New Character Idea -- the Wheelman

[Fraxinus]

Friends, heisters, countrymen -- lend me your ears.
No but seriously, I had an idea for a new character and while I am well aware that OVK probably aren't accepting fan ideas for this sort of thing, I thought it couldn't hurt. I'll keep it brief up here and only get into the lengthy backstory and perk deck down below. Now this is a character with a focus on driving, and I realize it might not be the most viable at the moment, but I think it's safe to assume that I want more heists with driving in them after reading this.

First of all, the important stuff.

Callsign: Yaguera
Artwork (of my own creation): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=574190204

Backstory (short version): Yaguera was a big-name race car driver for many years. With more than a dozen championship gold medals, he has been racing in one form or another since he was seventeen. He quickly got hooked on the adrenaline rush, and his dabbling in illegal street races led to the death of his career. Lacking a source of income and desperate for his adrenaline fix, he was contacted by Bain to serve as a wheelman for the crew.

Perk Deck: the Wheelman (everything in here is subject to change)

[Clutch and Shifter]: Your expert knowledge of how to work a manual transmission gives you a 25% boost to acceleration and top speed in all vehicles.

[Evasive Driving]: You gain +10% dodge chance, that also applies to any cars you drive. In addition, cars you drive handle 25% better.

[Adrenaline Junkie]: When you're 'on', everyone else might as well be standing still. Increases your cars' acceleration by 20%, and for two seconds after being shot at, you move and reload 20% faster.

[Personalization]: All your cars are tuned for the racetrack, and your personal gear isn't far behind. You accelerate and brake 20% faster, your cars gain +25% health, and the speed penalty of armor is reduced by 50%.

[Roadkill]: You regenerate 5% health when you run over an enemy with a car. In addition, you can now melee attack while sprinting, causing automatic knockdown.

Now, for his longer backstory, as told by the man himself. This is going to be TL:DR for most of you, probably. If you stop here, I won't judge you. Thanks for reading this far!

-----

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug. I was hooked the first time I felt the cold burn racing through my veins, the kick in my chest. It focuses you like nothing else in the world. Once you get used to it, inactivity and calm seem like the next best thing to death. Every minute of your life not devoted to eating, sleeping, or using the john is spent searching for your next high.

I’ve tried it all; surfing, skiing, rock-climbing, boxing, you name it. But nothing gets my blood going like racing does. Feeling that connection to a three-thousand-pound metal beast, hearing that twin-turbo V8 roar and feeling inertia slam you back into your seat as you floor the accelerator. Swerving around the other cars on the track, barely keeping your own under control as you drift through the corners… it’s the only thing that makes me feel truly alive any more.

I first got into the scene when I was seventeen. My parents were fairly well-to-do, and I showed a natural aptitude and love for it in driver’s ed, so for my seventeenth birthday they got me my first car – a 2000 Chevy Corvette.

I loved that girl. Five-point-seven liter V8 engine that could pump out three-hundred-and-forty-five horsepower, and a top-of-the-line – for the time – racing suspension system complete with a limited-slip differential that let it really hug those tight corners. I named her Rose – because she was red, why else? – and always made sure to take her into the shop to get her checked up regularly. Washed her myself whenever I found a spot of dirt on her.

This may surprise you, but my parents were actually supportive when I told them I wanted to race. I was glad of it at the time – I felt like they really understood me and didn’t want to hold me back – but when I look back on it I’m pretty sure they were just hoping I would became famous and thus they would be famous by association.

I quickly discovered that I was good at it. Really good. My first two races were less than spectacular, but by my third race I was regularly placing in the top three. I won my first gold medal when I was nineteen. The races quickly started getting bigger… the prizes, too. By age twenty I was making more money in a year than both my parents put together… and like I said, they were pretty well-off.

I got all kinds of action, too. Apparently, race car drivers are hot… the ones that win, even more so. Go figure.

