[Role Playing Game] Shadow Hunter spells/abilities

[Lamer]

I decided to create new Supporting Class - Shadow Hunter to my map and I'm stuck with 5/11 abilities.
I'm using Spell Book for every hero. Abilities do not have levels. Damage/Healing spells are based on hero's attributes.
So it looks like this (example - Mage):

In the spellbook Abilities have hotkeys: Q W E R A S D F Z X C
Abilities Q A Z are similar to each other like here - fire spells, W S X - frost spells, E D C - shields/buffs, R F - monstly passives (here mana source)
For Shadow Hunter I would like to make Q A Z - offensive spells (pref over time/shadow/acid kind), W S X - healing spells, E D C - supporting wards/summons, R F - passive or defensive/offensive aura or ally boosting buff.

Thank you for any idea!

 

[Pyrogasm]

You gave 0 information about the context for these spells, as well as general information about your map. To get good feedback and suggestions, you need to explain such things besides saying that it's an RPG.

 

[Lamer]

Well I have no idea what information are you expecting. I don't think map construction matters too much.
I'm looking for few spells that would fit well known Shadow Hunter semi spell dps/semi support healing class. That's all.
Rest is here:

Q A Z - 3x offensive spells (pref over time/shadow/acid kind aoe), W S X - 3x healing spells pref aoe, E D C - 3x supporting wards/summons, R F - 2x passive or defensive/offensive aura or ally boosting buff.

 

[Pyrogasm]

Man, I'm trying to help you get the feeback you want. The context of the map is the single most important information you can give if you just want to field ideas from the community.

Why? You want to have ideas that are relevant to your map's objectives, goals, or gameplay loops as well as any existing systems or overall design choices. 12 ideas for abilities for a Footmen Frenzy map will not necessarily be relevant to a Tree Tag map (just example archetypes). As an extreme example, imagine taking a character from a game like DotA/LoL/HotS and dropping it straight into a FPS game lobby. Their kit would be useless because it's not designed to work well within an FPS.

I know nothing about your map, so here are things that might make me think about what a Shadow Hunter could be/do in entirely different ways:

• You mentioned "support class", so are there allied players to support or is it single player?
  • If single player are there friendly AI units to buff/support?
  • Are there enemy players? Teams? NPC escorts? Etc.
• Does the player have additonal units to micro, or is it just the hero?
  • If no, would summoned units have to be autonomous or could the player select them and micro appropriately?
  • If yes, what kind of abilities do they have?
• Is the map played from top-down or over-the-shoulder camera position? (Some spells might look different or be easier/harder to use based on the camera.)
• What do you... doin your map?
  • Walk around and listen to dialogue?
  • Level up on spiders for 20 minutes and take on a boss?
  • Fight randomized encounters throughout a preset path?
  • Explore a maze with dead ends and traps?
  • Etc.
• How are items going to work in the map?
• Are damage types relevant to the map?
• Should these spells have long cooldowns so you use them whenever they are up and useful (like WoW cooldowns), or are they a toolkit that you abuse as often as possible (LoL abilities)
• What resources do heroes use in the map? Is a custom resource instead of straight mana out of the question?
• Are there things like buff archetypes/categories your map has (bleed, blind, slow, root, etc.)
• Do players build things, construct buildings, or train troops?
• Are there bosses? How do they work?
• What other classes are in the game? How do they interact? Is this a 'holy trinity' RPG system or something different?
• Can players customize their characters with upgrades/changes to abilities?
• How relevant is regular autoattacking to the map's gameplay?

There are many, many more questions I could ask that would be relevant for giving good feedback. Now do you understand why I said you gave no relevant information?

