Benedict has been the center of discussion in the community and fans are eager to play this Battleborn character. However, what do we actually know about this hero since they only revealed his name, therefore, I thought I would dive a bit deeper into this character and analyze everything they have shown.
Benedict Introduction
Benedict is described as a Cyborg Hawkman on the official Battleborn website and if you hang out on the GBX forums you might know him by his forum name; CSSSSSST. This name came about when Creative Director Randy Varnell wanted to talk about him, but could not tell us his name. Therefore, Randy started naming unknown characters XXXXXXX. When someone asked how we would pronounce that this suggestion came up and that’s how the name CSSSSSST got stuck on the forums. But if you are on the development team you also know him as RocketHawk. As no official details about Benedict have been given out (as far as I know at this moment), it’s a bit of speculation.
During the Trailer, we can see that his outfit has gotten a new design. The green-colored armor with the star icon on it makes his outfit similar to those of Oscar Mike & Montana. Telling us that Benedict is also a Peacekeeper. The United Peacekeeping Republic is a collection of civilizations banded together under the banner of mutual protection, freedom, and equality. Their home base is set on Blizz.
The name RocketHawk suggests that the big weapon Benedict is holding is capable of shooting rockets. Overall Rocket Launchers are kinda slow but Benedict looks like a mobile character. This could make him good in evading attacks but he needs some more effort on landing those hits. The reward is that rockets are powerful so those hits that land do have an impact. The mobility also extends into the air, a good “trick” with common shooters was to jump and shoot downwards with rocket launchers. This way you could hit your target with the splash damage if you just missed him instead of the rocket passing by and being completely useless. The flying capabilities of Benedict could add to that gameplay mechanic, giving you the freedom to do more frequent damage.
Benedict’s Abilities
As for Benedict’s abilities we can play around with the rockets, giving them different properties.
Laser-guided missiles:
Pin-point a target for a brief moment in order to lock on to the target and the missile will function as a homing missile and will find its way to the target.
Cluster Strike:
If you know the Badaboom from Borderlands 2 you know what I’m onto. Having the ability to shoot a cluster of missiles.
Splash Strike:
Another ability that I can see added to Benedict’s arsenal is the Buttslam. If you are familiar with Borderlands the Pre-Sequel you know what I’m talking about. You can see Benedict make his entrance in the video as he falls from the sky and slams into the ground. This could create a shockwave, and leaning on the whole splash damage thing Benedict has going on with the rockets. This could be something for the developers to play with. Maybe down his Helix, there is an upgrade that adds bonus damage to splash damage, giving you that extra buff to your rockets and the slam. But then again, this could be just for good looks because looking at the footage you see Benedict is holding his weapon in his left hand, while in all the other appearances he is holding the launcher in his right hand.
Winged Shield:
As Benedict is looking to be an agile character, I don’t think he will have trouble evading incoming damage. But looking at his cyber-enhanced wings it would be cool if he could create a shield in front of him so he can deflect incoming projectiles.
As more details come in I’ll update Benedict’s character profile, but in the meantime what are your thoughts, let me know in the comments below.