Haothehare's Suggestions

I just bumped into Sokolov online while playing Pox recently and PM'd him saying I have ideas and suggestions so he pointed me in this direction. In the past I have made many many suggestions and to my surprise and great personal pride many of them were made into runes! (ie. Mika Feshcaller, Broodmother, Masochism, DE Masochist, Masochism (spell), etc.)

Since I don't usually post on forums that much and since I've played Poxnora on and off over the years since the release of Drums of War, and largely due to the OP power creep bullshit by SOE, well... most of you probably don't know me and that's fine. I kind of do this "data dumping wall of text" type of post once every few months or years to unload some ideas and again... to my great surprise and pride a lot of these ideas become implemented.

I want to keep all my ideas in one post so that I"m not creating too many new threads or spamming the forums. This is why this post will be a "wall of text". That said I think this is far better than to post each of my ideas as a separate thread so please bear with me. I haven't posted a thread like this in a LONG time and even after Sokolov got this game back from SOE control I was still bitter about what they had done with this game and was very doubtful that this game would survive or last long, but thanks to all the work that was put in to revamp the game and rebalance everything I have a lot of newfound faith in this game once again.

I'm going to organize the following ideas by Factions>Themes>New Ideas/Suggested Changes with each being a subcategory... such as UD is a faction and within that faction there is a Spider theme and within that theme I have new ideas and also suggested changes.

Since I am still mostly a UD Zealot... I'll start off with UD. A quick disclaimer... I haven't been on these forums for years so I may have some ideas similar to what have been mentioned, this is not intentional and I'm not trying to steal any ideas... if we have similar ideas that means we all want the same thing for Poxnora Also, I spend most of my time for Poxnora actually playing the game rather than reading forum posts, so there's that as well


UNDER DEPTHS:
General Thoughts: In the past 2 or so years (yes I measure time in Poxnora in years)... Underdepths have been receiving a lot of range options and changes such as champions with 1-3 range (which fits within UD faction bonus), as well as longer range options with 2-4 and 3-5 being far more common nowadays but the 3-6 or 4-6 range being severely challenged. While I understand that giving a high damage faction long range makes it incredibly powerful and OP, I've always been interested in UD not because of ranged champions but champions who can do things that other factions can't... such as Deep Elf Assassin. While UD doesn't need any drastic changes per se, I believe it would make UD a more interesting faction by giving UD more options such as abilities on champions and spells to "gap close" or get closer to the enemy champions. One such spell such as Boundless Enthusiasm stands out as an example of this concept. But instead of giving UD more and more long ranged options with high damage, I think it would be better for UD to be able to "reach further" by being better able to chase down enemy champions. I'll go over some of these things in the following suggestions.

> Deep Elves/Nefari/Grimlic's Treachery Theme:
The Deep Elves are my favorite theme and the first theme that I started with in Poxnora back in Drums of War. I made and posted the Broodmother on the forums and she was the "lynchpin" of the Spider theme and it grew from there where more spiders came out instead of just Rust Demon, ArachnoDemon, and BloodLetter. Now I bring up Broodmother for a very specific reason. I think every theme within a faction should have all of the roles covered. By roles I mean there should be a champion within the theme that can handle a specific task or role. Back when I was thinking up Broodmother I wanted to make something that was central to the theme of spiders which was to make more spiderlings... there was already Ghern Birthmother in the game so Broodmother made the most sense in a spider theme. However, within the Deep Elves theme, outside of Grimlic, there aren't any runes that stand out as a rune that is an absolutely central role to the theme. As far as Deep Elves go, Grimlic's Treachery is one of the things that come to mind in terms of building a BG around that. But even with Treachery decks there isn't a "central theme" to Deep Elves. I'm not saying give Deep Elves a racial ability, but what I'm saying is, what are they all united by? Who are they? All this comes from their story and background as once proud elves from K'thir Forest and one way or another have fallen or betrayed K'thir or were deceived by Maxxarek. Deep elves also contain probably rune for rune the greatest number of hot scantily dressed females. So far Deep Elves seem to be just a lot of random and lost people who share hatred for KF and are tainted as Demons. There isn't anything that sets them apart specifically as unique from the other pure Demons from UD and furthermore there's no one central theme (such as zombies having zombie apocalypse to swarm zombies). While I don't think there needs to be a racial ability added for Deep Elves, I do think that I can suggest a few new runes as well as some changes to existing things within this "theme" to freshen it up a bit.

