AoS: Asura's Throne

Who hasn't been inspired by the great AoS-style maps out there? It is one of the most popular custom map types around. My aim is to create one as memorable as Asura's Call, Tides of Blood, or Defense of the Ancients. I know this is a common pact to be made, and an even more common to break, but I'll try my best to see this one released and updated frequently.

I will however be unable to do it alone. Therefore, I will be posting details about it here and be open to suggestions from others.

ANY FEATURE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT THE ADVICE OF THE WWW.WC3CAMPAIGNS.COM FORUM MEMBERS!!! FOR MANY CHANGES, SUCH AS CUSTOM SPELLS AND WHATNOT, HELP FROM OTHER PEOPLE WILL LIKELY BE NECESSARY!! HERO ABILITIES ARE A MAJOR ISSUE, AND NOT MANY OF THE CURRENT ONES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE FINAL VERSION!!!


Features

Resources: Gold mines play an important role in Asura's Throne. In addition to the two gold mines situated within the main bases, conquering Outposts can allow access to additional resources. Six of the ten outposts contain gold mines. Players have no real direct control over income. Each of the five colored workers mining the mines belong to their computer ally, but are colored according to the human players. Whenever the worker sporting Red's color drops a bag off at the Hall, player Red will receive a certain amount of gold. This works for all other players as well.

The mines contain an infinite amount of gold, but you can only control a certain amount of mines before the effort becomes impractical. For each mine your computer ally has access to, the total gold amount brought back by each of your peons is reduced. Having control of four mines would be optimal, but having six would bring in about the same gold as you would get with only two. Thus, too many outposts draws your funds thin.

Factions: The two opposing bases are not the only combatants. Situated strategically around the map are ten creep bases. These outposts spawn Creep minions just as each base's halls do, and they march on towards the nearest base. While the strength of their spawns are equal to those of the other bases, their towers are not nearly as stalwart, allowing these bases to be taken out rather early in the game. It's advised that you do so, for as time progresses, the spawned creeps slowly get stronger.

Even after all of the Outposts are claimed, the Creeps don't give up. Vengeful creeps seeking to reclaim their camp will frequent each conquered outpost. While not really a grave threat, they can become quite a nuisance if your forces are focused elsewhere. They will usually attack bases from the rear as opposed to the fore.

Outposts: Taking Outposts is vital for boosting your resource income as well as providing your computer ally an assault point closer to the opponent's main base. In addition, half of the assaulting forces for that section of the map will spawn from the furthest-conquered outpost, and will spawn researched units independently from the main base.

Outpost capturing is relatively straight-forward. If it is owned by creeps, all you have to do is destroy the Creep Hall, and all of the towers will likewise be destroyed. Upon it's destruction, a new Hall belonging to your computer ally will automatically begin construction on that very spot. Upon completion (20 seconds), five worker will immediately be spawned and sent off to the local gold mine. It is advised that the "Restore Defenses" option on the Hall is promptly selected as well. This will build your towers where the base's previous defenses were located over the course of 15 seconds.

Taking an Outpost owned by the opposing faction is a different matter. In order to completely conquer it, all of the towers will have to be destroyed along with the Hall. Only then will construction of your side's Hall begin.

Experience: Hero levels cap out at 18. Each hero has three skills with five levels as well as one ultimate skill with three levels. Many of the skills are trigger enhanced, and most of the rest are so heavily modified from their originals that they are hardly recognizable. Only a few of the original skills will make a smooth transition.

Shops: An AoS map essential. These shops provide heroes with the goods required for survival against their opponents. Item stores consist of Potion Shops (for selling consumables), Mercenary Camps (for hiring units to assist you), Blacksmiths (for cheap and simple permanent items), and Shops of Relics (for the expensive, uber permanent items). There is also a shipyard where transport vessels can be hired to ease the task of crossing the northern stretch of the map.

Upgrades: Something I have yet to see in an AoS-style map (it may have been done before, but I don't know about it). Placed among the shops, the upgrade building allows any hero to invest money for the good of their allies. If one player completes an upgrade here, it is researched for all of his allies. For the most part, these upgrades benefit that side's computer-controlled ally, which in turn can better fight on towards the opponent's base. Upgrades here include enhanced defenses for towers, damage and armor bonuses for units, and stronger healing auras for Fountains among other things.

