Wips, the Defective Wisp

Wips is an unnatural specimen. He was blessed with an unnaturally high amount of energy, but that fact is actually detrimental to his role -- if he takes on an Ancient form, the energy becomes unstable and he finds himself, sooner or later, reverting back to a wisp state to contain it. Though this makes him unable to produce units for the battlefield, this high energy state allows him to enter the battlefield directly and attain Ancient forms that are typically stronger than their normal counterparts. It also allows him to be slightly more solid, allowing him to physically attack, a trait not shared among the other wisps.

Wips, the Defective Wisp

Stats :

Strength : 18 + 2.0
Agility : 9 + 1.5
Energy : 33 +3.0

Primary Stat : Strength
Base Damage : 18 - 22 (36 - 40 with base stat)
Base Armor : 1
Speed : 325

Yes, I know, it looks rather dismal -- his primary stat is strength, yet his growth and base cater to his energy. He's a melee hero with low armor and even his base damage is lower than usual. This is done intentionally and makes sense to his character. Don't worry, the below aims to balance it.

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Skill 1 : Nature's Blessing
Wips, through his intense effort to overcome his disability, has attracted the attention of nature itself. While in the form of an Ancient, Wips will receive a portion of nature's aid to grow stronger [values will be addressed in each specific Ancient form]. He also moves with more haste, both inside Ancient form and out. This will also benefit his perSona, though to a lesser degree (values in parenthesis).

Level 1
4% (2%) move speed increase. 10% (5%) attack speed increase.

Level 2
8% (4%) move speed increase. 20% (10%) attack speed increase.

Level 3
12% (6%) move speed increase. 30% (15%) attack speed increase.

Level 4
16% (8%) move speed increase. 40% (20%) attack speed increase.

Wips only passive skill and one that benefits him (and his persona) overall.

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Skill 2 : Ancient of War
Wips grows into an Ancient of War.

Converts stats based on Wips' stats in Wisp form. Base damage remains the same as in Wisp form. While in this form, Wips gains entirely new skills (2 "regular" skills that level up each time the skill itself is leveled and 1 "ultimate" which only has two levels, gained at level 3 and 4). Wips will remain in this form for 30 seconds and the cooldown is 60 (30) / 55 (25) / 50 (20) / 45 (15). The numbers in parenthesis indicate the "observed" cooldown, since the cooldown will begin going down as soon as it is used and the duration is 30 seconds. Thus, if you are in your form the full duration, you will have the observed cooldown after coming out of it. All of Wips' shield will be depleted after coming out of this form, even if the Ancient's form's shields were not. It has a two second cast time, during which the (ancient being build) animation will occur.

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Strength : Energy * (1/ 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4) [based on Nature's Blessing. Level 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4]
Agility : Strength * (.7 / .75 / .8 / .85 / .9)
Energy : Agility * (.8/ .85/ .9/ .95/ 1)


=Thorny Grasp (passive)

Each of Wips' attacks will cut deep into the enemy, causing minor damage over time and even affecting their natural movement if he lands enough blows.

Deals 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 damage every two seconds for eight seconds. If hit three times, slows by 10%. If hit two times after that, you will be slowed by 25%. Damage stacks up to five times. Being hit again will reset the duration of the current slow, and the "five times" mark is kept track by the slow, not the damage buff. (If you are currently slowed by 10%, it takes two more hits to slow you by 25%, even if you are currently taking less than 3 attacks' worth of bleed damage).


=Root Whip (active, targeting)

A root shoots from Wips' feet towards the target, grabbing it and pulling it towards him before holding him in place. The target also takes damage for every unit he collides with.

Has a 600 / 750 / 900 / 1050 range and holds the unit in place for 1.8 / 2.2 / 2.6 / 3 seconds. The target also takes 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 damage for every unit he collides with (capped at 6 / 6 / 7 / 7 units).

This is a targeting spell -- the root will ignore all other units on its path and will follow the target. If the target gets outside of the range (of the caster), then the root will fail.

Cooldown : 14 seconds.


=Vengeful Forest (active)

A ring of dark red-brown trees surround the caster in an AoE (800 with caster as the center). The trees can be destroyed but have an ability that damages the enemy to issue the last hit. Trees last for 4 / 8 seconds, have 200 / 300 health, and deal 150 / 225 damage.

