11 replies to this topic

[Shieldbreaker]

Greetings!

 

I wanted to give my feedback on a rather underused, but interesting skill - mana shield. The thing is, in lod, maany people pick oracle/zeus/storm/qop/other int carry heroes. But they always go for boring agi/str carry setups - essence, swipes, marksmanship, that sort of boring thing. Rarely glaives/arcane orb gets taken. The problem is, there is hardly anything to differentiate int carries from str/agi ones, and the lower bat benefits typical carry builds as much.

 

The reason is, if you go for int items, you get overkill amounts of mana, and there are few ways to spend it. Arcane orb is one good example, rolling-on-floor-lightning is another. That is about it. Mana shield should theoretically work, but, there are a few downsides. First of all, the alternatives are as strong if not stronger - blur does the same vs attacks, and also does not require obscene amounts of mana, does not prevent you from casting in extreme cases and so on. Backtrack/dispersion do not give as much ehp, but are not weak vs illusions and so on.

 

I would reccomend giving mana shield some more strenghts - either 60% damage reduction, or some interesting gimmick, like, say, x% of total mana regenerated per second, or something. Would be a great boost for int carries/tanks that actually feel different than their agi/str counterparts.

 

Also, I feel lame being the only one to pick it

[ResQ]

We're talking Medusa Mana shield and not AM spell shield here, right? Good, just making sure.

 

Medusa's Mana shield is very overpowered in my opinion. You can keep uptime on it easily with a few items on an INT hero and tank a ton of damage - definitely not going to buff this spell. Just another case of people not realizing how strong this spell is.

 

Although I agree that INT carries usually pick the common carry spells, as there are few alternatives. However I disagree with you on silencer glaives, they are picked a lot and they're incredibly good.

[Whiteboard]

Glaives of Wisdom + Mana Shield.

 

It wins games.

 

Rack up a few assists or frags and you'r mid + end game is set.

 

- Sincerely, Whiteboard.

[Shieldbreaker]

Glaives of Wisdom + Mana Shield.

 

It wins games.

 

Rack up a few assists or frags and you'r mid + end game is set.

 

- Sincerely, Whiteboard.

Yeah, I once managed glaives+mana+return+guardian with some -armor, was very nice to be the first person ever to do an int-tank

 

But there are very few such skills that work well on int carries, as in, work because they are intelligence and have a lot of mana, not because they are carries. It would be nice if there were more, especially more survivability skills. Arcane orb/impetitius/glaives all work well for mana hungry casters, but the only defense, and that alone not too strong, is mana shield. What about some new passives, added, say, to oger lord, something along the lines of 'drain x mana per second for x attackspeed/damage/damage reduction/something', a la old storm spirit overload?

[Whiteboard]

Catering defensive skills for int attributes is very nischГ©d.

 

And i'm against releasing content specificly ment to a defined group.

 

This is after all the free-form picking of skills from the original.
- It is however a fact that things needs to be balanced to keep the game intresting.

 

And i'd like to keep it that way.

 

Buff content that is under used rather than implementing original content.
- Work with what you got instead of adding more.

 

- Sincerely, Whiteboard.
 

[ResQ]

 What about some new passives, added, say, to oger lord, something along the lines of 'drain x mana per second for x attackspeed/damage/damage reduction/something', a la old storm spirit overload?

 

Aka Wisp overcharge? (Which, by the way, is quite strong as well)

 

But I agree to you anyway, I'll think of a unique spell that utilizes mana to enhance something (offensive or defense, or both, no ideas yet  )

[Shieldbreaker]

Aka Wisp overcharge? (Which, by the way, is quite strong as well)

 

But I agree to you anyway, I'll think of a unique spell that utilizes mana to enhance something (offensive or defense, or both, no ideas yet  )

Yes, wisp overcharge is a perfect example, if not for the hp drain, I would take it even more often on int-based heroes, since they have lower total hp (the hp drain hurts less in comparison) and more int/mana regen (the mana drain part can be hardly felt). Its values are a bit on the low side for the current penalties, but that is because it is balanced with tether in mind, I assume. Not that I have ever seen someone use tether+overcharge in LoD

 

As for ideas, the biggest gripe with int-based builds is the lack of attackspeed and survivability in one. You go for orchid, you have 0 hp and ehp early on. You go for hex/shivas, your dps is crap. Either atos could give some +attackspeed, no one makes atos currently, or atos could also brutally slow attackspeed (100+), maybe even steal half of it for duration, similar to grave chill.

 

Skill wise, a nice thing for int carries/casters could be a reverse mana void - you spend all of your mana and do x damage per point of mana. Maybe coupled with passively 20 mana gained per kill or something. Strong, but you better use it wise or you are a sitting duck with no mana for escape skills/disables/reincarnation. If you use it on a non-int hero, the low regen (due to no +mana regen items/low int) would make the sitting-duck period even longer.

[Shieldbreaker]

Also, thought of a sweet idea, not sure if it is doable though. Basically, chemical rage/true form, but with even better stats, but the duration is limited by your mana - either spend all and x seconds per mana spent, or drains x mana per second, transforms back when mana runs out, or something like that.

 

Another thing I just thought of regarding overchage - nothing stops a 5 passives 1 int growth carry taking it and using it for 40 seconds, even though he only has 300 max mana. So such mana drain skills should definitely have some constant drain on top of the variable % drain.

[ResQ]

 

Skill wise, a nice thing for int carries/casters could be a reverse mana void - you spend all of your mana and do x damage per point of mana. Maybe coupled with passively 20 mana gained per kill or something. Strong, but you better use it wise or you are a sitting duck with no mana for escape skills/disables/reincarnation. If you use it on a non-int hero, the low regen (due to no +mana regen items/low int) would make the sitting-duck period even longer.

 

Cool idea!

[Whiteboard]

#Reverse Manavoid

 

I like it as well.

But i'm afraid it will be the same as with gold farming skill (w/e it's name was).
 - That you roam the map and indiscirmenatily one shot people.

 

At one point you will and that will be the goal every time you pick that ability.
- Gain more power until the point you can no longer be disputed.

 

For kicks, add it to the game and see what happens.

 

Though I guess it will be nerfed instantly x)

 

- Sincerely, Whiteboard.

[Whiteboard]

Another thing I just thought of regarding overchage - nothing stops a 5 passives 1 int growth carry taking it and using it for 40 seconds, even though he only has 300 max mana. So such mana drain skills should definitely have some constant drain on top of the variable % drain.

 

Agreed, Overcharge is underpicked.

 

The maintenance is not worth it the bonuses. It just doesnt give the powerboost that Armlet does (A comprarible ability) which grants you hitpoints on activation.

Lower the percent of Mana drain per sec and add a flat number. Example: 2% + 5 mana / sec.

 

This will equal it out for being a genuine pick for 0-mana spending steroid carries and give the Int carries an edge in sustaining it.

 - Keep the HP drain roughly as it is or unchanged.

 

Hope that suggestion suffices. Though an identical one to the original post.

 

- Sincerely, Whiteboard.

[UzuMaKi_NaRuT0]

Or maybe make it 1/2/3/4 hp reg and 25/50/75/100% mp reg per level also 10/20/30/40 AS as deactive, as active it drain 0.5% hp and mana per second but give double the attack speed?
Edit: Talking about Overcharged on Whisp