Hello!
Lemme know if you have any feedback or thoughts, I'd love to hear em.
Background:
Serpa - Combination of "Sherpa" and "Serpent"
Serpa is a prominent figure among the mystical creatures known as the Naga (from Indian mythology, the Naga are a group of beings that can change between human form, serpent form, or a mix of the two, often with 4 arms) and wields a powerful Pungi, an instrument commonly used by snake charmers in India during their performances (maybe the lore for this Pungi is that it was made by snake charmers as an offering to the Naga).
Serpa foresees a dark path for her people, should they sit aside and let the rapid increase of spiritual power go unchecked. Being the matriarch of the Naga, and a frequent communicator with the few families still keeping the snake charming practice alive in India, she decides she must grab what power she can for her people, and thus seeks the patrons' favor.
Gameplay:
The full hero kit mock-up is below, but I made more specific notes about the abilities below. Also, I suck at drawing so you get a hastily-made heroforge model.
Pretend the flute is a Pungi and that she has 4 arms.
Pungi:
Gameplay Concept:
Most of Serpa's kit revolves around her passive ability "Mystical Pungi", which becomes active after 8 seconds (4 after fully upgraded) of not using her alternate fire (more about that below). This passive shares the regen and sprint speed stat of Serpa with surrounding teammates, allowing her to lead rotations, sustain teammates, and just generally play better around the team. Serpa is definitely more of a support, but has potential for high spirit damage builds and her alternate fire even opens up the possibility of gun builds if you're willing to sacrifice your passive ability uptime during fights.
Serpa's two non-ultimate active abilities are as much utility abilities as they can be damage dealing. "Jar Of Snakes" is a charge ability, where you throw a quick, lobbing projectile that deals a small amount of damage on impact in a small area, but then releases a snake which will wait for an enemy to be within its latch-on radius for a 2 second duration. If an enemy is within its radius at any point during the 2 seconds after the jar shatters, the snake will latch onto them and deal a relatively high amount of damage over time. However, enemies can dash in any direction (maybe you could count any use of stamina as good enough, I'm not sure what would be best) to shake off the snake and end the DOT and debuff early. This would effectively be a tool to waste an enemy's stamina, with the threat of a significant chunk of damage.
Her other non-ultimate active ability "Spirit Serpent" is either a damage-dealer or a healing ability depending on the target(s) you hit with it. This would be a skill-shot projectile that you fire straight forward, and would either deal damage over time to an enemy that you hit, or restore health over time to an ally that you hit. (Though later at max level, this ability becomes piercing and can hit multiple enemies and/or allies.) Spirit Serpent also receives an amplification to both damage and healing for each second that your passive "Mystical Pungi" has been playing, up to a certain amount of seconds.
I think 0.2 for dmg and 0.3 for healing made relatively good sense for scaling, considering the amp and 5+ second duration.
With no upgrades or spirit power you'd get 80-108 healing or 80-108 dmg, depending on pungi amp.
With 100 spirit power and tier 2 unlocked you'd get 230-414 healing or 180-324 dmg, depending on pungi amp.
Obviously, that's not including any duration items you get, and keep in mind that when maxed out, it pierces and can hit as many enemies as you can get lined up.
Finally, Serpa's ultimate ability, "Entrancing Dance" is a strong zoning ultimate that can counter certain CC-heavy ultimates and create a favorable team-fight environment. Serpa summons a large vase around herself, and then emerges from it in her Naga form (serpent lower body, human upper body) and then starts swaying side-to-side, similar to a snake during a snake-charmer performance. (I'm still not sure if I think the ultimate should immediately activate their passive or if they should be independent of each other, but I definitely think that Serpa should continue playing the Pungi during the ultimate if her passive ability is actually active.) During the dance, Serpa cannot move or use any abilities (maybe no actives either, but im not sure), but becomes immune to stuns. Serpa also gains a percentage bonus to her max health, to account for her much larger hitbox in Naga form. Enemies who are within range and sight of the ultimate will become entranced over the course of 1 second. (The 1-second countdown before becoming entranced can only happen to one enemy at a time, but enemies can be entranced multiple times during the ultimate, should they stay within range of Serpa. Basically, after one enemy becomes entranced, the next enemy within range starts their 1-second countdown, and so on, but the countdown cannot start for an enemy while they're already entranced, so no stun-locking people). Enemies that are entranced are stunned and slowly walk towards Serpa (maybe about 1-2 m/s). Rather than being a huge "hit-or-miss" ultimate like dynamo's, the point of Serpa's ultimate is mainly as a zoning tool, and to interrupt/mitigate other stun ultimates. Though if a team were to be coordinated enough, Serpa becomes incredibly vulnerable during the ultimate, as the more enemies that are within range of the dance, the less often a single enemy will become stunned.
