Sarus
Active member
muh lore: It's the troubadour baby
kit concept: I'm not aware of the Troubadour's lore actually being fleshed out, but I do imagine him as that crow-like figure from those early alpha "sanguine" posters. Inspired by shadow summoner type characters from fighting games, I felt this would be a unique archetype not currently in the cast.
Thematically, he is somewhat of a cousin of the drifter being gank heavy but also given unique map control
options ala Viscous. Also, given that Holliday's thing is taking to the air to lasso people, it would make more sense if the Troubadour himself is a flight hero.
In lieu of straight CC options this kit is heavy on traps and displacement, usually getting them into the air where the Troubadour has the advantage. If I had to sell the kit, it would be for melee Ivy players.
kit inspo: Zato/Eddie from Guilty Gear, Nero Chaos from Melty Blood
1 Shadow Trap
18sCD 18m throw range, 6.5m trap radius, 6s trap duration, 1.5s arm time
Throw a shadowy projectile dealing spirit damage and slowing struck enemies. The projectile will burrow into place becoming a shadow antlion-trap and will stay in place for duration: after arm-time any enemy who walks into its trap radius will be dealt spirit damage, and knocked into the air.
1 Projectile damage+
2 CD reduction, trap radius+
3 +1 charges
notes:
*only two shadow trap can be active at a time
*traps cannot overlap with one another
Concept: Lane harass, wave clear, and trap setup. If people are tired of projectiles, could also have it be an AOE circle ala Shadow Fiend raze or Celeste 3. The +1 charges is a playstyle preference for people who actively know the map well and want to create traps in ganking or taking advantage of flight for a battlefield controller player-style.
Visually it could really be any type of shadowy evil projectile, but clearly visible for enemy players. The knock up from the trap would be similar to a Krilliam Shakspeare burrow displacement.
2 - Shadow Play
18m range 25sCD 3s snake duration, 22m deer run length 1s arm time
Materialize a shadow portal anywhere on a wall or ground surface that will summon a creature depending on the geometry.
- A wall portal will summon a Shadow Deer: a running shadow deer will deal spirit damage and pull struck enemies along with it, ending in a knock up.
- A floor portal will summon a Shadow Snake: it will auto-track the nearest enemy and will explode upon contact dealing spirit damage and applying venom.
1. CD reduction
2. Cast range increase, Snake venom now applies -35% healing reduction, Shadow Deer run length increased to 35m.
3 Shadow Deer run speed increased, will now run in opposite direction if nothing is hit after run length or if it encounters wall. Shadow Snake portal now spawns 2 additional snakes.
notes: the deer will trigger its knockup when hitting an ant-lion trap; otherwise, knockup triggers when it hits a wall or reaches max run distance.”.
Concept: Lifted from an earlier matador kit I posted. A bit similar to puddle punch, but instead of a big pile of goo, it is instead a shadow portal that offers the Troubadour a variety of creatures to take advantage of. The shadow deer is a staple summon, forcing enemies to disengage or risk being dragged into towers or traps. The snake would force enemies into the air or flank unwary hazes trying to press 4. The idea of the knock ups is to give some synergy with his flight, which would give him a major advantage in initiation or if landing a deer into trap, it would be a softer combo (they're already popped up, it wouldn't technically layer CC
).
3 - Death's Shadow
39sCD 9s duration
Rise from the air, releasing your wings and entering flight. While airborne, Death’s Shadow becomes Death Swallow, an aerial lunge that drags enemies down and deals melee damage. Your basic attack transforms into a short-range claw swipe dealing weapon damage.
1. Striking enemies with Death Swallow lowers enemy bullet resist by -15%
2. CD reduction
3. Duration increase, Air acceleration increase.
notes:
- Similar to Talon's rain of arrows, you still have access to your kit and melee attacks.
- Also similar to Silver's werewolf form, you have infinite short range M1 pressure.
- Activating Death Swallow immediately ends flight upon impact, dealing melee damage and applying stun to affected enemies.
