Characters - John Socrates Deepsoulington

Class - Philosopher Prince

Activates random philosophies that both help and hinder

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John Socrates' only method of attack is his Sword of Legendenum, which has an average attack speed, a decent hitbox size, and at its base, deals 15 damage and gains 8 Extreme on successful hit. When Philosophy Drive Mode is active, this becomes 16 Extreme per successful hit.

John Socrates' Philosophy Drive Mode will add one of 8 random modes to him for 10 seconds. Each of these modes carries both a large advantage and a large disadvantage for 10 seconds (though Invincibilism and Stealthism last only 5 seconds) and cannot be removed until the time expires for that calling of Philosophy Drive Mode. Philosophy Drive Mode, once the previous mode wears off, has no cooldown and can be called again immediately.

The current active Philosophy Drive Mode can be determined by its pulse colour, and the 8 Philosophy Drive Modes are as follows:

Swordism (red pulse): Damage dealt is tripled, but damage received is also tripled

Runningism (orange pulse): Move speed is boosted by 80%, but attacks adds 7 Extreme to the enemy's Extreme

Stoicism (yellow pulse): Take 25% damage, but attacks are slower

Overcompensatism (green pulse): Very large attack hitbox, but cannot block or dodge

Healism (cyan pulse): Successful attacks heal John Socrates for 3 HP, but deals no damage to the enemy

Beamism (purple pulse): Attacks fire out a 15 damage projectile, but hurt John Socrates for 3 HP each beam

Invincibilism (white pulse): John Socrates is invincible, but deals 75% less damage

Stealthism (no pulse, transparent): John Socrates is invisible, but suffers 1 damage per landed attack

John Socrates can be difficult to play, due to the random nature of his Philosophy Drive Mode, requiring his strategy to be constantly altered. If a particular Philosophy Drive Mode is just what is needed, Knightly Vow can be used to extend the length of the current Philosophy Drive Mode by another 10 seconds (5 seconds for Invincibilism and Stealthism) and his Lady's Blessing Extreme will remove the negative aspect of his current Philosophy Drive Mode for the duration of that mode.

Developer's Take:

John Socrates requires a very flexible style of play, even if it mostly comes down to him swinging his sword. Having to alter the timing of attacks due to potential health damage or decreased attack speed may need consideration, as well as whether projectiles or healing are available, or if defense is decreased. While Runningism may appear to be the overall weakest of the Philosophy Drive Modes, it does have a particular use in Onslaught for getting past projectile swarms through its extended dodge range, though it would generally not be worth using a Knightly Vow or Lady's Blessing on.