NEW CHARACTER BLOG – NORTHSTAR (CLASSIC)
Posted on January 9th, 2020 / MARVEL Puzzle Quest
Hailing (and speeding) from the Great White North, Jean-Paul Beaubier has been many things in his life. Professional skier, agent of Alpha Flight, teacher at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, Northstar is the newest 4-star character to come to Marvel Puzzle Quest! Learn more about Northstar (Classic) in the latest new character developer blog!
After the cosmic power of Beta Ray Bill and the (slightly) more Earth based Karolina Dean, Marvel Puzzle Quest returns to a more “normal” character release of Northstar. Normal, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, as Northstar is anything but an average human with his Olympic level athletics and speed that makes Quicksilver look like he’s standing still.
In comics, Northstar is the fastest man in the Marvel Universe in any of his incarnations. He is a premier member of the Canadian team Alpha Flight along with his twin sister Aurora and something of an inspiring figure: A self-made entrepreneur, an icon for mutantkind, and had a well-attended wedding to his long-time partner Kyle in 2012. We wanted to bring these features into the game mechanically through showcasing his speed by manipulating the board and his sociability by teaming up with his sister to protect his team.
Northstar’s speed allows him to be both indiscriminate as in the case of his Up North power which knocks opponents airborne while pummeling them and destroying random tiles, or very targeted, as in the case of Running Early. Here, Jean-Paul is able to use his speed to target specific rows, breaking them down to shake the board, along with harvesting the AP from those tiles for use in his or his ally’s other abilities.
With Star Bright, Northstar’s ability to get the best out of his teammates and his bond with his sister come to the fore, with a continual burst of healing and defense with an Invisibility Tile for an ally on the team. This makes sure that opponents trying to hurt his friends have a rough time of things. Also to note, all of Northstar’s powers are extremely cheap costing, making him mechanically as speedy as he is in the comics. While each hit from him may not deal a ton of damage, the number of hits he’s capable of more than makes up for it.
Bringing Northstar to life in Marvel Puzzle Quest was a fun experience, as Quicksilver has been around for a while and provides a strong template of how a speedster acts in the game. Luckily for us, how Northstar uses his speed is quite different than Quicksilver; While Pietro tends to pummel his opponents and utilize high speed tactics to directly manipulate the battlefield, Jean-Paul works a little more subtly, helping his teammates, setting them up for powerful takedowns while striking with hit and runs himself. Northstar is a much more team focused character than Quicksilver. You can totally have Quicksilver and Northstar on a team, which can be fun… although they’re both sort of cocky, so they may not be the best of buds. Lightspeed travel totally seems like something they could pull off together.
We really hope you enjoy his release in Marvel Puzzle Quest and we look forward to everyone’s feedback. To learn more about his powers, please visit our FAQ HERE for more details.
Thank you!
– Demiurge Team
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