Blackthorne by Umbra

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Blackthorne

By: Umbra
Last Updated: Aug 9, 2015
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Blackthorne

Conqueror-King of Tuul

In a different world, in a different time, Blackthorne was known as Kyle Vlaros, a renegade and a mercenary. For a while, that was his existence... until everything changed. The wizard Galadril brought the mercenary to the planet Tuul, and revealed the secret of his birth; he was the heir to the throne of Androth, which has now been conquered by an invading horde. Blackthorne set out to regain his family throne, going on to slay most of the invaders by himself, including their king Ka'dra'suul. He claimed the throne, and for a time, the people of Androth prospered... those who were still alive, at least.

But the Blackthorne was a warlord, not a diplomat. The uneasy peace that permeated Androth after his ascendance quickly fell apart, giving way to continued civil wars and bloody revolution. He was overthrown and banished from Androth, castaway into the Nexus as punishment for his foul rule. In here, he has honed what little leadership skills he was able to pick up during the war, and combined them with the murderous bloodlust that already drives him. Now, he is ready to emerge onto the Nexus as the ruler his people deserved... but not the one they needed.

Combat Trait

1
Mercy Kill
Blackthorne's basic attacks can target friendly minions. If a friendly Hero's health is at 5% of their maximum health or lower, they can be targeted as well. If a minion or hero is killed this way, it does not award experience or takedowns to the enemy team. Killing a friendly hero grants no experience. 

Primary Abilities

1
Bomb Throw
Throws a Death Grenade at a long range, dealing moderate damage in a small area. 
2
Backs to the Wall
Blackthorne dashes to the nearest wall, Cloaking him and rendering him immune to damage. Lasts for 3 seconds.

Cooldown: 24 seconds
3
Warlord's Charge
Blackthorne gains 25% Movement Speed and increases his health regen by a small amount. Lasts for 4 seconds. Nearby allies gain the same amount of movement speed, but only 50% of the health regen. 

Cooldown: 8 seconds

Secondary Abilities

1
Somersault
[Gained from the Somersault talent.]

Blackthorne leaps over the nearest wall, landing on the other side. 

After this ability is used, it becomes Backs to the Wall and goes on cooldown.

Heroic Abilities

1
Gatekeeper
Blackthorne opens a passageway through a nearby wall, allowing both allied heroes and enemies to pass through it. This passageway persists for 90 seconds.

Cooldown: 90 seconds
2
Conqueror of Tuul
Passive. 

When Blackthorne kills a hero, friend or foe, he gains 15% bonus attack speed and 10% attack damage for 4 seconds. This ability stacks with itself indefinitely. 

Background & Design

Background
In the lore, Blackthorne is an earthen mercenary who finds out that he's the lost heir to a conquered kingdom. He must defeat the invaders and claim this throne for himself, even if that means killing every single one of them.
In the game, Blackthorne is a ruthless, badass killer who makes no difference between friend and enemy. When all you have is guns and bombs, everything starts to look like a target. 

Both of these aspects have been embraced in the design of this hero. Here we meet Blackthorne restored to the throne of Androth, after the death of Ka'dra'suul and the reconquest of his home planet. However, he was never meant to be a peacetime ruler, and soon Androth was launched into war once more. Blackthorne was overthrown, and banished to the Nexus as punishment for his atrocious rule. Here, he is allowed to use both of his skillsets, both the killer and the king, to bring death upon his enemies for eternity.

Role
When we meet Blackthorne again, he has grown ever so slightly since Androth. A little bit older, a little bit wiser, but all the more murderous. His basic attacks have a short range but a high basic speed, allowing him to keep his enemies at a distance. From afar, he can launch his Death Grenades with his Q, dealing long-range damage in an area.

His W, Backs to the Wall, is designed to give heroes like Nova or Zeratul a run for their money. A more active form of Stealth, this allows Blackthorne to dash to the nearest wall and cloaks him, hiding him from sight and setting himself up to engage. 

His E, Warlord's Charge, is designed to give his team a reliable means of engage or disengage. In a lane, it can be used to grant him increased sustain and wave pressure. 

His passive, Mercy Kill, allows him to shut down or at the very least throttle his opponent's experience gain, giving his team an advantage in lane. Should a teammate be caught out of position and is about to be killed by their opponent, Blackthorne can shut them down instead. 

Blackthorne's two Heroic abilities allow him to go in one of two different ways. Gatekeeper allows for long-term changes to the map, giving both teams strategical opportunities and new ways to move around. Conqueror of Tuul turns him into a teamfighting monster, being able to turn around a failed fight with a massive burst of speed and attack damage.

In short, Blackthorne's strengths lie with his massive capabilities to engage the enemy team and set up plays for the rest of the team to follow. He can be set up to empower a lane with his E or quickly move between them, dealing damage at a range while his team gets in position to deal with the problem. 

