Vishkar the Architect - HCC Entry

Vishkar the Architect

Hero Introduction

Hello guys! How have you all been? I know I haven’t been here often (at all, even) lately, but I’d like to participate in this contest since Sofa went so far as to chat me on steam for this, so special thanks to you Sofa!

Anyway, my submission is a hero named Vishkar the Architect, a hero that I wrote with idea of ‘fun’. You see, I did some thinking about what makes a hero fun —at least to me—, and I think what makes a hero fun is the moments of ‘payoff’ that the hero can give. That is why heroes like Pudge and Invoker are so popular, and I wanted to make a hero that provides even better moments of payoffs. Thus, this hero was written as my dream hero that I think will be most fun to play (and he’s not a carry because I am primarily a support player).

This hero is supposed to have a mechanic on the level of Earth Spirit —unique but not complex, without requiring micro managements— yet is designed to be very hard to master due to the split judgment and sense one requires to master this hero.

At his core, Vishkar is a ‘controller’ (I know, not a role), that aims to manipulate the positioning of a war through the usage of his [Q] and [E]. With his [Q] (think Fissure), he create a barrier that isolate enemy heroes and potentially protects allies in desperate moments. With his [E] (think Glimpse), he can reposition heroes in a war, stops enemy heroes from chasing, and the likes. His [W] has a main job to pin an enemy down long enough for him to be isolated with either [Q] and [E], being a very rewarding skillshot when used properly.

Vishkar, however, has two major routes he can take. A ganker that focuses on his [W] and [E], using his [Q] sparingly to halt an enemy’s escape, or a support that focuses in teamfight, using his [Q] and [E] to gain advantageous positioning. This, then, is reflected in the two routes of talent he has.

In the right hand, he is very potent. The catch is, all his normal skills are skillshots. [Q] and [E] requires a cast time before the skill is unleashed ala Torrent or Kinetic Field, while his [W] acts similar to Sacred Arrow with an added twist (quite literally).

His ultimate is different, however. His ultimate, serves as pseudo Teleportation, empowering his ganking and supporting prowess by being much more mobile. The true worth of this skill, however, is in the passive form that extends the maximum range between two Foundations, effectively increasing the range of all his other skills that are of utmost importance to this hero.

Believe me when I say that the hero is actually not complex, although I know that he must seem quite so due to the Foundation mechanic. I myself find it hard to word the explanations of his skills, and have added many clarifications in the Notes, so please read them if you are confused. Of course, you can also just ask me in a comment!

Well then, I think I have talked for far too long, so please enjoy the hero! :)

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Lore

There were legends of the First Humans, stories told by beings as ancient as the Titans themselves, of the Humans unmade and unborn. The Loom did not work on them, the Weavers did not weave them, and the Titan did not notice them. Yet, they existed.

Some said that the stars themselves shaped the First Humans with their dust, and with the fabric of universe itself the First Humans were clothed.

They were not mistaken.

What they did not know of, however, was that the First Human was singular, that there existed only a single human who was the origin of all human.

His name was Vishkar.

He was the epitome of mankind, the original, the unflawed. He was the sole man capable of traversing all seven planes of existence, capable of understanding the secret of universes. In doing so, however, he was ripped away from the cage of his human body, being an entity more accurately described as god than man. From then on, he never ceased to exist.

Yet when the Mad Moon was torn asunder and the Primordial Mind was shattered, the resulting energy stole with it a small fragment of Vishkar’s consciousness, creating a personification of the force of creation entrapped in his true body.

Aimless and lost —acting almost entirely on instinct—, the fragment of consciousness incessantly created and reshaped, distorted and became.

Thus began a legend told through the mouth of mortals, a legend of the Architect.

