Sorico, the Earth Dweller

Though I come up with a lot of ideas for heroes as a hobby, I created this one over the past day from scratch after seeing the hero submission competition. I didn't like the idea of a nature based hero since there are already quite a few in the hero pool, so I instead went with the idea of an earth hero, not an elemental like that of the recently added Kaolin, but instead an earth-lover, one who feels at home in the earth and revolves around being in the ground. With that idea in mind, I came up with the cunning mole: Sorico, the Earth Dweller

Sorico, the Earth Dweller

"Lovely soil, yes! They will never see me coming."

Bio:
A mole-like creature that has wandered the earth for centuries, Sorico is a shrewd trader, dealing in gems he digs up beneath the surface. His bounty is an often coveted treasure, yet Sorico, not being one to part with his hoarded gems so easily, has adapted many ways to manipulate the very earth he hides away in.

Overview:
Sorico is a strength hybrid role hero, serving as both an initiator with little farm or a hard carry with great farm. The only strength hero with an invisibility spell (Sand King hardly counts), Sorico sleuths around the map for unwary targets to trap and bring down. His abilities have versatility, having different effects depending on whether Sorico is either on top of or in the ground. Sorico can fit comfortably in any team composition, providing opportunities for ganking, a strong teamfight presence, and a backup carry in a desperate situation.

Radiant Melee Str Hero
1.7 BAT
3 Starting Armor
Base MS: 290
Vision: 1600/1600
Base Damage: 25
2.5 str gain, 22 base
1.8 agi gain, 18 base
1.8 int gain, 19 base
Level 25 Health: 1708
Level 25 Armor: 9
Level 25 Mana: 806

Explanation:
His stats are nothing to brag about, yet nothing to be ashamed of. I originally spent a while deliberating whether or not to make him a str or agi hero, and came to the conclusion he needed to be str for a couple of reasons. Primarily, an initiator agi is a rare thing, and that is because being an initiator requires you to be tanky, and making your primary stat str is of great benefit. Secondly, as agi, his carry potential would be overly emphasized, whereas I want his hybrid nature to become almost natural to the player. He has the option to build one way or the other or a mix, filling the roles his team needs of him. He will definitely need some mana support if you want him to be a full-time initiator/ganker, and he will definitely need some damage and attack speed if you want him to be a carry, but obtaining both to lesser degrees at the same time isn't that far out of reach. Other things worth mentioning is he is a mole, so his vision, while lessened (and that serves a dual-purpose as a balance decision as well), is not hindered by darkness (nighttime).


It's worth mentioning his ultimate first because of its direct impact on some of his other skills.


Ultimate: Burrowing Claws

With a little effort, Sorico can move through earth as quickly as anyone else would walk upon it.
Allows Sorico to move become invisible by burrowing into the earth. While burrowed, Sorico has unitwalking and treewalking, can move at the cost of mana equal to 10% of the distance he travels, and is immune to any effects that would move him other than manual movement, but cannot auto-attack. In addition, being burrowed modifies Sorico's other active abilities to have different effects. Using items will reveal Sorico for one second, but abilities will not. Sorico can unburrow at any time while burrowed.
Burrowing Claws Cast Time: .6 seconds
Unburrow Cast Time: .4 seconds
Level 1: 30% movement speed slow while burrowed
Level 2: No movement speed change while burrowed
Level 3: 30% movement speed buff while burrowed

Explanation:
I constantly kept changing whether or not I wanted this to be his ultimate or a regular skill for him, but as a regular skill I could never think of substitute ability for an ultimate. Secondly this ultimate form only drains mana upon movement whereas my other rendition was time-based. Logically this makes sense since chewing through dirt requires energy while resting in it does not. It is also an ultimate skill because of a very desirable immunity to movement effects, which while it does prevent blink dagger initiation, protects him from the effects of spells such as flaming lasso, meat hook, vacuum, and many others, which would be overpowered as a regular skill, in addition to its ability to already disjoint other spells via invisibility. It's worth mentioning that the spell can't be purged (it's not a buff, but a state), has no cooldown but instead a small cast time for balancing purposes, and does not give him different abilities while burrowed but instead modifies existing ones. This means that his other abilities share the same cooldown and mana cost in their different "forms". As far as this spell goes, use it for the protection it gives for certain spells, for the stealth no other strength hero possesses, and at later levels the increased mobility should you have the mana to support it.


