Banshee ideas

[TheUnspoken]

These are just ideas. However, I've always loved the Banshee. Thought I would give it a shot and see what you thought:

So, I had a few ideas for the Banshee as she seems to be the most unique of the undead in terms of playstyle and almost seems to be hard to nail down.


Using the information provided above, and after watching many of your youtube videos (Yes, I need to follow you on twitch), I had ideas. I've always had ideas on how to implement them, especially in a style of game that's diablo-like in terms of skill trees. Other than the vampire, which you guys inspired so much passion from me for them, the Banshee tends to be my favorite undead. Be it mixed legends like the Lady in White who tends blurs the line between phantom and banshee, to the tormented spirit that becomes almost akin to a poltergeist and everything in between. Besides, lets face it, they're one of the few undead that can be really sexy! Dark ethereal streaks that look like running mascara? Yes, please. Sorry. Inner monster lover got away from me for a moment.

You guys said you wanted her to play entirely different. And I really think this style, even if altered, could have a profound impact on how she is played. I’ve kept in mind the roots in Blood Omen in terms of gameplay while delving into their Western European folklore to try and be accurate. Though, outside of the Celtic origins, the modern Banshee is a tapestry of all angry ghasts and poltergeists, it seems. So, I wanted to do something that fits both the origins and the modern understanding of the myth. Her abilities honor her Celtic heritage (most of the tendrils should look like green vines, for example. A deep respect for nature as Celts generally had).

So, first thing I did was went back and looked at Ariel since the vampire is based off Kain. Clearly, she's always flickering between intangible and physical states. For cut scenes, this works well. However, for a game, the idea of her being able to basically negate 50% (or so) of damage is something I think should be linked to an ability that provides her with a shield type personal buff.

The reason for this is two fold: I was thinking she has to get close to someone and attack them or retreat. She would assume a state known as Tragic Phantom or Specter, or whatever. This would boost her defense massively, mana regen and her speed. It can be used to literally escaped or dash through foes. By turning into a sickly green ghast-like form that passes through enemies. For so many seconds, you can either flee or cause an effect through foes called, 'Aura of Sorrow' 1. Any enemy it passes through is linked as she begins to feed off their energy, fueling a passive ability (Which stacks) called (1 Making nearby undead's stats increase in some fashion an aura around her while also shaking foes, diminishing their attack or something that would relate to them being afraid. While the final buff diminishes the cool down of her other abilities by X amount for every person she feeds from). As she pulls their sorrows to the surface of their minds, connecting with their emotions, the negativity of her anguish makes the darkness within the undead all the stronger.

>This ties into a shriek attack which can be cone based, individual and an extended use (For example: Upon 'Aura of Sorrow' in her foes, the shrieks do bonus damage. The cone based is one that hurts flesh. Like a standard attack. The Individual attack would be one that shatters bones, and debuffs enemies. The Sustained one would be her literally ripping the soul out of them). This can be done by simply locking onto a target for individual, unlocking for the coned effect and holding the shriek burron for the ability to self-heal by stealing the soul.

Note: No attack requires being afflicted by 'Aura of Sorrow', but ‘Aura of Sorrow’ reduces Mana consumption and does more damage the higher it stacks.

Emotion Tendril – One piece of the Banshee’s dress extends for a long range attack and could be considered her normal attack.

Noisy Spirit – Foes within a short/medium ranged radius have to contend with torrents of ethereal spiritual energy that batters them with soul fire (Balefire, or green fire. Whatever you wanna call it. What Vorador uses outside of his mansion!) that swirls around her. Soul fire bypasses armor, though not natural defense. As those strands of energy wrap around nearby foes, they are lifted as if one invoked the image of vines with no discernable origin. Holding them in place (pinning them) while picking up debris and even bodies, hurling the debris at the target (Dealing DOT).

>Upgraded versions could steal mana, health, or even ripple outwards to extend towards close undead to fuel them with negativity. Lore wise, she would essentially stealing one of the victims essence and acting like a battery, channeling it through herself into a nearby undead to boost their cool down times, attack damage, defense, magical attack.

