Guggleywubbins
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Shard of the Grand Magus
Cost: 4200 SoulsPurchase to choose one of three to permanently empower an existing ability. Has its own exclusive item slot and store tab. Only one Shard may be purchased per game. Becomes available for purchase at 15:00. All sales are final.
A crystalline blue shard that empowers a hero’s skills with the trans-dimensional energy trapped in its glimmering facets. Clearly crafted by rare, handsome hands.
Shard Upgrades
Abrams
- Witness Protection
- Infernal Resilience is now an aura that affects allies within 20m.
- Aura sticks to allies for 5 seconds after leaving the radius.
- Infernal Resilience is now an aura that affects allies within 20m.
- Civil Forfeiture
- Siphon Life now steals +5% Weapon and Melee damage per second from each affected units for 8 seconds, granting it to Abrams for the duration.
- Cold Case
- Each ally that dies near Abrams gives him a stacking +15% flat Damage Resistance buff.
- Each stack lasts until the (alleged) murderer is killed, the murdered ally respawns, or Abrams dies.
Bebop
- Hookup
- Shift-casting Hook will pull Bebop to his target instead.
- Has an additional effect upon arrival based on whether the target is an enemy or ally:
- Enemy: Deals extra damage and a 1 second stun to the Hooked target.
- Ally: Grants a 200 bullet shield to Bebop and the Hooked target.
- Refraction
- Hyper Beam will now reflect off surfaces up to two times.
- Hyper Beam length increased by 20m for each surface it reflects off.
- Love Bomb
- Attaching a Sticky Bomb to an ally will heal them for 50% of damage it deals to enemies upon detonation.
- Increases movement speed of allies by 30% while the bomb is attached.
Dynamo
- Close Colleagues
- Quantum Entanglement now travels twice as far for each ally he brings along.
- Heals everyone for 20% of Dynamo’s maximum health upon arrival.
- Followup Study
- Kinetic Pulse now travels back toward Dynamo once it reaches its maximum range, knocking up units again and damaging them for 50% of the original damage.
- Increases stomp range by 50%.
- Tenure
- Permanently adds 0.1 second duration to Singularity for every enemy that dies within it.
- Deaths are counted retroactively before Shard is purchased.
- Permanently adds 0.1 second duration to Singularity for every enemy that dies within it.
- Sabbatical
- Dynamo can now cast any of his other abilities while channeling Singularity or inside Quantum Entanglement.
- Increases Quantum Entanglement duration by 1 second.
Grey Talon
- Bear Trap
- Immobilizing Trap can now trap additional enemies while the first enemy is ensnared.
- Immobilizing Trap is now fully invisible on the ground to enemies once armed.
- Ensnare duration increased by 1 second.
- Frequent Flier
- Guided Owl now gains additional damage the farther it travels, adding 5% total damage for each second in flight.
- Maximum +50% damage.
- Guided Owl now gains additional damage the farther it travels, adding 5% total damage for each second in flight.
- Mercy Kill
- Charged Shot now executes enemies that have 20% health or less remaining after being struck.
Haze
- Tunnel Vision
- The target afflicted by the most Fixate stacks is outlined through walls, providing vision for Haze’s team.
- Lasts 0.1 seconds per stack of Fixate, starting after the last stack was applied.
- Haze also gains 1% move speed per stack while in Smoke Bomb as long as an outlined target is in her field of view.
- The target afflicted by the most Fixate stacks is outlined through walls, providing vision for Haze’s team.
- Escape Artist
- Haze is now rendered fully invisible and gains a 30% speed boost for the first 3 seconds of Smoke Bomb.
- Full invisibility buff is refreshed by passing through Cosmic Veils (once per veil).
- Haze may now also use the Subway teleport instantly.
- Encore
- Killing an enemy within Bullet Dance extends the duration for another 1.5 seconds.
Infernus
- Burning Desire
- Infernus now temporarily steals 50% of the Health regen of any enemies affected by Afterburn.
- In addition, excess stolen regen and lifesteal while at full health now grants Infernus a temporary Spirit Shield up to 20% of his maximum health.
- Shield expires 10 seconds after last heal.
- Scorched Earth
- Concussive Combustion now scorches the ground where it detonates, applying Flame Dash to the area for 5 seconds.
- Flame Dash's cooldown is now refreshed when Concussive Combustion detonates.
- Backdraft
- Afterburn can now be activated, causing any currently burning targets to burst into flames anew, refreshing the debuff duration and spreading the Afterburn debuff to any enemies within 10 meters.
- Cooldown: 30 seconds
Ivy
- Invasive Species
- Kudzu Bomb grows in area by +25% for every second an enemy hero is standing in it, up to a maximum of +100%.
- Pauses Stamina regeneration of any enemies standing in the vines.
