Mr.Mindish
Active member
Warden's Willpower is a good ability, and I think it pairs well with Warden regardless of his build. This is moreso a possible alternative ability for him, though it could go on new character.
For Warden, his archetype is an aggressive DPS who overwhelms individual opponents with his flask and cage, and overwhelms grouped teams with a combination of his Ult and gun. In both cases, Warden's Willpower helps him close the gap and reduce potential Spirit Damage he would take, mainly useful for defense against Healbane and improving his general tankiness. It's especially useful for rotating and mowing down people with the Ultimate, since the 35% move speed increase is very strong. However, I wanted to pitch a new ability for Warden that could work with his new design while maintaining the same benefits Willpower grants.
Warden is almost guarenteed to have a cape for his redesign, hinted at by several voice lines in game and the teaser in one of Yamato's art concepts. Despite being referred to a lot, I don't know if it would be relevant to his current ability set (maybe there's a plan to use it in his Ult visually, but right now nothing about Warden could use the cape). Of course, the cape could be scrapped but it seems to be a core aspect of Warden's upcoming visual design.
So, what if Warden was from the Arkham games? Basically, replace his Willpower with an ability that can only be activated in the air, granting Warden the ability to glide using his cape. The sharper his vertical decline, the faster he gets, so Warden could position himself on higher vantage points to get better at diving people at fast speeds, leaning more into his archetype. How generous the glide's movement could be is a different question, since high rotational movement (Holding the A or D keys) could make him way more difficult to hit if he's trying to escape via the rooftops, but making it too stiff makes the ability mostly pointless compared to Willpower.
The idea is for Warden to be better at engaging in fights if he gets the jump on the opponent, but reduces his effectiveness if his positioning is completely grounded. You could still include Spirit Shields gained for a set duration after the glide is activated, though a grounded Move Speed bonus should not be necessary (otherwise it'd be a complete upgrade to Willpower).
In theory, the glide works similar to Willpower, but gives Warden more depth mobility-wise. It improves his ability to rush people down, but now he needs to commit to the rush more then before, as his escape options are much more limited while on a grounded level. He probably shouldn't be able to dash or double-jump while gliding, though I think Wall Jumps could be allowed.
The ability upgrades would mostly be the same as his current ones for Willpower (T1 speed increase, T2 cooldown reduction, T3 Shields Scale with Spirit).
The move can be silenced with Slowing Hex.
Maybe it could be HMC-able, though it's not necessary.
Warden can still shoot, use abilities and active items while gliding. He can channel his Ult too, though I think he shouldn't be able to change his current trajectory while channelling it. Pressing the Glide ability key (2) while gliding would cancel the glide.
Maybe Spirit Power could be increased while gliding, though it might not be necessary. His effectiveness on ground would basically be nerfed, so there could be passive benefits that the ability grants to balance that out, though that is a whole other discussion.
For Warden, his archetype is an aggressive DPS who overwhelms individual opponents with his flask and cage, and overwhelms grouped teams with a combination of his Ult and gun. In both cases, Warden's Willpower helps him close the gap and reduce potential Spirit Damage he would take, mainly useful for defense against Healbane and improving his general tankiness. It's especially useful for rotating and mowing down people with the Ultimate, since the 35% move speed increase is very strong. However, I wanted to pitch a new ability for Warden that could work with his new design while maintaining the same benefits Willpower grants.
Warden is almost guarenteed to have a cape for his redesign, hinted at by several voice lines in game and the teaser in one of Yamato's art concepts. Despite being referred to a lot, I don't know if it would be relevant to his current ability set (maybe there's a plan to use it in his Ult visually, but right now nothing about Warden could use the cape). Of course, the cape could be scrapped but it seems to be a core aspect of Warden's upcoming visual design.
So, what if Warden was from the Arkham games? Basically, replace his Willpower with an ability that can only be activated in the air, granting Warden the ability to glide using his cape. The sharper his vertical decline, the faster he gets, so Warden could position himself on higher vantage points to get better at diving people at fast speeds, leaning more into his archetype. How generous the glide's movement could be is a different question, since high rotational movement (Holding the A or D keys) could make him way more difficult to hit if he's trying to escape via the rooftops, but making it too stiff makes the ability mostly pointless compared to Willpower.
The idea is for Warden to be better at engaging in fights if he gets the jump on the opponent, but reduces his effectiveness if his positioning is completely grounded. You could still include Spirit Shields gained for a set duration after the glide is activated, though a grounded Move Speed bonus should not be necessary (otherwise it'd be a complete upgrade to Willpower).
In theory, the glide works similar to Willpower, but gives Warden more depth mobility-wise. It improves his ability to rush people down, but now he needs to commit to the rush more then before, as his escape options are much more limited while on a grounded level. He probably shouldn't be able to dash or double-jump while gliding, though I think Wall Jumps could be allowed.
The ability upgrades would mostly be the same as his current ones for Willpower (T1 speed increase, T2 cooldown reduction, T3 Shields Scale with Spirit).
The move can be silenced with Slowing Hex.
Maybe it could be HMC-able, though it's not necessary.
Warden can still shoot, use abilities and active items while gliding. He can channel his Ult too, though I think he shouldn't be able to change his current trajectory while channelling it. Pressing the Glide ability key (2) while gliding would cancel the glide.
Maybe Spirit Power could be increased while gliding, though it might not be necessary. His effectiveness on ground would basically be nerfed, so there could be passive benefits that the ability grants to balance that out, though that is a whole other discussion.