Hymn of Despair - This tragic, but beautiful song, lashes out with etheric dark psychic energy. Perhaps because she once lost her master, part of her refuses to see another Undead die. Wisps of energy billow and dart around all nearby allied undead, creating a defense buff. This includes the Banshee, too.

Agonizing Cries - Stopping action for a moment, the Banshee kneels and covers her face with her hands. Weeping loudly. In her anguish, the Queen of Sadness lashes out with wave after wave of demoralizing debuffs that pile the longer the ability stacks. If she is disturbed in her mourning, she gains a bonus to every shriek after a loud, resounding wail. Putting her into a state of frenzy (Maybe full on spectral, 'I'm gonna hunt you down' type? You guys have an idea for ultimates attacks like that. I'm sure you have something you can put here). Dealing damage directly to the soul (bypassing defense) and stealing life over time for the allied undead as the fear she feeds from provides her a boon to her psychic onslaughts. During this time, the enemies are considered stunned. Preventing them from attacking for X amount of time.

 

[Meta]

Those are some interesting ideas, and many sound in line with what's been shared about Banshees so far, with one exception--the ability to avoid damage and having a spectral essence, that sounds more like an inherent Wraith thing than a Banshee thing. Banshees in Deadhaus, while taking some inspiration from the Banshees of folklore, have their own unique spin in this game's lore. They're otherworldly servants of an ancient force--perhaps an Elder God, or at least a lesser God, they are the only known undead who were never alive, and there is much mystery behind their nature even to the other undead classes.

 

[TheUnspoken]

Ah. Makes sense. So, think Lovecraft. In that regard, yeah. Warping reality to make most things scary. I could fully see the tentacles being something akin to a Deep One instead. So, rather than go Ethereal, they could simply bend reality and teleport should combat get too intense. Rather than have her be required to 'drift' through people, anytime -- Lemme rework this keeping that in mind.

 

[TheUnspoken]

After my reeducation program by Meta, I discovered they have a Cosmic Horror vibe. Epic. Be patient with me! Still getting through the lore.



With that in mind, I’ve kept in mind the roots in Blood Omen in terms of gameplay while delving into their Western European folklore to try and be accurate, added some of that madness factor that is so beyond us which makes any place with Lovecraft scary as shit (Fun fact: Did you know Conan and Lovecraft’s universe are the same?). So, I went back to their Celtic origins more than the Eternal Bride archetype, as they are more fairy-type spirits. Which tend to be more physical in most cultures, for example). They are harbingers of death. Mourning over the lost (In this case, it can clearly be the one she serves), and added some dashes of insanity! I wanted to do something that fits both the Celtic origins and Deadhaus’s world mythos. The best way I could do it was go back to the core of what something like an Angel of the Old Ones meets the Celtic Wailing Spirit.



So, first thing I did was went back and looked at Ariel since the vampire is based off Kain. Formerly, this worked in my head, but she is more ghost than a harbinger of death.

They tend to have the gift of Foresight. Their lamentations, or keening, marks approaching death. They are capable of changing size. And while not outright evil, they have purpose. Which tends to always result in the demise of someone.

Whatever the cause of them being enigmatic about their origins, it’s clear they deviate from Celtic banshees in that they are willing to kill. Not just warn someone about it with a cry.

So, given their info above, the ability to bend reality is a massively potent power. It can account for the origins of many of the Banshee’s ability.

First, I believe she should be given the ability to teleport by bending reality. This does nothing to aid in defense or offense, but it does allow a character who is support to get in and out of more powerful melee class ranges. However, it shouldn’t be something that can be done over and over again. Like any teleport, it should only have one use before a cool down.

In legend, Banshees are known to be able to take on a more humanoid form. Though most are generally considered darkly beautiful, they can assume a form to walk among others. Generally, this is a young virgin, a form taken from a family who had someone die young. Obviously, you can’t just kill someone’s kid in this form and take it as your own, but perhaps a universally used form.

To that end, let us begin:

Reality Shift – The Banshee literally bends reality around her, allowing the darkness of the Void itself relocate her to what would be considered a long ranged length, maximum.