Cooldown : 31 seconds (can only be used during each individual transformation)
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Skill 3 : Ancient of Wonders
Wips grows into an Ancient of Wonders.

Converts stats based on Wips' stats in Wisp form. Base damage remains the same as in Wisp form. While in this form, Wips gains entirely new skills (2 "regular" skills that level up each time the skill itself is leveled and 1 "ultimate" which only has two levels, gained at level 3 and 4). Wips will remain in this form for 30 seconds and the cooldown is 60 (30) / 55 (25) / 50 (20) / 45 (15). The numbers in parenthesis indicate the "observed" cooldown, since the cooldown will begin going down as soon as it is used and the duration is 30 seconds. Thus, if you are in your form the full duration, you will have the observed cooldown after coming out of it. All of Wips' shield will be depleted after coming out of this form, even if the Ancient's form's shields were not. It has a two second cast time, during which the first two seconds of the (ancient protector being built) animation will occur.
(same as the Ancient of War)

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Strength : Energy * (1.1 / 1.25 / 1.4 / 1.55 / 1.7)
Agility : Agility * (1 / .85 / .7 / .55 / .4)
Energy : Strength * (1 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4)


=Stoneskin (passive)

In this form, Wips' skill in hard enough to provide protection to even the sturdiest attack while decreasing the effectiveness of the most potent spells.

Reduces physical damage taken by 12 / 20 / 28 / 36, reduces damage taken by magic by 7% / 14% / 21% / 28%, and increases armor by 3 / 5 / 7 / 9.


=Boulder Roll (active, target ground)

Rolls a boulder in a straight line in the direction of the targeted point. The boulder will roll along its path, damaging and displacing units it collides with in the direction it is moving. Deals 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 damage. The boulder rolls 1000 distance.

Cooldown : 12 seconds


=Gravel Drive (active, target ground)

Wips takes a few seconds to get ready and then jumps towards the targeted point, causing damage and slowing the units in the area. Startled, the affected units will also begin attacking Wips in desparation.

Cast time is 2 seconds and cast range is 800 / 1400. Deals 180 / 360 damage to units within 250 range, 50% of that to units in 250 - 400 range, and 25% of that to units of 400 - 500. Slows for 30% for 3 seconds. All units within 325 units from Wips will be forced to attack him (taunt).

Cooldown : 31 seconds (can only be used once during each transformation)

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Ultimate : Tree of Life / Ages / Wonders (depends on level of skill)
Wips grows into the most potent of the Ancients -- the great tree of Life / Ages / Wonders.

Converts stats based on Wips' stats in Wisp form. Base damage remains the same as in Wisp form. While in this form, Wips gains entirely new skills (3 "regular" skills that level up each time the skill itself is leveled and 1 "ultimate" which only has one level, gained at level 3). Wips will remain in this form for 40 seconds and the cooldown is 180 seconds. All of Wips' shield will be depleted after coming out of this form, even if the Ancient's form's shields were not. It has a three second cast time, during which the first three seconds of the (ancient protector being built) animation will occur.

The key difference between this form and the others is the longer duration and the much longer cooldown. Also, when the ultimate is completed, all of Wips' skills will be put on their respective cooldowns, meaning you will ride out the full 180 seconds and will require the full cooldown time of your other skills before you can transform again. You also get three base skills and one ultimate in this form, giving you one more skill in comparison to the other forms. Also note the extra second of casting time.

Tree will also not gain movement or attack speed bonuses from Nature's Blessing and has its base speed at 280. Upon changing into Tree, your shield will be refilled back to 100%.

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Strength : Energy * (1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6 / 1.8 / 2 )
Agility : Energy * (.4 / .4 / .4 / .4 / .4)
Energy : Energy * (1.2 / 1.25 / 1.3 / 1.35 / 1.4)


=Invigorating Aura (passive, aura)
Wips, in this form, is an inspiring sight indeed. He encourages the units around him to fight harder and for longer. This does not affect Wips himself and gives reduced effects to allied heroes, who are not as easily impressed.

Increases damage by [10 (5) / 20 (10) / 30 (15)]%, armor by [2 (0) / 4 (0) / 6 (0)] and health regeneration rate by [4 (0) / 6 (2) / 8 (4)] in a 900 AoE (units within 450 from the hero).


