Prowler

Prowler is a Tech Champion. Being a Cosmic Champion, he has a Class Bonus against Mutant Champions, but is weak to Cosmic Champions.

Bio[]

A smart kid with a knack for inventing, Hobie Brown was never taken seriously, despite his best efforts. Out of a job and at the end of his rope, he donned the identity of the Prowler and tried to take back control of his life as a villain. But after seeing the damage a life of crime could cause, Hobie quickly realized his mistake and turned things around. Now Hobie wields the name of the Prowler as a source for good, and fights for causes he believes in.

Mechanics[]

With an armored suit and a full arsenal of gadgets, the breadth of Prowler’s utility is matched only by his creativity in wielding it. With easy access to a Falter, Prowler can find openings and extend his combos as he focuses on pushing his Opponent’s Power to specific levels. Maximizing the amount of Power he Drains further fuels Prowler’s potentially devastating offense.

Abilities[]

Always Active - Prowler's Suit

Custom-made flak armor grants Immunity to Bleed and Incinerate, and increases Prowler’s Block Proficiency during the Opponent’s Special Attacks by +1211.54.
Unyielding, unrelenting. Prowler is Immune to Falter and has 115% Ability Accuracy.
Prowler does not benefit from the Collar Tech Mastery. Instead, he gains +93.75 Critical Damage Rating for each rank invested.

Dev Notes: You might’ve missed it, but Prowler won’t (not due to Falter at least), so go ahead and take him to all those pesky Falter Quest Nodes out there. Also, his Ability Accuracy is increased just enough to account for certain luck-based Mutants. Prowler’s gameplay focuses on pushing the Opponent to specific Power levels, so he gets an alternative benefit from Collar Tech rather than Power Control to help his loop feel more consistent across different Mastery setups.

Pneumatic Gauntlets

Medium Attacks are non-contact pneumatic blasts that cannot be Evaded.
When Prowler would land a Critical Hit, he instead inflicts a Rupture Passive dealing the Critical Damage the hit would have dealt as Physical Damage over 1 second.

Dev Notes: The latest addition to the lineup of Tech Critical Replacement mechanics, Prowler turns all his Critical Hits into Ruptures. While this can be great utility on its own, these Ruptures also play into a couple other parts of his kit and pair well with the Critical Damage stat focus.

Gas Pellets - Falter

Prowler’s second Medium Attack inflicts a Falter Passive for 3 seconds, paused during his Special Attacks, which can not be inflicted if the Opponent is already Faltered. If it causes a Miss, it goes on cooldown for 10 seconds.
If Prowler’s Special Attacks would be Punished, he inflicts a Falter Passive for 1 second.
While the Opponent is Faltered, they are more aggressive.

Dev Notes: Falter provides the flexibility for Prowler to manage his attacks as his needs dictate. You can use it to safely extend a combo, land a Heavy Attack, or avoid a particularly nasty Special Attack. If the Opponent is already Faltered from a Quest Node, Prowler won’t waste his own.

Power Creep - Max: 30

After the Opponent activates a Special Attack, Power Drain their remaining Power and inflict a Power Lock Passive lasting for 1.5 seconds after the final hit of their attack.
For every 1.1% of the Opponent’s Max Power that is Drained or Burned, gain 1 Power Creep Charge.
On Prowler’s Special Attack activation, each Charge is converted into a Fury Passive granting +147.84 Attack Rating for 10 seconds, paused during Special Attacks. Max stacks: 30.

Dev Notes: This is the core of Prowler’s damage. The more Power you Drain, the more Furies you can get, so try to push the Opponent to 1.9 or 2.9 Bars of Power to maximize your returns. This is especially effective against Mutants with cheaper Specials, and even works if the Opponent’s Power is Burned or Drained from outside sources.

Heavy Attacks

Landing a Heavy Attack against an Opponent with 0 Power causes the final 4 hits to inflict a non-stacking Incinerate Debuff dealing 5544 Energy Damage over 20 seconds.
If a personal Rupture expires on an Incinerated Opponent, it explodes, dealing a burst of 1663.2 Physical Damage.

Dev Notes: Keeping this Incinerate up leads to a significant bump in Prowler’s damage, as it turns all his Ruptures into little Physical Damage explosives. Punishing the Opponent’s Special Attacks with a Heavy Attack is the most direct way to get it up and running, but against ranged Specials where that’s difficult, you can also make use of Prowler’s Power Lock and Falter to force a Heavy opening while they’re still at 0 Power. And if all else fails, waiting after their Special Attack to simply Parry-Heavy is completely viable (but way less fun).

Signature Ability[]

Courtesy of the Prowler

While the Opponent is Faltered, Prowler gains +3375 Critical Rating.
While Prowler has at least 30 Fury effects, his Special Attacks are Passively Unblockable.

Dev Notes: Once awakened, Prowler learns to capitalize on Faltered Opponents, striking through the smoke to land increasingly frequent Ruptures. Try to line up your Falter with your Special Attack 2 to maximize the amount of paused Ruptures you can stack up. This awakening also pairs well with the Special Attack 3 loop, helping ensure your back-to-back Unblockable Specials connect.

Special Attacks[]

Special Attack 1 - Approaching Dusk

On activation, gain a Pursuit Passive for 30 seconds.
The final hit inflicts a Taunt Debuff for 4 seconds.
This Special Attack does not grant Power to the Opponent.