First Ability: Gyrodrill

Unburrowed:
Sorico balances on one claw while using the other to strike fiercely around him.
Ensnares Sorico for 4 seconds while giving a slow to all enemies in a 300 radius around him while also allowing him to attack all enemies affected simultaneously with bonus damage
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Cast Time: Instant
Level 1: 25% attack/movement slow with 15 bonus damage (mana cost 110)
Level 2: 30% attack/movement slow with 30 bonus damage (mana cost 120)
Level 3: 35% attack/movement slow with 45 bonus damage (mana cost 130)
Level 4: 40% attack/movement slow with 60 bonus damage (mana cost 140)

Burrowed:
Imbedded in the earth, Sorico's rotation caves in the ground around him, leaving those that fall in at the mercy of his attacks.
Ensnares Sorico to create a 450 radius quicksand pit around him that pulls enemies towards the center at a rate of 150 movement speed while giving them a slow; Sorico can attack while burrowed for the duration and gains bonus attack speed, but it revealed for 1 second after each auto-attack.
Cast Time: Instant
Level 1: 25% attack/movement slow with 20 bonus attack speed
Level 2: 30% attack/movement slow with 40 bonus attack speed
Level 3: 35% attack/movement slow with 60 bonus attack speed
Level 4: 40% attack/movement slow with 80 bonus attack speed

Explanation:
Most important to note is that this is not a channeled spell, and neither form can be canceled by stuns, though his auto-attacks during them can be stopped. Changing burrow states will cancel the spell immediately in an emergency, and is the only way to do so. He is also free to use any other items or abilities during the duration. Because this ability's damage comes from his auto-attacking ability it lends to his carrying ability, but still has utility without carry items, thanks to his toggle-able passive we'll get to later. As is the intended purpose, the burrowed form of the skill lends itself to be the better option for initiation while the unburrowed form is better for being a carry. Getting the burrowed form off can be a great boon to your teammates in a teamfight while the unburrowed form may not be as game-changing; while solo killing however you might find the usefulness of the two actually switches. As with Sorico's next ability, make sure you choose carefully which form you want to use in each fight, because using one will put both on cooldown for longer than the fight might last for.


Second Ability: Claws of Stone

Unburrowed:
With claws coated with the very minerals he tunnels through, Sorico's attacks piece any armor.
Quickly swipes twice at all enemies in a 325 radius and 120 degree arc in front of Sorico dealing damage and applying an armor debuff for 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Cast Time: Instant
Level 1: 75 magic damage per strike (mana cost: 90)
Level 2: 100 magic damage and -1 armor per strike (mana cost: 100)
Level 3: 125 magic damage and -2 armor per strike (mana cost: 110)
Level 4: 150 magic damage and -3 armor per strike (mana cost: 120)

Burrowed:
Strong outstretched claws invite Sorico's foes to an earthen demise.
Sorico thrusts his claws through the earth and roots any enemies within a 325 radius into the ground, ensnaring them while dealing 100 magic damage per second.
Cast Time: .5 seconds
Level 1: 1.5 second ensnare duration
Level 2: 2 second ensnare duration
Level 3: 2.5 second ensnare duration
Level 4: 3 second ensnare duration

Explanation:
Unburrowed form is best cast when following someone to deal additional damage without losing ground on them (you can keep walking and moving as the ability is activated). To avoid any confusion, yes the armor debuffs from the two slashes stack (as separate effects in fact), and this ability can be used while his gyrodrill in either form is active, giving great synergy in fact (quicksand is much harder to escape if you can't move, and auto-attacks do significantly more damage with an armor debuff I've heard). Of course you can't auto-attack for the casting time of the skill, so that might needed to be factored into your game plan. The unburrowed form due to its instant cast nature is done where immediately where Sorico is facing forward, so it is probably necessary while casting gyrodrill to click ahead of time where you want claws of stone will be cast (Sorico will simply turn towards that direction without moving at all because he is ensnared). Also because the burrowed claws of stone only ensnares without stunning or silencing, it might be hard to use as a disable effectively on its own. That's why Sorico has one last ability:


Third Ability: Sand Slashes

Sorico can interrupt any sorcery by jetting the tunneling debris around him with his attacks.
While toggled, Sorico deals a 1 second silence to any enemies he auto-attacks at the cost of mana per attack.
Level 1: 80 mana per attack
Level 2: 60 mana per attack
Level 3: 40 mana per attack
Level 4: 20 mana per attack

Explanation:
Best part about this spell is it does indeed function during gyrodrill, though the unburrowed form may quickly drain all your mana if many enemies are caught in it, as you will be applying it to all of them each time you attack. This ability serves to complete Sorico's skillset utility. As with all of his other abilities, it serves a dual purpose. As an attack modifier (and while it is active it doesn't stack with any other modifiers) it makes him a greatly feared auto-attack carry, or it can be used to top off his potential to disable entire teams at once (use the unburrowed gyrodrill to silence everyone at once, or the bonus attack speed during the burrowed form to quickly silence each person that gets caught).


Item Suggestions:
Sorico can use just about any item effectively, and he will certainly need at least a few in order to properly function late-game, regardless of how he decides to build. Good choices include an early medallion for the much needed regen in addition to the helpful armor debuff to stack with his own debuff. A basher is also incredibly useful as it gives him a stun to apply on his many opportunities to auto-attack, making his repertoire of disables all the more menacing. Beyond that, he could use a little mana regen here, a little tankiness there, and possibly some damage items if you are really performing well early on. Even a blink dagger could be used to initiate with an unburrowed gyrodrill. Anything works on him honestly.