Concept: It's been a while but I think we're due for a new flight hero. In contrast to Talon/Vin/Ivy, this mode would be for aggressive skirmish and harassment rather than long range pick-off. I'm conceptualizing this as a much slower Ivy flight. Similar to Silver's werewolf form, this hero's basic M1 would transform into an infinite short range swipe affair, partly to differentiate himself from the other flight heros but also promote aggressive and risky skirmishes.
I'm also a big fan of Viscous goo ball allowing him to puddle punch while active, so that would also be an inspiration. Like Talon, he would still have access to melee while Death's Shadow is active, and any parry stuns would immediately end the flight potentially with additional stun time. The aerial lunge would be a bird-like swoop that grounds people, typically into shadow summons or antlion traps, or just plain pick off, anti-air, or initiation with stun while ult is activated.
4 Apex Predator
110sCD 7s duration 40m radius
Hex up to 2 nearby enemies. Afflicted enemy heroes are unable to see you and you do not appear on their mini-map throughout duration. All damage dealt to them is boosted +15%.
Passive: Striking enemies with melee and melee abilities builds up Terrorized. Terrorized enemy heroes have reduced m/s and give +6% WD lifesteal to Troubadour and his allies.
*5 max stacks of terrorize, 2 stacks per heavy melee, 1 for light melee and Death Swallow.
1 CD Reduction
2 Death Swallow now stuns struck enemies .5s
3 +3 enemy heroes now afflicted, duration increase.
notes:
- Afflicted heroes can still see ability VFX and hear Troubadour sounds
- Like Drifter, afflicted heroes could hear a song of some sort while he is close by.
Concept: Scary monster ult. Since the Troubadour would, conceptually, be a cousin to the Drifter, I felt a skirmish/teamfight psychological type ult would be more appropriate. Afflicted enemy players would still see all ability animations and VFX and would be able to hear footsteps (unless he has backstabber). In another similarity to Drifter, perhaps the afflicted enemy hero can hear something similar to a song when he is close by. Also, I just like forcing people to get enduring speed, what can I say? Only thing else I can note here is that the Death Swallow stun is for initiation and synergy on lone targets.
kit concept: I'm not aware of the Troubadour's lore actually being fleshed out, but I do imagine him as that crow-like figure from those early alpha "sanguine" posters. Inspired by shadow summoner type characters from fighting games, I felt this would be a unique archetype not currently in the cast.
Thematically, he is somewhat of a cousin of the drifter being gank heavy but also given unique map control
options ala Viscous. Also, given that Holliday's thing is taking to the air to lasso people, it would make more sense if the Troubadour himself is a flight hero.
In lieu of straight CC options this kit is heavy on traps and displacement, usually getting them into the air where the Troubadour has the advantage. If I had to sell the kit, it would be for melee Ivy players.
kit inspo: Zato/Eddie from Guilty Gear, Nero Chaos from Melty Blood
1 Shadow Trap
18sCD 18m throw range, 6.5m trap radius, 6s trap duration, 1.5s arm time
Throw a shadowy projectile dealing spirit damage and slowing struck enemies. The projectile will burrow into place becoming a shadow antlion-trap and will stay in place for duration: after arm-time any enemy who walks into its trap radius will be dealt spirit damage, and knocked into the air.
1 Projectile damage+
2 CD reduction, trap radius+
3 +1 charges
notes:
*only two shadow trap can be active at a time
*traps cannot overlap with one another
Concept: Lane harass, wave clear, and trap setup. If people are tired of projectiles, could also have it be an AOE circle ala Shadow Fiend raze or Celeste 3. The +1 charges is a playstyle preference for people who actively know the map well and want to create traps in ganking or taking advantage of flight for a battlefield controller player-style.
Visually it could really be any type of shadowy evil projectile, but clearly visible for enemy players. The knock up from the trap would be similar to a Krilliam Shakspeare burrow displacement.
2 - Shadow Play
18m range 25sCD 3s snake duration, 22m deer run length 1s arm time
Materialize a shadow portal anywhere on a wall or ground surface that will summon a creature depending on the geometry.
