Heroes of the Storm Build Concept: Houndmaster Shaw

Combat Trait

Shaw's Hounds

Passive:
Shaw is accompanied on the battlefield by his 3 prize hounds: Princess, Butch, and Bubba. Hounds have three different states - Tracking, Hunting, and Resting.

Hounds that are Tracking follow Shaw passively. While Tracking, hounds mark the location of all enemies in the fog of war for Shaw's team within a large area (about half a lane's width in radius). Tracking is the default state for hounds, and they can be switched to Hunting by using Sic 'Em!.

Hounds that are Hunting act as summoned minions chasing a single target, having 535 (+4% per level) Health, dealing 38 (+4% per level) damage with 1.00 attacks per second, and moving with 30% increased movement speed. If a hound loses all of its health while Hunting, is targeted by Heel!, or the hound's target moves far enough away (about the radius of Tracking), it will switch to Resting.

Hounds that are Resting follow Shaw passively as if they were Tracking, but do not mark the location of enemies in fog of war and cannot be switched to Hunting. Resting lasts for 1 second for each 10% health the hound was missing when it entered (rounded up to the nearest second), and afterward will return to Tracking.

Additionally, Shaw does not use Mana.

Heel!

Cooldown: N/A

Shaw commands a target hound that is currently Hunting to return to him and switch to Resting.

Primary Abilities

Sic 'Em!

Cooldown: 4 seconds

Shaw sends a hound that is currently Tracking to switch to Hunting a target enemy. Can target enemies whose locations are marked in the fog of war by Tracking.

Marking Shot

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Shaw begins aiming a shot in a wide, short cone in front of him. He channels for up to 2 seconds, during which the cone narrows and lengthens, ending in a narrow line. During this channel, Shaw can turn to aim the ability in a different direction, with the area of effect following the mouse cursor.

At any point he can recast this ability, dealing 149 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies in the area and increasing the damage that hounds deal to them by 25% for 5 seconds. Alternatively, if Marking Shot has reached its maximum range, it instead deals 255 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit and increases the damage that hounds deal to them by 50% for 5 seconds.

Crippling Wound

Cooldown: 13 seconds

Shaw or one of his hounds perform a vicious attack on an enemy in melee range, dealing 101 (+4% per level) damage to their target and inflicting them with a special Bleed effect. This effect deals 22 (+4% per level) damage every 0.5 seconds, reduces healing received by 50%, lasts for 3 seconds, and has its duration increased by 0.5 seconds for every 1 unit of distance its target travels.

This ability must target a single enemy, and can target an enemy either in melee range of Shaw or one of his hounds. If cast by a hound, Crippling Wound's damage can be increased by Marking Shot's effects.

Heroic Abilities

Ricochet Shot

Cooldown: 65 seconds

Shaw fires a special ricochet shot from his rifle, launching a projectile that deals 88 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies it passes through. It will ricochet off of walls 12 times total, and each time can slightly adjust its angle (about 10 degrees left or right) to aim toward enemies.

Unleash the Hounds!

Cooldown: 80 seconds

Shaw unleashes 7 Bloodhounds in a target area to attack his enemies. Bloodhounds have 255 (+4% per level) Health, deal 23 (+4% per level) damage with 1.00 attacks per second, last for up to 14 seconds, deal up to 100% more damage to enemies based on how much health their target is missing, and deal an extra 100% bonus damage to minions and mercenaries.

Bloodhounds will attempt to distribute their attacks evenly, preferring not attack the same target if more are available. If Bloodhounds have no target to attack, they will run down the nearest lane and attack all enemies along the way.

Bloodhounds summoned by this ability do not count as hounds for Shaw's abilities and talents; for example, Marking Shot does not increase their damage.

Talents

Tier 1

Successful Hunt - If a Hunting hound's target dies, it skips Resting and immediately returns to Tracking.
Hound Armor - When switched to Hunting, hounds receive 2 charges of Block, granting them 75 Armor against the next 2 enemy hero basic attacks.
Feint - Hounds gain 35 Spell Armor.

