Updated Dash Attack Items: Now Metal Claws and Adamantine Claws

[Rosgath]

I was just thinking about it and realized that we have a whole bunch of stuff you can do that amplifies dashing, such as Kinetic Dash and Arcane surge but nothing that works into the melee playstyle for that. Here's my item concepts for melee dash items.
Starting with the T2 item, Passing Strike


And it's upgrade Bullrush




The damage increase is, I think, acceptable as it requires you to spend a stamina to get it so it is going to be limited by how much stamina you have. Bullrush changes the light melee into a Heavy Melee, which could make it really handy for activating other Melee items along with giving some bonus Dash distance and speed.

I decided not to have it build from a Stamina Item as it doesn't require 2 Stamina spent to activate like Kinetic Dash and Arcane Surge do.

 

[BossBaragon]

That's a really cool concept! I like it. There's a bit of risk and reward that honeslty justify the cost well and can enable tons of new playstyle anyway.

 

[nathanieljbrill]

If I didn't have like 3 characters that can do damage with stamina in some way I would want this to be a thing, but it's overlapping with abilities I want in the game.

 

[Ukie]

stats really overtuned but looks fun otherwise(although I do not see the acrobatics required for billy to light melee someone mid roll lol)

 

[Rosgath]

stats really overtuned but looks fun otherwise(although I do not see the acrobatics required for billy to light melee someone mid roll lol)

I'm curious, what numbers do you feel are overtuned? Light melee attacks only do about 50% of heavy melee attack, so Passing Strike still doesnt do great damage and it does cost a stamina each time you use it. It costs as much as Kinectic Dash, but im pretty sure the effect is actually weaker than K-dash (which is where I pitched the line for balance numbers). Bullrush is strong, but also a T3 item and while it can be handy to accompany other melee items. By itself isnt amazingly strong, especially since neither item gives bonus Stamina.

 

[Ukie]

+25% melee damage is a crime on a 3200(lifestrike gives 16% for a reference) also 15% +70% on a dashing attack without cd is crazy

I'm curious, what numbers do you feel are overtuned? Light melee attacks only do about 50% of heavy melee attack, so Passing Strike still doesnt do great damage and it does cost a stamina each time you use it. It costs as much as Kinectic Dash, but im pretty sure the effect is actually weaker than K-dash (which is where I pitched the line for balance numbers). Bullrush is strong, but also a T3 item and while it can be handy to accompany other melee items. By itself isnt amazingly strong, especially since neither item gives bonus Stamina.

 

[Rosgath]

+25% melee damage is a crime on a 3200(lifestrike gives 16% for a reference) also 15% +70% on a dashing attack without cd is crazy

I'll admit that the +melee damage is overtuned, but the increased damage on dashing attacks isn't going to amount to as much damage as you think, I'm guessing.

Remember that in order to trigger the bonus damage you have to spend a stamina, and if people see you have the item they are going to start expecting dash punches (which can be parried). +70% bonus damage on a light melee attack with just this item is approximately 45 damage (for most heroes who don't have low light melee damage like Ivy).

For context, Passing Strike on Billy adds that 45 damage. Kinetic Dash on Billy adds +30% fire rate for 7s, during which he is likely going to spend most of that time sliding (which means he's going to probably get most of that time actually shooting). If Billy lands ONLY body shots during that time, he will get 168 damage from Kinetic Dash. Now, accounting for the fact that he isn't always going to be able to hit every shot and isn't always going to be able to shoot for the whole 7s, and that Passing Strike only consumes 1 Stamina to trigger vs. the 2 stamina that Kinetic dash does, I think ~40 damage on a hit is pretty reasonable.

Honestly, the biggest reason I can see that someone would build Passing Strike is specifically because they plan to build into Bullrush. Bullrush converting the Light melee into a heavy melee makes it a lot easier to secure a Heavy melee attack for melee activated items (like Crushing Fist and Spirit Snatch). Passing Strike by itself is intentionally kinda "meh"

That said, I'll bring down the bonus Melee damage passive.

 

[Rosgath]

So after having it pointed out that my stats were a bit overtuned, I decided to take some time to review the items and I realized several things.

1.) Passing Strike doesn't sound very cool. Bullrush, as a name, doesn't really fit what the item is doing.

2.) The item, while nifty, doesn't really do anything special or unique. It does give some bonus melee damage, but it doesn't provide anything beyond that which feels like a missed opportunity.

As such, I reworked and renamed the items. Here are Metal Claws and Adamantine Claws!




The items now have a very specific and clear purpose; melee resist shred. This is something no other item provides.

Melee builds will often build a Bullet Resist shred as a method of getting extra melee damage(Think things like Bullet Resist Shredder, or Hunter's Aura), but no item in game actually offers the ability to reduce enemy melee resist.

Because it now offers Melee resist shred, the damage it deals has been toned down on both versions (beyond the bonus damage it offered before) as it can now be comboed with more melee attacks along with working particularly well with melee abilities.