I bought a nice flat, nothing too extreme. Expanded the three-car garage so that it could hold five, and I spent most of my money on cars to fill it. When I won the tri-state Grand Prix in ’14 – on my birthday, by the way – my present to myself was a Ferrari 458 Italia, my best and most expensive car yet.

It was no more than a week later that things started going downhill. I had been dabbling in illegal street races on the side, to get my adrenaline fix between official races. Up until that point I’d managed to keep it under wraps, but one of my competitors, a guy who went by Slim – nice car, but a terrible driver – got picked up by the cops and couldn’t keep his mouth shut. They didn’t have any hard evidence against me, just the testimony of a known criminal, so they couldn’t make the charges stick and I suffered no legal penalties… but it pretty much destroyed my racing career.

In any field where you’re always in the public eye – politics, Hollywood, professional sports – even an unconfirmed rumor can kill you. Racing is no different. I still got invited to races, but they were always small ones. I was still widely famous, and they were hoping I would draw bigger crowds. I had blown through most of my savings to get the Ferrari, figuring I would make that money back in a race or two, but now I was pretty much hung out to dry. The little races I was doing made me barely enough money to pay my bills – insurance is pretty steep when you’ve got five expensive race cars – and before a year had passed I started getting desperate, both for money and for excitement.

That’s when I got the call.

[Diawl]

The profile is pretty cool, but... that perk deck is just useless, as is any kind of buff for vehicles, that doesn't also come with an equal default skillset perk.
There are only 5 heists out of 42 that feature drivable vehicles.
And out of those 5-
Car shop, you never face any enemies and it's a 1 minute driving section.
Aftershock, you only drive a slow ass lorry for maybe 2 minutes.
Birth of Sky, you drive a slow boat down a linear path for less than a minute
Alesso, you only move a forklift around.

So, in reality, this perk deck is only useful (if that) for Meltdown. Sorry bud, nice as the idea is, the game just doesn't have enough vehicle focus to make it useful.

[Fraxinus]

You make a very good point, but I do also think it's criminal -- pun intended -- how few heists currently have driving. I got super excited after Meltdown came out, thinking it was going to be a semi-regular thing from then on.

I mean, just imagine Hoxton Breakout day one, driving a car yourselves instead of having to wait for Twitch's slow ass. Maybe it's just me, since I know a lot of people aren't fond of the driving mechanics in this game, but a guy can dream, right?

[AintCanc3r]

The character is very nice (as a fellow artist I say well done :D) And the backstory is really detailed and interesting. The only problem you have here is the perk deck.

Originally posted by Dragonfly_Chaser:

The profile is pretty cool, but... that perk deck is just useless, as is any kind of buff for vehicles, that doesn't also come with an equal default skillset perk.
There are only 5 heists out of 42 that feature drivable vehicles.
And out of those 5-
Car shop, you never face any enemies and it's a 1 minute driving section.
Aftershock, you only drive a slow ass lorry for maybe 2 minutes.
Birth of Sky, you drive a slow boat down a linear path for less than a minute
Alesso, you only move a forklift around.

So, in reality, this perk deck is only useful (if that) for Meltdown. Sorry bud, nice as the idea is, the game just doesn't have enough vehicle focus to make it useful.

As Dragonfly here had said, Meltdown is the only useful place to use the perk deck. Well, maybe Car Shop too, with all the 'more easy to drive and brake' stuff. But that's it. Unless OVK decided to make a GTA- or NFS- heist, the perk deck might as well be non-existence. Plus, the driving can be horribly desync sometimes.

Rather, you can focus on the adrenaline. Give the perk deck speed boost or damage when damaged/half health. Or more health in general. And maybe we can let Twitch drive the racing cars, so he can arrive faster. If the Wheelman lets him XD.

But this is just my opinion. All I'm saying is: Good job! But you might want to change the perk deck a bit. Hope you have a nice day!

Rating: 8/10

[Diawl]

Originally posted by Fraxinus:

You make a very good point, but I do also think it's criminal -- pun intended -- how few heists currently have driving. I got super excited after Meltdown came out, thinking it was going to be a semi-regular thing from then on.