Halls: These structures are the center of each side's outposts and are second only to the castle in importance. It is from the Halls that units spawn periodically. If a Hall is destroyed, no additional units can be produced at that location until it is recaptured and a new Hall constructed.

Like in ToB, the spawns at these Halls can be increased by player investment, but not by building towers around it. Instead, each Hall acts like an upgrade center. Players can invest money in researching new and more numerous units to be spawned at that town Hall. Researching some units to spawn will usually disable you from researching another (ie: if you choose a Hall to spawn Captains, it will be unable to spawn Riflemen).

Each side can independently research spawns coming from six locations: Main Base Front, Main Base North, Main Base South, Mid Outposts, Southern Outposts, and Northern Outposts. If any main base Halls are lost and then restored, unit research for that section would have been reset. Research for the Outposts can be done at any of the Halls, and only if all of the Outpost Halls in that region are destroyed will research be reset.


I am open to additional ideas.

Regions
The entire map consists of three regions that stripe the map horizontally:

Deep Jungle, bottom region: A lush forest land filled with vegetation. Wild creeps independent from the Outposts roam this area and will occasionally assault your units. Littered with trees and wildlife, hiding spots and ambush points are abundant. Utilize the terrain to your advantage against your foes. Maze-like in nature, the path through the forests are snaky and unpredictable. One can easily top a ridge and come face-to-face with an enormous opposing force.

Be cautious when assaulting the four Outposts located here: they are heavily entrenched and well defended. Creeps in this area enjoy using strengthening spells and brute strength in their attacks. Weaken them and attack from afar for best results.

Northern Reefs, top region: Base spawns would find this part of the map impassable normally, but with the assistance of transport vessels, they can better transverse it. This gives rise to naval battles between the two primary factions. Transports stop occasionally to unload their passengers that transverse across navigable portions of the reef on foot before boarding their ships again over deep water. Travel across the entire reef IS possible by foot, but the paths are thin and difficult to navigate. It's best to hire a transport vessel. Note: Sea Huntresses can transverse this section easily with their "Aquatic Element" ability. Other heroes will have to purchase "Waterwalk boots."

The four northern Outposts require assaulting units to unload from their transports just inside tower range. Creeps here utilize weakening spells and ranged attacks, with a bit of meat to keep other melee units at bay. Break through the melee defenders and destroy the ranged units and you will easily triumph.

Ancient Ruins, middle region: A lovely region to do battle in. This is the primary strip in the map, and it also harbor's it's centerpiece: the central ring. Four sets of levers are located just outside of this room and control the opening and closing of various doors inside as well as outside of this room. When used tactically, these controls can sway the tides of battle in your favor by cutting off units or opening the gates for yours.

The two Outposts here are most likely the first ones each side will tangle with. Compared to the other eight, they are defended much more effectively. They are however vital to control. Foes here are varied, and you can expect almost anything.

Heroes
The primary focus of any AoS-style map are the heroes, and I have put quite a lot of effort into these. Most are still in development, so if you have any ideas for skills, give me a shout. The left side has a human theme, with stone towers and all the other jizz. The right side is mostly Orc and Troll themed, with a bit of Undead thrown in.

first of all LOT of info there....
Seconaly Sounds Good BUT

U relise that the younger wc3 ers may not understand this concept and go "this is crap lets play (crap td here)"

And Finally do post it up soon as poss
:ggani:

The younger players will gain wisdom as they mature.

This map is still in it's mid-development stage. Much is yet to be done. I could also use a few people to help with terraining, triggering, and several other things.

Finally a AoS that is not only about who kills the most:D
Finally a AoS where you will need some strategy:D

This sounds really good

All right. Here's a rundown of the heroes avaliable for the Empire:


Empire

Mage Breaker
A clever strength-based hero who attacks from afar. He is quite efficient at hindering the magic-using capabilities of his foes, be it forming magic-devouring rifts to simply burning them away with Feedback.

