Assemble! - Shooter Archetype Squad - The Armory

Welcome to Assemble!

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

Despite a perception of a lot of these titles as generic war games, some shooters allow players to dive into an engaging story in a captivating world, taking the role of interesting characters with varied weapons, abilities, personalities, and motivations, especially with the popularity of hero shooters like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Paladins. In this series of Assemble articles, we will be assembling a hero shooter roster using characters from several different shooters, based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on the different themes and tones of the characters and the worlds they inhabit as well as the roles they fill on a team or the kinds of weapons they use. Only characters that originated from video games, shooters particularly, will be observed here. Both first and third-person shooters will count and so will first and third-person action games if their main method of combating enemies is gunplay. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games and characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss every shooter in existence, there should still be a good amount of variety with the series explored.

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THE ARMORY

Practically the definition of a one-man army, the Armory is a shooter character that carries a large variety of weapons, can freely switch between them, and uses them to shoot through waves after waves of enemies. They are frequently the protagonists of single-player narrative shooters where all that power is needed for the player to feel like they’re in a powerful position with this character. They can also be found in multiplayer games where characters can pick up guns scattered around an arena rather than sticking with a specific loadout. They are practically absent in hero shooters as the inclusion of such a character can easily be overcomplicated at best or game-breaking at worst if not done properly.

Our pick for the Armory is…

The Doom Slayer from Doom.

Also frequently known as Doomguy, one could argue that the Doom Slayer being overpowered is the entire point of the character. He’s a lone space marine stuck on a space base in Mars after demons have torn apart everyone else there and has to fight his way out, eventually waging a one-man war against the infernal forces. He comes prepared with all the weapons he needs to tear through demonic hordes and it’s explained that, thanks to a backpack with experimental technology, he can hold all the weapons he picks up at once. (Not often you get an explanation for the huge arsenal these characters hold.) He has several available to him, but his most iconic weapons may be his shotgun, chainsaw, and the infamous BFG 9000, but his arsenal also includes pistols, chain guns, rocket launchers, and the Unmaker, a gun designed specifically to kill demons. He also uses several power-ups with different effects from healing damage to invulnerability to partial invisibility.

For carrying a massive collection of weapons into battle and effectively using it in battle, we now add the Doom Slayer to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

Thanks for coming!

Assemble! - Shooter Archetype Squad - The Demolition Expert

Welcome to Assemble!

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

Despite a perception of a lot of these titles as generic war games, some shooters allow players to dive into an engaging story in a captivating world, taking the role of interesting characters with varied weapons, abilities, personalities, and motivations, especially with the popularity of hero shooters like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Paladins. In this series of Assemble articles, we will be assembling a hero shooter roster using characters from several different shooters, based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on the different themes and tones of the characters and the worlds they inhabit as well as the roles they fill on a team or the kinds of weapons they use. Only characters that originated from video games, shooters particularly, will be observed here. Both first and third-person shooters will count and so will first and third-person action games if their main method of combating enemies is gunplay. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games and characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss every shooter in existence, there should still be a good amount of variety with the series explored.

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THE DEMOLITION EXPERT

The Demolition Expert is a character that specializes in explosives. Grenades, missiles, mines, remote bombs; if it can blow up for massive damage in an area of effect, they are likely to carry it. Since their explosions can cover a large area, they are especially good and fighting in crowds, where they can damage multiple enemies and possibly score some lucky eliminations. Owing to the chaotic nature of their weapons of choice, the Demolition Expert is often shown to be not the most mentally sound of their group, possibly being even obsessed with explosions or the damage they can cause.

Our pick for the Demolition Expert is…

Bomb King from Paladins.

The first clue to how well he fits this role is his appearance. He’s literally a walking giant bomb. He was brought to life when a warlock working under a warlord wanted to create new weapons to take down her enemies. The resulting confused construct believes himself to be an actual king and is wandering around visiting the lands he thinks he rules over. As for the warlord’s army, Bomb King took care of them all by himself and with his explosive arsenal, it’s easy to see how. 

His main weapons are sticky bombs that he throws at opponents and can detonate at will and he can spawn more from compartments in his arms when he reloads. For his abilities, he uses different kinds of bombs that not only damage, but can also stun enemies or knock them back, or knock himself back if he needs to make a fast getaway. Finally, for his Ultimate move, he uses himself as the bomb, rolling forward and controlling which way he rolls before detonating himself for massive damage. (He’s just fine afterwards though.)

For his effectiveness in fulfilling this role, from mechanics to appearance, we now add Bomb King to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

Thanks for coming!

Assemble! - Shooter Archetype Squad - The Sniper

Welcome to Assemble!

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

Despite a perception of a lot of these titles as generic war games, some shooters allow players to dive into an engaging story in a captivating world, taking the role of interesting characters with varied weapons, abilities, personalities, and motivations, especially with the popularity of hero shooters like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Paladins. In this series of Assemble articles, we will be assembling a hero shooter roster using characters from several different shooters, based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on the different themes and tones of the characters and the worlds they inhabit as well as the roles they fill on a team or the kinds of weapons they use. Only characters that originated from video games, shooters particularly, will be observed here. Both first and third-person shooters will count and so will first and third-person action games if their main method of combating enemies is gunplay. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games and characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss every shooter in existence, there should still be a good amount of variety with the series explored.

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THE SNIPER

One of the most straightforward archetypes, The Sniper is a character armed with a high-powered, long-ranged rifle (or sometimes, a bow and arrows), whose main draw is getting quick kills with precisely placed shots. Players need great accuracy to master these characters and how powerful the character is gets balanced out by how difficult they are to use. The best use they have is getting headshots, which are often one-hit kills. This character is often shown to be cold and calculating, a ruthless and remorseless killing machine.

Our pick for the Sniper is…

Zer0 from Borderlands.

This cyborg assassin for hire has several different skills that he can use within the series, but among them is an entire skill tree for sniping. The attributes within this skill tree make him a more efficient sniper when unlocked. They include inflicting critical hit damage for headshots, increasing zoom and decreasing disruption when taking aim, improved aim, and damaging multiple enemies by shooting through other targets, just to name a few. While most of his other skills or equipment have nothing to do with sniping, they do make it easier for him to take out the enemy quickly and with little hassle. They include a holographic decoy to distract the enemy, a stealth mode function to sneak around, and a sword as a melee weapon for close-up kills.

We won’t talk about the guns here because it’s Borderlands. They have lots of them, and we’d be here all day talking about them.

For his ability to be such a strong sniper while also keeping sharp skills in other areas, we now add Zer0 to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

Thanks for coming!