 

[Lamer]

Ok. My bad. Didn't know there are so many ways.
Let me show you an example:

This is the simmilar support class (Shaman).
Q A Z - Lightning kind, AoE damage spells
Q - Chain Lightning
A - Lightning Shield
Z - Thunder Storm
.
W S X - Healing spells, AoE or multiple targets
W - Healing Wave
S - Spirit Link
X - Healing Ward
.
E D C - mixed summons, damage dealing summons or supporting/healing summons
E - single target Healing Ward
D - Feral Spirit
C - AoE auto attack damaging ward + damage/attack speed aura (kinda ultimate with long CD)
.
R F - buffs / mana regen / passive / aura - something like this
R - Bloodlust
F - auto attack mana restoration
.
Each class also has a passive (outside the spell book) which kinda defines playstyle (for example Warrior class has Cleaving Attack so it forces player to build damage items, Blademaster class has Spin Attack which causes spins on every 3rd attack based on agility so it forces player to build agility/attack speed items)
Map is focused on role play but it's actually castle defense, with one way of incomming monsters, where each player chooses 1 hero and focuses on his role which is typical TANK , HEALER , DPS.
The map is versus IA. Focused on defending (killing) incomming waves of monsters so it's desired to cast AoE spells to down them.
Maximum level is 30. The first 2 spells (Q , W) are instant learned at level 1.
Rest of the spells are learnable at following levels: 3 , 5 , 11 , 14 , 17 , 21 , 25 , 30.
Additional units to micro are only the units which some of heroes can summon with their spells.
There are no buildins, no training units, no upgrades, no spells levels.
Items are bought individually and made with recipes. (for example Mantle of Intelligence + Ring of Protection + Item Recipe = Item)
There are 2 damage types: spell / physical
Bleeds/Poisons/Stuns etc
There are bosses. There is nothing special in their working. Just big enemy hero boss with mass of hp/dmg few spells.
Heroes use only mana as a resource.
Shadow Hunter class i would like to be able to be play in few ways: Spell damage dealer - forces player to build Int items to boost spell's dmg, Healer - forces player to build special healer items, Auto-attack damage dealer - forces player to build Agi/Dmg/Attack speed.
Shado Hunter's main attribute is Agility but stats are: Str - 10, Agi - 12, Int - 15.
Simple as that.

 

[Pyrogasm]

Okay I understand the scope of your map now. This information is very useful, thank you for listening to me and providing detailed information. I have a few more relevant questions, somewhat for my own curiosity... but they would also complete a picture.

• What is the Shaman's out-of-spellbook passive ability that defines it? Do you have one decided for the Shadow Hunter already?
• You want the Shadow Hunter to have multiple possible build paths (spell damage dealer, healer, auto-attack damage dealer). Do the other classes also have multiple possible builds?
• Are all of the abilities in the game so far just base WC3 abilities (edited heavily or otherwise), or are some of them custom triggered abilities?
• Are any abilities shared between classes? For example, Healing Wards could work for Shadow Hunter and Shaman. Do you want to avoid this?

 

[Lamer]

Okay I understand the scope of your map now. This information is very useful, thank you for listening to me and providing detailed information. I have a few more relevant questions, somewhat for my own curiosity... but they would also complete a picture.

• What is the Shaman's out-of-spellbook passive ability that defines it? Do you have one decided for the Shadow Hunter already?
• You want the Shadow Hunter to have multiple possible build paths (spell damage dealer, healer, auto-attack damage dealer). Do the other classes also have multiple possible builds?
• Are all of the abilities in the game so far just base WC3 abilities (edited heavily or otherwise), or are some of them custom triggered abilities?
• Are any abilities shared between classes? For example, Healing Wards could work for Shadow Hunter and Shaman. Do you want to avoid this?