- A wall portal will summon a Shadow Deer: a running shadow deer will deal spirit damage and pull struck enemies along with it, ending in a knock up.
- A floor portal will summon a Shadow Snake: it will auto-track the nearest enemy and will explode upon contact dealing spirit damage and applying venom.
1. CD reduction
2. Cast range increase, Snake venom now applies -35% healing reduction, Shadow Deer run length increased to 35m.
3 Shadow Deer run speed increased, will now run in opposite direction if nothing is hit after run length or if it encounters wall. Shadow Snake portal now spawns 2 additional snakes.
notes: the deer will trigger its knockup when hitting an ant-lion trap; otherwise, knockup triggers when it hits a wall or reaches max run distance.”.
Concept: Lifted from an earlier matador kit I posted. A bit similar to puddle punch, but instead of a big pile of goo, it is instead a shadow portal that offers the Troubadour a variety of creatures to take advantage of. The shadow deer is a staple summon, forcing enemies to disengage or risk being dragged into towers or traps. The snake would force enemies into the air or flank unwary hazes trying to press 4. The idea of the knock ups is to give some synergy with his flight, which would give him a major advantage in initiation or if landing a deer into trap, it would be a softer combo (they're already popped up, it wouldn't technically layer CC
).3 - Death's Shadow
39sCD 9s duration
Rise from the air, releasing your wings and entering flight. While airborne, Death’s Shadow becomes Death Swallow, an aerial lunge that drags enemies down and deals melee damage. Your basic attack transforms into a short-range claw swipe dealing weapon damage.
1. Striking enemies with Death Swallow lowers enemy bullet resist by -15%
2. CD reduction
3. Duration increase, Air acceleration increase.
notes:
- Similar to Talon's rain of arrows, you still have access to your kit and melee attacks.
- Also similar to Silver's werewolf form, you have infinite short range M1 pressure.
- Activating Death Swallow immediately ends flight upon impact, dealing melee damage and applying stun to affected enemies.
Concept: It's been a while but I think we're due for a new flight hero. In contrast to Talon/Vin/Ivy, this mode would be for aggressive skirmish and harassment rather than long range pick-off. I'm conceptualizing this as a much slower Ivy flight. Similar to Silver's werewolf form, this hero's basic M1 would transform into an infinite short range swipe affair, partly to differentiate himself from the other flight heros but also promote aggressive and risky skirmishes.
I'm also a big fan of Viscous goo ball allowing him to puddle punch while active, so that would also be an inspiration. Like Talon, he would still have access to melee while Death's Shadow is active, and any parry stuns would immediately end the flight potentially with additional stun time. The aerial lunge would be a bird-like swoop that grounds people, typically into shadow summons or antlion traps, or just plain pick off, anti-air, or initiation with stun while ult is activated.
4 Apex Predator
110sCD 7s duration 40m radius
Hex up to 2 nearby enemies. Afflicted enemy heroes are unable to see you and you do not appear on their mini-map throughout duration. All damage dealt to them is boosted +15%.
Passive: Striking enemies with melee and melee abilities builds up Terrorized. Terrorized enemy heroes have reduced m/s and give +6% WD lifesteal to Troubadour and his allies.
*5 max stacks of terrorize, 2 stacks per heavy melee, 1 for light melee and Death Swallow.
1 CD Reduction
2 Death Swallow now stuns struck enemies .5s
3 +3 enemy heroes now afflicted, duration increase.
notes:
- Afflicted heroes can still see ability VFX and hear Troubadour sounds
- Like Drifter, afflicted heroes could hear a song of some sort while he is close by.
Concept: Scary monster ult. Since the Troubadour would, conceptually, be a cousin to the Drifter, I felt a skirmish/teamfight psychological type ult would be more appropriate. Afflicted enemy players would still see all ability animations and VFX and would be able to hear footsteps (unless he has backstabber). In another similarity to Drifter, perhaps the afflicted enemy hero can hear something similar to a song when he is close by. Also, I just like forcing people to get enduring speed, what can I say? Only thing else I can note here is that the Death Swallow stun is for initiation and synergy on lone targets.
