Aidan by CriticKitten

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Aidan

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This hero concept is complete! I am open to suggestions as far as refining the balance of this hero.

Aidan, son of King Leoric, returns from Westmarch to find Tristam in a state of panic. The king had gone mad, and subsequently was struck down by his loyal knight Lachdanan. His brother Albrecht was missing, and thus he was charged with bringing peace back to the kingdom. But as he continued his journey, his spirit waned from the harrowing events he was forced to bear witness to, allowing the Lord of Terror to trick him into plunging Diablo's Soulstone into his own forehead. By doing so, Diablo had given himself a vessel to assume physical form, and while Aidan's spirit tries to fight for control of his body and mind, it became clear that the Lord of Terror would inevitably win that battle. Thus did Aidan depart for the east on the bidding of Diablo's corrupt influence, taking up the mantle of "Dark Wanderer", on a new journey that would shape the future of Sanctuary.

Aidan is based on the core of the Diablo 1 warrior, which means his kit is primarily focused around AA damage with a handful of supportive abilities to help him focus down a target while minimizing the damage he takes himself. However, this hero concept comes with a twist: the Lord of Terror, Diablo, is a constant corrupting influence on Aidan's soul, making Aidan grow in strength based on how long he has been alive as the Lord of Terror continues to gain more influence over him. This power steadily transforms him from a standard warrior archetype into a bruiser with very heavy damage potential, and there are even some talent options that alter the functionality of his abilities to make them more offensively-oriented based on the level of influence Diablo has over him. In addition, as Diablo gains in power, Aidan's animations and sound effects change to help indicate to other players how far along Aidan's transformation is.

Hero Type: Melee Warrior
Difficulty: Hard

Pros:

Aidan starts out as a mixed tank/bruiser hybrid character who steadily grows in power. The longer that the player keeps him alive, the more devastating he will become in combat.
Aidan has decent sustain with the ability to self-heal using Healing.
Aidan can use Stone Curse to lock down a target for his team to kill.
Aidan's Ring of Fire creates a wall of flame in an area around him, allowing area denial of an objective or the "trapping" of an enemy hero in a smaller area, where Aidan can more easily track him down and finish him off.

Cons:

Aidan lacks the potential of a true tank, and has to build his power to become a strong bruiser. If the enemy team can keep killing Aidan on a regular basis, his power will be minimized, and thus his effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
Aidan relies on Healing for his sustain in combat. A targeted silence will severely restrict his ability to stay in combat for long.
Aidan's Stone Curse can be prevented with Cleanse or other similar effects that remove crowd control, making it a gamble to select this ability against a team with methods of cleansing it.
Aidan's Ring of Fire relies on the enemy team not being able to easily remove its DoT effect. Removing the DoT will eliminate most of its damage, and thus significantly reduce its effectiveness as a zoning tool.

Note: All figures shown on this hero concept page are listed at their baseline figures (Lvl 0).

Health: 2310 HP (+4%)
Health Regen: 4.8 HP per second (+4%)
Resource: Mana
Mana: 490 (+10)
Mana Regen: 2.9 per second (+0.1)
Attack Damage: 101 (+4%)
Attack Speed: 1.0
Attack Range: 1.5

Combat Trait

Internal Struggle

Aidan gains 1 point of Soul Corruption for every 15 seconds that he remains alive, up to a total of 20 points. Aidan's attack speed increases by 0.05 per point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: Aidan's body and mind are being corrupted by the Lord of Terror, Diablo. The level of his corruption is indicated to the player by slowly rising flames around his ability bar, as well as a numerical count of his current corruption level. In addition, a black aura similar to the effect used on Leah appears at his feet as the corruption grows (a small black aura with the occasional flicker of ash at 10 points, more pronounced at 15 and leaving a faint wispy trail of ash where he walks, and finally covering his entire body and the air around him with ash and flickering embers at 20 points).

Primary Abilities

Holy Boly (Q)

Mana Cost: 40
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Aidan fires a glowing bolt of light at a target enemy Hero, dealing 171 (+4%) damage. This ability's damage grows by an additional 2.5% for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears as a yellow bolt of light at low levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, this ability turns into Fire Bolt (below).