Witch Hunter
This strength-based hero is a well balanced melee combatant. Armed with a sword of silver and the ability to summon divine angels to assist him, his undead foes recognize him as a grave danger.

Berserker
The Berserker uses his great strength to pummel enemies in melee combat. His various warcries along with his the capability to 'flip out' make him quite a formidable opponent.

Siege Master
Heavily armored and brandishing the giant glaive that is his trademark, this tanking hero is a deadly threat to enemy towers. If unmolested, a Siege Master will utilize his glaive and explosives to quickly level the base.

Samurai
The agile Samurai battles by a strict code of conduct. He cares of nothing but honor. Shedding his own blood boosts his battle prowess, and his great honor makes death is not nearly as costly as for other heroes.

Bladedancer
A nimble combatant wielding a katana. The mercenary Bladedancer has fine-tuned his body to be very quick and agile, allowing him to quickly take out his foe. He also utilizes various tricks of the mind.

Ranger
The agility-based Ranger hails from the forests which she protects. Flurryshot allows her to loose several poison-tipped arrows in one quick barrage. If worst comes to worst, she can summon a pet to fly her away.

Pyromancer
This intelligence-based hero is a powerhouse of spells. She can quickly clear out hoards of enemies, or even damage them as she retreats. If surrounded, she'll pour every point of mana into a devastating blow.

Stormweaver
The Stormweaver unleashes the wrath of the sky upon his foes. His specialty is summoning great winds and vengeful lightning upon his enemy's turned back, and then fleeing when attention is drawn to him.

Druid
The great caretaker and Summoner of the Empire. The Druid is armed with a number of spells that allow him to heal and maintain allies and a summoned army of woodland spirits.

Sounds really cool. We are just finishing up our AoS/RPG (Hive's Nexus) and doing a remake of Hive's Revenge TD. We would consider giving you a hand with this tho. Seems like a worthy project so we would be willing to make time for it.

What we really like about it is that you are focusing on aspects that we thought about doing in Nexus but decided to take another path for our map. Ours focus is more on the RPG element with quests, special locations and caves to explore. While yours has a lot of take and hold strategy. There are some other cool ideas we had for a AoS map that we will not be implementing into Nexus due to file size and the number of triggers already working. We would like to give them a try in another map tho.

We are a expert at game design, balance and triggering. We can do it all though. Our maps are some the most advanced ever made and they have all been solo projects. We have been working solo for quite while and are thinking of doing some joint effort projects. It simply takes too long to do a solo project start to finish if your standards are as high as ours.

You can PM us or contact us at [email protected]

Ooooo... A very nice quote indeed.

Very complex idea too. I love it!

Wow. Professional assistance. I wasn't expecting that. :D

I'll give you a PM once I get the few loose strings tied up.

And now, here's the list of heroes available for the War Clans:

Note: Heroes with the "Undead" mark will receive extra damage from the Witch Hunter's attacks.

War Clans

Death Lord Undead
This strength-bases hero is the harbinger of death and disease. From atop his demonic steed, he utilizes curses and aura-like abilities to weaken his prey before drawing his sword and going in for the kill.

Warlock
These fearsome warriors are merciless with a bad habit of not dying. By both club and demonic magics they devastate foes, and when near death, they grasp onto their mortal coil, rapidly regaining vitality.

Spider Lord Undead
This giant undead Nerubian is the tanks of the Clan forces. Sporting layers of chitinous armor, he is adept at wading into the thick of battle and duping it out. He is also great at stopping enemies from fleeing.

Vampire Undead
Masters of the night, these dark being exist to suck the lifeblood from the living. They are cunning and agile, using a variety of methods to drain the life of their foes. They become even more fearsome during the night cycle.

Assassin
The stealthy Assassin lingers among the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to strike her prey. Be careful when you kill her; she may just come right back to life, more vengeful than ever.

Dark Shaman
A master of voodoo magic, the Dark Shaman utilizes a variety of wards to damage foes and assist allies. As one ward immobilizes single enemies, another slowly eats away at their life, while a third heals his allies.

Sea Huntress
The Ranger's aquatic counterpart, a Sea Huntress has the distinct advantage of aquatic travel. She can strike with her bow from a distance, enchanting her arrows with magic that allows her to track down injured prey.

