The Exhumer (like Furion + Pit Lord)

Author's note: PLEASE don't vote up or down without saying WHY you voted as you did! If you feel inclined to vote no, just remember numbers can be changed, even concepts can be changed, but a no vote is forever

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Changelog

11/16/09

Haunchrot
Duration increased from 2/4/6/8 to 5/6/7/8
Damage/Sec decreased from 40/60/80/100 to 20/30/40/50
Total Damage is now 100/180/280/400
Haunchrot now has an AOE of 500 at all levels


11/7/09
Starting Intelligence decreased from 30 to 29
Intelligence Growth decreased from 3.0 to 2.7
(thanks orbitalx)

11/6/09

Haunchrot
Duration decreased from 4/6/8/10 to 2/4/6/8
Cooldown increased from 14/12/10/8 to 16/14/12/10
Damage/Sec increased from 20/40/60/80 to 40/60/80/100
**Total Damage Remains The Same!**

The Clinging Dead
Cooldown increased from 24 to 25 sec
Duration increased from 15 to 16 sec
Clasp of the Grave is no longer channeling.
If a second instance of Clasp of the Grave is used on a target already affected by it, the duration of the second Clasp of the Grave will be added to the remaining duration of the first. i.e. The duration of Clasp of the Grave is now stacking.

Corpsewalk
Corpsewalk no longer causes a Cadaver Detonation when The Exhumer arrives at his destination.
Instead, when Corpsewalk is used, The Exhumer gains the Gravesight buff, which grants him vision of all corpses on the map for 5 seconds. During that duration he is able to teleport to any corpse he sees.
There is a visible bubbling effect on all corpses The Exhumer has vision of, so enemies can tell he's spying. There's also a pentagram on the ground as well as a different, more noticeable, more violent effect on the location he is teleporting to.

Cadaver Detonation
Cooldown decreased from 10 seconds to 4 seconds at all levels
Damage decreased from 50/75/100% of corpse's max life to 33/50/75% of corpse's max life (half of this damage is physical damage and half is magical damage).
Mana Cost decreased from 170/270/370 to 140/210/340

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EXHUMER
aka Necromancer, Corpse Mage, Cadaver Mage, Apprentice Necromancer, Corpse Acolyte etc.



(Artwork by Des Hanley taken from Avatars of War forums here:
http://arena-deathmatch.com/forums/v...php?f=26&t=236)




22 + 2 | 12 + 1.5 | 29 + 2.7



Movement Speed: 300
Attack Range: Melee
Damage: 59-65
Armor: 4.68

Attack Animation: 0.3/0.3
Cast Animation: 0.56/0.51
Base Attack Time: 1.7



The Exhumer can be seen as a combination of Furion and Pit Lord from DotA with a little bit of the Necromancer from D2 added in. He's got a (limited) global teleport (like Furion), some summons which act as disables (like Furion's sprout/ Pit Lord's pit of malice/Arachna's ULT), a DoT which does more damage if the target is immobile (a bit like Hellbringer's death boil) and an aoe ult that blows up corpses (Like Pit Lord's Expulsion).

STORY

The man now known as the Exhumer was once a Chaplain who sought to learn the secrets of resurrection. But Sol does not look kindly upon Necromancers, so he was expelled from the Chaplainry for his unseemly interest in the dead. Thwarted in his further thaumaturgical studies by the Beasts' unwillingness to share their sorcery, he turned to the Hellbourne to further his pursuit of necromantic rituals.

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Haunchrot



Flavor Text
The Exhumer causes the corpses under his enemies' feet to fester, infecting their legs with a rot that persists until they move.

Skill Mechanics
Area of Effect magic DoT with a long duration that is dispelled if the enemy moves

Range: 600
AOE: 500

[1] Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown: 16 sec Duration: 5 sec Damage/sec: 20/sec Max Damage: 100
[2] Mana Cost: 120 Cooldown: 14 sec Duration: 6 sec Damage/sec: 30/sec Max Damage: 180
[3] Mana Cost: 140 Cooldown: 12 sec Duration: 7 sec Damage/sec: 40/sec Max Damage: 280
[4] Mana Cost: 160 Cooldown: 10 sec Duration: 8 sec Damage/sec: 50/sec Max Damage: 400

[Synergy] Use with The Clinging Dead to get the most damage. Use on creeps to set up for Cadaver Detonation or Corpsewalk.