Beguile (Yep, you know it! Reference to Blood Omen) – Allows the Banshee to assume a youthful, living appearance. This is at the cost of constant mana or essence drain.

Neverliving Claws – Standard melee attacks.

Shriek – (1 See below.) This cone based attack is enough to rip into any material of man, and man himself. The Void burrows down on those foes in front of her, invading the minds with madness. This adds to an ‘Insanity’ stack.

Mournful Dirge – (1. See below) This bittersweet song tells a tale of tragedy. Of the ways this banshee has seen mortals die. Telling, with an almost sweet glee, of horrors most men were never ready to face. Each word painting a picture in the mind of what she is saying as though they were there first hand. This builds into the ‘Aura of Fright’ stack.

(1.: ) Stacked Passives – Stacked passives provide boons and shields to allies and demoralizes victims. As more stacks in Insanity and Fright are gained, the cost of mana and essence for skills diminished and damage increases.

>’Insanity’ – Foes will progressively begin to attack things that aren’t there. Ending with the Insanity passive causing enemies to turn on one another, seeing them as monsters.

‘Aura of Fright’ - As the fear builds in a target, it begins slow. Starting with slowly feeding off emotional energy while implanting terror. At first, the target is not effected beyond the base ability, but most Frightful abilities can be used at long range. As the stacks build, the target begins to become slow to attack and even keeps his distance while the Aura grows (Consider a fear effect), making other undead seem more terrifying to the minds that are already being corrupted. Providing them a boon. Finally, which is often when the human knows how he is going to die in the song, he is cursed to be fed upon. The Banshee devours that fear and curses the target, accelerating her cool down, mana and essence regeneration as long as the target is alive. Consider taking one health for every one point of cool down she steals from each ability. So, if you have five skills and it cools down at a rate of 1/sec, it would now be 2/sec for every skill. Meaning ten health would be drained from the victim. The same applies with mana and essence, preventing a player from spamming this ability by keeping their victims alive.

Note: No attack requires being afflicted by any status effect from a stacked passive, but this will reduce reduces Mana consumption and does more damage the higher it stacks.


Paradoxical Tendril – One piece of the Banshee’s hands extends into a black, non-Euclidian shape that darts towards a foe, extending for a long range attack and binding a foe.

Wailing Spirit – Foes within a short/medium ranged radius have to contend with torrents of ethereal spiritual energy that batters them with soul fire (Balefire, or green fire. Whatever you wanna call it. What Vorador uses outside of his mansion!) that swirls around her. Soul fire bypasses armor, though not natural defense. As those strands of energy wrap around nearby foes, they are lifted as if one invoked the image of vines with no discernable origin. As she wails during this time frame, tendrils erupt from beneath her, forming a barrier that prevents new enemies from entering the wailing (As the actual wails cause DOT as their victims bones break), while black energy wraps around her allies within the field. Giving them a boon to defense, attack and magic.

Hymn of Cries - This tragic, brokenhearted tearing, lashes out with etheric dark psychic energy. Perhaps because she once lost her master, whatever part of her remains can’t even admit how lonely a creature it is. Rather than admit it outright, what remains of her loyalty for her lost master shifts into a need to retain companionship. Wisps of energy billow and dart around all nearby allied undead, creating a defense buff that grows stronger as a ally grows closer to death. This includes the Banshee, too.

Keening - Stopping action for a moment, the Banshee kneels and covers her face with her hands. Weeping loudly. Using the eldritch powers that her master allowed to flow into her, she begins to shift reality herself. Wave after wave of warped reality ripple out from her, pushing enemies outside of melee range. As the ability continues, she loses herself to that ancient power. Assuming a more terrifying form with an explosion of raw primal energy. At this point, she bent the fabric of reality enough to tell of her enemies death. Willing it into existence. Emerging afterwards, her fighting style changes temporarily as her claws extend and begin to drip with black, tar-like substance (which also is a boon to the rest of the party as that tar-like substance will coat whatever normal attack an ally has) which ignores armor entirely. She is then capable of rapidly teleporting around the battlefield. Any kill made while this skill is active from any undead with the boon will rend the soul from their victim, restoring a small portion of all three traits.