Switch! is a crazy idea I got for a game mode while reminiscing about the tag team mode featured in fighting games. This mode lets you have a large team with small team battles, and (potentially) the chance to play several different characters within a single match.
Switch! offers new players the chance to try out different bloodlines in only one sitting, and provides many chances to make up for their own mistakes. For advanced players, Switch! provides a new level of depth to the strategy already experienced in the basic arena Deathmatch. No longer limited to a single bloodline, they have the power of several different bloodlines ready to swap in at a moment's notice.
Lineups: 1v1(c3) One-Controls-All (OCA), 2v2(c5) Two-Control-All (TCA)
Objective: First team to reach a set number of kills wins.
Lore
The ancients sought a way to represent battles between great numbers of warriors within their small arenas. Switch! was born.
How will this work?
- The F1-F5 keys now bind to Switch!. These correspond with bloodlines. More or less keys will be enabled depending on how many bloodlines are available.
- Activating Switch! swaps bloodlines for the corresponding bloodline.
- Swapped bloodlines do not regenerate health, and are removed from the arena.
- Benched bloodlines get one free Switch!, protected from the debuff.
- After the first Switch!, swapping bloodline places a debuff on the bloodline who is swapped into play. This debuff reduces cooldown recharge rate to 0%, restored to normal over 5 seconds.
- Both the bloodline swapped-in and the bloodline swapped-out cannot be affected by Switch! for 5 seconds.
- The debuff and cooldown are ignored when swapping in to replace a defeated bloodline. The new bloodline spawns at the dead bloodline's nearest ally.
- Cooldowns are recharged when swapped.
- Ultimate energy is retained by bloodlines when they Switch!. If the Inhibitor had his ultimate ready when he was swapped out, he'll have it ready when he swaps back in.
- Switch! can be activated whether or not the current bloodline is incapacitated, and debuffs from the active bloodline are carried onto the bloodline who is Switch!-ed to.
1v1(1c3) One-Controls-All
In OCA, each player chooses three bloodlines, and specifies one as their starter. The other two sit on the sidelines at the start of the match. But, as soon as Switch! becomes active, the player can swap for control of either of the other bloodlines he selected. The first player to kill one of the other player's bloodlines wins the round.
In the event the player wants to choose more than one of the same bloodline, another portrait becomes available to select after choosing that bloodline the first time.
2v2(2c5) Two-Control-All
TCA is slightly more complicated. With two players, they each select the bloodline they would like to play as their starter, and then pick three bloodlines to have on their bench. These bloodlines are marked, and before the match starts, the computer randomly selects bloodlines from each players' choices. Any bloodlines both players choose are guaranteed to be selected. Once the battle begins, players can Switch! at any time for any of the bloodlines on their bench. This is a mode that will require a lot of coordination between teammates to get the most out of their bloodlines. To win the round, you must slay two bloodlines from the other team.
Additional Game Modes
One-Of-A-Kind
Turn this feature on to require that every chosen bloodline be unique within each team.
(1c3) Free-for-All OCA
3-5 players enter an arena and fight to the death against each other with Switch! OCA rules enabled.
1v1(3c1) Individuals
Similar to OCA, except each bloodline is controlled by a single player, instead of every bloodline controlled by one player. This mode can also be used to pit 3 players against a player by himself, in 1v1(3c1) vs. OCA.
2v2(5c1) Individuals
A larger-scale variant on 1v1(3c1) Individuals. It has 5 players instead of 3, with only two players in the arena at a given time.
5v5(5c10) Big Brawl
The biggest, longest variant on Switch! I could think up. Each player chooses 2 bloodlines, with one as their starter. The second bloodline is added to the pool of available choices. Once the battle starts, any player may pick a bloodline from their bloodline pool. 5 kills are required to win.