[Balance] Has low cd, high duration, high damage, AOE, and a low-ish mana cost, so if you cast it properly when the creeps clash you can use it to creep and ease the pain of being a melee int. But it's ineffective against Heroes unless combo-ed with The Clinging Dead or a (long) disable from an ally (preferably both). If you have a guy immobile long enough for him to take the full damage of the level 4 spell he was probably dead anyway. Keep in mind ANY movement dispels this spell. So a slowed or hexed hero doesn't take any damage from this. Only completely immobile heroes take damage. Has an AOE so it can be more useful for team battles.

If it's OP remember numbers can be changed vote on the concept PLEASE

[Visuals] The Exhumer points towards his target with his non-scythe hand and the lower half/legs of the targeted unit become covered in festering wounds.

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The Clinging Dead



Flavor Text
His incomplete mastery of necromantic techniques means that The Exhumer cannot control whole corpses. But he can summon forth dismembered arms which run across the ground on their talons with demonaic speed and cling to the living with unholy strength, rooting his enemies in place with their icy grasps.

Skill Mechanics
Uses an AOE cursor and summons a number of Magic Immune minions without attacks in that AOE. They have two Spells: Clasp of the Grave, a channeling root, and Sudden Decomposition, which turns them instantly into corpses. The minions will autocast Sudden Decomposition once their Clasp of the Grave is done channeling.

Cooldown: 25 sec
Duration: 16 sec
AOE: 150
Range: 650


[1] Summons 1 level 1 Clinging Dead + an additional level 1 Clinging Dead for every 8 corpses in the AOE. Mana Cost: 100
[2] Summons 2 level 2 Clinging Dead + an additional level 2 Clinging Dead for every 6 corpses in the AOE. Mana Cost: 120
[3] Summons 3 level 3 Clinging Dead + an additional level 3 Clinging Dead for every 4 corpses in the AOE. Mana Cost: 140
[4] Summons 4 level 4 Clinging Dead + an additional level 4 Clinging Dead for every 2 corpses in the AOE. Mana Cost: 160

The Clinging Dead



[1] Movement Speed: 350 Health: 75
[2] Movement Speed: 400 Health: 150
[3] Movement Speed: 450 Health: 225
[4] Movement Speed: 522 Health: 350

Clasp of the Grave

[1] Immobilizes and Reveals the target for 1.25 sec, the target can still attack and cast (non-movement, non-invisibility) spells. No mana cost. Instant cast time. Stacks with itself. Once used automatically activates Sudden Decomposition

Sudden Decomposition

[1] Kills The Clinging Dead that uses it, turning it into a corpse. Can be cast by The Exhumer and is autocast by The Clinging Dead when their timers are up, or when their root has been used. No mana cost. Instant cast time.

Magic Immunity

[1] The Clinging Dead are Immune to Magic (except their own Sudden Decomposition) .

[Synergy] Can be used to create corpses anywhere on the map by moving The Clinging Dead to the desired spot and casting itsSudden Decomposition. This can be used to create corpses to teleport to with Corpsewalk, and corpses to detonate with Cadaver Detonation.

Can also be used for their Clasp of the Grave root to increase the damage from Haunchrot.

[Balance]: They move really fast so they can catch up to things and root them for you. They have the magic immunity of Slither's wards, but less life to compensate for their fast movement speed. Their root is a 1.25 sec disable which can be chained together into a 5 sec root (with 4 lvl 4 minions), and you can get extra minions (i.e. a longer root) by summoning near corpses.

The Clinging Dead are basically a disable in the form of a minion, and not even an amazing disable. They reveal and immobilize but thats it. The enemy can still attack and cast spells. But they do have good synergy with the hero and can be used to scout and grab runes, scout for ganks etc.

The manacost, duration, casting range, AOE, and cooldown of the spell are similar to Furion's tree disable from DotA.