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Statistics

Faction: Radiant
Primary Attribute: Intelligence
Attack Type: Ranged
Roles: Disabler, Ganker, Escape

Str: 78 at 25 (18 + 2.5/level)
Agi: 61 at 25 (18 + 1.8/level)
Int: 93 at 25 (21 + 3.0/level)

Armor: 12.7 (4 base armor + 8.7) at 25
Movement: 310
Range: 450
Base Damage: 54-60

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Skills

[D] Cosmic Foundation: Vishkar creates a Foundation with which he works, making an invisible and invulnerable ward in a targeted point that produces no vision. This skill is instantly casted, does not cost any MP and has two charges with 15 seconds cooldown. Using any of his skills will remove all existing Foundation and will refresh the charges back to two immediately. A Foundation must be placed within 900 points range from the other Foundation.

[Q] Heaven’s Gate: The Architect calls upon indestructible gate that soars to the heavens. This skill creates a wall that connects the two Foundations, obstructing enemies’ projectiles, vision and movements, as well as dealing damage, knocking back, and slowing any enemy unit within 300 points range from the wall when it is first summoned. This skill has 0.8 seconds cast time. - Lasts for 5 seconds and deals 90 damage - Lasts for 6 seconds and deals 130 damage - Lasts for 7 seconds and deals 170 damage - Lasts for 8 seconds and deals 210 damage Type: No Target Pierces Spell Immunity: Partial Damage: Magical Mana Cost: 150 Cooldown: 20 seconds Slow Duration: 1.5 seconds Slow Amount: 35% movement speed Mortals witnessing the infinitely tall wall Vishkar called upon claimed that it was the gateway of heavens. notes The knockback lasts for 0.4 seconds, and knockbacked units are considered as stunned in that duration This skill doesn’t require target, meaning that this skill can be used even if Vishkar is far from the location of the wall, provided that the Foundations were previously already planted. The length of the wall relies entirely on the range between the two Foundations, and at maximum is 900/1200/1400/1600 depending on the level of his ultimate skill This skill will obstruct even flying movements, but not flying vision This skill will show an obvious animation like Nether Blast when casted This skill will obstruct all ranged attacks and disjointable projectiles, treating them as being disjointed when hitting the wall The damage, slow, and knockback does not pierce spell immunity, but the obstruction of movement and vision does Projectiles shot by spell immune heroes will not be blocked [W] Hell Inferno: Vishkar conjures blazing inferno from the plane of renegade demons, directing it along his Foundation. This skill creates a projectile that dissolves when striking the first enemy unit it encounters, dealing pure damage and applying Inferno debuff. Units with this debuff will receive damage over time, have reduced damage resistance, be rooted, and are always visible. This skill can be casted to a Foundation, and doing so will cause the projectile to be released toward that Foundation, then changes trajectory toward the other Foundation. - 60 pure damage, 15 damage per second, 20% damage resistance - 80 pure damage, 30 damage per second, 25% damage resistance - 100 pure damage, 45 damage per second, 30% damage resistance - 120 pure damage, 60 damage per second, 35% damage resistance Type: Target unit Affect: Allied heroes Pierces Spell Immunity: Partial MP Cost: 160 Inferno Duration: 3 seconds Cooldown: 18/16/14/12 seconds Cast Range: 1200 Maximum Travel Range: 3000 It is said that the pale inferno of Foulfell can cause even the worst demons to whimper in pain notes Both instances of damage are pure damage, dealing a total of 105/170/235/300 pure damage after 3 seconds The damage resistance reduction will amplify any physical or magical damage by the stated amount after any reduction. As the damage of this skill is pure, it will not be amplified The vision and initial damage pierces spell immunity, while the root, damage resistance reduction, and damage over time are not If casted on a point other than the Foundation, this skill will act like Sacred Arrow, moving in a straight line until the 3000 points range is reached or until it hits an enemy unit If casted on a Foundation, this skill will still move in a straight line as normal, until it hits an enemy unit or reaches the poisiton of the targeted Foundation, where it will change trajectory toward the position of the other Foundation, forming a triangular trail. Once the projectile is thrown, the Foundations will still be removed as usual, but the movement of the projectile will still follow the positions of the Foundations when this skill was initially casted. The root will disallow any movement and movement spells, including Force Staff and scroll of town portal The projectile travels at the speed of 1400, slightly slower from Meat Hook [E] Limbo Dome: The Architect distorts reality around his Foundations, shifting the reality in one space with the other. This skill creates a 350 points radius dome around each of the Foundation after a cast time, and switches the position of all heroes within one dome to the other. All heroes affected by this skill will not receive damage from creeps, towers, or fountains for 3 seconds after the transfer. - 30 seconds cooldown, 2.2 seconds cast time - 26 seconds cooldown, 1.8 seconds cast time - 22 seconds cooldown, 1.4 seconds cast time - 18 seconds cooldown, 1 second cast time Type: No Target Affects: All Heroes Pierces Spell Immunity: No MP Cost: 180/150/120/90 When mortals came too close to him, they found themselves in foreign land notes The position of any hero within one dome will not change through the transfer The transfer works both way, meaning that all the heroes within one dome will move to the other dome and vice versa This skill will show an obvious animation like his [Q] when casting After cast time, the effect is instant [R] Planeshift: Vishkar cuts upon a gateway through the different planes, using it to travel through the folds of reality to materialize back in another point. This skill can be activated to move Vishkar to a selected Foundation after a short channelling time. Passively, this skill increases the cast range of Cosmic Foundation, as well as the maximum range between the two Foundations. - 1 charge of teleportation, 1800 cast range and 1200 maximum range - 2 charges of teleportation, 2400 cast range and 1400 maximum range - 3 charges of teleportation, 3000 cast range and 1600 maximum range Type: Target Foundation, Passive Affects: Self MP Cost: 120 Cooldown: 60 seconds per charge Channeling Time: 1 second It was as if the seven planes of existence existed only to serve him notes This skill can be casted to a Foundation anywhere on the map, meaning that this skill can teleport globally if the Foundation had been planted beforehand The cast range listed on the skill is the cast range of his [D] By taking this skill, the maximum range between Foundations also increase, granting increased range for his [Q] and [E] Talents - Level 10: +60 damage | 25% XP Gain - Level 15: Hell Inferno now deals double the initial damage | Double the slow amount and slow duration of Heaven’s Gate - Level 20: +2 seconds to the duration of Inferno debuff | +20% cast and channeling time reduction - Level 25: The cast range bonus of Planeshift becomes global | Limbo Dome now pierces spell immunity

