The outlandish character is a formidable sniper in the new game

Jul 24, 2014 00:19 GMT  ·  By

Gearbox Software has decided to detail another one of the outlandish characters from its upcoming Battleborn first-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title, this time in the form of Marquis, a robot butler armed with a cane-like sniper rifle and a pet owl.

Battleborn promises to take the regular MOBA genre and add a first-person shooter perspective reminiscent of its Borderlands franchise, while throwing in lots of over-the-top characters.

Quite a few have already been detailed, and now GameInformer has brought forth some info about Marquis.

The outlandish character is a robot butler that, due to a software upgrade, started developing a passion for killing others on the battlefield.

While his appearance is quite dapper, he's also rather lethal thanks to his main weapon, a sniper rifle that can double as a cane and is named Bindlebane.

His abilities are also quite varied, starting with Predatory Strike, which allows Marquis to summon his own pet robot owl called Hoodini. Depending on how many skill points are spent, players can let loose even more than one owl. The tiny robot hovers over an area, and if an enemy is detected, it will swoop in and explode, dealing damage.

Time Dilation is another ability that allows Marquis to deploy a spherical force field that, at first, slows down enemies that enter it. Further upgrades allow the field to offer speed bonuses to allies that go through it.

Ein, Zwei, Die is one of the more over-the-top skills possessed by the robot, as it's a passive one that causes sniper shots to mark an enemy on the map for easy spotting. If players score three shots in quick succession against a foe, the third one deals bonus damage.

The ultimate ability of Marquis is called Overcharge Blast and causes a powerful energy shot to be emitted from the sniper rifle. It's a slow-moving projectile, meaning foes can dodge it, but when fired in close quarters situations, it can prove to be quite deadly.

While the overall Battleborn combat is quite hectic, it seems that it can accommodate long-range snipers like Marquis that are best used in a fixed location to punish foes that get too close.

You can bet that Gearbox is going to share more and more details about Battleborn in the following months, not to mention gameplay videos and maybe even some more screenshots to drum up the hype and to get people excited about it.