[Hero Concept] Willo - The Willow Wisp

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Willo is a Will o' Wisp type spirit taking refuge in the ancient body of a willow tree. She found herself on Earth during the first Maelstrom, but something about the planet was inhospitable to her spirit body. The nearest vessel she could find was an old, sacred willow tree. She has bided her time and stored up her power with the hopes that she might one day strike a deal with the powers-that-be. She wants to go home, or, barring that, to not need the protection (and restriction) of the willow tree. [[Disclaimer, this is a rework of Aranida]].

Here are some ai-generated concept arts, with the note that one of her arms should always look somewhat gun-like. The aesthetic of the last one is cool but a little too human, and I think she needs more of the greenery (like the first image) to be distinct from the Hidden King's design.



Description: Willo is an ancient willow tree possessed by a spirit (name from Willow and from Will-O-Wisp). Purple flame burns within her core, and occasionally flares up and out. Though headless, her branches have grouped together into what some might call arms. Anything humanoid about her is really only an approximation she has adopted for convenience. She shapes her internal flame and ejects it from her branches as her weapon.

I used an editor to re-format these abilities into actual ability blocks. Those are at the end if you prefer them.

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Ability 1: Weapon Reshaping (Takes 2s to complete [this time decreases as fire rate increases], cooldown is 30s). Willo has three different gun shapes for her branches, and this ability lets her swap between them. There is a standard machine-gun type gun (Rapid), a shotgun (Burst), and a sniper rifle (Focus).

Rapid and Blast each take up her right arm/branch cluster, but Focus takes both arms and thus prevents her from Melee-ing. These three weapons all use the same ammo pool, but at different rates. Rapid uses 1 round per shot, Blast uses 4, and Focus uses 10. Her standard magazine size is 20.

• Upgrade 1: Magazine regenerates rounds at a rate of 1 round/s (scaling with spirit)
• Upgrade 2: -15s cooldown. Rapid has 30% increased damage to NPCs, Blast has 10% lifesteal, Focus applies a burn debuff.
• Upgrade 3: Rounds will auto-track to hero within 5m of the round. Max bend radius is 4m, so this does not fully auto-aim, but offers a correction and enables shooting around corners in some circumstances.

Ability 2: Watchers (1.5s per Watcher created, 40s cooldown between channels). Willo channels her inner flame and produces small floating orbs of fire. These orbs scatter from one another naturally and will float in the direction she throws them. Each Watcher consumes 5% of Willo’s health to create, and she can re-collect half this health by running into the Watcher and consuming it.

For the first 8s they are in the air, Watchers cannot be destroyed. After this time, they can be damaged (they can only withstand 1 hit). Watchers will follow enemy heroes that get close to them and leave a subtle trail as they move through the air.

• Upgrade 1: Watchers are invulnerable for 15s
• Upgrade 2: Watchers explode when destroyed, dealing no damage but stunning nearby enemies for 0.5s. Willo can shoot the watchers to cause this effect even during their 15s of invulnerability.
• Upgrade 3: Enemies followed by Watchers are marked on the map

Ability 3: Brittle Bark (Passive). As Willo loses health, her bark visibly starts to crumble, and more of her inner flame is revealed. This makes her easier to spot as she takes damage, but it comes with its advantages. As her flame is revealed, she is able to channel more flame into her Weapon—the damage scaling 3% per 100 health missing from maximum—and the missing bark means she weighs less and is less impeded in her movement—move speed increasing 3% per 100 health missing from maximum.

• Upgrade 1: When below 60% health, gain an extra Stamina.
• Upgrade 2: When below 40% health, magazine size increases by 100%
• Upgrade 3: When below 20% health, Watchers will coalesce on your location and Willo gains 5% total life from each Watcher consumed (full return instead of half), gain +30% Spirit Power and Fire Rate.

Ability 4: Will-O-Whips (Transform for up to 20s, Cooldown 120s). Willo’s branches spread out like a spider’s legs, and she gains 75% movement speed. As she moves, she produces one Watcher per 5m travelled without the 5% health toll. She cannot use her weapon or melee while in this form.

• Upgrade 1: Willo can climb walls at half her movement speed.
• Upgrade 2: Willo can whip enemies with her branches while in this form, dealing the damage of a shotgun blast and knocking enemies back by 1m. No ammo limit, but limited by “fire-rate”
• Upgrade 3: Willo is Unstoppable during this ability and has increased Spirit and Bullet resist.