Shamans passive is Lightning Mastery/Healing mastery. If Shaman uses lightning spell it is Lightning Mastery, if healing spell it is replaced with Healing Mastery.
Lightning Mastery gives 15% - 60% chance (depending on agility bonus) to cast Chain Lightning on attack to 3 - 6 targets (also depend on agility).
Damage is based on int so the pure dps Int build causes high damage but low chance to proc and Agi build causes low dmg but often proc. Also increases passively attack speed 15% - 60% (also based on agility).
Healing Mastery gives chance (depedning on healing spell) to heal another amount of life over 3 sec.
For example: Healing Wave heals 3 units. So the Healing Mastery proc is 40% (-10% for each healing wave jump), Spirit Link heals 4 units per sec so it has lower - 10% chance to proc.
For Shadow Hunter i called his passive Fel Glaive: attacks have 25% chance to deal 50% AGI to enemy units and heal friendly units for 100% INT in range of 200 around attacked target.... but i dont rly like it.
I feel like it should be something with his glaive... maybe boucing.
Some of classes have diferent ways. For example Sea Witch has spells based on INT but it also has Orb of Anihilation ability (since she has a bow) which makes her auto-attacks AoE and powerfull. That forces player to buy damage/attack speed items or an item which reduces target's and enemy units' around armor on attack. It also forces player to pass from spell casting and focus on auto attacks to maximize dps.
I tried to make the map as much classic as possible. So I like the classic WC3 abilities with few modification such as damage reduction or chill effect apply.
I'm trying to avoid doubling abilities between classes but similar concept is acceptable. For example Shaman has Chain Lightning (Q) - deals x damage to 5 enemy units with reduced damage for each jump. Shadow Hunter has Shadow Link (Q) - deals x damage over 5 sec to 5 enemy units.
As you can see the first abilities (Q, W, E, R) in spell book are the simpliest (i would call them tier 1). Next ones (A, S, D, F) are more powerfull and complex (tier 2). Last ones (Z, X, C) are kinda ultimates of the following kinds (Z = lightning damage ultimate, X = healing ultimate, C = long cooldown ultimate)

 

[Pyrogasm]

Cool, I will think and see if I have any ideas in the next days.

 

[Pyrogasm]

Do you have a model in mind for the SH? Are they a troll so the voodoo theme is appropriate? I presume so.

 

[Lamer]

Do you have a model in mind for the SH? Are they a troll so the voodoo theme is appropriate? I presume so.

The model is classic Shadow Hunter from wc3 with his animations including.
I like to keep as much classic things in the map as possible.
I'm trying to use wc3 spells animations/icons too instead of importing.
If you want to know a bit about how it's made, you can download my previous versions of map.

Download "Dalaran Siege by Lamer" WC3 Map [Castle Defense] | newest version | 8 different versions available | Warcraft 3: Reforged - Map database

Download map Dalaran Siege by Lamer [Castle Defense] available in 8 different versions for free.

maps.w3reforged.com

I also like to combine abilities with each other since there are 11 abilities in the spell book.
For example: Ranger has passive Marskmanship ability which gives him 20% chance to deal critical strike. His level 25 (kinda ultimate) ability increases chance to critical strike to 100% for 20 sec.

 

[cleavinghammer]

Voodoo Doll: Targets a unit (ally or enemy) and creates a Voodoo Doll near the target that always remains at half HP.

• If target is an ally, doll is allied, and healing spells cast on the doll heal the target unit.
• If target is an enemy, damage done to the doll is repeated on the target.
• De/buffs cast on the doll are cast on the target. Dispels destroy the doll.

Zombie Trance: Targets an enemy that is currently Stunned. Target unit becomes neutral, moves close to the Shadow Hunter, then becomes temporarily under the Shadow Hunter's control. When the effect ends, the unit becomes neutral, returns to its original position, and is returned to its original owner.

Swamp Gas: Targets an area. Hurls a flask of noxious swamp gas at the target area, poisoning all units that enter the area (Disease Cloud-issuing ward). If a fire spell is used in the ward's AoE, it explodes, dealing damage to the units.

 

[cleavinghammer]

Frenzy Broth: Target an area. All units in area have greatly increased attack speed.

Mushroom Trap: Creates an invisible mushroom ward at a target point. When triggered, all units in the area are Crippled.

Marsh Fever: Targets an enemy unit. Creates Mirror Images of the caster around the target. Mirror Images can only attack the unit and are dispelled if moved away or change targets.

 

[Lamer]

Thank you guys for your feedback. It's been a while since I've been here. But now I'm back to continue and get inspired by your ideas!

 

[cleavinghammer]

Plague of Frogs: Spawns a neutral Frog every second in a small radius around the caster with timed life. (Frogs aren't controllable, they're intended to get in the way of enemy movement.)

Rust & Rot (Channeling): Targets an area, dealing damage over time to mechanical units and structures.

Voodoo Knife:
* Disables caster attack and drains mana while active. Deas high damage to enemies near the Shadow Hunter. Gains a damaging shield as the Shadow Hunter's knife spins around him.

Alternately:

* Disables caster attack for the duration. Creates a Voodoo Knife, an uncontrollable flying knife that attacks enemies for very high damage and returns health to the caster.