I mean, just imagine Hoxton Breakout day one, driving a car yourselves instead of having to wait for Twitch's slow ass. Maybe it's just me, since I know a lot of people aren't fond of the driving mechanics in this game, but a guy can dream, right?

I think the driving mechanics are okay. But they don't mesh very well with the core gameplay. Maybe Payday 3 will have some cool stuff with driving, but right now the mechanics just don't allow for anything interesting.

-Only a predetermined number of vehicles per heist, experience with cars is not very fluid. For example, you can't expect another player to just hop into a different vehicle to follow you if they get left behind.
-Small, prerendered map size means there's a very hard limit on how much freedom you can have with vehicles, picking from 2 or 3 predetermined routes at best.
-No inbuilt system for handling vehicle entities restricts how 'real' cars can feel. Cars in payday 2 are basically remodeled, reanimated generic units, and so follow the same rules as enemies or civilians.
-The game runs only a simple physics system by comparison to other titles. Again with the feeling of authenticity to driving a vehicle.


But I kind of hope that overkill runs with the idea of vehicles and makes them a central concept in the development of payday 3. In fact, I'd like to see them lean toward a more fleshed out idea of the heist in general, rather than just a wave shooter with heist objectives and bag throwing. Similar to the direction GTAV took with their heists. Multiple players handling different disparate objectives, working to the timeframe of the job, by driving, shooting, sneaking, sabotaging, distracting, you know, like a heist movie.

[Infinite Thwomp Works]

I'm sure we'll see a lot of heists with vehicles down the line, but the problem is even if every new heist for the next two years had driving components it'd still be literally useless on at least half the maps.

I think there's potential here, though. You've got some good ideas for non-vehicle based buffs that follow the "theme" of the Wheelman, kind of like how Grinder has its roots in hockey. They just need to be the main focus, not the vehicular buffs.

So, let's breakdown the skills you've got right now:

Clutch and Shifter: All right, so the vehicle buffs focus on speed. It's obvious Wheelman's non-vehicle buffs are based around mobility-- kind of the anti-Burglar in loud. My opinion for CaS? Reduced speed loss from armour should start here, not at Personalization. Racecars are big, heavy things, and yet they can move faster than anything in the animal kingdom. Alternatively, just a passive speed buff, depends on whether you want your focus on light or heavy armor.

Evasive Driving: Nice. So kind of like Sprinter, except as a Perk instead of a skill. This is where your focus on light or heavy's going to really matter, because that dodge boost isn't going to mean squat for the heavier stuff. I suppose if you wanted to make it appeal to both styles, you could turn it into reduced chance of being targetted while moving, kind of the opposite of Burglar getting reduced chance when standing still.

Adrenaline Junkie: I like this one a LOT. Not much more needs to be said, I think it's just about perfect as a concept.

Personalization: So you've got the speed loss from armour here. I wonder if you should break this down across the previous trees, kind of like Grinder. Every unique tier could reduce the speed loss by 10% or something. Could probably also give Personalization increased armor regen, too, since if you've got made-to-order gear you've probably got a better idea how it works than any other gear, right?

Roadkill: I like the idea of a running strike with extra knockdown. My one concern is that it might be too much for a perk deck, it kind of comes across as something that a skill would provide (side note: maybe this is what Moving Target will become when it finally gets overhauled?). If that's the case, maybe you could rework it into something like "Clean Getaway: When the chips are down, so is your foot. When your armor is broken, you move like you're not wearing any at all.", or a 100% decrease in movespeed reduction from armor. Gotta know when to walk away, and when to floor it, right?

Just my thoughts anyway. Like I said, I think there's a lot of potential here, and I think with the right tweaks it could find a rather comfortable niche that no other deck can fill right now.

[Demoni Foxy]

I love your heister design and backstory! if he doesn't make as standalone heister, i would love atleast as expert driver replacement.

