Overhaul series #2 : Aluna

[Ol`Yojimbo]

INTRODUCTION

Hi peeps ! Thought I'd start doing overhauls for HoN heroes. I've figured out a growing number of people browsing the forums are getting interested in hero design. People used to stuck with the flawed logic "hero works in-game => he's fine". That's at best mediocre when you want to be the best game around. Design depth is key for a proper hero concept. I'd say lore as well but all those alt avatars made that effort superfluous. Please understand the following : Heroes might be used often competitively, there's still no point denying possible improvements if the latter is about to make the hero better conceptually. Balancing happens afterwards. I can't stress this one enough : Hero niches should be UNIQUE.

Niche definition :

A niche would commonly be defined by a combination of attack range, statistics or more concrete things such as a role and a "core-idea" which would answer those two questions :
" Is there a specific playstyle people adopt using the hero ?"
" Are there any specific mechanics unique to that hero ?"

Now, enjoy the read (don't be lazy, read it all).

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I gonna cover Aluna in this overhaul.

HERO ISSUES

• Poor synergy within the whole skillset.
• Deja Vu's second activation seems good in theory but ends up being very clumsy in practice. Mana cost should scale with the activation points.
• Emerald Lightning doesn't scale well. BAT nerf made her not-so-good of a semi-carry. The attack speed buff looks quite random as a result.

SUGGESTIONS

Niche : Ranged INT hero with great laning and long-range farming facilities which make her a potent suicide laner. Relies on Red Emerald skill boosts to truely shine in team clashes.

Emerald Lightning
Action/Type : Target enemy units.
Aluna launches a bolt of lightning that bounces off her enemies, leaving them stunned. Sparks may also happen to spread around.
Mana cost : 100/110/120/130.
Cooldown : 15/14/13/12.
Activation : Lightning bounces between enemy units, hitting 2/3/4/5 targets.
Stuns for 1 second + 0.25 second per target.
Bounces to the closest unit and can only hit each unit once.
Stunned units may release sparks in a 200 AoE once which immobilise nearby units for 1 second and deal 25/35/45/55 damage.
Emerald Red effects :
Every unit hit is stunned for the duration + 1 second.
Visuals : New feature would display emerald green sparks flying wildly around stunned units.

Screw semi-carries ! I wanna focus on a Suicide-laner/Disabler niche. That's why I decided to remove attack speed from Emerald Lightning and replace it with some more disabling properties. The new feature has obvious synergy with Power Throw. Remember immobilisation differs from a stun. It just denies moving around. The bonus per target has been decreased so the boosted version ain't too good.

Deja Vu
Action/Type : Target self.
Aluna can see the past and future on the surface of moonlit water, and she can travel there under proper conditions.
Mana cost : 25/30/35/40.
Cooldown : 20 seconds.
Activation : This skill has 3 activation points. Each activation point requires mana :
- 1 : Gains unit walking and 25/30/35/40% Movespeed for 3/3.5/4/4.5 seconds.
- 2 : Sends an illusion moving 180° the direction Aluna goes for 3/3.5/4/4.5 seconds. Illusion has tree-walking and stays immobile at the final location for 3 additional seconds.
- 3 : Teleports Aluna to illusion's location. Disjoints on use.
Emerald Red effects :
Enemies touched by Aluna recieve -25/30/35/40% Movement Speed for 3/3.5/4/4.5 seconds.
Visuals : Unchanged.

Simple and effectively makes it much more versatile. The mana cost overhaul lets her do that suicide lane job better. Hide in woods, scout for enemy positions, disjoint initiation... You can also use it to slow a fleeing enemy hero and land that Throw with ease if you're using the booster version.

There you go, vote and discuss.

Consider numbers lightly (testing makes those) - Focus on the concept.

[Headshotina]

Hello there I see this hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. I hope I can change that. Let's see what you had in mind.

Well, on the matter of the backstory and the other stuff, I don't think I can help because I've never read the comics actually. I also notice that the only significant change for the ultimate is the stun, and the evasion. On the matter of the stun, I think the +1 second per target is just a bit too much; Tundra's ultimate stuns 1 target for 4 seconds, and that's at lvl 3 of the ultimate. Your stun would deal a 3 second stun on 1 target, and a 4 second stun on the other. I know that it requires skill, but it still seems a bit much if you're worth your salt. I'd reduce it to about 0.75 seconds per target. As for the evasion, I really can't complain; its duration is lower than Windrunner, so I really have nothing against that. The only issue that might arise is how easily she will be recognized when all your attacks miss. But then again, it just might help her for long enough. Overall, and I know I didn't comment as much as on Accursed, I like the idea. She could use something like this, while remaining true to the comics as you put out, and making her more skill rewarding, and harder to focus. Nicely done, and keep it up

[Ol`Yojimbo]

The knowledge I got about the comics is based off a short review I've read when I got curious about it.

We can't really compare Lightning with Tundra's ultimate. The latter is much more reliable and does damage. Aluna needs to force clashes away from creeps if she wants to land a perfect Emerald Lightning and that's not even mentioning possible summons/pbox minons/illusions. I'm clueless as to how you came up with your numbers but mine say it would stun for 2/2.5/3/3.5 seconds at max.

Honestly the main issue with that rework might be that she'd become a tad too close to her DotA alternative.

PS : Moved the evasion on the first activation. Made no sense on the second.

[Ol`Yojimbo]

Bump.

I left out the thematic part since it's quite superfluous nowadays with the addition of alt avatars. Moreover, I came up with something to replace the evasion so she ain't too similar to Windrunner. I actually prefer that new option.