Necromancer/Lich Undead
An undead adept of the dark arts, this hero is ill-suited for the front lines, preferring to stay in the rear and use summoned minions to fight for him. Corpses not only supply him with troops, but can be detonated on command.

The name of this hero is undecided. Both Necromancer and Lich fit him perfectly, but neither is original.

Cryomancer
The Cryomancer is the Pyromancer's dark brother. Skilled in the use of cold, he excels at cooling the enemy's bodies down to the freezing point and then pummeling them to death with condensed ice.

Deadhead Undead
While not technically undead, the Deadhead is quite mentally unstable. It's hard to think clearly when you're as high as he is. He'll happily share his drugs, both good and bad. He's basically a skilled support hero.



I am working on getting the points needed to sticky this thread. I've currently got 500 in the bank.

Just let us know when your ready. Dont worry about us we have plenty to do.

I feel that my map is not getting the attention it is worth. Therefor, I will be posting some of the hero details later tonight.

I'm going to provide a bit more in-depth info into my heroes.


Mage Breaker
This hero's primary stat is Strength, though his Intel. increases at a greater rate. He attacks from just behind the front lines, flinging his spinning swords into battle (as you can guess, he's based off the Spell Breaker model). He plays a troop support role by weakening foes, spell-casters especially.

Throughout the game, the Mage Breaker is a specialist who has only limited use. He does best behind the front line and out of harm's way, attacking from a distance. Later in the game, when Halls start cranking out mages to support the troops, the Mage Breaker can use the oh-so-handy Counterspell to pretty much nullify their use. He's also superb at halting multiple heroes who are channeling their ultimates to rape a tower. Several quick smacks with Counterspell and they're out. His Spell Barrier does even more to help his hit-and-fade tactical use, making him temporarily immune to stunning and slowing spells. His one real downside is his lack of a crowd management spell aside for his ultimate.

Relic: Gem Inlays
Purchasable by the Mage Breaker are Gem Inlay Relics for his armor. These grant him an intelligence bonus as well as damage reduction from spells.


Feedback
This skill he more or less wouldn't go without. It's simply a hero version of the normal ability. Every time the Mage Breaker attacks an enemy with mana reserves, the attack drains some of that unit's mana and converts it into additional damage. The amount of mana drained increases with skill level.

Counterspell
The ability to cancel out magic is a Mage Breaker's forte. By using Counterspell, the Mage Breaker can remove any buff or other magical effects from a unit. It has other uses as well. If faced with an opposing hero channeling an ability, casting Counterspell on them will halt that channeling.

Spell Barrier
Not many people speak about the Paladin's Divine Shield ability, but Spell Barrier brings it back in a new light. Invoking anti-magical energies, the Mage Breaker surrounds himself with a protective shell that boosts his armor and renders him immune to spells for an extended period of time.

Cataclism (ultimate)
The Mage Breaker uses his powers to tear a hole in magical space-time, creating a temporary black hole of anti-mana. This erratic void lashes out at mage and warrior alike, dealing feedback damage to enemies with mana reserves. It also has a vacuum effect upon the mana layer of reality, sucking away the mana of any who dwell too near. While technically a summoned unit, the void is invincible, unselectable, uncontrollable, and cannot be dispelled. After a certain amount of time, the void will be refilled and disappear.



Witch Hunter
Endowed with a balanced amount of both Strength and Agility, the Witch Hunter is provided with a decent amount of life and armor as well as a better than average attack speed. He's also light on his feet, allowing him to escape if things turn ugly. He specializes in cutting demons down in one-on-one combat.

The Witch Hunter, like the Mage Breaker, is a specialist, though not nearly as focused. He is a great hero for one-on-one battles, especially against opposing heroes who happen to be undead. Undead melee heroes would not be wise to confront him, for if they try to escape, the Witch Hunter can easily chase them down, committing them to battle once again. Along with his ability to summon a powerful healing minion, the Witch Hunter is a all-around useful hero.

Relic: Holy Books
Purchasable by the Witch Hunter is the Holy Book Relic. It grants him an intelligence bonus as well as the ability to replenish health when drunk (like a health potion, but can be used indefinitely.)