Ability Type: Targeted
Ability Range: 7.5

Fire Bolt (Q)

Mana Cost: 40
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Aidan fires a glowing bolt of flame at a target enemy Hero, dealing 171 (+4%) damage. This ability's damage grows by an additional 2.5% for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears as a red bolt of flame at high levels of Soul Corruption (11 points or higher). At lower levels of Soul Corruption, this ability turns into Holy Bolt (above).

Ability Type: Targeted
Ability Range: 7.5

Healing (W)

Mana Cost: 60
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Aidan heals himself for 347 HP (+4%). This ability's healing grows by an additional 2.5% for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears simply as a blue blur of magic over Aidan's body at low levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the effect shifts in color from blue to black.

Elemental (E)

Mana Cost: 70
Cooldown: 15 seconds

Aidan summons a flame elemental which runs forward, dealing 183 (+4%) damage to all enemies in a line. This ability's damage grows by an additional 5% against Heroes for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears as a man shaped with fire at lower levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the man gains more sinister features and leaves a trail of ash along the path that it runs.

Ability Type: Skill-Shot
Ability Range: Length is 5, Width is 2

Heroic Abilities

Stone Curse (R)

Mana Cost: 80
Cooldown: 70 seconds

Aidan touches an enemy Hero. After a 2 second delay, the targeted hero is transformed into stone and cannot move or act for 5 seconds. This ability's duration grows by an additional 0.25 seconds for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears as a grey skull over the targeted Hero at lower levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the effect gains more sinister features such as glowing red eyes and smoke billowing up behind the skull icon.

Ability Type: Targeted
Ability Range: 1.25

Ring of Fire (R)

Mana Cost: 100
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Aidan creates a large wall of flame in a circle around himself. Any enemy Hero which crosses over the flames takes 274 (+4%) damage instantly and are set on fire, taking an additional 183 (+4%) damage every second for 3 seconds. This ability's DoT duration grows by 0.25 seconds for each point of Soul Corruption.

Artistic Note: This ability appears as a large circle of flame at lower levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the flames are larger and charr the ground around them.

Ability Type: Circular AoE surrounding the user
Ability Range: 5.5

Talents

Level 1:

Resist Magic - Identical to the "Dampen Magic" talent on other heroes.
Forfeit Your Humanity - Quest: Achieve the maximum number of points of Soul Corruption. Reward: Soul Corruption can now climb to a maximum of 25 points.
Fire and Light (Q) - Quest: Hit 20 enemy Heroes with Holy Bolt, and 20 enemy Heroes with Fire Bolt. Reward: Holy Bolt and Fire Bolt now deal double damage vs enemy Heroes and gain a 10% larger range.

Level 4:

Bow to my Will - Enemy minions killed near you grant a stack of Bribe. Hero Takedowns grant 10 stacks of Bribe. Use 25 stacks to Bribe a mercenary, instantly defeating them. Does not work on bosses. Maximum of 100 stacks. If a camp is defeated entirely with Bribe, the mercenaries gain a demonic aura that grants them double damage.
Defensive Measures (W) - Healing grants 2 stacks of Block.
Inferno (E) - Elemental's range is increased by 10%.
Fire Walker (E) - Successfully hitting an enemy Hero with Elemental grants Aidan an additional 30% movement speed, decaying over 3 seconds.

Level 7:

Impatience is a Virtue (Q) - Holy Bolt removes all DoTs presently on the targeted enemy Hero and deals damage equivalent to the amount of DoT prevented.
Burn in Hellfire (Q) - Fire Bolt now sets enemies on fire, dealing an additional 100 (+4%) damage per second for 3 seconds.
Purification (W) - Healing will purify any DoTs currently inflicted on Aidan.

Level 10:

Stone Curse (R) - As above.
Ring of Fire (R) - As above.

Level 13:

Burning Spirit - Identical to the "Burning Rage" talent on other heroes.
Absolute Dominance (W) - Sacrifice 1 point of Soul Corruption each time Healing is used. Healing now grants Unstoppable for 1 second.
Fire Wall (E) - Elemental leaves behind a burning wall for flame for 4 seconds. Enemies that cross that wall will be set on fire, taking 137 (+4%) damage per second for 2 seconds.

