I don’t fully understand the lore of the candle troopers, so I’m not sure if this would fit thematically, but hear me out: A Hero that’s a sentient lane trooper, that’s gained sentience similar to the same way Ivy the Gargoyle woke up and gained sentience.
I’m not going to pretend to be good at game balance. Here are my ideas for the rough abilities without any attempt to target specific cooldowns or upgrade tiers.
1 Ability - (Has Charges) Spawn a candle troopers (regular friendly minion) that follows the regular minion pathing in lane. Probably has a 30 second-ish cooldown. The creep does give the enemy souls, same way McGinnis turrets do. Upgrades could reduce cooldown, add 1 charge, and a thematic tier 3 upgrade idea is that the creep could have the rejuv buff.
The overall idea is that this would allow you to create a wave of 5 or 6 minions instead of 4. Good for split pushing or neutral farming. Synergizes with ult. Okay in lane while being balanced by the economy (which you can try to deny). Stronger mid to late game as shoving a lane and then leaving becomes more viable.
2 Ability - Single target big insta heal, similar to the medic trooper. Can self target. Upgrades could include increasing healing amounts, adding heal over time in addition to the spike heal, or any sort of minor buff received by the target. One possible point of synergy is that the base ability (or any upgrade) could add “does X percent healing to friendly NPCs near the target” allowing the player to heal a minion wave.
3 Ability - Guardian Beam. Similar vibe to guardian towers beam that they shoot at enemies, combined with the size/feel of Kelvin’s beam… or like a very small version of Bebop ult. I think this could do straight single target damage, maybe with tier 3 being multiple targets hit in a 3m radius (like bebop ult) but obviously much less damage. I have the least ideas about this ability, but the guardian beam (similar to walker beam) is so iconic and feels like a great thematic fit.
4 Ability - Possess body. Take control of a target friendly creep (candle troopers). Synergizes with the 1 ability.
There’s a number of ways this ult could go. I think one possibility is that it could be “anywhere on the map” like a mirage teleport, but only to friendly creeps. The creep could receive a full heal and health/damage buff, and you have X number of seconds (15-20 maybe) to pilot it before being teleported back to your original location. Optionally this could be punishable by your body being vulnerable in its original location (like Talon ult) so you have to hide when using it, unless you assume control of a trooper near your body. So the rough idea is that this is kind of a combination of mirage ult and talon ult.
A less complex idea could be to take control of a single creep within range (30m radius or something) and receive some kind of health/damage buff, or maybe buff all minions nearby to the one you assumed control of.
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So that’s it. I feel like the 1 and 2 abilities make a lot of sense. I’m on the fence about the 3 ability thematically. The 4 ability feels like it has a lot of potential with the “take control of a friendly trooper” mechanic and could go a myriad of directions based on the direction the devs would want to take the kit.
Thanks for reading if you’ve taken the time to do so!
I’m not going to pretend to be good at game balance. Here are my ideas for the rough abilities without any attempt to target specific cooldowns or upgrade tiers.
1 Ability - (Has Charges) Spawn a candle troopers (regular friendly minion) that follows the regular minion pathing in lane. Probably has a 30 second-ish cooldown. The creep does give the enemy souls, same way McGinnis turrets do. Upgrades could reduce cooldown, add 1 charge, and a thematic tier 3 upgrade idea is that the creep could have the rejuv buff.
The overall idea is that this would allow you to create a wave of 5 or 6 minions instead of 4. Good for split pushing or neutral farming. Synergizes with ult. Okay in lane while being balanced by the economy (which you can try to deny). Stronger mid to late game as shoving a lane and then leaving becomes more viable.
2 Ability - Single target big insta heal, similar to the medic trooper. Can self target. Upgrades could include increasing healing amounts, adding heal over time in addition to the spike heal, or any sort of minor buff received by the target. One possible point of synergy is that the base ability (or any upgrade) could add “does X percent healing to friendly NPCs near the target” allowing the player to heal a minion wave.
3 Ability - Guardian Beam. Similar vibe to guardian towers beam that they shoot at enemies, combined with the size/feel of Kelvin’s beam… or like a very small version of Bebop ult. I think this could do straight single target damage, maybe with tier 3 being multiple targets hit in a 3m radius (like bebop ult) but obviously much less damage. I have the least ideas about this ability, but the guardian beam (similar to walker beam) is so iconic and feels like a great thematic fit.
4 Ability - Possess body. Take control of a target friendly creep (candle troopers). Synergizes with the 1 ability.
There’s a number of ways this ult could go. I think one possibility is that it could be “anywhere on the map” like a mirage teleport, but only to friendly creeps. The creep could receive a full heal and health/damage buff, and you have X number of seconds (15-20 maybe) to pilot it before being teleported back to your original location. Optionally this could be punishable by your body being vulnerable in its original location (like Talon ult) so you have to hide when using it, unless you assume control of a trooper near your body. So the rough idea is that this is kind of a combination of mirage ult and talon ult.
A less complex idea could be to take control of a single creep within range (30m radius or something) and receive some kind of health/damage buff, or maybe buff all minions nearby to the one you assumed control of.
—
So that’s it. I feel like the 1 and 2 abilities make a lot of sense. I’m on the fence about the 3 ability thematically. The 4 ability feels like it has a lot of potential with the “take control of a friendly trooper” mechanic and could go a myriad of directions based on the direction the devs would want to take the kit.
Thanks for reading if you’ve taken the time to do so!
