So, with the current season of Breakers likely coming to an end soon (I think it might be tonight but I'm not positive), I got to musing on stream about what the next Raider could be.
Some folks think it might be the Androids, a few folks are still pushing for Cell Max (which I don't quite get, he doesn't have enough to go through 3-4 stages of Raider, I think). A chatter in my stream gave the idea of the Pride Troopers, which sounded like an interesting idea. Along with that you still have Zamasu from the Goku Black arc and the various movie-specific villains like Cooler.
That said... I came up with another idea. Mostly by random chance but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. It would require some tweaks and balancing, but it's still something I'd like to put to paper for you all. And, of course, it's been a bit since I've done a wall of text-style theorycraft here.
What if there was a Create-A-Raider?
That was the sudden idea - it doesn't sound like much but think about it. One of the things I like about Breakers is your Create-a-Character and being able to dress them up and customize them. So having that on the Raider side could be pretty fun, right?
Cosmetically, it'd be similar to the normal CAC. Either it's literally your CAC but you give them some manner of "villain" outfit, or it's a second character you can design and dress up. If there's Villain-only cosmetics, that would add a whole bunch to the Raider side of the shop, too... which currently just consists of "buy new Raider" and "buy voice lines."
Mechanically is where things get tricky.
We'll start with what I think is the simplest part: the active and passive skills. They work just like how they do for your Survivor but with a slight twist - you slot in the ones you want, but the level they're at is based on the level you have that skill on the Raider you got it from. So if you want to have, say, Cell's Ki Sensing at max level then you need to have it max level on Cell. Which would encourage playing and leveling up multiple Raiders to give you more options (even if there will ultimately be a meta setup).
There, of course, might need to be some tweaks to what can be slotted where, of course. Like Cell's Auto-Evolve passive would probably have to be identified as a Stage 1 ability only, and some (like the other ways to evolve) would take up a slot across multiple Stages. Some might also need to be updated to tier up/down their numbers and things they can do depending on which Stage it is (like Broly's shield). And maybe some would only be accessible depending on the "Raider Transphere" you have for your Evolution Levels (more on that in a moment).
I also mused on whether or not there should be something to keep a Create-a-Raider from just running four Break Strikes (the ability to escape being attacked) and four evolve Passives to get to Level 4 ASAP. While perhaps limiting the custom Raider to 1-2 evolution Passives might be needed, the Actives I think you should be decently free to leave how you want. After all, if you're running four Break Strikes than you won't have Minions you can summon or the ability to detect Ki.
The complicated part comes from how the Evolution Levels would work, and it's something I'm still musing over. The basics of it are simple: as you level up, you get more health, move faster, do more damage, and so on. But what if you want to include things like having Saibamen or a Guldo-style minion to roam around for you, which are dependent on them surviving successfully to the next stage? Either you don't get any of that (which would in turn require making things like the Ginyu passives and the Saibaman ability to just blow up someone unequippable - traits that are specifically unique to using that Raider) or you have something similar to the Survivor Transphere system where you "set" a style/format for each of your Stages.
This, however, adds some more complication. Should certain Raider Transpheres not be able to be used at certain levels? What's to keep someone from running, say, 3 levels of Saibaman that can just blow themselves up to get to Level 4? And, while a level 4 Saibaman giving Survivors a free win by just blowing someone up COULD be really funny, it wouldn't see much use I figure. So, I feel like the safest way is that the Villain Transphere you choose for each Stage also matches how that Stage behaves for that Raider - so if you put Cell in Level 1, it's Larval Cell, but if you put it in Level 2 it's Imperfect Cell. That and/or the Skills themselves are also level restricted so getting the Saibaman/Guldo effects are solely Level 1 equips.
Honestly, a lot of this is still very rough draft in my head. With more ideas and complications with said ideas cropping up all the time. Even as I wrote this, I realized another problem with a Create-A-Raider: lack of knowledge for the Survivors. Knowing what Raider you're up against gives you a general idea of what to expect and how to handle the Raider (i.e. jumping on the Ginyu Force just as they're about to evolve, not fighting Frieza willy-nilly to give him free Evolution Energy). But if you're up against a Create-a-Raider, unless the matchup screen literally tells the Survivors what the Raider is running (which would be another big addition to make), you'd have no idea what to do or not to do.
But if the concept could be refined and adjusted accordingly, it could make for an interesting addition to the Raider roster. And one that, like the Create-a-Character Survivor, you could continue to tweak and improve as more content comes out for the game. But what do you think? Have an idea on how to make this work, or have your own ideas on how to implement a Create-a-Raider? I'd love to hear them!