If it's OP remember numbers can be changed vote on the concept PLEASE

[Visuals] Disembodied rotting arms thrust their way out of the ground hand first. They run forwards on their fingertips and have a slight red glow. A target that is gripped by Clasp of the Grave glows red while it's disabled.

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Corpsewalk



Flavor Text
The Exhumer has such an intimate connection with the dead that he can look through the eyes of the dead, and disintegrate himself and recreate himself at the location of any corpse glimpsed this way.

Skill Mechanics
Grants the Gravesight buff for 5 seconds, granting you vision of any corpse on the map. While Gravesight is active, clicking Corpsewalk at the location of any corpse you see will teleport you to that corpse.

Takes 1.5 seconds to cast.

Since the cooldown and mana cost take effect after this spell is finished casting, The Exhumer will not use any mana or waste the cooldown on this spell if he is interrupted while casting (either by enemies or by himself).

When cast, this spell creates a pentagram and a bubbling effect on the target point which is visible to both allies and enemies. While gravesight is active, there is a visible bubbling effect on all corpses so enemies know you have vision of the area.

Range: Global, targets corpses

[1]Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown: 60 sec
[2] Mana Cost: 90 Cooldown: 50 sec
[3] Mana Cost: 80 Cooldown: 40 sec
[4] Mana Cost: 70 Cooldown: 30 sec

[Synergy] Use with The Clinging Dead to teleport places besides creepwaves/jungle. Allows you to gank, escape from people, push with your ult and generally be useful.

[Balance] Your teleport is much more limited than Furion's from DoTA because your creeps can't get anywhere in the map in only 15 sec. To balance that out it has a faster cast time and gives you vision of the corpses on the map--necessitating a longer cd and higher manacost than Furion's teleport. Its likely primary use would be to push and counterpush the lanes. If you get lucky with the Gravesight you can grab a jungler, and if you're clever with use of The Clinging Dead you can get around quite easily.

If it's OP remember numbers can be changed vote on the concept PLEASE

[Visuals] The Exhumer gains vision of any corpse on the map, causing the corpses to bubble. He then melts into the ground and reappears from any corpse on the map. The ground underneath his destination-corpse bubbles violently before he arrives and a pentagram appears on that destination.

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Cadaver Detonation (ULTIMATE)



Flavor Text
Disgusted with his failure to unlock the secrets of resurrection, The Exhumer flies into a rage and curses his unfinished work, causing the cadaver in front of him to detonate.

Skill Mechanics
Targets an AOE, causing a single corpse in the AOE of this spell to explode, dealing 1/2 magic and 1/2 physical damage to any enemies in the AOE of the explosion.

Cooldown: 4 sec
AOE of initial cursor: 150
Range: 800
AOE of cadaver detonation: 450

[1] Mana Cost: 140 Damage: 16.5% of the detonated cadaver's max life as magic damage and 16.5% of the detonated cadaver's max life as physical damage
[2] Mana Cost: 210 Damage: 25% of the detonated cadaver's max life as magic damage and 25% of the detonated cadaver's max life as physical damage
[3] Mana Cost: 340 Damage: 37.5% of the detonated cadaver's max life as magic damage and 37.5% of the detonated cadaver's max life as physical damage

[Synergy] Use Haunchrot to kill creeps and create cadavers to detonate, or summon The Clinging Dead and move them to the desired spot, casting Sudden Decomposition and turning them into cadavers you can then blow up.

[Balance] Half the damage is reduced by armor and the other half is reduced by magic armor, meaning the scaling can be relatively crappy late game. Spammable with a low cd, good range, and good damage, but requires corpses in the area, so will always be somewhat situational. Similar to Caustic Finale/Magma Hammer and Pit Lord's Expulsion. Great for pushing/stopping pushes, perhaps not so hot in teamfights.

If it's OP remember numbers can be changed vote on the concept (which I jacked from Blizzard's own Diablo II )

[Visuals] The cadaver detonates violently in a ball of fire, causing bodyparts, bones and viscera to scatter everywhere.

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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Nome for his hero template and all the useful stickies on this board, thanks to Blizzard for Warcraft 3 (without which we wouldn't have DoTA) and Diablo II (which was the direct inspiration for The Exhumer's Ultimate). Thanks to the DotA and HoN teams for such fun games and Furion and PitLord who were major inspirations for this hero.