Dev Notes: Pursuit is a new effect that prevents all of Prowler’s attacks from being Evaded. This Special Attack is a quick-and-easy easy way to access a lot of utility, whether that be ensuring you can hit that recently-cracked Nightcrawler, convincing an uncooperative Defender to give you Power Creep Charges, or just bringing your Fury Passives online in a shorter fight.

Special Attack 2 - Creeping In The Night

The first hit refreshes and pauses all personal Ruptures until the final hit of this Special Attack.
Each hit inflicts a Rupture Passive dealing 739.2 Physical Damage over 1 second.

Dev Notes: This Special Attack is all about damage, plain and simple. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly small potency of these Ruptures, as they’ll be boosted by your Furies and paused for a deceptively long time. Try and use this Special while you have plenty of Power Creep Charges, the Opponent is Incinerated, and (if awakened) while they’re Faltered. You only need one or two of those to see noticeable returns, but if you can line up all three you’ll lay the Opponent out flat.

Special Attack 3 - Enlightened Gloom

Prowler ditches the niceties and Overcharges his Gauntlets until the end of his next Special Attack.
While Overcharged, Prowler gains +50% Combat Power Rate, but cannot activate Special Attacks 2 or 3. Additionally, Power Creep Charges are not removed on conversion, and new Fury Passives do not count towards the cap.
Grant the Opponent a 100% Power Efficiency Passive for 30 seconds.

Dev Notes: Prowler can push beyond his normal limits with his Special Attack 3, quickly building back to 3 Bars of Power and rapid-fire Special 1 into Special 2 for a turbocharged 60-Fury damage payout. The Power Efficiency is a curse in disguise that ensures Prowler’s Power Creeps easily remain maxed.

Synergy Bonuses[]

Synergy	Partner(s)	Effect(s)
Defenders For A Day		All Champions: Gain +5% Perfect Block Chance
Hooked On A Feeling		All Champions: Gain +155 Critical Rating
Caped Crusaders		Synergy Champions: Special Attack 2 grants a +20% Fury Biff for 6 seconds. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Showing The Light		Prowler: If the Opponent is not Faltered, Prowler has a 20% chance to Evade Basic Attacks while not Blocking. Spider-Man (Classic): For each stack of Webbing on the opponent, Special Attack 2 deals 10% of Attack Rating as a burst of Physical Damage. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Parallel Enemies		Prowler and White Tiger: Punishing the Opponent's Special Attacks grants a +300 Cruelty Passive for 10 seconds. Spider-Man (Miles Morales): Increase Spider-Camo Miss chance by +35% flat. Electro: Static Shock also triggers Electro's attacks at 50% potency. Vulture: Gain Immunity to Nullify. Unique Synergy: Does not stack with duplicate synergies.
Splitting Heads		Prowler: Can activate a Pre-Fight Ability granting Immunity to Reversed Controls, but controls are inverted for the whole fight.Spider-Punk: Whenever a Mystic Opponent gains a non-Instant Power Gain effect, they also turn up the gain on Spider-Punk's amp and are inflicted with a personal Rupture Debuff.

Strengths and Weaknesses[]

Strengths[]

Anti-Evade
- With Medium Attacks that can’t be Evaded and a new “Pursuit” effect that prevents Evade altogether, Prowler ensures his foe won’t bamf away.
Offensive Miss
- Prowler’s Falter can be used to extend his combos, find openings for a Heavy Attack, and stay safe.
Power Drain
- Prowler Power Drains the Opponent’s remaining Power after a Special Attack, similar to Captain America’s “Tech Breakthrough” synergy. This means every Special his Opponent throws functionally sets them to 0 Power. Great against the rising threat of Power Efficiency in Mutants.

Weaknesses[]

Power Drain Immunity
- Maximizing the amount of Power Drained is key to unlocking Prowler’s potential, so Cosmic Immunities can severely cap his damage.
Anti-Miss
- Prowler’s Falter is a significant part of his survivability and Defensive threat. Effects like True Sense and True Focus allow his foes to strike with impunity.
Armor Bypass
- Prowler has a natural boost to his Armor Rating, but he’s still just a squishy human with fairly low Health, so getting around his Armor with True Damage and Armor Penetration can chunk him down pretty quickly.

Recommended Masteries[]

Cruelty[]

Critical Damage increases the potency of Prowler’s Critical Replacement Ruptures, and the damage bump gets even more pronounced when they’re paused during his Special Attack 2.

Collar Tech[]

In the same vein, each point in Collar Tech provides a healthy increase to Prowler’s Critical Damage.

Recommended Stat Focus[]

Attacker: Critical Rating / Critical Damage[]

When unawakened, use the Critical Rating stat focus to increase the amount of Ruptures Prowler inflicts. Once awakened and at higher signature levels, extra Critical Rating becomes a bit redundant while he has his Falter up, so switching over to Critical Damage helps maximize his DPS.

Defender: Block Penetration[]

Non-contact Medium Attacks means your Defending Prowler will be difficult to Parry, and land an increased number of attacks into the Opponent’s Block.

Recommended Relics[]

Sentinel[]

The “We Are Sentinel” Rune can help Prowler keep his Incinerate active for long periods, while “Experimental ISO Armaments” provides a healthy bump to his survivability. Prowler’s Incinerate may be non-stacking, but his Heavy Attack inflicts it 4 times in rapid succession which feeds Sentinel’s Innate Ability.

Green Goblin[]

While Prowler’s specific form of Power Drain doesn’t interact with the Green Goblin relic, the Striker’s Power Efficiency helps Prowler’s loop flow together much smoother, and the “Attack The Heart” Rune also helps keep his Incinerate up for longer periods.