- Sticks to Stones
- Allies connected via Watcher’s Covenant when Ivy casts Stone Form are granted invulnerability for the same duration she is.
- Allies are not turned into gargoyles and may continue to act freely.
- Allies connected via Watcher’s Covenant when Ivy casts Stone Form are granted invulnerability for the same duration she is.
- Copilot
- Shift-cast Falling Grace to bring any allies connected by Watcher’s Covenant along for the ride.
- Allies may turn and shoot freely in flight, but may not cast any movement abilities until they land.
- Allies deal 30% of Falling Grace’s damage where they land.
Kelvin
- Absolute Zero
- Enemies trapped inside Frozen Shelter are damaged by 20% of the amount it heals and receive a stacking +5% slow.
- Slow lasts for 5 seconds and is refreshed by each tick.
- Enemies trapped inside Frozen Shelter are damaged by 20% of the amount it heals and receive a stacking +5% slow.
- Cold Shoulder
- Enemies disarmed by Arctic Beam are also silenced.
- Bobsled Team
- Kelvin and his allies receive a +5m/s speed while on his Ice Path.
- Kelvin now always sprints while Ice Path is active.
Lady Geist
- Fatal Attraction
- Life Drain can now be Shift-cast to draw both heroes toward each other at a fixed rate.
- Life Drain damage/healing increases by up to 50% the closer the targets are to one another.
- Party Favor
- Enemies who get health-swapped now have a free Essence Bomb attached to them.
- Dead Shot
- Lady Geist swaps her pistol to her ethereal hand, causing her shots to deal 50% of their damage as Spirit damage instead.
- Pistol damage now also scales with Spirit Power and triggers any relevant Spirit items.
Lash
- Float Like a Butterfly
- Grapple may be cast again mid-air to let Lash float in the air for up to 3 seconds.
- Ground Strike continues to accrue bonus damage as if Lash were falling while he floats.
- Down for the Count
- When Lash takes fatal damage, he remains alive with at least 1 health for 2 seconds.
- During this time, Flog’s cooldown is refreshed and heals for 300% of damage dealt on its next cast.
- Echo Slam
- Death Slam deals additional +30% damage in the landing zone for every hero picked up.
McGinnis
- More Gun
- Mini Turrets now upgrade to Level 2 after 5 seconds on the field, allowing them to target a second enemy in their range for 50% damage.
- Practical Problems
- McGinnis’ allies can now see and pass through her Spectral Wall, gaining 10% movement and firing speed for 5 seconds after passing through
- Effect can only occur once per wall.
- Bullets still do not penetrate the wall.
- McGinnis’ allies can now see and pass through her Spectral Wall, gaining 10% movement and firing speed for 5 seconds after passing through
- Corpse of Engineers
- Mini Turrets now explode on death, dealing their maximum health as damage and healing allies for the same amount in a 10 meter radius.
- McGinnis now also explodes for 25% of her maximum health upon death.
Mo & Krill
- Shakedown
- Mo & Krill now steal 100 Souls per second from any enemy stunned by Combo.
- Stolen Souls are unsecured.
- Combo now deals an additional damage per second equal to 2% of Mo & Krill’s currently held Souls.
- Mo & Krill now steal 100 Souls per second from any enemy stunned by Combo.
- Epicenter
- Enemies take 25% of Burrow’s damage per second while Mo & Krill are tunneling underneath them.
- Enemies standing above Mo & Krill’s mound are slowed by 10% and cannot use Stamina bars.
- Independent Contractor
- After Mo & Krill take fatal damage, Mo hops off his buddy’s corpse in a bloodthirsty rage and starts blasting. Mo’s shotgun is instantly reloaded, and he gains a 25% fire rate bonus until killed or his death timer expires.
- Mo only has 50% maximum health and stamina of the duo and moves 20% slower. He also cannot cast any items or abilities or ride the transit lines.
- If Mo survives for his full death timer, Krill drops in from heaven to rejoin his partner in crime, respawning them both at full health wherever Mo is standing.
Paradox
- Twice a Day
- Enemies stunned by Kinetic Carbine are stunned again three seconds later for half the original duration.
- Sharpshooter Fallacy
- Instead of passing through, any projectiles stopped by Time Wall are instead fired back at their original owners along their original trajectory 1.2 seconds later.
- Unsound
- Enemies affected by Paradox’s abilities are muffled, preventing them from hearing what direction sounds are coming from or using any communication channels for 4 seconds.
- Additionally, enemies can no longer hear Kinetic Carbine ticking or Paradox’s footsteps if they can’t see her.
Pocket
- Coat Check
- Pocket sends two additional Flying Cloaks at 120º angles to the first one.
- When activated, Pocket will teleport to the Flying Cloak closest to his crosshairs.
- In Case of Emergency
- Pocket also pulls the nearest ally within 5m into his briefcase when Enchanter’s Satchel is Shift-cast.