Thanks to orbitalx for noticing the crazy high int and int growth.
Thanks to Sordak and everyone else who gave great feedback..

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

[Q] Coming
[A] Soon??

reserved

Skill 1: only nuke which deals damage other than ult. Hard to get off so I understand why it is powerful. However, I don't like its current execution as it is very situational and only effects one target. Give it consistent damage or make it AoE and hard to pull off.

Skill 2: Currently being used to fuel skill 1. Good idea, however, it is flawed because you still need corpses around you as each raised corpse doesn't count as a corpse until after it stops the immobilization. Additionally, it is hard to micro manage. I think a rot would be a better and more interesting mechanic for these creatures and if so, they should count as corpses. If so, skill 1 would do too much damage.

Skill 3: A skill which can be used as an ult. However, I am almost not a big fan. It kinda reminds me of meepo's poof when used with ult. I think think maybe it should be its own spell instead of another way to pop the ult nuke.

Ult: interesting damage but relies on corpses and your second skill. Almost want to make it a little more dependable, but, seeing how heroes die, it could be an interesting and relatively deadly spell. It costs a lot of mana for something that has a short cool down. Maybe it is ok with him having such large amounts of mana. However, I think it should be his total mana instead of total HP. Makes it more INT like.

looks good btu i want storm spirit

Originally Posted by docterj208

Skill 1: only nuke which deals damage other than ult. Hard to get off so I understand why it is powerful. However, I don't like its current execution as it is very situational and only effects one target. Give it consistent damage or make it AoE and hard to pull off.

Thanks, for the idea. I was thinking about making it AoE myself. My thinking with this spell was that its hard to pull off on heroes, but if used on creeps it can be used as a nuke to creep with, somewhat lessening the difficulty of being melee. AOE is not a bad idea, but I'll await more feedback to implement changes.

Originally Posted by docterj208

Skill 2: Currently being used to fuel skill 1. Good idea, however, it is flawed because you still need corpses around you as each raised corpse doesn't count as a corpse until after it stops the immobilization. Additionally, it is hard to micro manage. I think a rot would be a better and more interesting mechanic for these creatures and if so, they should count as corpses. If so, skill 1 would do too much damage.

The minions act as a hold for skill 1 true, but thats not their only purpose: the root can also be used to help allies, the minions can scout for runes, scout out ganks, their corpses can be used as targets for corpsewalk or cadaver detonation.

True, each raised corpse doesnt count as a corpse till after it starts the immobilize, but no corpses are needed to summon the minions initially. You get a bonus if corpses are around, but 4 minions with 1.25 sec of root each should be enough if there are no bonus corpses handy.

The idea is to root and cadaver explode each creep in quick succession while haunchrot is going. Perhaps make the root non-channeling? So it'd easier to root and corpse explode without losing the damage from the Haunchrot.

Originally Posted by docterj208

Skill 3: A skill which can be used as an ult. However, I am almost not a big fan. It kinda reminds me of meepo's poof when used with ult. I think think maybe it should be its own spell instead of another way to pop the ult nuke.

Yeah it can be used as an ult but the main purpose is the teleport. I was thinking of removing the Cadaver Explosion from the teleport and adding another secondary effect, like lifegain or a movement speed buff upon arrival. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by docterj208

Ult: interesting damage but relies on corpses and your second skill. Almost want to make it a little more dependable, but, seeing how heroes die, it could be an interesting and relatively deadly spell. It costs a lot of mana for something that has a short cool down. Maybe it is ok with him having such large amounts of mana. However, I think it should be his total mana instead of total HP. Makes it more INT like.

Well it's definitely situational, especially for an ultimate, but properly used I think it could be powerful. The high mana cost is to prevent TOO much spamming, but perhaps its situational nature calls for more spammability.

Scaling the damage by % of Exhumer's Max Mana is potentially much more powerful than scaling based on % of max creep HP. Creeps max out at 550 or so life (unupgraded), but Max Mana can be pumped indefinitely. Would require some number changes, but very interesting idea, thanks!