[Nervatel]

Originally posted by Fraxinus:

Perk Deck: the Wheelman (everything in here is subject to change)

[Clutch and Shifter]: Your expert knowledge of how to work a manual transmission gives you a 25% boost to acceleration and top speed in all vehicles.

[Evasive Driving]: You gain +10% dodge chance, that also applies to any cars you drive. In addition, cars you drive handle 25% better.

[Adrenaline Junkie]: When you're 'on', everyone else might as well be standing still. Increases your cars' acceleration by 20%, and for two seconds after being shot at, you move and reload 20% faster.

[Personalization]: All your cars are tuned for the racetrack, and your personal gear isn't far behind. You accelerate and brake 20% faster, your cars gain +25% health, and the speed penalty of armor is reduced by 50%.

[Roadkill]: You regenerate 5% health when you run over an enemy with a car. In addition, you can now melee attack while sprinting, causing automatic knockdown.

Honestly not enough vehicles in heists to justify a deck for it, yet.

In the spirit of racing/driving, i'd go with something along the lines of "momentum" based perks, where you benefit from moving around as much as possible, regardless of driving.
While I don't have dodge in there, I do expect there should be dodge present in the deck.
To understand a bit of the following, I should lay down some base mechanic info.

Stamina:
By default, each second(sec) the player is running, they consume 2 stamina.
run duration(sec) = stamina / 2
DEFAULT
2 piece = 10.5 seconds
ICTV = 7 seconds

ENDURANCE ACED(+150% stamina)
2 piece = 25.25 seconds
ICTV = 17.5 seconds

Default stamina regens at a rate of 3 stamina per second.
When you cancel out of sprinting, you actually continue sprinting for an additional .4 seconds.
Sprint jumping takes 2 stamina, if you have sprinted for at least .4 seconds, otherwise there is no loss.

1.
[Hit and Run]:
- Momentum Chain, each second of non-stop running builds your momentum chain by 1 point, every 4 seconds. Momentum chain builds the instant you start running, and instantly drains when you stop. (Momentum chain starts at 0)
- Running into an enemy has a chance to knock them down. % is based on your active momentum chain and armor weight.
- Each time you run into an enemy, you loose 2 points from your momentum chain.

3.
[Clutch]:
- For each point in your momentum chain, you become 5% faster
- % chance of knockdown is increased, depending on your armor weight

5.
[Short shifting]:
- You can maintain your momentum chain up to 2 seconds after you have gained at least 1 point in your momentum chain.
- Momentum chain builds by 1 every 3 seconds

7.
[Burnout]:
- At full stamina, your momentum chain begins at level 1.
- Each point in your momentum chain now makes you 10% faster

9.
[Slipsteam]
- Teammates near you, while you have an active momentum chain, move 1% faster for each point you have.
- If you are running, you can instantly pick up bags on the ground, reducing your momentum chain by 3. If you aren't normally allowed to sprint with the bag, you can continue sprinting for however many points of your momentum chain/bag weight, or until your stamina runs out.
i.e. if you have 5 points of momentum chain left and you pick up a:
- Medium bag, you can sprint for 2.5 seconds
- Heavy bag, you can sprint for 1.7 seconds
- Fusion engine, you can sprint for ~ 1 second

[Fraxinus]

Awesome comments, everyone! Thanks for the feedback and ideas. I like Nervatel's momentum idea, but I think a whole new mechanic might be a little too complicated (that being said, Dead Presidents did add stored health, so you never know). Perk decks also usually give survivability -- maybe momentum could give dodge chance as well?

I Am Sad, You Are Dead, I love what you did with my skill ideas. Maybe Personalization, instead of armor regeneration, could reduce the dodge chance penalty on heavy armor? I like what you said about racecars being heavy but moving fast, I think that should be a focus. For the max rank, Clean Getaway could amplify the effects of all the other skills when your armor is broken -- faster movement, more dodge chance, faster reload speed?

Thanks again for the comments! Glad to know people like the concept enough to critique it.