After collecting most of the runes for the K'thir forest (missing some legendaries), i decided to give the new Devotee of De'lim theme a shot. To my disappointment, I've found the theme to be boring & unpolished. Some mechanics/interactions are outright broken, others aren't there at all when they seem like they should be. The following are changes i would like to see for the theme. There are bugs listed in here too, I'm sure, but i haven't played with the theme long enough to know how everything worked before the transfer to DOG. Gnarlwood Willowind *Nature's Balance name changed to not conflict with relic of the same name. *Nature's Blessing changed to negate Amplifications & Vulnerabilities in an AOE (4-5?), while leaving the relic global. Elven Treecaller *Tree Form changed to grant Take Root instead of Boost: Treefolk 1 *(Upgrade) Take Root replaced with Boost: Treefolk 2 *Treeform changed to not reset the CD of Summon Treespirit *Race changed to Elf from Elf, Treefolk *Tree Form changed to grant races Treefolk & Plant while transformed *Tree Form changed to have an 8 turn duration (all transformations should have a duration) Aspect of Life *Supercharged 2 increased to Supercharged 3 on base *Lay Hands changed to not display rank 1 (there are no ranks) *Gift of Fertility fixes: Minimum of 1 clause changed to only affect max CD Changed to affect all units (not just champions) Changed to affect passive abilities (biogenesis) Changed to only affect units of the same faction Changed to affect abilities already on CD Ruthless Enforcer *(Upgrade) Phantom Dash moved to base *(Upgrade) Berserk Attack 2 added *(Upgrade) Dodge 2 reduced to rank 1 *(Upgrade) Block 2 removed *(Upgrade) Reflexes 2 added *DEF reduced to 1 from 3 *Tough 1 added to base *Health reduced to 52 from 56 *Race Barbarian added to base (part of larger theme rework for Wildkin. Address later) Seeker of the Source - upgrade balance *(Upgrade) Relocate Relic moved to base *Fire Acolyte moved to upgrades *Detection 3 reduced to Detection 1 *(Upgrade) Deflect: Fire moved to base *(Upgrade) Detection 3 added *(Upgrade) Flamtestrike 1 increased to rank 2 *Source crystal added as a separate rune, so that having a legendary isn't a requirement to play this theme. Twisted Fireoak - damages self *Teleport 2 changed to Reckless Teleport 2 *(Upgrade) Teleport 3 changed to Reckless Teleport 3 *Fire Walker added to base (At the end of each turn, spaces within 4 of this champion become Shallow Lava for 3 turns.) *Immunity: Fire removed from base *Regeneration 2 added to base *Multiattack 2 reduced to rank 1 *Damage increased to 12 from 11 *Health reduced to 47 *Take Root removed from base Woodmarshal *(Upgrade) Boost Treefolk 1 increased to rank 2 *Channel Fuel changed to not function at 0 Nora Enforcer of the Circle *Class changed to Warrior Wizard *Balance's rank removed (there is only one rank) *(Upgrade) Vindictive changed to Enforcement Action *Dictate description changed to refer to "real" champions instead of "non-illusion" *Devotee of De'lim added to base Overgrowth *Effect length changed to 6 turns, affected relic loses 3 hp per turn, one sapling spawns for every 2 turns this effect took place, effect is considered to have ended (and the saplings spawned) once the relic has been destroyed or when the 6 turns have passed. Germination Engine Description changed to read "This relic has Biogenesis (When this unit is deployed and at the end of every third of its turns, a Level 1 Sapling is summoned to an adjacent space.). Friendly Plants within 5 spaces gain Forest Walker. Catharsis Bloom Description changed to read "This relic has Shadowspawn, Catharsis Bloom (At the end of each turn, champions within 2 spaces heal 4 HP), and Propagate: Self (At the end of every 6th turn, a non-Shadowspawn version of this unit is deployed to a random location within 4 spaces of a random friendly copy of this unit). Greenhouse Changed to affect race Plant instead of Treefolk, non-stacking clause added, DMG bonus reduced from 3 to 2. Devotee of De'lim Description changed to read "This champion gains +2 DMG for 6-8 turns when a Plant/Treefolk dies from Fire damage. This effect stacks. The duration of this ability resets whenever it is triggered" Enforcement Action Changed to only affect other champions with Devotee of De'lim Fuel - Spell Description changed to read "Target friendly Plant/Treefolk takes 15 Fire damage, is Consumed by Fire, and gains Fire Volatility for 2 turns. If the target dies as a result of this spell (the 15 damage portion), 50% of it's Nora cost is refunded." *Flavor text quote changed to be by De'lim instead of Ne'lim. Many of these changes aren't meant to be buffs/nerfs, but are rather intended to change how the runes are played. Some changes are intended to increase the viability of different upgrade paths, please keep this in mind. Any and all input is appreciated.
Not too sure about some of the changes you suggest to the theme but this one stood out to me. Now as an "on and off" player I might not be seeing some hidden purpose here but to me those are some borderline shoebox changes you're suggesting for Fireoak. - Fire Walker makes sure he can't be played in a plant deck at all and is a nuisance in any other deck as well. - A stationary champ that can only move through Reckless Teleport? A coin toss for failure every turn, nice. - Remove Take Root. Why? I mean, I see how Fire Walker can have several uses in the Delim Theme but seemingly at the cost of making the Fireoak a Delim Deck only rune.
I considered the niche issue, but, is it so bad to have one niche Treefolk that's basically made of fire? I don't like how relocation interacts with Take Root (it doesn't). I feel that they should be fairly exclusive of each other, and generally shouldn't be found on the same champ. What i would like to see, is the introduction of abilities that only function once a champion has used Take Root. In this case, i would like to see a special relocation ability, with a heavy price attached. That's not the reason i removed it though; i removed it because i think it would be OP combined with Fire Walker. Trees have the ability to become very tanky, very quickly. Now, how hard to kill would an 8 DEF 60+ HP tree that constantly generates lava around it be? What's more, i feel that the absence of Take Root fits it's theme well, in that it's a Tree committed to solitude due to being cursed, constantly wandering from place to place. Also consider that Take Root gives advantages to champions occupying Grass terrain, and that this champion would generate lava beneath it. Champions power levels can be tweaked through basic stats. Iteratively honing their fantasies & their mechanics, this should come first. If Take Root is your only problem with my design though, then I'm glad, since it's an issue of potential stats and little more (RNG, DMG, DEF, Health). Additional abilities I've considered for this rune: Deflect: Fire Fire Volatility (would trigger off of Fire Walker constantly) Less regeneration than fire damage taken from Fire Walker (constantly, slowly degrading Health) - This wouldn't fit the theme very well "Cursed long ago by Grimlic..." Pariah (thematic, would prevent all kinds of abuses) A possible, and very interesting build for the Fireoak would be... Fire Volatility + Pariah + Fire Walker + lack of Fire immunity + Regeneration equal to damage taken from Fire Walker... But i thought it would be overwhelming to anything that approached it. Reckless Telleport would help to mitigate abuse of this, as you wouldn't know exactly where you would land. It's range is also enough to compensate for the difference (landing in an undesirable spot but still likely in range to attack).