=Destabilizing Energy (passive)
Every 8 seconds, if Wips has any energy, he will lose 1/5 of his max and create an explosion targeting a random enemy unit within 800 range from him, dealing AoE damage equal to 1.5 / 2 / 2.5 times the energy lost in a 300 AoE centered at the target. If there is no enemy within the range, then 1/5 of his max energy will still be lost, but there will be no explosion.


=Excess Growth (active, buff)
Wips accesses the energy of the target and gives it release, greatly increasing its combat ability but also causing damage to the body.

Gives [15 / 30 / 45]% extra damage to a target hero but causes its attacks to damage its shield equal to half the bonus amount. If there is no shield, then the buffed attacking unit will take the full damage of its bonus amount. Lasts until Wips leaves Tree form.

Cooldown : 15 seconds.

=Release
Wips, in this form, is finally able to release the full destructive power of his energy.

Wips digs his roots into the ground, drawing physical stability as he releases his energy from his body. While releasing energy, Wips becomes magic immune and his shield is reduced at a rapid rate (18% a second). Should he run out of shield, then he will begin to cause damage to his health at a rate of 20% of his max shield. Wips *can* die from this. The effects change depending on how far away the units are from Wips.

650 range from him (1300 AoE)
All units (even allies) will be pulled slightly towards Wips,

500 range from him (1000 AoE)
All enemy units will be slowed by 15% and take damage equal to 3% of Wips' max shield. Allied units will be slowed by 10% and take 2% of Wips' max shield. All units will be pulled slightly towards Wips.

400 range from him (800 AoE)
All enemy units will be slowed by 30% and take damage equal to 7% of Wips' max shield. Allied units will be slowed by 20% and take damage equal to 4% of Wips' max shield. All units will be pulled a bit more forcefully towards Wips.

250 range from him (500 AoE)
Every 5 seconds, all enemies will be entangled for 1.4 seconds and take 10% of Wips' max shield as damage. Allied units may be entangled by chance and take 6% of Wips' max shield as damage.

A mention -- effects do not stack. If you are within 250 range, you will not take 20% of Wips' max shield as damage (10 + 7 + 3), you will only take 10%. Also, regular units are not affected by the damage, only the effects. Only heroes take the damage.
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Finally finished. Don't know if it's viable or not, but it was really haunting me throughout the day so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. I also did my best to balance him, though I was barred a bit thanks to the required stat growth and base. Thoughts? Criticism?

Souns pretty good, I just skimmed it but I think I like.

Mm. It took forever for me to complete.

His strength is his ability to adapt to certain roles, but he is most definitely a primary support hero. To come with his semi-flexibility is the lack of a "full" hero -- each form only has 2 - 3 skills except for the last, which gets its ult rather late into the game. He doesn't farm well and is rather easily killed as a wisp. The two / three second requirement to go into a form also limits his ability to just jump into something to get away -- it's to initiate, not to escape. In fact, he doesn't really have an escape at all. The only thing that comes close has, essentially, a 45 second cooldown and a 2 second charge time.

First form -- great capturing skills and rather powerful melee. The bleed damage will basically keep their shields down for a bit, which means you can theoretically whip and then bleed them so they don't regen shields and then whip again, though the whip is far from impossible to foresee or dodge. Its "ult" is probably what keeps it in the running late-game, as you can't persona out of it. You *can* escape if you really feel it's necessary, you just take a bit of damage on the way out. It also lets your allies get you out of there if it looks grim.

Final Verdict -- 1v1 hero though a definite plus with other allied heroes around.

Second form is for those multi-hero battles. You won't be utterly annihilating anyone anytime soon, as your job is to get in there and cause a disruption. Roll the boulder and then charge your jump into the spot and you will land on everyone hit by the stone. Thanks to your damage reduction and high health, you're far from the best person for them to target, but they won't have much of a choice once they are taunted. This is the perfect time for your allies to swoop in.

Final Verdict -- Team Battle Hero. Anything less can typically be handled better by the first form.

The third form is where you can definitely see the supporting nature of Wips. Whereas the first form dedicates to taking out a single hero and the second form dedicates to disrupting an entire team, the third form is centered around letting everyone else do the work but with your supportive bonuses. The third form is rather powerful indeed, especially stat-wise, but to address that, we see that the third form is self-destructive and not only limits the usage of the skill itself, but *all* of Wips' skills. In fact, it in effect triples the observed cooldown for all of the other forms and limits your usage, meaning you will not only contribute less, but also be more vulnerable. In this form, Wips' bonuses do not just affect heroes, but creeps, too, which can make taking down towers much easier.

