Hecate, the Spirit Caller

I've had this one hero idea for a few weeks actually but never really bothered polishing it until I saw that the hero submission theme this week fit it perfectly. This hero is not a ghost herself, but one who communes with ghosts. I created her with the purpose of having a support hero whose main power is in their powerful channel with abilities that complement this nature (a more intensive version of witch doctor if you will). As a result of my work, I am proud to present the Spirit Caller, Hecate.

Hecate, the Spirit Caller

"The spirits are restless today. Perhaps much death approaches..."

Bio:
A former follower of Krobelus, Hecate's communion with her mistress along with hordes of the distressed dead granted her great occult knowledge and macabre powers. She sees herself not as an enemy of the living but as a link to their world and the netherworld. Maintaining this power slowly robs her of her mortality though, and she constantly slips closer and closer to becoming that which she holds power over.

Overview:
Hecate is a powerful semi-support hero who can shield her allies with innate protection while controlling spirits to terrorize her foes. Though she can only maintain them in a limited range, Hecate's summoned banshees provide powerful map control as the Spirit Caller herself ensures the safety of her team in a fight. Due to the channeling nature of the banshees, she must quickly utilize the rest of her spellset as quickly as she can in order to best prep the fight for the them.

Dire Ranged Int Hero
600 Range
1.7 BAT
2 Starting Armor
Base MS: 300
Vision: 1800/1200
Base Damage: 20
2.3 str gain, 18 base
1.4 agi gain, 13 base
3.2 int gain, 23 base
Level 25 Health: 1541
Level 25 Armor: 7
Level 25 Mana: 1297

Explanation:
Her int gain is enough for what she needs to sustain herself, so the important thing to note here is she needs str enhancement the most: and a lot of it. One of her primary jobs is to soak up damage that would otherwise be taken by her allies (you'll see how later when we get to Hecate's abilities). The more damage she can take the more valuable she becomes to the team (just more parallels to Krobelus, but trust me, the gameplay is much different).


First Ability: Summon Deceased

She doesn't just talk to the dead; she brings them back to the realm of the living.
Channel for up to 20 seconds to summon 3 flying banshees for the duration. Banshees have 360 movement speed, limited 1600 travel distance from Spirit Caller, permanent ethereal form, 100-175-250-325 health, 400 flying vision, 100 mana, 20 to 25 gold bounty, and are insta-killed by purge and hex. Banshees have the ability Malevolence, granting a scaling 10-20-30-40 magical damage per second and 5%-10%-15%-20% slow in a 200 aoe; this stacks multiple times. At level 2 of the spell, Malevolence is modified to spawn an additional banshee for the duration of Spirit Caller's channel if any hero (allied or enemy) dies in the aoe (only one banshee can spawn per death). At level 3 of the spell, banshees gain Scream, a 2 second 275 aoe silence that costs 100 mana and has a 3/4 second cast time but instantly destroys that banshee. At level 4 of the spell, Spirit Caller's death will spawn a banshee independent of channeling Summon Deceased, and it and any banshees that spawn because of its Malevolence will share the same 20 second duration, though limited to 1600 distance from Spirit Caller's place of death. (Cooldown 60-50-40-30 seconds, mana cost 125-150-175-200)

Explanation:
The iconic skill of the Spirit Caller, her banshees are a fearsome enemy of the opponent to face. Carries usually cannot kill them with just their physical damage and would have to go through the enemy team themselves in order to try and cancel Spirit Caller's channel. The other option is to have the team's supports blow their spells on the banshees instead of the enemy heroes; this alone could be enough of an advantage for Hecate's team to win the fight without even getting the bonuses provided by the banshees. Should they do their work however, the banshees can provide immense damage and disable, both in the form in their powerful slow and well-timed silences. As the fight progresses, more banshees could spawn to annihilate the enemy all the more, making the banshees a great threat that needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible.