Oh my god.

The king has returned unto his hall!

*Long fanboy post deleted*

Um. That wasn't me.

Anyway, this is certainly an interesting and well-thought-out hero. The only thing I've noticed with the spells is that his w seems like the hardest to land after the e at higher levels. At level 4, his w is certainly the hardest.
The projectile speed is not specified, but if it is anything like Mirana's arrow, I don't see how it will hit anything. Not only does the enemy team see it coming, but they know where to look.

Also there is the complication of the foundations "being removed as soon as any ability is cast" but the projectile from Hell Inferno "Bounces once it reaches the foundation."

Another potential issue is with the q and e. Are they supposed to have a long cast time, which is what Shadowfiends ult has, or are they supposed to have a delay before happening, like the examples you gave? It also seems weird that they would have obvious visual effects in the cast time; I think there are only a couple of abilities that have a visual effect away from the caster before they are cast.

There is a serious exploit that I just noticed, too. If I cast a foundation somewhere, create another one 900 units in one direction, and then cast another 900 units in the opposite direction from the first one, I can double the max distance of any of his spells. Continuing with this method could create a Heavenly Gate from one corner of the map to the other.

I also have a logistics question that is not specified; If I cast a Foundation (no ult levels) 1000 units away from a preexisting foundation, what happens.

For the Heavenly Gate, I also strongly object to making the wall destroy projectiles. At the very most make it so units who are on opposite sides of the wall are untargetable to each other.

Nether Road is not a spell. Level 25 talent. I think it supposed to be the ult.

Also, fix your names.
Q - Heavenly Gate
W - Inferno of He'll

To The Magnus Magus:

Under the notes for Cosmic Foundation:



So the exploit you mentioned of creating a chain of foundations from one side to another won't work.

