Hero Idea: Chinese Martial Artist, illusion/clone kit (PL, Dark Seer, Marci)

[Sarus]

This is an illusion/feint type kit inspired by SNK's Chizuru with bits of Dark Seer, Phantom Lancer, and Marci.

Hero Design: Inspired by the King of Fighter's Chizuru, this character could be a Chinese priestess of some shadowy sect - think a "real world" templar assassin. Could also be a cool dude rocking the monk look or a changshan (Chinese robe, an example would be Tao Pai Pai from Dragonball and FANG from Capcom's street fighter.). From Wikipedia, "The male changshan could be worn under a western overcoat, and topped with a fedora and scarf. This combination expressed an East Asian modernity in the early 20th century." Deadlock is all about an early 20th century occult world and it would be great to see Valve's take on a Chinese martial artist using a Wuxia stylized martial art.

Kit Concept: Illusion/mind-game feint type character. Uses Shadow Clone Kick afterimages for mind-games, harassment, and escape. 2 is PL's doppelganger for clutch self saves and turning the tables on people, also good parry baiter. 3 is Dispose/Horn toss, used for throwing enemies out of position and into 4. Finally, 4 is Dark Seer's wall of replica lightly re-designed for use in Deadlock.


Default fire: Shoots out ki blasts from their hands (see infernus)
Alt fire: Lunges forward with a close range knife-hand energy blast (shotgun blast style alt)

Concept: Alt Fire is actually fairly important for this kit, the mind-game potential with 1,2, and 4 would mean this character depends on up-close melee/alt fire shenanigans for burst damage.

Ability 1: Shadow Crane Kick
+1 charge 35sCD 30m-distance 30% slow, 2s debuff duration

Throw out an afterimage of yourself that slows and deals damage to enemies. Hold (1) or M1 to teleport to the afterimage."

1. +1 charge
2. CD reduction, bonus damage
3. +15m range

Concept: This is a dash/feint harass move with a nasty afterimage teleport to mix up your position and confuse your enemies. Can use to initiate, escape, confuse, etc. Inspired directly by one of the signature moves from the King of Fighter's Chizuru, I've included an example video of the move I've found below to better demonstrate the idea of the move. While the ability description is rather simple, there are many unique tactics available with this, from mixing up air movement, using it as pseudo dive-kick in the air, etc etc. Another way of looking at it is Puck/Pocket's Orb modified for more short-mid range harassment/mobility, but the confusion is more based on mind-games with the afterimage. As far as I'm aware, this is a wholly unique ability distinct from anything in Dota.

Ability 2: Shadow Clones
40sCD 3.5s illusion duration

Vanish for 1 second and re-appear with two doppelganger illusions in randomized positions within 10m of initial cast range. Doppelgangers immediately run forth to strike enemies with melee attacks. One doppelganger deals no damage and takes normal damage, the other takes 500% bonus damage but deals 50% of current light melee.

1. +1.5 duration
2. CD reduction
3. +1 no damage doppelganger, doppelganger that deals damage now matches hero's light melee attack.

Concept: Piss off vindictas by making her waste her ult!
PL's Doppelganger ability lightly re-designed for Deadlock. Self-save shenanigans, but a nasty mixup with ability 1's teleport and definitely a funny answer to heavy melee spam if you don't feel like parrying. Pop this behind veils or around corners when escaping for them to get distracted, throw your clones into teamfights to bait attacks, parries, you name it. For the sake of simplicity and the martial art theme, these are simple NPCs that just run to the nearest enemy hero to smack em around. Could probably cast in the air to shake off skillshot stuns and the like, etc.

Ability 3: Reversal of Fortune
30sCD 15m throw range

Cast on an enemy or ally to launch them behind you, stunning them while in the air, and then dealing damage to the enemy and any other enemies caught in the landing area."

1. throw range bonus
2. CD reduction
3. Can now toss two enemies or two allies when casting

Concept: Hero tosses targeted ally/enemy hero right behind him/her. Marci's Dispose/ Magnus Horn toss. Obvious synergy with the Chaos Gate ultimate, and perfect synergy with ability 1 teleporting for initiating on enemies or saving allies. Would be cool to see an actual martial artist tossing people around.

Ability 4: Chaos Gate
80sCD, 4s illusion duration, buff duration 4s

Open a gate to elemental chaos. Enemies that pass through will spawn a mirror image of themselves that last for 3.5s, take 500% bonus damage, and deals 25% of the copied enemy hero's current light/heavy melee values. These mirror images will only chase and attack with either light or heavy melee. If these mirrored images are parried, they are instantly dissipated.

1. +2 duration of gate
2. +2s doppelganger duration
3. Now spawns two enemy doppelgangers for each hero. Friendly heroes are given a flat m/s speed buff.

Concept: Watch the heavy melee spammer Abrams punch himself to death!
Mechanically similar to Mcginnis wall, if enemy heroes pass by a doppelganger is spawned that smacks them around with light melee or heavy melee. Dark Seer's Wall of replica lightly re-designed for use in Deadlock.

 

[arcsymus]

I like the first ability and the idea of summoning a bunch of illusions that go around trying to punch enemies. I'm not sold on the second ability and the two different types of illusions, and I think the illusions could be pushed in general, especially if they're going to have a short lifespan. For an ultimate, the effect of summoning only one mirror image when an enemy hero actually passes through the gate seems very underwhelming. This would seem more effective if the spell rapidly summoned mirror images of enemies who remained in a large area of effect, on a horizontal plane. Relying on enemies to pass through a vertical portal, while relying on your skill to throw enemies into the effect, seems ineffective. That said, I like the third skill, too, which adds to the sense that this character is a kind of grappler or thrower martial artist. There could be more cohesion between abilities one, three and four, I think, though. I'd like to see the skills for this character have more synergy between them. The theme of summoning a bunch of puncher illusions stands on its own, but the rest of the kit design needs something unifying there.

 

[Sarus]

For an ultimate, the effect of summoning only one mirror image when an enemy hero actually passes through the gate seems very underwhelming. This would seem more effective if the spell rapidly summoned mirror images of enemies who remained in a large area of effect, on a horizontal plane. Relying on enemies to pass through a vertical portal, while relying on your skill to throw enemies into the effect, seems ineffective.

re:ult I had actually copied Dark Seer's homework without porting the critical bits. Can't go back and edit it now, but I definitely intended for the ult to both damage and slow enemies who pass through. A large horizontal AOE (with a slow and spirit DPS) as you stated would very probably work a lot better though.

As for the second ability, I do agree something more unifying could be put in here (and for fun I'll come back to it with something later), but a potentially tanky build with superior duration would cause quite a lot of havoc in a teamfight, imagine the frustration for a wraith, mo'n'krill, shiv, and paradox to waste their ult on an illusion.

 

[ramiroRa]

Rough sketch