Cthonic Hot Potato [Spirit Tier III]: Don't be left holding the bag!

[Guggleywubbins]

Cthonic Hot Potato​

• Class: Spirit Tier III
• Cost: 3000 Souls
• Passive Stats:
  • +150 Health
  • +20% Heavy Melee Range
  • +12 Spirit
• Active Effect:
  • Bestows a Cthonic Hot Potato upon yourself that explodes after 5 seconds for 500 Spirit damage in a 7m radius.
  • Hitting an enemy while carrying the Potato transfers it the struck enemy, increases the damage by 150, and resets the timer to 5 seconds.
    • Enemies may also transfer the Potato the same way.
  • Being Parried while carrying the Potato instantly detonates the Potato.
  • Cooldown: 45 seconds

 

[Guggleywubbins]

For Clarity: if the bomb explodes on the item owner, they take self damage. Think Alchemist's Unstable Concoction.

 

[Tavish]

500 spirit damage is a lot. I think the duration should be extended, as 5 seconds is not a lot of time to get rid of it. Perhaps make the damage scale based on how long the potato is held? Such as starting 50 damage, but an additional 25 or so per second. We could cap the max damage, or we could not based on how ridiculous we want it to be.

In essence, I love this idea.

 

[Hawf]

Are there any other items in Dota or other games that carry such a high risk reward amount of damage. It's a terribly fun idea but I fear something like this would become very niche from being used incorrectly by players who misunderstand it and get frustrated when they get themselves killed.

And as Tavish mentioned, capping the damage is probably a good idea. You don't want too many items that can (if used correctly) perform an insta kill.

 

[Guggleywubbins]

Are there any other items in Dota or other games that carry such a high risk reward amount of damage. It's a terribly fun idea but I fear something like this would become very niche from being used incorrectly by players who misunderstand it and get frustrated when they get themselves killed.

And as Tavish mentioned, capping the damage is probably a good idea. You don't want too many items that can (if used correctly) perform an insta kill.

The only item that carries this sort of risk is Divine Rapier (and Gem of True Sight, though no DPS) as it's dropped on death. There are a few skills in Dota that can backfire and help the enemies if used poorly, like Duel, Unstable Concoction, Purifying Flames, Hook.

And a damage cap is probably fine, though I'd personally like to see it be really high. Like maybe start at 200 damage (on you) and increase by another +200 every time it's passed up to 1400 maximum. I think it's fine to have a high cap because there's several ways to mitigate Spirit damage and to dodge big countdown hits too (Divine Barrier, Pocket's Briefcase, Ethereal Shift, The Cube, &c.), so I think there's sufficient counter play. Besides the enemy has to punch you back for it to increment at all, so making it deal a 400+ damage right off the bat is probably important to make them want to toss the Potato back.

 

[Tavish]

I'd personally like to see it be really high.

Then I think it should be a Tier IV item at a cost of 6300 souls.

 

[Hawf]

The only item that carries this sort of risk is Divine Rapier (and Gem of True Sight, though no DPS) as it's dropped on death. There are a few skills in Dota that can backfire and help the enemies if used poorly, like Duel, Unstable Concoction, Purifying Flames, Hook.

And a damage cap is probably fine, though I'd personally like to see it be really high. Like maybe start at 200 damage (on you) and increase by another +200 every time it's passed up to 1400 maximum. I think it's fine to have a high cap because there's several ways to mitigate Spirit damage and to dodge big countdown hits too (Divine Barrier, Pocket's Briefcase, Ethereal Shift, The Cube, &c.), so I think there's sufficient counter play. Besides the enemy has to punch you back for it to increment at all, so making it deal a 400+ damage right off the bat is probably important to make them want to toss the Potato back.

crazy idea, but what if damage was percentage based?

 

[Guggleywubbins]

crazy idea, but what if damage was percentage based?

How would you scale it? I'd probably have it start at 20% of max health in Spirit Damage and increase by 10% each toss. After all, there's only so many punches in a mid/late-game punch-out. (Would probably need to be a Tier IV item with this kinda damage though.)

 

[bosobr0]

Maybe just start it at 350 instead, and make it so parries don't instant-detonate it? Plus, would be funny if it exploded when it exceeded 1,000 (which in a 2 person punchout will always be the enemy, not you), and potentially even speed on the person holding the potato, just for more fun. Sounds almost like TNT-Tag in Minecraft at that point.

 

[Aimee]

Sounds more like a gamemode for april 1st.