Weapon/Alt Fire Notes:
So, Serpa's primary fire is just slightly underwhelming, but gets the job done when it comes to clearing waves and applying a bit of pressure in lane, but overall, any weapon builds for Serpa would probably focus on their alternate fire.
Primary fire:
Serpa would throw a little carved wooden fang, rotating which of her 4 hands she throws with each time.
Fire rate would be okay, nothing amazing, and individual bullet damage would be meh.
Alternate fire:
Serpa throws 4 fangs, 1 from each hand, starting in a square pattern but narrowing at medium ranges, before widening back out into a square pattern at longer ranges. At close range, the bullets would be spread pretty far apart (about the distance between each of Serpa's hands), before coming closer together at medium range to create what is effectively 4 bullets in the space that 1 bullet takes up.
Fire rate for the alternate fire would be a bit less than half that of the primary fire, meaning that, as long as you're hitting all 4 shots, the alternate fire deals significantly more dps, but of course at the risk of missing, and the cost of higher ammo usage and cancelling her passive ability.
Other Notes:
Serpa would most likely be in human form during the game, to maintain a relatively normal hitbox, but deadlock is already a game with some interesting hitboxes so maybe being in a half-serpent, half-human form would be interesting. During the ultimate however, Serpa would at least have a serpent lower body.
I also had the idea for Serpa's regen to scale (slowly) with spirit power, giving her passive some actual oomph, but this may prove to be a bit too strong.
Lemme know if you have any feedback or thoughts, I'd love to hear em.
Background:
Serpa - Combination of "Sherpa" and "Serpent"
Serpa is a prominent figure among the mystical creatures known as the Naga (from Indian mythology, the Naga are a group of beings that can change between human form, serpent form, or a mix of the two, often with 4 arms) and wields a powerful Pungi, an instrument commonly used by snake charmers in India during their performances (maybe the lore for this Pungi is that it was made by snake charmers as an offering to the Naga).
Serpa foresees a dark path for her people, should they sit aside and let the rapid increase of spiritual power go unchecked. Being the matriarch of the Naga, and a frequent communicator with the few families still keeping the snake charming practice alive in India, she decides she must grab what power she can for her people, and thus seeks the patrons' favor.
Gameplay:
The full hero kit mock-up is below, but I made more specific notes about the abilities below. Also, I suck at drawing so you get a hastily-made heroforge model.
Pretend the flute is a Pungi and that she has 4 arms.
Pungi:
Gameplay Concept:
Most of Serpa's kit revolves around her passive ability "Mystical Pungi", which becomes active after 8 seconds (4 after fully upgraded) of not using her alternate fire (more about that below). This passive shares the regen and sprint speed stat of Serpa with surrounding teammates, allowing her to lead rotations, sustain teammates, and just generally play better around the team. Serpa is definitely more of a support, but has potential for high spirit damage builds and her alternate fire even opens up the possibility of gun builds if you're willing to sacrifice your passive ability uptime during fights.
Serpa's two non-ultimate active abilities are as much utility abilities as they can be damage dealing. "Jar Of Snakes" is a charge ability, where you throw a quick, lobbing projectile that deals a small amount of damage on impact in a small area, but then releases a snake which will wait for an enemy to be within its latch-on radius for a 2 second duration. If an enemy is within its radius at any point during the 2 seconds after the jar shatters, the snake will latch onto them and deal a relatively high amount of damage over time. However, enemies can dash in any direction (maybe you could count any use of stamina as good enough, I'm not sure what would be best) to shake off the snake and end the DOT and debuff early. This would effectively be a tool to waste an enemy's stamina, with the threat of a significant chunk of damage.