Hahaha, thanks! Thank you very much for the detailed comments Magus, I have edited some things according to your comments, mainly clarifying a lot of things in the Notes. I'll explain each of your points in here, sorry for being vague with my wording before:



Yes, his [W] and [E] are supposed to be the harder skills to land, and [W] without any mean to ease its landing unlike [E] that can be easier once leveled. I've specified the projectile speed to 1400, which is slightly lower compared to Meat Hook of 1450, so it's nowhere as slow as Sacred Arrow of 857. Keep in mind as well that the Foundation are invisible, and casting his [W] will also removes the Foundations altogether, meaning that the enemy team might see it coming, but they won't know where to look.



Yes, you are right. I have added extra wording so that his [W] will still remove the Foundations, but will still follow the positions of Foundations when it was initially casted.



It has cast time, like it is written in the skills, and yes, like Assassinate or Requiem of Souls. I know that it is rather rare for skills to have the visual effect, like Nether Blast or Relocate, but I think it is needed since Foundations are invisible.



FangzofFuzzy has answered to this, basically there can only be two Foundations at any given time on the map, similar to Broodmother skill, Spin Web.



What would happen is that the older Foundation will be removed, just like placing a third Foundation. To ensure this doesn't happen often, however, there is visual display upon placing a new Foundation like that of Observer Ward.



I do agree that it might be a bit strong, but that is kind of the point of this skill. It will only obstruct enemies' projectiles and visions, and I know that is a strong effect. That effect, I think, in real game would be rarely important given the cast time this skill has. Pulled properly, it would be able to save an ally like Euls was able to back in the days, which was the hidden motive of this skill.

Thus, I opted not to remove that effect, and instead has further weakened the damage and slow of this skill to balance it out. Please refer to Fissure and compare all the aspects of this skill, as compensation for obstructing the projectiles.



Oops, yeah, sorry about that. Nether Road was the name of the skill before I decided to change it, and I haven't changed the one in talent yet.

I don't think there's issue in the names (I have changed Heaven Gate into Heaven's Gate), and I know they sound slightly weird, but I'd like to keep a same template of names as a small nod to Dante's Inferno. Of course, if you and the other viewers insist that they sound bad, I can just replace the name of the skills altogether.

Anyway, thank you very much for commenting, again, I am most flattered :)

No problem. The exploit most certainly works, though.
If O's are empty space, F's are foundations, and the space between each letter is the max distance between any foundation.

Starts as OOOOO
Cast foundation OOFOO
Another one OOFFO
Exploit begins OFOFO
Continued OFOOF
And it is extendable FOOOF

Now we have a Heaven's Gate 4x as long as it is supposed to be. Fools!

To fix the exploit legal locations for new foundations must only be within however many units away from the youngest Foundation, rather than any foundation.

Oh, I see what you mean now!
Kudos for you pointing that out, sorry for not specifying the wording enough. I will add additional wording like so: "Using this skill when there are already two Foundations on the map will remove any of the older Foundations that are farther than the maximum range from the newly placed Foundation."

I think that should be enough?

Thanks!

Hey Yzreel,

Welcome back, friend! I'm happy to see you around, even if it's just a brief moment :D

As for the hero... I won't go too in-depth but here it goes!

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Nice lore. I like how it has somewhat to do with the dotaverse but still stands on its own.

The first things I notice about this hero is that he's Intelligence, but starts with 4 armor. Now that's not overpowered, just atypical. Also, 310 movement speed is hard to come by, especially on a hero that relies on setting up things beforehand. I'd say it should be around 300. Last thing: 450 range is sad.

I'm assuming your hero was designed to be played as a position 4/roaming support. I'll make my comments this way... if it was designed to be a mid or something then welp.

Please remember that you are the forge of creation 2 time winner and that what you see is only the negative feedback cause if I started giving positive feedback we'd be here all day long.