Well, so far after reading this, it's quite interesting, a concept based mostly on corpse-focused gameplay. It's a nice concept to ponder on as there isn't much 'environment' heroes.

Subscribed to this thread as well.

Haunchrot

A rather situational skill that truly requires the use of Clinging Dead as you say and/or channeling holds. Considering that it's easy to dispel, I have no qualms about the damage output. Very situational, is all I can say.

The Clinging Dead

With HoN's current micro management system this'll be a bit of a hard thing to play with. You'd have to time the Clasp of the Grave perfectly within each other, letting no window of opportunity for it to be most effective along with Haunchrot.

Corpsewalk

To be honest I'm having doubts about the fact that it can trigger a free ult. The concept of being able to travel through corpses is fine, but the whole free ult thing bothers me.

Cadaver Detonation
Feels rather underpowered to be honest. The Level 3 skill which costs 370 Mana would at most deal only 175 Physical Damage and 175 Magical Damage with a The Clinging Dead creep. Which is rather weak for an ultimate skill at Level 16.

Various Solutions:
-Extend AoE, Affect More than 1 Corpse.
-Reduce Mana Cost

The concept looks good, though like the others said, he is quite situational.

I actually like the corpse teleport, it is interesting, though it should have a visual(so at least you know he is coming)

I can see this being a really good ganking tool without the visual(and even with it, they only have a second or so to move back), I would change the hands though from minions to something else(invisible ward with 1 sec fade time a la Templar snare from DoTA), mostly because the micro system in the game is really, really, really annoying to use, though I like the concept.

I can imagine him being very useful with electrician or polly early.

[Torguish]

woot gimme. Pit was one of the fav heroes in dota for me
well, i gotta say, looks good but i really miss the corpse explosion thingie but i guess the ultimate does it.
Well, nicely done dude. t-up

Ps. Check out Aresiel please, kinda lacking the votes and feedback lately :S

Thanks for the support guys! Lets get some more votes in here! PM me if I owe you a hero review.

bump of justice

Not sure why this can't get any views or votes.
BUMP!!

[ManoBomb]

Well, its orignal and looks fun to play, but its way to advanced and hard to balance.
First spell is imbalanced if you can root him, and if you can't, its underbalanced.
Second skill is just weird (nice idea, but still weird)
Third skill is way to easy to flee with.
Fourth skill is underbalanced...

One other thing I would mention is this character is more like the INT version of Dirge and not furion but even then, not exactly since your 2nd spell can't be used to push towers.

bump

I rather like it. Perhaps a little too forced in certain synergy, but beyond that has some interesting gameplay and skills. Can't say much more than that, really. I like it.

Wow, this seems perfectly balanced and interesting and also unique. This is LEAGUES better than almost all the suggestions on the popular suggestions board. Bravo, good sir.
T-up

0.o

When you asked me to crit this, I thought there would actually be criticism to give! I can't see any real problems with this, aside from possibly Corpsewalk's triggering of Cadaver Detonation. This essentially gives you 2 ways to trigger the ulti. But since the ulti doesn't look like it would scale well, it would probably be okay. Especially since it requires corpses, so you cant tele->ulti or ulti->tele 300u

T_UP

Anyone who votes this down would probably be as braindead as one of those corpses /pun

Originally Posted by kerespup

Well, so far after reading this, it's quite interesting, a concept based mostly on corpse-focused gameplay. It's a nice concept to ponder on as there isn't much 'environment' heroes.

Subscribed to this thread as well.

Haunchrot

A rather situational skill that truly requires the use of Clinging Dead as you say and/or channeling holds. Considering that it's easy to dispel, I have no qualms about the damage output. Very situational, is all I can say.

My thoughts exactly. May buff this into an AOE spell depending on feedback (which I desperately need more of **hint hint**)

Originally Posted by kerespup

The Clinging Dead

With HoN's current micro management system this'll be a bit of a hard thing to play with. You'd have to time the Clasp of the Grave perfectly within each other, letting no window of opportunity for it to be most effective along with Haunchrot.

I might buff the clinging dead grasp into a non-channeling spell. It makes them a LOT easier to use but that might be necessary...