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Deep Elf Matriarch
I think the first thing that comes to mind when trying to design a rune for the Deep Elves, something new and yet something that seem to fit in well is that they have been displaced from their homes long ago. They all came from K'thir Forest originally but now they are very different, they have new ambitions - the younger ones - and then there's the older generation of Deep Elves (I see the Nefari as mainly the new or the young who grew up in Sheoul and never saw KF as a home) who like to step in from time to time to remind everyone where they came from or what ties them all together, their bond of blood. This is where I got the idea of the Deep Elf Matriarch. Sure, the Deep Elves hate the KF and the Elves from KF hate the Deep Elves, but there has to be a generation of Elves who knew those stories! And more importantly, in the events that followed Grimlic's Descent, those who followed him to Sheoul, those who were committed to Grimlic, who are now just as old as he is, they must have a voice and they must be somewhere within the Deep Elf communities! They are your old people who have stories to tell... they are stern, they are wise, and they bear old grudges and carry with them old memories. This is the source of my idea for Matriarch, and finally, the one thing that stood out to me in the story of the Deep Elves... and the one thing that I can find a common link with all Deep Elves and that is that they are all in a sense a people who escaped a great tragic event in their history... similar to the Holocaust in WWII in terms of the magnitude of what had happened to them as a people. Many of them, especially the younger generations of Deep Elves, have been taught to be hateful, angry, resentful to their enemies, but there has to be some Deep Elves who remember the old days when things were different, their original home and miss that, while also burdened with the memories of having lived through their mass exodus from their home. Finally, I think everyone can imagine an old crone of a grandmotherly figure in their lives who is just as stern as she is nurturing (an old lady who has eyes behind the back of her head and knows when you've stolen cookies from the cookie jar, but at the same time will give you them anyway)... and in times of duress, she remembers what it means to protect herself and those she cares about and/or get them to safety. Finally, what that all added up to for me is a support unit who could detect but isn't herself something of a rogue or ranger, in fact as old crones go, she's a witch and may have even come into contact with the Elsarin Coven (I put this here also because the Witches seriously lack a reliable detection unit). As far as a support unit goes, after the nerf to Deep Elf Priestess's Beckon Demon, and what with Deep Elf Summoner's Invigorate 2 being the ONLY support that Deep Elves really have, I felt that an old Deep Elf Matriarch would support her kin rather than heading into the fight directly herself. Her basic abilities I feel are fairly self explanatory, she's an old woman who likes to be in the middle of her family, and she supports them with giving them encouragement through her potions that she cooks or brews and she has eyes on the back of her head and can detect, while also she can Mass Teleport them all in case of an emergency, since despite being old she still remember the old days when they had to leave their home. List 1 abilities are abilities that go along with the flavor of an old stern grandmotherly crone who is senile. List 2 abilities are more in line with her actual support abilities. I feel shatter is sorely needed in Deep Elves (again, DE Priestess doesn't have it anymore... and while Deep Elf scout almost seem to fill that niche, I don't feel like DE Scout commits to being a support but rather is more for the spell Masochism, or is somehow one of many stealth runes that need an update or rework to make stealth battlegroups viable again - I will get to stealth as a theme in a bit ) and old people breaks things so shatter goes along with matriarch perfectly! As an old lady she has that sternness in her voice that commands some authority so it makes sense for her to be able to break up fights and protect her own with it so Bounce came to mind. Finally I have already mentioned that she's an old witch, and have contact with the Elsarin Coven. All in all, she's not super OP or anything, she's just a utility champ that I feel deep elves sorely need, since Deep Elves are supposed to be highly mobile as in their story of being forced to migrate, and they are also the faction who really wants to engage on their enemies hard... all their units are also fairly squishy and vulnerable. If this Deep Elf Matriarch was given a basic attack however I would find her to be too powerful or overpowered or she would have to have a very high nora cost to account for all these abilities. As I've mentioned above, I hated SOE's power creep bullshit, and I don't like OP runes that does everything on their own, this champion here is supposed to be a great lynchpin of a rune that brings all Deep Elves together as a whole and give them a common meaning, and that goes along with the theme of mass teleporting, and it also ties in well with her abilities all being focused around supporting other champions. So I designed her with all this in mind so that she does her role of supporting very well, but nothing more, and in herself she's a bundle of nora that you'd have to spend to play her and since she doesn't do any attacking on her own, you can have her at a reasonable nora cost (below 70 I would say for sure), so that you can play other champions.