Gameplay:
Before his ultimate, his potential to disable can be a little lack-luster, so it is very important to get him some early levels to gain him his utility. Ganking as a mid might be the best way to build up some needed farm, and that position suits him best as it allows him to pursue whatever role he needs to as the game progresses to midgame. Later on, sneak beneath your opponents and wreak havoc with your disables while letting your allies finish them off; you might even be able to do it yourself if you are farmed enough. Most importantly know when and when not to be burrowed. As practice and experience is the best guide for this tip, it would probably take playing him a bit against different team compositions before I or anyone else would best know when that is.

Thank you for reading my submission for this competition, if you read my hero idea on my own thread, feel free to go over to the submission thread and vote for me there. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to comment on the separate Sorico thread; I always appreciate feedback and will gladly answer any questions you have. Good luck to everyone else who is competing. :)

~Naxela

Edit: Clarified some parts of burrowing claws's invisibility.
Edit2: Nerfed his movement speed.
Edit3: Color and style.
Edit4: Slight buff/scaling modification to unborrowed claws of stone.
Edit5: Slight buff to cast times of burrowing claws

Edit:
Ahhhh Ok... you already copied it, good luck in the competition :D

I'll read over it feedback when i got the time^^


He is very interesting, however there are 3 things I want to comment:
1.
Second Ability: Claws of Stone
Unburrowed:
Level 1: 75 magic damage per strike (mana cost: 90)
Level 2: 75 magic damage and -1 armor per strike (mana cost: 100)
Level 3: 150 magic damage and -1 armor per strike (mana cost: 110)
Level 4: 150 magic damage and -2 armor per strike (mana cost: 120)

effectively dealing 56.5 Damage (after Magic resistance reduction) per swipe on level 1 and 2 (112 damage), and 112.5 damage per swipe damage on level 3 and 4.
When you change the damage type to physical, the second swipe could profit from the first Armor reduction, and thus dealing more damage.


2.
Third Skill
1 second Silence per attack... wow that's pretty heavy! I know there are the relatively mana cost, but with high attack speed and good toggling skills, you could perma-silence a hero with this (considering you have a high enough mana-pool).
That could render many heroes totally defenseless.
(burrow, ensnare them, unborrow, hack away while silencing him)

And I dare not speak of that annoying 'Silenced!'-Sound that you get xD

3.
Ultimate. Just a quick question for clarification:
It is a 'normal' stealth but with Tree- and Unitwalking.
So he can be effected by damaging spells, since he is technically underground?

I'll address your comments point by point, fortunately I spent a lot of time on this and I'm pretty confident with its turnout.

1. Physical would indeed do more; the point is to encourage a combination of gyrodrill with claws of stone (similar to anchor smash's increased damage with a gush debuff on someone). Physical damage is way too strong early game in spells (I watched a bristleback in competitive nearly get a double kill at level 1 recently), but is tempered down by armor in the lategame. I made it magical for one because he can't have a full physical spell-set without being completely hampered by ghost scepter or armor stacking; he needed the versatility. If it was physical it would actually be plain outclassed by regular auto-attacking lategame.

Edit: I also want to add that although the swipes are usually best used together on the same target, it's totally possible to turn around quickly right after the first swipe comes out and swipe in another direction at another target (like how juggernaut can turn about during his blade fury). Not entirely relevant to your comment but I thought I'd in that thought since it wasn't laid out explicitly before.

2. The burrow/unburrow animation time is not to be underestimated. In .5 seconds, an antimage could blink, a lina could stun you, or any other number of maladies could disrupt you. My intent was to force a player to pick whether they wanted to engage burrowed or unburrowed and not have them try to mix between the two without having to play that risk. The trick with the silence is to not view its viability against a solo target. The one second silence can be easily refreshed a single person over and over but does not to stop any of his nearby friends. On its own, sure it's great, but heroes like spirit breaker can solo kill even easier without batting an eye and have better mobility as well. Sorico would also have to max Sand Slashes to avoid draining his mana very quickly. It's instead more important to consider what Sorico offers to a teamfight; a 80 attack speed buff from gyrodrill allows quick switching of attack targets so you can tag them all with silence, greatly improving your crowd control abilities. In short Sorico can kill people solo pretty easily yea, but not nearly as well as some others can; that's not where his true strength lies.

3. I called his ult a state earlier because that is the best way to describe it; compare it to troll's melee vs ranged state: troll gets bonuses from going melee, while Sorico gets invis, unit/treewalking, and different ability forms. All spells damage him normally if they touch his hitbox, all effects are applied normally, though he has an immunity to any effect that would move him. If you have detection, you can hurt him just like any other hero.

Nice explanation and clarification, exactly what I wanted to know!