Denying

I see HotS as a highly modular game. It has a core set of mechanics common to the MOBA genre, "taking out" other concepts and bringing them back for some heroes. Vision control, for instance, only exists in the form of watchtowers. Playing Abathur, however, allows you to place mines across the map that grant minor areas of vision, much like wards would do in other MOBAs.

This design philosophy persists in Blackthorne's kit. The ability to deny a kill is a classic of the genre, dating back to Warcraft 3's engine and continuing all the way into DOTA 2. It also fits Blackthorne thematically; being able to kill friendlies, the very people that Blackthorne was sent to save, is a standout feature in the game. 

Having both mechanical support and in-universe reasoning to back it up, I see denying as one of Blackthorne's core concepts and something that the hero should be centered around.


Clarifications
Heroics
Earning an additional stack of Conqueror of Tuul refreshes the duration and increases the intensity of the buff. For example, a Blackthorne that kills two heroes within a four-second window has 30% bonus attack speed and 20% bonus attack damage for the next four seconds. 

Traveling through a passage opened by Gatekeeper takes a short amount of time, depending on the length of the passage. It places two gates; one on this side of the wall, and one on the other, allowing heroes to pass through in both directions. Generally, traveling through the passage is slightly faster than walking the same distance. 

Appearance-wise, using the Gate is a channeled activity, similar to traveling between the two layers of the Haunted Mines map. When you activate one of the gates, the other one begins to shimmer, the intensity of which scales with your channeling. (The longer you've channeled, the brighter it is.)

The 20th-level variant of Gatekeeper works in two ways. When an ally hero steps through, it stuns all enemy heroes adjacent to the exit, allowing you to catch up with a fleeing enemy. When an enemy hero steps through, they (and all other enemy heroes adjacent to the exit) will be stunned.

Talents

The 13th-level talent Somersault lets you reactivate your W while it's active, which vaults you over the wall you're up against, assuming the wall is thin enough. It does not break your Cloak.

Talents

Level 1
Seasoned Marksman
For every 6 enemy Minion or Mercenary kills near your hero, gain 1 Basic Attack Damage. Hero takedowns count as 2 Minion kills.
Death is Cheap
A friendly Hero killed by Blackthorne has their death timer reduced by 50%. 
Fearless Leader
Warlord's Charge also reduces the duration of any Crowd Control effect by 30% on all targets.
Stealth Run
You gain 50% bonus movement speed while Cloaked.

Level 4
Sneaky Bastard
Hero takedowns reset the cooldown on Backs to the Wall.
Mad Bomber
Using Bomb Throw also tosses 2 additional Death Grenades near your original target for 30% damage.
Dear Incendiary
Bomb Throw deals an additional 60% of its damage over 6 seconds. 
Envenom
Activate to poison an enemy hero, dealing damage over 10 seconds. 
Level 7
Prince of Androth
Every 4 seconds, increase the attack damage and speed of nearby friendly Minions by 4%. Stacks up to 3 times. 
[justify]
Coordinated Assault
While you are affected by Backs to the Wall, a nearby ally can right-click you to dash to your location and be Cloaked.
Blood and Gore
When you kill a minion, adjacent minions take damage equal to 50% of your basic attack damage
[/justify]
Last Goodbye
A friendly Hero killed by Blackthorne drops a Death Grenade


Level 13
Brutal Killer
Basic Attacks against Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 3% of their missing health. 
Somersault
Backs to the Wall can now be used to leap over walls while Cloaked
Back to the Fight
When your Cloak expires, Warlord's Charge immediately activates
Smells Like Victory
Death Grenades leave behind a field of flame, dealing damage equal to 50% of your Basic Attack Damage each second

Level 16
Blood for Blood
Activate to deal 10% of target Hero's damage and heal yourself for twice that amount. 
Tear the Flesh Asunder
Your Death Grenades afflict enemies with Vulnerable, increasing the damage they take by 25% for 2 seconds. 
Charge of the Death Brigade
Warlord's Charge corrupts the land you walk on for 4 seconds, bestowing the benefit to any ally that walks upon the corrupted ground. Enemies in the same area take continuous damage every 0.5 seconds. 
Merciful Restoration
Your Mercy Kills inspire nearby allies, granting them a shield equal to 2% of your maximum Health. This bonus is increased to 20% for friendly Hero kills.

Level 20
Gate of Galadril
When a Hero emerges from a Gate, all enemy heroes near that Gate are stunned for 1 second.
Killer of Ka'dra'suul
You can activate this ability to gain 5 stacks immediately. 120 second cooldown. 
Bolt of the Storm
Activate to teleport to a nearby location.
Nexus Blades
Basic Attacks deal 20% more damage and slow the target for 1 second. 

Changelog

09-08-15: Mercy Kill can now only target Heroes if their Health is at 5% or lower. This fixes a glaring problem with the design, in that a Blackthorne can harass their teammates continuously without any chance of them fighting back. 

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youcrew | October 16, 2015 4:29pm
I NEED to see blackthorne in Heroes there is no way they are going to leave him out.
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