Final Verdict -- Team Battle or 1v0.

Yes. I figured as much and posted this knowing that it would most likely not receive such a blessing. It just seemed a disservice to myself to not post it since I'd been thinking about it so much. This also "finalized" it so that I wouldn't debate with myself over what kind of skills and such it should have, a process that would have continued until I did so. And if this breeds any other ideas, all the better.

Of course, I'm still interested in tweaking numbers, regardless of whether it's accepted or not (good practice, either way). Any comments on those? Anything you find disagreeable?

before i do provide an indepth analysis, i want to point out that Nemesis is absolutely right.

the problem is that perSonas is already a complex game. for advanced gamers, such as yourself, you may be intrigued and happy with a complicated hero like wips. unfortunately, most people on bnet are incredibly dumb and don't understand anything unless it's super simple. as a result, heroes that do have multiple forms, in a game that's about changing forms already, ends up being overly complicated. furthermore, in practice, these heroes tend not to be used because they're simply not practical. changing forms mid-fight or reacting in specific ways is simply too slow for the pace of the game.

an analogy to dota would be the invoker hero. he has a lot of potential in what he is capable of doing, yet MOST people will do the following: learn 2 abiltiies and stick with those two as their main weapons. "advanced pro" invokers may use a third spell occasionally. the truth is even the pace of dota is simply too fast for invoker to switch his spells on the fly.

similarly, altering forms on a hero in personas, especally between 4 different forms, end up being impractical and unused.

i would consider fleshing out four full heroes out of the concepts into their own stand-alone beasts. the whole point of perSonas is to allow you to pick any of the two heroes and use them in combination with one another. aka, if one if your heroes are slow but tough and another is fast but weak, etc. one is a caster, another is a tank, etc.

so.SuaVe wrote: (Bunch of Stuff)

Mmhm. I realized that long ago, hence my belief that it would not be accepted. I simply overflow with ideas, though (already have another hero suggestion), and if I get caught up in an idea, then I will be unable to move on until I clean myself of it (hence my post).

Do with it what you will. Making it was the fun part, playing it is just an added bonus I can live without -- whether or not it's implemented, I'm happy just to have it here.

And yes, it would be so very, very easy to change any one of those heroes into their very own hero (I'm looking at you, Ancient of War)... but that feels almost cheap now that I've included them in with Wips. I'd rather just move on and make completely different concepts now that I've "finished" this (though I would still very much like feedback so I can continue to make this hero the best it could be).

And yes, I understand your Invoker analogy. I use Invoker as the situation demands and that usually leads me to unorthodox builds, only to have my teammates yell or laugh at me. He's so versatile. I've even gone into a 2v2 -arom and have people ask me if I was hacking my health because I regen'd so fast (they focus-fired me, so I began leveling up quas). The enemy team wasn't bad, either, and it's not as if Invoker is new anymore... it was probably the saddest I've felt in a very, very long time.

Playing Wips could either be very fun or very aggravating, depending on the type of person, as well. I put a timer to discourage reaction and to encourage forethought. Once you change, you're basically racing against the clock to do whatever you changed to do in the first place and then get the heck out of there, since Wips is far from an escape-artist and is incredibly fragile when he comes out of a form (though his passive makes his other persona able to escape more easily).

In conclusion -- regardless of whether it's viable to implement him, could I get some constructive criticism to make him better? This is actually the first hero I've ever suggested... ever... and I'd like feedback to improve

I'll also try to keep shapeshift heroes to a minimum. I mainly included it thanks to the "defective wisp" theme -- I was not actively seeking a theme that would support multiple shapeshifting.

I laughed at the name, but NemesisMoose got it absolutely right. It's simply not feasible to play a hero like this.

The only thing I can think of is something like this: Combining a morph with another feature for each ability.

For example, the hero transforms into a giant spiky thing and simultaneously casts Fan of Knives. You use this ability as you would use a Fan of Knives, but the aftereffect causes your hero to have thorny armor for a short duration afterwards due to the fact that he had to turn into a big spiky thing to cast the Fan of Knives.

Mind you, the above is clunky / complex anyway. Why the fuck do we need a transformation to just use a goddamn fan of knives? We don't, unless there's some really clever synergy involved. But don't expect a hero to be any sort of ability-set role-changer or invoker or what have you, there just isn't time for that in the flow of the game.