Tier 2

Tag Team - Hounds deal 15% more damage for each other hound attacking their target.
Active Recovery - Shaw's basic ability cooldowns refresh 20% faster for each Resting hound.
Marksmanship -

Quest: Hit enemy heroes with Marking Shot. 1 stack per hero hit by its area of effect, or 5 stacks if it hits a hero when fully charged.
Reward: Upon reaching 30 stacks, Marking Shot also Reveals enemies for the same duration.
Reward: Upon reaching 80 stacks, Marking Shot also increases the damage of all of Shaw's attacks on the targets by the same amount.

Tier 3

Perfect Shot - Channeling Marking Shot further when it has reached full range increases its range by 10% and damage by 15% for each second channeled, up to 5 more seconds.
Reflexive Shot - Increase the initial width of Marking Shot by 50%. It changes range faster, reaching a narrow line in 1.25 seconds.
Shaw's Shank - When Crippling Wound is cast by Shaw instead of a Hound, increase its initial duration to 5 seconds. If there are multiple possible casters in melee range of the target, Shaw will take priority.

Tier 4

Ricochet Shot - See above.
Unleash the Hounds! - See above.

Tier 5

Scent of Blood - Enemies at or below 33% of their Health are Revealed by Tracking hounds, not just their location.
Run Them Down! - If at least one hound is Tracking and at least one hound is Hunting a hero, Shaw receives 15% increased movement speed.
Hamstring - Crippling Wound's initial strike Roots its target for 1 second, and they are Slowed by 10% for its duration. Its duration doesn't tick down against Rooted targets, and the range threshold for a duration increase is reduced by 10%.

Tier 6

Hunter of Giants - Shaw's basic attacks deal bonus damage to their target equal to 1% of their maximum Health. Hounds' basic attacks deal bonus damage to their target equal to 0.5% of their maximum Health.
Pack Vengeance - Shaw and all hounds deal 25% increased damage for 5 seconds after a hound is forced to enter Resting by running out of Health. This effect stacks.
Ruthless Vigor - Crippling Wound's initial strike damage is increased by 100% for each possible caster in melee range of its target. Hound basic attacks on heroes affected by Crippling Wound reduce its cooldown by 0.5 seconds, and reapplications stack duration.

Tier 7

Enhanced Ballistics - Ricochet Shot travels 50% faster, and enemies take 10% more damage from consecutive hits.
Advanced Training - Bloodhounds summoned by Unleash the Hounds! are now affected by all abilities and talents that affect Shaw's hounds.
Companionship - Shaw receives 10% increased basic attack speed for each hound currently Tracking or Resting. Hounds receive 50% increased basic attack speed while Hunting as long as Shaw remains near them (about half of Tracking's radius).

Changelog

v1.2
-Clarified Tracking radius and that Bloodhounds from Unleash the Hounds aren't affected by hound effects
-Increased the cooldown of Marking Shot and Crippling Wound
-Added talents

v1.1
-Replaced Spread Shot with Marking Shot: basic cone attack to attack that changes shape and increases hound damage
-Updated how many times Ricochet Shot bounces to match the card's effects
-Talents coming next version

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(1) |

Seems like a great concept, I always like the Hearthstone cards as Heroes. Reminds me of Rexxar in the game already, but going all in on utility instead of utility and tanking. The only thing I'd say to improve (apart from adding talents) is defining the Tracking radius. Revealing enemies passively like that would be pretty overpowered depending on that range. Otherwise, love this and feel like this is just what Shaw would do ingame.

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(2) |

Thanks, I'm glad you like the concept! The Tracking radius is definitely something that I've been going back and forth on; my original draft I thought a very large radius would be good, then when I went to update the concept that seemed too much so I'm thinking it'd be better at about the width of a lane (so if Shaw hangs around at the edge he has a warning of approaching enemies or enemies at a jungle camp, but otherwise it doesn't provide too much vision). That's definitely something I'll work on clarifying in the next version, thanks for bringing it up.

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i want this! :D

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