Second Ability: Occult Protection

Hecate looses her own spirit in an attempt to take on the burden of her allies' suffering.
Toggle-able spell that provides a transfer of all damage taken by allied heroes in 400 aoe to be instead taken by Spirit Caller (damage transferred keeps its original form and is reduced by Hecate's resistances instead of the original target's) at the cost of mana per second.
(Toggling does not interrupt channeling)
Level 1: 10% damage of all damage taken is transferred to Hecate (30 mana per second and activation)
Level 2: 20% damage of all damage taken is transferred to Hecate (45 mana per second and activation)
Level 3: 30% damage of all damage taken is transferred to Hecate (60 mana per second and activation)
Level 4: 40% damage of all damage taken is transferred to Hecate (75 mana per second and activation)

Explanation:
This ability is why Hecate is best built as tanky as possible, as she can actually tank for the team without even having to be focused. This spell can actually impact a teamfight more than her first, as with ample health she can keep her allies alive for incredible lengths of time. Some key things to note about this spell are that it doesn't absorb a particular damage type if Hecate becomes invulnerable to that type of damage (magic immunity for magic, ghost scepter for physical, and disruption etc for complete invulnerability) and requires careful management, as not only does it quickly drain mana, but it can outright kill Hecate if not controlled properly. In some cases, the spell might need to be turned off quickly in the event of great aoe damage that would otherwise put a great strain on Hecate's health. Fortunately Hecate's other spells complement this one enough that such damage to herself can be minimized.


Third Ability: Spirit Bind

Hecate can make a direct connection to a spirit of the living as well as the dead, though their mortal body suffers greatly as a result of the connection.
Binds an enemy target to spirit caller, causing the target to suffer half the damage that Spirit Caller takes (damage is hp removal) and not be able to move more than 600 range from Spirit Caller (Spirit Caller cannot move beyond that range either, but can break the connection prematurely by reusing the ability). Spirit Caller gets vision and true sight of the target for the duration.
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Cast Time: .25 seconds
Cast Range: 600
Level 1: 2 second duration (mana cost: 80)
Level 2: 3 second duration (mana cost: 95)
Level 3: 4 second duration (mana cost: 110)
Level 4: 5 second duration (mana cost: 125)

Explanation:
To clarify a few points, if Hecate moves towards the bound enemy, this does extend the range at which the enemy can move; they need only be within 600 range of whatever Hecate's current position is. The damage taken by the enemy is still taken by Hecate as well, and is only dealt to the enemy after Hecate's resistance reductions (this isn't dispersion on steroids). Indeed though it is a very powerful way of punishing the enemy for targeting Hecate, it becomes worse when they realize that damaging other targets still hurts the connected hero via Occult Protection. Still it can be countered; magic immunity does break the connection, but if used before the bind is does not prevent its usage or damage. Alternatively, the bind can be countered by things such as any form of mobility beyond moving (blink, force staff, etc), which will break the connection, and protective abilities like disruption. I do want to note that I actually saw an incredibly similar spell to this one on another hero while browsing the ideas page only AFTER I originally had this one written down. Ironically enough it was that hero's ultimate ability and was less powerful than this one was. Maybe I just make overpowered heroes.


Ultimate Ability: Netherworld Rift

The spirits of the damned find themselves to be strong conduits of magical energy, but their unstable connection often results in an overload of this power.
The Spirit Caller opens a rift of spirits that blocks and absorbs 50% of every instance of magical/pure damage done in an aoe to all allied heroes and summoned banshees in the area for a time, unleashing each instance absorbed as a single target bolt of magical damage at a random enemy in a 600 aoe radius of the originally damaged ally. Has a .5 second delay after casting until it is active.
Cast Time: .25 seconds
Cast Range: 500
Level 1: Spirit Caller opens a 375 radius rift for 4 seconds (cooldown: 160) (mana cost: 225)
Level 2: Spirit Caller opens a 425 radius rift for 5 seconds (cooldown: 120) (mana cost: 375)
Level 3: Spirit Caller opens a 475 radius rift for 6 seconds (cooldown: 80) (mana cost: 525)