Originally Posted by kerespup

Corpsewalk

To be honest I'm having doubts about the fact that it can trigger a free ult. The concept of being able to travel through corpses is fine, but the whole free ult thing bothers me.

The free ult might get downgraded into some life/mana gain or increased regen or some other misc. buff depending again on more feedback. If that happens I'll probably buff the ult a bit.

Originally Posted by kerespup

Cadaver Detonation
Feels rather underpowered to be honest. The Level 3 skill which costs 370 Mana would at most deal only 175 Physical Damage and 175 Magical Damage with a The Clinging Dead creep. Which is rather weak for an ultimate skill at Level 16.

Various Solutions:
-Extend AoE, Affect More than 1 Corpse.
-Reduce Mana Cost

Might be a bit UP used on Clinging Dead but on creeps in the jungle or lane melee creeps with 575 life? thats 575 damage every 10 sec with high mana cost, yes, but on a hero with good int and int gain shouldnt be a huge problem, specially if you get totem or other int stuff.

I agree with you that it may need an increase in power overall though. I could buff the AOE or damage easily.

If I made it affect multiple corpses it'd be a bit like Pit Lord's expulsion except all at once, and with a long cooldown. That'd be great with an Earthshaker around, but I feel it'd be too situational.

This low cooldown, less powerful version is less situational since you can cast it basically whenever you want-a 10 sec cooldown is shorter than hammerstorm's hammerthrow. Maybe the cd needs a buff to 10/8/6 seconds? And a mana cost nerf? I wanted to keep the idea of detonating single cadavers with a short cooldown the way corpse explosion is in Diablo II.

The more I think about it the more I think the corpse explosion cd needs a rework to be REALLY short, so you can blow up all your Clinging Dead at once. Either that or give it an AOE but keep the cd in lowish territory. The low cd is supposed to compensate for the situational nature. Every time that perfect situation comes by the ult is up... and you don't miss any opportunities to just throw it out there and see what happens since the cd is so short.

Originally Posted by emallson

0.o

When you asked me to crit this, I thought there would actually be criticism to give! I can't see any real problems with this, aside from possibly Corpsewalk's triggering of Cadaver Detonation. This essentially gives you 2 ways to trigger the ulti. But since the ulti doesn't look like it would scale well, it would probably be okay. Especially since it requires corpses, so you cant tele->ulti or ulti->tele 300u

T_UP

Anyone who votes this down would probably be as braindead as one of those corpses /pun

Thanks! Appreciate the support.

All the detailed responses I have time for right now but I'll try to get to everyone. In the meantime thanks for the crits and support guys and keep the votes coming!

Do threads become popular by posts or votes? This really needs to be up there.

meh. a necro who uses dead bodys. i like the idea but the power choices are sub par.

1st: rather useless without a holder and with a holder it can do some heavy damage. i dont realy like it.

2nd: at least a 5 sec hold if you cant kill the zombies. and it can be even longer. thats a long hold, in the right situation it is to powerfull, in the wrong situation it would do nothing at all.

3rd: a telleport that sets off the ulti, should it not be the other way around?? seiously paying 70 for a ulti and telleporting is a bit much, especially since the ulti is so crazy.

ulti: complete and utter crap on a creep but if used on a hero thats insta kill for everyone around the dead body. but it costs 370!!!!!! thats insane!

personally i dont like any of the powers, if we are going to have a necro hero i want him to be badass and this guy dosent do it.

some power ideas i had:
corpse explosion: a cheap spammable power that sets off dead bodys doing a set number of damage, and triple if its a hero.

Necro Telleport: telleports to a dead body setting off corpse explosion on that body.

Blood Magic: power up your normal attack with blood magic makeing it take 1% of your hp a shot but doing signifacantly more damage. a good power to kill that first creep to make him explode and use thows body to get a horde of zombies.

Raise the dead: a toggalable power. Whenever a creep around you dies you can spend a small amount of mana to make them a zombie. zombies give no gold or exp and do low damage and have low hp. but when they die they can get right back up if the powers short cooldown is done. any unit hit by a zombie is slowed by 10% per zombie for a short time.