Smite
Gathering his wits, the Witch Hunter charges toward the selected enemy with a vengeance. His burst of speed is short lived, lasting only 2.5 seconds, but it's usually enough time to chase down his foe. When his query is within reach he lashes out, damaging and stunning his enemy.

Undecided Crowd Control Spell

Sword of Silver
The sword wielded by the Witch Hunter was forged especially for the purging of demons and the undead. It bears divine scriptures etches into it's blade and is edged with silver, the metal of purification. When the blessed weapon bites into the decaying flesh of the unholy, extra damage is dealt to that enemy.

Divine Intervention (ultimate)
As a conquistador in the service of the Lord, a Witch Hunter can call upon aid from the Heavens. Aid is sent in the form of an angel. This powerful being of the holy realm joins the hunter upon the battlefield to fight by his side. The angels are armed with a trio of spells. These spells, as well as the angel's stats, become more powerful at greater skill levels.

The angle wields two helpful spells: Holy Light, which can heal an ally or hurt an undead enemy, and Blessing, which heals all nearby allies by a lesser extent. The angels are cut from their power source in the corporeal realm however, so they cannot regenerate their mana. This is where heir third skill, Salvation, comes in. When cast upon a corpse, the soul of that corpse is cleansed and allowed up to heaven. Their departure allows a small amount of energy to return and replenish some of the angel's mana.

Note: if an angel runs out of mana, they will die.



Berserker
There isn't much triggering or complexity to this guy. He's a battle-frenzied dude who just loves to rip through the battlefield with is axes. Most of his skills are based off of normal in-game spells, and are not at all trigger enhanced. None the less, he has his own new and unique tactical uses. He's great at tearing apart the foe alongside allied troops. His similarity with the D2's Barbarian is distinct.

More dedicated to melee combat than any other Empire hero, The Berserker excels at attacking alongside numerous allied troops. Some can say his specialty is crowd control. Armed with two Warcry spells, he can both strengthen nearby allies as well as weaken nearby enemy units. He would likely be seen battling along with troops, waiting until both lines clash before hitting both Warcries and setting Berserk to auto-cast. He is however somewhat limited by his movement speed, and can be easily chased down if on the run. Another downside is his rather low intelligence value, limiting his use of Warcries.

Relic: Primal Masks
Purchasable by the Berserker are the Primal Mask Relics. These grant him an agility bonus as well as a chance to Bash an opponent.


Berserk
A staple spell. Pumped with adrenaline and his lust for battle, the Berserker whips himself into a frenzy of swings and slashes. Use of this ability boosts his attack speed by a notable margin, increasing with level, and can be set to autocast for ease of activation.

Warcry
Letting loose a roar, the Berserker lets his presence known to nearby allies, heightening moral. He and his allies fight on with greater confidence, knowing now that their attack strength had been increased by a percentage for a certain period.

Intimidate
With a howl of terror (pun intended), the Berserker strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies, inhibiting their fighting capabilities. In their terror, they receive a percentage reduction in attack damage as well as a numeric loss of armor.

Primal Spite (ultimate)
The spirit of the Berserker is a strong and spiteful one, not willing to give up even when struck down. His adrenaline-fueled spirit surges through his body, increasing his battle prowess. The bonuses of this passive ultimate are two-fold. Firstly, it gives the Berserker a modified Bash ability, allowing his great strength to disorient enemies. Second and foremost, Primal Spite gives the Berserker a chance to Reincarnate when killed. Note that this is a percent chance; there is still a decent chance of it not kicking off.




Siege Master
The Empire's military order is a strict system. Only the very best warriors have the honor of joining the Siege Master elite. With heavy armor protecting both him and his steed, this military commander fights upon the front line with his troops. While his distinct armor decorations and champion steed are significant symbols of his status, the Siege Master trademark is the giant glaive they carry as a shield.

The deadly Siege Master is poorly suited for combat verses masses of enemy troops. Despite his heavy armor and evade-like ability, his attacks are relatively slow. He'd usually stay behind allied troops and assist them with Defensive Orders and Glaive Throw, then rushing onto the melee front once the opposing troops had already acquired their targets. He can become downright deadly when he and a group of troops storm an enemy base, however. His armor can easily absorb tower fire and use a variety of abilities to quickly devastate defenses. He is however relatively massive, thus making escape somewhat difficult.