- Heals both Pocket and ensconced ally for the 50% of damage dealt upon emerging.
- If Pocket teleports to his Flying Cloak while in his briefcase, his ally will come too.
- Puckish
- Pocket now silences damaged enemies for 3 seconds when emerging from his Enchanted Satchel.
Seven
- Ball Lightning
- Seven can now drift through the air while channeling Storm Cloud at 50% movement speed.
- Allows Seven to cast his Lightning Ball while channeling Storm Cloud.
- Grounded
- Enemies hit by Power Surge gain 1 static charge stack per zap.
- Enemies that gain 10 stacks are rooted for 1 seconds, resetting the stack to zero.
- Reaching 10 stacks also triggers Static Charge’s stun early and increases its stun radius by 4 meters.
- Livewire
- Lightning Ball will now attach to enemy heroes if they’re hit by its core.
- Deals 50% less damage to the hero it’s attached to, but full damage to any of their nearby allies.
Vindicta
- Equal Rites
- While flying, Vindicta can recast Flight on an ally within 30m to grant them flying movement for the ability’s remaining duration.
- Headmistress
- Assassinate headshots deal 50% of the damage in a 10m radius around them.
- New York, Stripped
- Enemies affected by Stake are outlined to Vindicta’s team, visible through terrain.
- While Staked, targets can be hit by Assassinate through any terrain.
Warden
- Chain Gang
- If Binding Word successfully latches onto an enemy, it is automatically cast on the target’s nearest ally for half the damage and duration.
- The additional target must be within both the ability’s cast range and line of sight of the original target.
- This effect will repeat after each successful latch until no valid targets remain.
- Enemies may only be affected once per cast.
- If Binding Word successfully latches onto an enemy, it is automatically cast on the target’s nearest ally for half the damage and duration.
- Buddy Cop
- Last Stand may now be targeted on an allied hero to grant them the full effect.
- Channel time and cooldown reduced by 30% when cast on an ally.
- Last Stand may now be targeted on an allied hero to grant them the full effect.
- Philosopher’s Stone
- Alchemical Flask increases Warden's stats by the same amount as it reduces the enemies' if he is also in the splash zone.
- Also, Unsecured Souls are immediately converted into Secured Souls when picked up.
Wraith
- Prestidigitation
- If Wraith uses Project Mind while an enemy is lifted via Telekinesis, the target will be teleported along with her.
- Does not work if the projectile hasn’t contacted the target yet.
- Adds 1.5 seconds to the lift duration if Project Mind is cast while Telekinesis is active.
- If Wraith uses Project Mind while an enemy is lifted via Telekinesis, the target will be teleported along with her.
- Hat Trick
- Hitting the same target with Card Trick three times in a row applies Curse to them for 3 seconds.
- Hitting a different target resets the counter on the current one.
- Counter lasts for 15 seconds, refreshed on new application.
- Hitting the same target with Card Trick three times in a row applies Curse to them for 3 seconds.
- Full Monty
- Full Auto also provides reload and cooldown reduction matching the fire speed bonus for its duration.
Yamato
- Seeing Red
- Targets affected by Crimson Slash are outlined to Yamato’s team for 5 seconds.
- Yamato may cast Flying Strike on outlined targets without line-of-sight, appearing directly behind them a moment later.
- Seppuku
- If Crimson Slash is on cooldown, Yamato may Shift-cast to activate it again at the cost of 50% of her current health.
- Once used, Yamato must wait for the full cooldown before using this effect again.
- If Crimson Slash is on cooldown, Yamato may Shift-cast to activate it again at the cost of 50% of her current health.
- Fivehead
- Yamato collects the heads of enemies executed by Power Slash.
- Each head increases Power Slash’s range by 3m, Yamato’s move speed by 1m/s, and Yamato’s max ammo by +2.
- Maximum 5 heads.
- Yamato loses two heads per death.
Commentary
Aghanim's Scepter and Shard have always been my favorite items in Dota, and I thought it might be fun to have some sort of Deadlock equivalent. It works similarly to Dota's new Facets system in that it cannot be changed once chosen, except that it's done mid-game and has a buy-in cost like to Aghanim's Scepter/Shard. When you choose to buy the Shard and which facet you choose will depend on how the hero lineup and how everyone's chosen to itemize at that point.Now several of these upgrades would very likely be worthless/broken in practice, but I figured I'd throw out a few ideas just to get the ball rolling anyway. I avoided making any that added totally new abilities like Dota does because Deadlock is already quite keybind heavy for a shooter as is. That said, I think Shift-cast could be useful as a way to allow alternative cast modes for upgrades you might only want to use in certain situations.
Overall, I think these sorts of upgrades should enable new tactics for a hero and/or make an otherwise simple skill more interesting or fun to use. Let me know what you think or if you think up any upgrade ideas of your own.
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