddit link and the date that I posted it.
So consider this my VH concept 2.0… Their backstory is that they were part of a Research and Development team for one of the major corporations (I’m leaning towards Maliwan given their elemental affinity) tasked with exploring the applications of Radiation. In an experiment gone wrong, the VH is imbued with Radiation or something along those lines and leaves the Corporation to become a VH. They would be a primarily support character given their Radiation-heavy skill sets but again this is just for fun with the new element!
Augments and Skills are listed in the order they would be unlocked and obviously this is just for fun so there will be clear imbalances or “missing synergies”. Skill names are also just placeholders so don’t take them too seriously. All just for fun so enjoy.
Augments are listed on the basis that Hexagons represent ‘Play-Style Changing’ alterations specific to that Tree’s Action Skill, Chevrons supplement that Tree’s Action Skill, and Diamonds provide changes applicable to any skill tree.
Skill Tree 1
Emit Radiation Nova (Short cooldown)
Shields are no longer a separate value and instead adds to your Max Health (Shield Effects trigger at Shield Capacity (ie Nova Shield with 100 Capacity would trigger said Nova after taking 100 damage to Max Health)). This is obviously very similar to Moze’s “Thin Red Line” skill but sort of the inverse of it.
*Any increase to Max Health would equally affect the additional “Shield HP” (ie 10% increase to Max Health of 1000 would buff base Max Health to 1100 and added Shield Capacity of 100 to 110 increasing total HP from 1100 to 1210) I know this seems counter-intuitive to a Melee skill tree due to Roid Shields but I’m not sure how that would work.
Augments 1
-Diamond Action Skill deals Elemental (Shock?) Damage
-Hexagon “Negative Reinforcement” Shield reverts to separate value and breaking shield or entering FFYL triggers Action Skill Element Nova
-Diamond Hitting an enemy with your Action Skill draws their agro
-Chevron Nova now creates a Singularity
-Diamond Action Skill deals Elemental (Corrosive?) Damage
-Chevron Doubles(?) Nova Radius
-Hexagon “Passive Aggression” VH emits Radiation (smaller range than Nova with less damage but higher Radiate Chance) while Action Skill is on cooldown (like Lilith’s “Phoenix” or Maya’s “Blight Phoenix”)
-Hexagon Action Skill now heals allies and self for X% but decreased damage dealt by Y%. Damage dealt is further decreased based on how many allies are hit
Skills 1
-(5/5) Increase Max Health by X%
-“Warfare” (3/3) Dealing Action Skill Element Damage increases all Action Skill Element Damage by X% but receive Y% Increased Damage (akin to Krieg’s “Burn, Baby, Burn”)
-(5/5) Increase Elemental Effect Chance by X%
-(5/5) Increase Melee Damage by X%
-Midstone “Attrition” Kills increase Max Health by X%. Stacks decay while in FFYL and reset upon death (X% adjusted and redistributed to Max Health and Shield Capacity when using the “Negative Reinforcement” Augment)
-(5/5) Passively regenerate X% Max Health
-(5/5) Increase Team Elemental Damage by X% per enemy with an active Action Skill Element DoT (not sure if DoTs applied by allies would be affected based on balance)
-Midstone “Melee Override” Charge at an enemy effected by Action Skill Element DoT dealing X% additional Melee Damage. Short cooldown.
-Kill Skill (5/5) trigger X% Health Regeneration on kill
-Midstone Melee kills reset “Melee Override” and halts Action Skill cooldown. Action Skill cooldown resumes if player shoots their gun or throws a grenade.
-(5/5) Regenerate X% of Health based on number of active Action Skill Element DoTs.
-Capstone Increase “Passive Aggression”'s radius, DoT, and Action Skill cooldown
-Capstone Heal X% of Overkill Damage dealt to self and Y% to allies
-Capstone Kills with melee triggers a Nova of your Action Skill Element
This first tree is the obvious tank/bruiser tree with an emphasis on keeping health topped off and forcing enemy’s agro with close quarters combat. Or this tree could be built around Elemental Damage and running around proccing DoTs to supplement DPS. Also, a good tree to run down for better Elemental Damage across different skill trees.