Relic: Armor Flair
Purchasable by the Siege Master are pieces of Armor Flare Relics (like awards and such). These grant him a strength bonus as well as a mild Devotion Aura.


Glaive Throw
Siege Masters train their bodies to be in top physical shape. Their massive arms are especially strong, and they can utilize them to throw their giant glaive in a straight line. While it costs them their shield, the force with which they fling the weapon crushes through armor and flesh, devastating anything in it's wake.

Note: Glaive Throw deals double damage to buildings. After usage, both Glaive Throw and Glaive Tactics are disabled until the thrown Glaive is retrieved or after 30 seconds.

Defensive Orders
As a superior officer, the Siege Master has authority over troops under his command. By issuing orders, he can boost the armor of nearby allies by a numeric value, as well as increasing his own already-significant defenses.

Glaive Tactics
The Glaive used by Siege Masters have a variety of applications. In addition to being a deadly projectile, they make excellent shields capable of blocking an enemy's attack. The glaive is also a very effective weapon against fortified armor compared to axe and sword. This skill gives the Siege Master a chance to evade attacks as well as deal additional damage to buildings.

Demolition (ultimate)
The Siege Master's deadliest weapon is held in a small satchel held on his person. Contained within is are two potion bottles and a connection ring. The Siege Master can easily open both bottles and connect them on horse back. Upon completing assembly, he drops the concoction on the ground and rallies the troops. They have 5 seconds to flee before the entire area goes up in flame.

All right. I have a few screenshots to share so as to boost interest. There are a total of 10 pictures, so bear with me.



Here is an ability for the Pyromancer called Hot Feet, a reproduction of the Sorceress's Blaze ability from Diablo 2. Somebody, I believe it was Das Jank, had a map with this in the Spell Vault. But since the map was locked, I just went and did my own version. It probibly works the same too.



This is Inferno, the Pyromancer's ultimate ability. It sucks up all of her mana over several seconds and deals it in damage to nearby foes. The Starfall graphic will be gone in the final version.



Cataclism, the Mage Breaker's ultimate, can be seen here. It's actually kind of a poor angle, and the void's attack is just coming out from it. Oh well, you get the idea.



Here is the Lich/Necromancer with his most powerful army possible. The Lich has two spells for spawning minions: Raise Dead, and Skeletal Mastery. Raise dead summons 3 skels at level 1 and an additional skel with each level. Skeletal mastery is a passive that improves skels with each level. These are 7 (max skel #) level 5 (max Mastery #) skels on the move with their master...



...And here they are again raping a Bandit Lord. The Lich/Necromancer also has a spell called Corpse Explosion (oh, how original) which I actually gave a nifty effect. Sadly, I didn't get any good shots of it.



Here is a Dark Shaman/Berserker tag team, which is rare, cause the Shaman and Berserker will be on opposing sides in the final. Visible are two of the Shaman's three ward abilities at work.



And here are all three. Thanks goes to Lord Vexorian for the Entrapment Ward idea.



Here is our tag team once again on their way down the hall after cleaning out the map's central room (the one with all the switches). To the south of here is the jungle area, which sports a river.




While I know not cropping is frowned upon, I kept these full screen so you could see the extent of terrain work I've done so far (I was feeling frisky at the time). This is the only part of the map done so extensivly at this point, but I plan to have most of the rest looking this way by the final.

More hero statistics:


Samurai
The Samurai is a quick and powerful hero who battles by the honorable teachings of the Bushido. He fights not alone, for the swords he wields contain spirits that assist him on the battlefield. He will decimate the enemy unto his dying breath, and be back again before his foes know it.

The Spirit abilities utilized by the Samurai are very similar to the Assassin's charge-up skills from D2. When set to auto-cast, each attack the Samurai makes grants him a short-lived bonus. The effect can be stacked a number of times, but each layer runs on a separate timer, so unless he can continue to attack, the stacks will quickly peel away. Each skill level invested into the Spirit skills increases the number of times they can be stacked as well as the length of each layer's bonus.