Picture: An old Deep Elf crone with one eye squinting while hunched over a cauldron and filling a potion bottle with a ladle.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Witch
0 Damage. No basic attack. Range: 1 Spd: 6 Nora Cost: ?? (below 70 for sure I'd say)
Base abilities: Mass Teleport, Detection 3, Grant Action Potion
Upgradeable list 1: Punishing Aura, Cackle, Incoherent Babbling
Upgradeable list 2: Shatter, Bounce, Elsarin Coven


>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Deep Elf Sadist
I was actually quite surprised to have found that my rune suggestion Deep Elf Masochist along with the spell Masochism were both accepted and implemented into the game! This was several years ago of course, but my surprise wasn't from the fact that my ideas were turned into runes, it was that BDSM (Bondage/Discipline, Domination/submission, and Sado/Masochism) was allowed to exist within the game. Usually in games and entertainment, gothic aesthetics and BDSM/Kink/Fetish type themes are added for the shock value, or the sex appeal but have a very shallow understanding of the culture, or are altogether shunned or misrepresented. I'm an oddball in real life to most people, I'm an Asian Goth, and I'm kinky and into BDSM, which brings me to my next point... do Deep Elves embrace the taboo or BDSM/kinky? I mean, it is one thing for a game to depict scantily clad women dressed in leather corsets and other such kinky attire, but to actually represent them in the proper light, in the right context, and with the right definitions? *Gaasp!* I mean, honestly this is a game, it's not porn or anything so it's not like it's THAT bad to include these topics or to not have everything labeled correctly... but all the same I was very surprised and in a good way when my Deep Elf Masochist idea was accepted into the game. (Of course, eventually they removed Thrash from her and gave her a very unflavorful ability called Masochism which could be considered weaker than Hostile or Enrage). Who removed Thrash from my Masochist? I don't know... I wasn't there for that, I came back and I see her in a very sad state of affairs, but still, she's got a decent HP pool, she still has tormented... and most important of all? Nobody seemed to have raised a stink over the fact that she's called a Masochist... no social justice warriors bashing on it and stating that they can't have this in a video game because "kids play it"... yay! Finally... I'll include my suggested changes to Masochist (the ability) and DE Masochist in a little bit, but here's a new rune to spice things up a bit. First off, if BDSM is an acceptable theme within the Deep Elves group, then there's more where that came from ;D A Masochist is someone who likes pain or can tolerate it well. That's great but most people don't like to hurt others, all except for their counterpart the Sadist. Now, first of all, Masochists are not the ones who use whips... I'm not sure who drew that, and while she looks great, the wielder of the whip and inflicting the pain is the Sadist and the one receiving the pain is the Masochist who is also often into being tied up or gagged (this is relevant later when I suggest updates to DE Masochist). The Sadist should be shown holding the whip. Now, back to poxnora terms, a champion who likes pain and gets excited about inflicting pain has a unique niche within the UD faction. This is because most of UD is themed around damage anyway... and Sadists like damage... the problem with just giving champions flat damage bonuses is that it's too OP and can be very hard to deal with and isn't very balanced. With the ability such as Tormented being introduced (which translated into real life roughly, is basically going into an adrenaline rage when someone hits you and you go Firking nuts) the "damage" is now no longer a flat number. The lower the HP a tormented unit has, the more damage that unit has but it also puts them in danger of being killed by enemies... so that makes it a bit more manageable for the enemy in the form of counterplay... How to best deal with a champion with the ability Tormented? You try to kill it in one turn (ie. Deep Elf Fanatic). The unique opportunity to make more ideas though does present itself in the Sadist. Sadists can be big cowards in real life... they aren't all masochists as well, what makes a sadist is that they like pain in OTHERS. Tormented wouldn't NECESSARILY work on a champion named Deep Elf Sadist unless we're going to make him or her a SADOMASOCHIST which I think for the purposes of this game goes a bit too far... and for all intents and purposes we kind of already have that... it's basically Deep Elf Fanatic. To a sadist the whole point is to enjoy in giving pain (in real life it's not always about making permanent marks or making someone scream, it's more about the mental aspect of releasing endorphins in the brain... but anyways back to Poxnora...) and that means that there needs to be a new ability for this champion to fit this idea. Sooo... Deep Elf Sadist would be a champion who likes to deal damage and gets more excited about it when there are more low hp champions nearby. That makes sense then to make Sadist, an ability that gives this champion something unique when there are more damaged champions nearby. I didn't say damaged ENEMY champiions... just damaged champions... hint hint. The more pain there is nearby, the more excited this champion becomes... like a Gahlroon. Except I think to amp this champion's damage is too bland, it's been done in many other abilities, there has to be something unique that makes this champion interesting. To me, a Sadist, a pure evil sadist who wants to damage and kill things is a champion that needs to be kind of a finisher who does more damage the more health is missing. There has to also be some sense of balance so I looked around and I found Kill Sense to make some sense on this champion. Kill Sense would make sense for a champion of this theme. Furthermore a new ability called Sadist would make sense. Sadist (Passive ability: This champion gains 1 damage and 1 rank of multiattack for every 25 missing HP on other champions within 6 spaces of this champion. For every 25 Hp missing beyond 3 ranks of multiattack, this champion gains Unstoppable) would be an ability that is basically the polar opposite of Gluttony on Soulthirster, except it doesn't have to be activated and would work better just as a passive ability. Finally there already exists many abilities that would go very well on this champion and I don't need to reinvent the wheel! So I'll put the relevant abilities on this champion and let you figure out the rest That said, I am personally a HUGE fan of the spell Maddening Echoes and unfortunately at higher skill levels, players don't bunch up their units as much anymore due to this and so I'd like to mention and point out that this Sadist isn't just a simple minded brute champion, it synergizes amazingly well with Maddening Echoes. Enjoy.