Skill Tree 2
Radiation Grenades
Action Skill does not replace Grenade Mod but utilizes the same grenade count
Augments 2
-Diamond Action Skill deals Elemental (Incendiary?) Damage
-Chevron Singularity on Action Skill
-Hexagon Action Skill leaves Action Skill Element Damage AoE on impact
-Chevron Longbow effect on Action Skill
-Chevron Increase Action Skill Splash Radius
-Diamond Hitting an enemy with your Action Skill causes X% of all damage dealt to be returned to the damage dealer as health for a short time
-Diamond Launch Action Skill Grenade at enemy when shield is broken (consumes grenade but can be affected by skills like “Grenade Sale” and “Pin Happy”
-Hexagon Action Skill does less damage to enemies but now also heals allies (including self) by X% of Grenade Damage
-Hexagon Action Skill leaves an AoE that increases damage by X% when standing inside but uses (at least two) grenades
Skills 2
-(5/5) Increase Shield Recharge Rate by X%
-(5/5) Increase Fire Rate, Gun Damage, etc by X%
-(5/5) Increase Grenade Damage by X%
-Kill Skill (5/5) killing an enemy reduces Shield Recharge Delay by X%
-Midstone “Grenade Sale” kills with a Grenade have an X% to replenish a Grenade
-(5/5) Increase Grenade Capacity
-(5/5) Decrease Damage Taken from enemies the farther they are from you
-Midstone Deal Bonus Damage to enemies not targeting you
-(5/5) Increase Grenade Damage the farther you are from the enemy
-(5/5) Increase radius of explosion when enemy dies from Radiation DoT
-“Grand Finale” (1/1) Continuously launch Action Skill Grenades while in FFYL. Lost the ability to shoot guns but gain the ability to throw Grenade Mods (players would need to decide whether it’s worth depleting their grenade count for the Second Wind or save grenades and Bleed Out) (since the Action Skills grenades are launched automatically, if the player chooses to throw Grenade Mods for additional DPS the player would deplete their grenade count very quickly)
-(5/5) Increase Grenade Splash Radius by X%
-(5/5) Grenades have X% chance to stun enemies on direct impact for Y seconds. Enemies immune to stun will be slowed instead
-Midstone hitting an ally in FFYL with your Action Skill will immediately Revive them. Hitting an ally when alive increases their Damage Reduction by X% stacking up to two times
-Capstone “Pin Happy” X% chance to throw an additional grenade for free (applies to both Action Skill and Grenade Mod)
This is the sort of Artillery build meant to keep the VH farther away from the fight, picking off enemies from a distance and keeping teammates strong and healthy. Could be built with an emphasis on support with healing and crowd control or for damage by boosting grenade damage and spam. This Action Skill would not have any cooldown but rather be limited by the character’s grenade availability. A very “shoot less, explode more” type of build, especially with how prevalent grenades seem to be in BL3.
Skill Tree 3
Target enemy with Radiation
Enemy targeted is ‘Painted’ with Radiation causing the enemy to take additional damage and Action Skill lasts for the duration of the Radiation DoT (similar to Wilhelm’s “Laser Guided”)
Augments 3
-Hexagon Killing Painted Target refreshes Action Skill Cooldown
-Chevron Painting an enemy causes an Elemental explosion for a chance to proc a random elemental DoT
-Chevron Increase Action Skill debuff by X%
-Diamond “Enemy of My Enemy” Killing Painted target spreads Radiation to nearby enemy (Diamond Augment but only applies to Action Skill 3 due to ‘Painting” nature) (would work to double targeting effect when paired with first Hexagon Augment in this tree)
-Chevron All damage dealt by you and your allies to Painted target returns X% back as Health
-Hexagon Enemy effected by Action Skill takes agro of nearby enemies and will attack other enemies for the duration of the DoT (Chevron Augment that returns X% damage as Health would heal VH based on “Turned” enemy’s damage dealt)
Skills 3
-Kill Skill (5/5) Killing Painted target increases Swap Speed, Mode Switch Speed, etc
-(5/5) Action Skill DoT increases by X% each time Action Skill DoT is applied to a new target up to Y times
-(5/5) Weapons deal X% Additional Damage as Action Skill Element Damage
-(1/1) Action Skill can be used in FFYL
-(5/5) Painted target has reduced Elemental Damage Resistance by Y% and is further increased for Action Skill Element
-Midstone Killing Painted target gains a stack of “Marathon Man”. Each stack of “Marathon Man” increases Magazine Size by X% and Reload Speed by Y%. Stacks decay over time when out of combat and reset upon death
-“Melee Override” (1/1) Use Melee to consume “Marathon Man” stacks and activate “Die Already”. When “Die Already” is active gain increased Gun Damage for a short time. Gun damage is increased by X% and duration is increased by Y% based on number of stacks consumed
-(5/5) Increase Action Skill DoT duration
-(1/1) “Back But Better” (1/1) Deal Increased Damage to Painted target while in FFYL. Killing Painted target restores Health fully and reloads all guns (cooldown)
-“Attention Seeking Missiles” (5/5) Hold down Action Skill to Paint self. While “Attention Seeking Missiles” is active receive agro of all nearby enemies but Damage Taken is reflected back with X% Increased Damage (Kills with this skill would trigger any applicable skills, Kill Skills, and Augments)
-(5/5) While Action Skill is active gain multiple buffs (like Axton’s Ranger skill but less attributes with greater bonuses)
-Capstone “Determination” The longer you damage the Painted target Damage increases. Stacks are lost when switching targets or Action Skill DoT ends (potentially allow you to switch targets if they are also affected by your Action Skill Element DoT)
Clearly the most DPS driven skill tree of the three. This skill tree has an emphasis on gun play and high single target damage. The most obvious implications would be Raid Bossing while still having strong mobbing capabilities.
I know this was long, but I hope you all enjoyed it, obviously there are imbalances but this is more of an inspirational piece rather than a implementable piece. Let me know your thoughts and good luck to everyone trying to survive this wait for the next few days. Happy Vault Hunting!