Level 16:

Power for Blood - On activation, sacrifice 2 points of Soul Corruption in exchange for healing 25% of Aidan's maximum health. Can only be used once every 45 seconds.
Blood for Power - On activation, sacrifice 25% of Aidan's maximum health in exchange for 2 points of Soul Corruption. Can only be used once every 45 seconds.
Heal Other (Q) - Holy Bolt now heals allied Heroes near the targeted enemy Hero for the same amount of damage it deals.
Fireball (Q) - Fire Bolt now deals splash damage to all enemies near the targeted enemy Hero.

Level 20:

I Shall Not Be Denied! (R) - If Stone Curse is prevented from activating, its cooldown is reduced by 4% times the number of Soul Corruption points available.
The Fire Rises (R) - At the end of its duration, Ring of Fire rapidly sweeps inwards, applying its burning effect to all heroes caught in the radius.
Town Portal - On activation, Aidan can retreat to the safety of his team's spawn point. Can only be used once every 60 seconds.
Swift Corruption - Aidan now gains 1 point of Soul Corruption for every 10 seconds he remains alive.
Stay in the Light - On activation, sacrifice 5 points of Soul Corruption in exchange for a reset of all ability cooldowns.

Update Log

October 15, 2016: Hero Concept Release (v1.0.0)

November 1, 2016: v1.0.1

Added hero type and difficulty data.

November 5, 2016: v1.1.0

New Abilities:
- Ring of Fire (R) -
  - Mana Cost: 100
  - Cooldown: 60 seconds.
  - Aidan creates a large wall of flame in a circle around himself. Any enemy Hero which crosses over the flames takes 274 (+4%) damage instantly and are set on fire, taking an additional 183 (+4%) damage every second for 3 seconds. This ability's DoT duration grows by 0.25 seconds for each point of Soul Corruption.
  - Artistic Note: This ability appears as a large circle of flame at lower levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the flames are larger and charr the ground around them.
New Talents:
- Lvl 20: Swift Corruption - Aidan now gains 1 point of Soul Corruption for every 10 seconds he remains alive.
Talent Changes:
- Lvl 20: The Fire Rises (R) - At the end of its duration, Ring of Fire rapidly sweeps inwards, applying its burning effect to all heroes caught in the radius.
  - Original Function - Flame Wave moves twice as fast and the duration of its burn DoT is increased by 2 seconds.
Abilities Removed:
- Flame Wave (R) -
  - Mana Cost: 100
  - Cooldown: 60 seconds
  - Aidan summons a large wall of flame and pushes it forward for a distance. All enemies hit by the wave take 228 (+4%) damage instantly and are set on fire, taking an additional 103 (+4%) damage every second for 4 seconds. This ability's travel distance grows by 5% for each point of Soul Corruption.
  - Artistic Note: This ability appears as a large wave of flame at lower levels of Soul Corruption (10 points or lower). At higher levels of Soul Corruption, the wave is larger and leaves behind a brier charring effect on the ground.
Talents Removed:
- Lvl 20: Set Their Souls Ablaze - Aidan deals 20% more damage to enemies that are burning as the result of one of his abilities.

Author's Notes: Try as I might, Ragnaros's Lava Wave heroic essentially made Aidan's Flame Wave completely unoriginal, and no amount of tweaking was going to make this one stand out as unique against that. While it certainly would've made a good spectacle of power to have an ordinary-looking warrior suddenly shoot a massive wall of fire at the enemy (and definitely helped imply that the Lord of Terror is winning the battle for Aidan's soul)....it also didn't really fit the theme of a warrior/bruiser ability, and was more of an ability you'd expect from a mage-type in the back line.

Thus, I've changed the heroic to one that better fits the sort of playstyle you'd expect from a front line hero. Now he casts an ability in a radius around him, which is more appropriate for a warrior/bruiser and allows him to effectively catch more enemies with good positioning. This ability doesn't grant him any guarantee of damage, but it does trap enemies in a radius near him, which is arguably much more useful for a warrior/bruiser who wants to pin down an enemy team. And if the enemy does choose to escape his circle, they end up taking a significant portion of damage.

I've also removed a Lvl 20 talent that was essentially a copycat of a talent I'd already placed on Aldur (my D2 Druid concept), and instead gave him a new unique talent that would make his power grow much, much faster in the late game stages, allowing for more liberal use of his sacrificial abilities.