Her other non-ultimate active ability "Spirit Serpent" is either a damage-dealer or a healing ability depending on the target(s) you hit with it. This would be a skill-shot projectile that you fire straight forward, and would either deal damage over time to an enemy that you hit, or restore health over time to an ally that you hit. (Though later at max level, this ability becomes piercing and can hit multiple enemies and/or allies.) Spirit Serpent also receives an amplification to both damage and healing for each second that your passive "Mystical Pungi" has been playing, up to a certain amount of seconds.
I think 0.2 for dmg and 0.3 for healing made relatively good sense for scaling, considering the amp and 5+ second duration.
With no upgrades or spirit power you'd get 80-108 healing or 80-108 dmg, depending on pungi amp.
With 100 spirit power and tier 2 unlocked you'd get 230-414 healing or 180-324 dmg, depending on pungi amp.
Obviously, that's not including any duration items you get, and keep in mind that when maxed out, it pierces and can hit as many enemies as you can get lined up.
Finally, Serpa's ultimate ability, "Entrancing Dance" is a strong zoning ultimate that can counter certain CC-heavy ultimates and create a favorable team-fight environment. Serpa summons a large vase around herself, and then emerges from it in her Naga form (serpent lower body, human upper body) and then starts swaying side-to-side, similar to a snake during a snake-charmer performance. (I'm still not sure if I think the ultimate should immediately activate their passive or if they should be independent of each other, but I definitely think that Serpa should continue playing the Pungi during the ultimate if her passive ability is actually active.) During the dance, Serpa cannot move or use any abilities (maybe no actives either, but im not sure), but becomes immune to stuns. Serpa also gains a percentage bonus to her max health, to account for her much larger hitbox in Naga form. Enemies who are within range and sight of the ultimate will become entranced over the course of 1 second. (The 1-second countdown before becoming entranced can only happen to one enemy at a time, but enemies can be entranced multiple times during the ultimate, should they stay within range of Serpa. Basically, after one enemy becomes entranced, the next enemy within range starts their 1-second countdown, and so on, but the countdown cannot start for an enemy while they're already entranced, so no stun-locking people). Enemies that are entranced are stunned and slowly walk towards Serpa (maybe about 1-2 m/s). Rather than being a huge "hit-or-miss" ultimate like dynamo's, the point of Serpa's ultimate is mainly as a zoning tool, and to interrupt/mitigate other stun ultimates. Though if a team were to be coordinated enough, Serpa becomes incredibly vulnerable during the ultimate, as the more enemies that are within range of the dance, the less often a single enemy will become stunned.
Weapon/Alt Fire Notes:
So, Serpa's primary fire is just slightly underwhelming, but gets the job done when it comes to clearing waves and applying a bit of pressure in lane, but overall, any weapon builds for Serpa would probably focus on their alternate fire.
Primary fire:
Serpa would throw a little carved wooden fang, rotating which of her 4 hands she throws with each time.
Fire rate would be okay, nothing amazing, and individual bullet damage would be meh.
Alternate fire:
Serpa throws 4 fangs, 1 from each hand, starting in a square pattern but narrowing at medium ranges, before widening back out into a square pattern at longer ranges. At close range, the bullets would be spread pretty far apart (about the distance between each of Serpa's hands), before coming closer together at medium range to create what is effectively 4 bullets in the space that 1 bullet takes up.
Fire rate for the alternate fire would be a bit less than half that of the primary fire, meaning that, as long as you're hitting all 4 shots, the alternate fire deals significantly more dps, but of course at the risk of missing, and the cost of higher ammo usage and cancelling her passive ability.
Other Notes:
Serpa would most likely be in human form during the game, to maintain a relatively normal hitbox, but deadlock is already a game with some interesting hitboxes so maybe being in a half-serpent, half-human form would be interesting. During the ultimate however, Serpa would at least have a serpent lower body.
I also had the idea for Serpa's regen to scale (slowly) with spirit power, giving her passive some actual oomph, but this may prove to be a bit too strong.