Relic: Shogunate Armor
Purchasable by the Samurai are the Shogunate Armor Relics. These grant him a strength bonus as well as an armor bonus.


Spirit of Steel
The swords of the Samurai were forged for slaying, and with every slash the Samurai makes, the sword spirits rid the blade of blood and reinforce dull edges. This increases the Samurai's attack and gives him a slight chance of making a critical hit.

Spirit of Flame
Spirits of the swords are intangible things, but can still draw upon magic. Every time the Samurai utilizes these spirits to strike a foe, they manifest his swords with a fiery blaze, giving his attacks a splash effect. Each layer increases the splash radius.

Bushido
The strict and honorable teachings of the Samurai dictate not only a way of battle, but a way of life. They place honor and loyalty high above one's own life. By fighting by these ideals, the Samurai reduces the respawn wait and gold penalty of death, as well as gaining a slight reduction of magic damage.

Sakura (ultimate)
The Samurai is a powerful foe, but has speed to his advantage as well. Bunching his muscles, his can burst through enemy troops in an impenetrable flurry of blades, dealing immense damage to any in his wake.



Bladedancer
The mercenary Bladedancer is a cunning and agile hero adept at eliminating single foes and confusing enemy masses. Other heroes, especially the more massive ones, would often find it difficult to maneuver around troops to get to the front line. The Bladedancer can easily navigate through crowds, pounce on an opposing hero, and then escape before anyone knows what happened.

Relic: Katanas
Purchasable by the Sword Dancer are the Katana Relics. These grant him an agility bonus as well as a chance to deal a Critical Strike.


Hoodwink
This skill stays true to the Bladedancer's ninja-like nature. Low on life, in a tight spot, or simply for the speed advantage, this stealthy hero masks himself in shadow and slips away, leaving in his place a short-lived replica of himself to draw enemy fire. The mimic lasts no more than a second or two and neither deals nor receives damage.

Sunder
This is an entirely custom-made ability made by FM_TertiaryEye. The Bladedancer leaps high into the air, draws his sword, and crashes down upon his target. This is his primary method of dealing damage aside from normal attacks. As skill level goes up, damage and the distance of his leap increase.

Reflex
Another vital skill. The Bladedancer hones his reflexes, greatly boosting his reaction rate. As a result he can dodge around troops by reducing his collision size. This makes him great for chasing down a fleeing near-death hero without being slowed by other units. This skill also gives him a chance to evade attacks.

Undecided (ultimate)



Ranger
Raised within and akin to the wilds, Rangers are ranged attack specialists who are at home within the woodlands. They attack with bow and arrow and most of her skills revolve around this weapon. She can be a wily and devious opponent if used correctly. Attacking from afar is ideal; she becomes vulnerable up close.

Relic: Arrowheads
Purchasable by the Ranger are the Arrowhead Relics. These grant her a damage bonus as well as a chance to deal double damage.


Flurryshot
Grasping several arrows in her drawing hand, the Ranger can save time by going straight from firing to cocking and firing again. This allows her a great speed advantage, but does have a slight effect on accuracy. Set to auto-cast, she will take a handful every ten seconds and fire several volleys in rapid succession.

Poison Arrows
Her experiences in the wilds have taught the Ranger many things about poisonous plants and substances. By dipping the tips of her arrows in these various venom's, the targets of her shots will slowly take additional damage over time. This skill, when set to auto-cast and combined with Flurryshot, can be lethal.

Natural Affinity
During her life in the forests, the Ranger has learnt to take advantage of the terrain around her. She can quickly and easily find spots to hide and wait in ambush. During the night, these locations can even be utilized as cover if she were to be in a desperate situation. This skill increases the Ranger's attack range and enables the Shadow Meld ability when initially learnt.

Ascent (ultimate)
If caught in a hazardous situation in which she cannot escape by ground, the Ranger can summon a aerial familiar from the forest and take to the sky. From her mount, she can rain arrows down almost with impunity.

Wow kick butt screenshots! i have't checked this thread in a while but a suggestion to you: get custom skins and icons :P