Crystal Dynamics is still hard at work on Marvel’s Avengers. We are only a few more days away from the first DLC character being added. Kate Bishop will offer some brand new story content and continue where the Reassemble campaign left off. We even got a special War Table that offered a deep dive into the character and teased her story. Well, that wasn’t all as, after a short Thanksgiving break, the developers returned with a brand new stream to showcase the character in all their glory. Our CD mainstays Phil and Andy were also joined by fellow developers Scott and Nicole, who were able to offer some insight. Of course, a brand new stream also means you’ll get a brand new recap. Now, let’s jump right into all the major reveals and teases.
General Updates
- Let’s start with some general updates. Phil revealed that he is the reason for Tony’s “Who you going to call?” line in the game. It was a collaborative effort, as they also worked together on characterization with Marvel.
- New Game+ or Campaign Replay, as Phil titles it, is still being worked on, but it is already in the bug testing phase.
- Loot is getting a complete overhaul. It will take time, but it is a big priority for the team. We can expect some major changes with future content.
- The Omega Threat delays are due to some network issues. The missions are very long, so they want to ensure that multiplayer works as intended.
- Their development cycles are getting better, so they are much better at getting timings down. Some of their co-workers have yet to take a break since the entire thing started. A lot of future features are also based on user feedback.
- Kate will be available on the start screen and may have some additional music added to the game.
Kate Bishop Gameplay
- They worked on Clint and Kate around the same time, which is a given with their archery focus. Clint’s background as Ronin and Kate’s fencing lessons in the comics was the inspiration for her melee combat. Both characters will use a variety of arrow types.
- Kate stole the quantum technology from AIM. It is the basis for her abilities. There are sadly no unique status effects, but some moves stack additional quantum damage. It is mainly a visual effect and became a part of Kate’s fiction to create unique abilities around.
- Kate is a support-focused character. You can optimize your build to either focus on her arrow abilities or even her blade. Most of her heroics include a special ability that helps your team during battle.
- One can see their experience with the Tomb Raider franchise in Kate’s pull of the bowstring. You can quickfire or pull it in for critical damage, which looks to be quite satisfying.
- Her support heroic Decoy allows her to spawn a clone who can damage enemies. It acts as a turret, which zones enemies. You can also add an ability to turn it into a quantum bomb to take out multiple enemies. They will be focused on the decoy, so you can support it mid-battle for additional damage.
- Quantum Overdrive is a similar ability to Captain America’s Brooklyn Brawler. It gives her infinite intrinsic ability, so you can teleport around the map freely as long as it is active.
- Warp Arrow allows you to shoot an arrow for a long distance, which instantly teleports you to that location. They are quite useful for boss fights to avoid larger attacks. There are, however, some limitations to where you can place portals, and enemies can’t enter them. You can activate the warp arrow at any time with a button press, so you are not dependent on hitting an actual surface to activate it.
- You can switch your loadout just like Iron Man and Black Widow. Disruptor arrows are great to stack up combos. You can time the bow to get a perfect draw that deals with critical damage. Demolition arrows can attach to targets, which can be activated remotely or with a perfect shot.
- The Scattershot can damage multiple enemies from a distance, but you can stack damage if you shoot from close-range.
- Kate can hack doors like Iron Man and Black Widow.
Taking AIM Story
- Kate was going to become an Avengers before A-Day happened. She sees the Avengers as her family, so she will add a great new dynamic. They teased her interactions with Tony.
- When she was young, she decided she wanted to be like Hawkeye and eventually became his protége.
- Nicole, one of the game’s writers, teased that she is fun, sarcastic, and confident. Like an older sister to her mentor, as she has it all together. They took a lot of inspiration from Matt Fraction‘s My Life as a Weapon story and her time with the West Coast Avengers.
- They teased that a lot of references to Fraction‘s stories are scattered throughout the story and with the skins.
I have to say, my first impressions of Kate were very positive. She looks like a fun character to play. I might end up focusing on a sword build, as that quantum sword looks like a lot of fun. The animations were very fluid, and they put a lot of thought into how she plays. I cannot wait to play her once the DLC is released next Tuesday. I also cannot wait to see how the story will expand and what it may tease for the future. It also was just fun to see the developers finally be able to showcase their first major DLC and having a blast doing it.
Source: Twitch
