Inspiration for Ogre abilities

[Karzama]

Hi,

As the title suggests I'm trying to find some inspiration... I've decided to add Ogre's to my autobattler but am struggling to actually come up with any abilities for them. Each unit needs to have one ability each (can be a passive) and they all have the same "trait" bonus, at the moment I'm thinking bonus health and bash change for their trait bonus (I like the stun animation!!) - but this could change if I think of anything better

Any help with ideas would be great!

Ogre Brute (Brawler) - This one is meant to just be a bit of a tank
Ogre Warrior (Figher) - Higher rank and will have more offensiveness than the Brute
Ogre Magi (Mage) - Bloodlust is already taken! I'd prefer this to be more of a mage than a spellcaster, so something that actually damages the enemy would be nice (maybe some kind of debuff in there somewhere too)
Ogre Lord (Protector) - Highest ranking Ogre, it is going to have the Protector classification so is expected to be up front. Maybe some kind of self cast area ability?

These units can be bought multiple times so the abilities can't be too crazy...but ideas are welcome regardless!

 

[Pyrogasm]

Blazing Bone-fire (like bonfire but using bones): Summon a harsh ogre fire at target location for Z seconds, dealing X damage per second to all units standing in it. Nearby non-ogre units in a much larger radius take Y% increased damage from all other sources (except the fire) while they remain near it.

Two's Better (Autocast ability with low mana cost and low cooldown): Debuff target unit indefinitely; when a debuffed target takes any damage the debuff is consumed and the unit takes the same damage amount again (not further reduced by armor a second time), but not more than X.

Brain Blast (shadow strike ability with a variable mana cost and relatively short cooldown): Consume x% of your current mana (not max mana) to launch a projectile at target unit, damaging it upon impact. Damage dealt scales up/down with more/less mana cost.

Me Smarter (passive): Every time this unit kills another unit its offensive abilities gain a permanent flat +X damage, stacking as far as is reasonable. Or something like +1 int for every unit killed or +X mana or mana regen, who knows. Some stat that matters.

 

[Uncle]

Here's some ideas that would mostly rely on damage events. If you're not too comfortable with triggers then these would probably be a bit difficult to make:

[Brute]
Brawn:
Passively takes X% reduced damage from physical attacks which is doubled against melee attackers.
Something simple, it promotes tankiness and the idea that ranged units are better suited for taking down an ogre.

[Warrior]
Me Smash You:
Passive chance on attack, a long wind-up attack animation that deals AoE spell damage in front of the ogre. Stuns enemies for a very short duration.
Imagine the Ogre lifting it's club over it's head, prepping itself for a mighty crushing blow, then hammering down with immense force. An offensive skill with a little bit of crowd-control.

[Mage]
Confuse:
Autocast ability which debuffs the target to have an X% chance to miss it's attack and instead damage itself for X% of the damage. Lasts X seconds.
An offensive ability that deals damage but also promotes tankiness to fit with the theme. Would likely need a longer cooldown to remain balanced.

[Lord]
Enrage:
An activated ability which requires health to be less than X% to activate. The ogre becomes enraged, granting a buff for X seconds which adds a cleaving attack and +X% attack rate and movement speed. Afterwards, the ogre is debuffed with -X% attack rate and movement speed for half the original duration.
An offensive ability good at dealing area damage and possibly proccing the Bash trait. Has a penalty afterwards to fit with the theme of an ogre getting angry and more dangerous but also more likely to harm itself in the process.

 

[Karzama]

Those are some cool ideas!

I've been using the ingame damage events for some bits but not sure how something like "Me Smash You" would work as you need to capture the attack before the damage hits?

Is it possible to detect melee/ranged attacks using the ingame damage events or would this require a damage engine?

 

[Uncle]

Those are some cool ideas!

Thanks, this is always a fun exercise in creativity.

I've been using the ingame damage events for some bits but not sure how something like "Me Smash You" would work as you need to capture the attack before the damage hits?

I was imagining the Ogre having a separate, hidden ability based on Channel. Upon dealing damage with a normal attack you would roll some dice and if the effect procs you would order the Ogre to cast Channel at the position of the (Damage target). So it's effectively an activatable ability but hidden behind a passive proc chance. Then you would trigger a simple "On Begins Casting" + "On Finishes Casting" setup to manage the animation/damage/timing aspect of it.

Is it possible to detect melee/ranged attacks using the ingame damage events

Yes, these are all Boolean checks like "Is Damage Event From Normal Attack" and "Is (Damage source) a Ranged attacker".

Note that Bribe's Damage Engine is simply an extension of what is already available and has been available to users, so there's nothing it can do that you cannot do. But it has done A LOT of the hard work for you and simplifies most of the process. It also deals with the biggest issue which is damage recursion (infinite damage loops, on damage -> deal damage). Most if not all of what I just said should apply to other damage engines as well.