Explanation:
This ability, a somewhat more evil twist on Pugna's Nether Ward, has all kinds of uses. It can serve as a compliment to Occult Protection, removing some of the health burden from Hecate while increasing the reduction of magical/pure damage to allies by up to 70% (rift reduces first, then protection reduces further). It makes for a great secondary initiation spell, waiting to cast it right before the enemy turns to nuke your team, and then forcing them to choose between not using the spells or dealing with the bolts. Any aoe spells that hit heroes under the rift will launch a bolt for each hero hit. If only a couple enemies are possible as targets (which could even happen in large teamfights as magic immunity prevents the bolts from targeting a hero), that hero will be quickly be decimated by the collection of damage. This can somewhat deter bkb usage. Lastly since the rift discourages the use of aoe magical spells, Hecate's banshees will find themselves a lot of more capable of harassing without being so quickly nuked down.

I also just want to add that for aesthetic effect, allied heroes being protected by the rift would be indicated by white spirits encircling them. The Occult Protection spell would have a similar visual where a black visage of Hecate hovers over them if they are in her area of effect.


Item Suggestions:
Hecate does need a decent amount of tanking items in order to best fulfill her role, meaning she probably should not play the 5, but still doesn't require as much farm as a carry might. Health is the best way to go, since that provides more damage with Spirit Bind than armor does, but maxing your EHP is still an effective strategy. Due to the typical aoe nature of magical damage, a quick Hood of Defiance is important to make sure you aren't immediately blown up by using Occult Protection. Bloodstone is a decent choice in order to sustain the spell as long as possible, but you can opt to focus less on mana regen by timing your toggle well as opposed to just leaving it on as long as possible. Overall other solid choices are heart, shivas's, atos, scythe, even blademail. Veil and mek are also good for obvious reasons. If you are having trouble maintaining your channel, a bkb is an acceptable solution, as long as you are wary that it will negate some of Occult Protection's effectiveness momentarily.

Gameplay:
In lane harassing with banshees while hiding away from vision can make easy work of your enemies. You can use Spirit Bind in a pinch to prevent an enemy's escape in order to finish a kill. This utility makes an effective late game initiation technique as well. Following that, a quick rift placement where your allies are located accompanied by your banshees allows you to deal tons of damage while ensuring your own team is safe. Be careful to remember your own health when microing the banshees though and turn off/on Occult Protection when needed.

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 Hecate thread; I always appreciate feedback and will gladly answer any questions you have. Good luck to everyone else who is competing. :)

~Naxela

Edit1: Increased Netherworld Rift mana usage, somewhat clarified/modified its targeting, and added some imagery.
Edit2: Modified a lot of small individual effects, nothing major. Most noticeable is netherworld rift affects banshees in addition to heroes.
Edit3: Reduced banshee speed to 360 and slightly increased gold bounty; I just realized how deadly these things were at their current power.

I happen to love this hero idea! It's a hero that actually tanks for your allies in an indirect way. It would be so annoying when you hit an enemy that has low health and realize you couldn't kill him because you stood next to him at that split second, and then you get linked and killed by banshees :D

I still have a few questions though. When you say "Channel for up to 20 seconds to summon 3 flying banshees for the duration.", do you mean that one banshee spawns when you start channeling, and then another one pops out at 20/3 seconds, and the third one appears after 10 seconds? So if you break the channeling early, the banshees are still controllable and fully capable of whatever they do?

Your idea isn't that OP, although the is very hard to kill. That's not a problem though, heroes like Abbadon can run into the enemy fountain like its his own. If that's not imbalanced, I don't know what is XD


Love your ideas, keep it coming!

Summon Deceased spawns 3 banshees at the start of the spell, and maintains them for up to 20 seconds OR until you cancel the channel.