When I first read about Havoc waaay back when, I had assumed, foolishly, that this mode would behave more like the prestige systems common in roguelikes and deckbuilders (And roguelike deckbuilders) where each complete would yield a new bespoke modifier that would be trivial by itself but add up overtime. I feel like the current system kinda follows the vague gist of this, but there’s no master list of modifiers and its clear that skullduggery’s afoot, creating a generally unpleasant experience that befouls the taste of even the sweatiest of tryhards.
Regardless, I would like to take a moment to re-imagine Havoc, if only for the creative exercise. So close your eyes and imagine with me, then open them and continue reading.
First, lets wipe the board clean. The default, level-0 Havoc mission would be equivalent to a Hi-Int Auric Damnation mission, and in order to play you need to be level 30 and have completed an Auric maelstrom, or 10 Auric-level missions. None of this starting at malice nonsense. Unlike other missions, Havoc missions will have no additional modifiers other than those listed in the Havoc Levels. Existing modifiers will be moved to Maelstroms, mission-boards and Events.
Said levels in question consist of much-more focused, narrow modifiers. Those that are borrowed from Maelstroms will be weaker and/or have significantly smaller % chances to occur (To be more like a special event than a persistent threat).
I could come up with a hundred of these levels, but I’ll restrain myself to 40. These are merely examples, if you don’t like them, feel free to suggest your own. That’s part of the fun, no?
1.) Nurgle’s Champions: There’s a % chance that Elites/Specialists turn into Champion versions, that are visually distinct (Bigger, custom skins/sfx, red eyes, etc), move faster, hit harder and are a bit tougher, the spawn chance increases with each Havoc level.
2.) Shocktroopers: There’s a % chance to spawn a wave of specialists every X minutes. Less often than shock gauntlet, of course.
3.) Scavengers: Elites that normally have helmets, now have a chance to spawn without them, and vice-versa.
4.) Traveling Light: Bulwarks have a chance to spawn without their shields, becoming regular Ogryns with access to Bull Rush.
5.) Freakshow: Whenever a Champion Mutant hits a wall, nearby enemies are buffed.
6.) Vanguard: Champion Melee Elites now have a % chance to spawn with a weaker, non-regenerating personal bubble shield.
7.) Leaky Bursters: Champion Poxbursters leave behind trails and puddles of creep. They also recover from falling faster (Y’know, that one slow “I’m getting up but I don’t have arms” animation? That’s much faster now).
8.) Flock Guardian: Hordes have a chance to spawn an Ogryn Elite amidst them.
9.) Honor-bound: Champion Ragers now emit a war cry, those caught in the AOE are temporarily restricted to melee only.
10.) Two for Flinching: Dodges that don’t avoid an attack consume an additional effective dodge.
11.) Fetid Failsafe: Champion Pox Bombers now explode into pox gas when killed with ranged.
12.) Monster Rally: Monstrosities can now bless nearby enemies with certain attacks (Burgle Creep, Plogryn stomp, CSpawn jumping attack)
13.) True to their name: Fleeing Trappers leave beartraps behind, which immobilize but not incapacitate. They also hurt, yeowch!
14.) Anti-Strike Teams: % Chance to spawn a wave of weakened muties, snipers or dogs every X minutes.
15.) Hotfooted: Champion Flamers leave a trail of flame in their wake.
16.) Carry-on Capacity: Everyone starts with less starting ammo, ammo pickups are more common.
17.) Assassins Afoot: Chance to spawn Assassination Targets (We can keep this one, this one’s good)
18.) Monstro Maestro: % Chance a Champion Specialist becomes a Weakened Monstrosity.
19.) Sleeper Psykers: Champion Ranged enemies have a small chance to explode into an Enemy Psyker Dome Shield on death.
20.) Huddle Up: Players outside of coherency receive less toughness from all sources.
21.) The 21st: Hordes have a chance to become Mobian 21st hordes.
22.) Prepared and Ensnared: Champion Trappers can now fire 2 nets before having to reload.
23.) Stealthy Snipers: Champion Snipers have active camo, becoming partially transparent and no longer tag-able. They also now have green lasers and explode in smoke upon death, for the vibes.
24.) Underpowered: All medicade stations spawn unpowered. Carrying objects gives increased resistance to ranged attacks, but prevents sliding.
25.) Hard Target: Champion Maulers gain rending resistance.
26.) Nades for Nurgle: Champion Bombers now throw tox 'nades, and have a small chance to throw a second grenade (Similar to Twin Blast).
27.) Beanbag Blast: Champion shotgunners have considerably increased knockback.
28.) Gifts Galore: Infested enemies have a chance to spawn betentacled and blighted with creep-juice.
29.) Frightening Enlightening: Tox Flames buff enemies.
30.) Malaise: Combat Abilities regenerate slower.
31.) Blessed are the Weak: Trash enemies have a chance to be nurgle-blessed.
32.) Pack Leader: Champion Poxhounds cause a wave of Hunting Dogs to spawn on death.
33.) Weapons Training: Shooters shoot more often.
34.) Horror Handlers: Monstrosities always spawn with an entourage of elites.
35.) Atmos-fear: Fog now has a chance to “Roll In” and “Roll out” during missions (I’d also like rolling blackouts but that’d probably be a pain to implement).
36.) Techno-can’t: Auspic scans and Interrogators are slower now.
37.) Anointed: Champions all spawn creep-blighted.
38.) Sluggish Slugs: Champion Gunners reduce the sprint speed of the player they’re actively targeting. It’s slight, but percentage based. Mwha-ha-ha.
39.) Squalid Soup: Nurgle-Blessed enemies are creep blighted and vice-versa.
40.) Woundless Wonders: Everyone spawns with 1 less wound. Having 1 wound no longer turns your screen black and white.
As long as you complete a mission whose havoc level is equal or greater than your current clearance, you will move up 1 rank.
This system would be a precursor to, and thus be compatible with, a future Roguelike mode similar to Chaos Wastes, allowing folks to bypass the havoc pre-reqs if they so wish. Frankly, surprised ya’ll didn’t just skip straight to implementing Chaos Wastes since that was WAY more popular in VT2 but I digress.