The big issue with GUI (standard trigger editor) is it often lacks ACCESS to functions. It's not that these functions don't exist, it's just that you can't reach them through the easy to use interface. However, in patch 1.31 the devs made a lot of the Damage related functions accessible in the trigger editor, so the need for a Damage Engine lessened. Plus there's always Custom Script to give you access to anything "unavailable" if you care to dabble in a little Jass/Lua code.

 

[Karzama]

So once the Ogre does the hit it'd then roll to then cast the ability after? It's an interesting concept, I've only recently really started learning about the damage events so have been slowly changing bits to include damage event based things (mainly damage reduction passives at the moment)

Does that event catch whether the unit has 2 types of attacks? Like a gargoyle for example is both a melee and ranged attacker, hardened skin can make this difference so just wondering if these events work the same?


EDIT: Would it be able to cast the hidden ability if it was silenced?

 

[Uncle]

Does that event catch whether the unit has 2 types of attacks? Like a gargoyle for example is both a melee and ranged attacker, hardened skin can make this difference so just wondering if these events work the same?

I'm not sure about that.

But you know that your Ogre is a ground unit and with some additional Conditions should be able to determine that "It was a melee attack despite the fact that the unit is considered Ranged".

Edit: It seems like it isn't readily available information, but you have access to important information using code (or Damage Engine):

BlzGetEventWeaponType()
BlzGetEventDamageType()
BlzGetEventAttackType()

You could also just check "If (Unit-type of (Damage source)) Equal to Gargoyle" since again we know for a fact that our Ogre is a ground unit and thus it'll ALWAYS be a melee attack when hit by a Gargoyle.

 

[Karzama]

That's fine, I was just curious for other maps!

Will definitely have a play around with some of the ideas suggested here!

 

[Uncle]

That's fine, I was just curious for other maps!

Will definitely have a play around with some of the ideas suggested here!

After testing, I found that the Gargoyle will display both of these text messages when it attacks a unit, which makes sense:

• Untitled Trigger 001
  • Events
    • Unit - A unit Takes damage
  • Conditions
    • (Damage From Normal Attack) Equal to True
  • Actions
    • If (All Conditions are True) then do (Then Actions) else do (Else Actions)
      • If - Conditions
        • ((Damage source) is A melee attacker) Equal to True
      • Then - Actions
        • Game - Display to (All players) for 30.00 seconds the text: Melee
      • Else - Actions
    • If (All Conditions are True) then do (Then Actions) else do (Else Actions)
      • If - Conditions
        • ((Damage source) is A ranged attacker) Equal to True
      • Then - Actions
        • Game - Display to (All players) for 30.00 seconds the text: Ranged
      • Else - Actions

So you'll need to check for something else.

Also, I think I said things backwards in my last post, Gargoyles use their melee against air units, not ground units, but you get the idea

 

[cleavinghammer]

Devour (with the maximum allowed level starting at 1 and increasing with rank) as a universal ability that grants an extra ability depending on the type of ogre:

• Digest (passive): Increases HP regeneration when a target is Devoured. If caster and target have mana, gets increased mana regen as well.
• Barf (active): Cancels Devour and returns the damaged unit, but severely debuffs the unit and nearby enemies.
• Burp (passive): Stuns nearby enemy units, automatically casts a few seconds after devouring the target.
• Chew Up, Spit Out (active): Cancels Devour and returns the unit after a few seconds with the Dizziness debuff.

Throw Rock (active): Throws a rock to deal splash damage. Stuns air units.

Break Wind (active): Creates a Disease Cloud ward on the caster's position.

Bonk (active): Stuns target unit at melee range.




Also this should probably be moved to Idea Factory.

 

[Karzama]

Wasn't a fan of the ability I had made for the Ogre Lord so came back here for some inspiration... ended up with!

Me So Angery!
Doesn't recover mana but instead gains mana when taking damage, at maximum mana allows you to cast the ability which is a short term Avatar ability.


We'll see how it plays out when I test with people but I thought it was a cool idea having the mana be gained from damage taken! The ogre gets mad when you hit it too much!

I might play around with having the mana slowly deplete or something like that, so he can "calm down" as it where

 

[cleavinghammer]

Cooking Fire: Creates a Cooking Fire, an immobile unit with Devour, Immolation and 0 mana regen (can refill mana at the cost of lumber). Using Immolation speeds up Devour, and if the unit is fully digested, creates a Cooked Meat powerup that heals surrounding ogres (if a non-ogre uses the powerup, they get Dizziness instead, the sick bastard).

Chomp: Melee-range Firebolt with higher damage.