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{Q}: This ability is really strong. I'm not going to say overpowered, but it's really really strong. 900 units covers most of a lane, and it for sure does with the ultimate. I'd say it's very strong for highground defense, be that your shrine/bounty rune areas or just base defense. Or more accurately, I'd say it creates a highground... I mean, you can't see through it, projectiles are blocked, etc.

I'd say this ability needs to have a longer cooldown and a spell immunity piercing talent as opposed to the obstruction already blocking spell immune projectiles and stuff. Like, if a drow is BKB'd and she wants to hit through it she should be able to, imo. Vision can still be reduced so she can't see it, but if there's an ally on the other side she should be able to.

{W}: Let's compare this to Sacred Arrow... it travels much faster than arrow, moving 1400 as opposed to 857. It deals 300 pure damage as opposed to arrow's maximum 460. I'd say they're pretty equal... arrow is slightly stronger max range, but {W}'s pure damage applies even if it was in front of her.

But the big part is... is a 3 second root and minus 35% (i'm assuming magic) resistance comparable to a 0.01 - 5 second stun? I'd say so. I'd even go so far to say that this is stronger, since 1) the root goes through spell immunity, 2) it travels faster and 3) the root doesn't scale with distance.

I'd say if you made the root/resistance reduction scale with distance it would be pretty good!

{E}: I LIKE this spell. It's a creative tool that allows for creative uses. Really good for pushing highground (and diving fountains) though, might wanna watch out for not-as-creative approaches. I'm not really sure why you put the damage immunity from towers/fountains in there... maybe you should explain.

{R}: There really isn't much to talk about here. Well-thought-out ability synergy.

Talents: Okay this one needs to change a bit. Specifically, I'm talking about the double duration on {Q} and +2 second root.

So double duration on {Q} means really easy t3 towers. 16 seconds is enough for any ranged carry to melt a tower... and considering they have to give up their highground advantage to see/fight you it's really strong.

A 5 second spell immunity piercing root man. Like, it's good enough I would buy a Blink Dagger, blink up melee range of a guy and smack it on him. Really strong. Again, I'd say scale it with distance.

I like the cast time/channeling reduction as well as the global cast range. BUT... does that mean your {Q} has global cast range too..?

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Well done again Yzreel. Hopefully we can see more of this in 2018!
~Sofa

Ah, my heroes always have base armor of the total amount when they first start, in this case, +2.6 provided by his agility. I know it's a mistake in my part but I've just been doing it like that since forever that I don't bother changing it hahaha

About the movement speed and range, it's intended so that the movement speed is higher than average by reducing the range, as the hero was built to move around more than hitting people.



Yes, you are right. I think I'm adding an additional wording to this skill "projectiles shot by spell immune heroes will not be blocked." About the cooldown, seeing that this skill is technically his more impactful skill, I don't think I can increase it. Perhaps I'll just make it a fixed 20 seconds instead of 20/19/18/17. Thanks!



Another good point, yes. I think I'm changing the root so that it doesn't pierce spell immunity, only the damage and vision. I don't think I will make this skill scale with distance because this skill is his main damage skill, unlike Mirana that has starfall to fight back melee enemies, seeing that his [Q] and [E] have cast time.



Yes, I was also thinking that this skill is easily abusable, even more than KOTL can ruin perfectly timed blackholes and chronos if he so wills it. The damage immunity is done to avoid what I had just said, can't have your ally sending you to the enemy's fountain just for lols, and moving the enemy to your tower in early game is a bit strong, which becomes pretty much guaranteed if paired with stunner. Is this unnecessary?



Ahh, you are misunderstanding. Sorry about the vague wording, that's double the duration of the slow. Instead of 1.5 seconds 35% slow, it becomes 3 seconds 70% slow, not the duration of the wall itself.



Yeah, I think by changing it so it doesn't pierce spell immunity it should be alright. And yes, the [Q] has global cast range. The animation, however, will still play as per usual ala Nether Blast. Seeing that this is talent level 25 where all silly shenanigans happen, I don't see why not lol.

Thank you very much for the insightful comments, Sofa!