Picture: A Demon Elf wielding an electrowhip... yeah I went there. (OR we can just use the picture of the current DE Masochist as the new pic for the DE Sadist and replace the DE Masochist picture with the new, terminologically correct version I suggested below). In the case of electrifying the whip please change the damage type to Attack: Electric.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Rogue, Brute
Damage 9: Attack: Whip Range 1-3, Speed 7, Dragging Attack, Sadist (Passive ability: This champion gains 1 damage and 1 rank of multiattack for every 25 missing HP on other champions within 6 spaces of this champion. For every 25 Hp missing beyond 3 ranks of multiattack, this champion gains Unstoppable)
Upgrade List 1: Bleed, Punish, Frightful Blows
Upgrade List 2: Kill Sense, Blood Seeker, Impatient (on a personal note, I've known a good number of real life sadists in BDSM dungeons... a LOT of them are Impatient).

Nora Cost: ?? (I'm not sure about attaching nora costs to champs... but based on these abilities I would say Deep Elf Sadist would be definitely filling the role of a smasher, so I'd say around 75 or so base nora, with adjusted nora cost for what ability upgrades this champion gets). Also I put this Sadist as a Rogue with the reasoning that most Rogues enjoy dealing damage to OTHERS and seeing damage is somehow satisfying... which is a very sadistic quality.


>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Sadism
I know, I know, I made the spell Masochism and it goes with DE Masochist so now that I'm making DE Sadist I'm also making the spell Sadism, but hear me out ok? UnderDepths as a faction is a faction that for the most part relies heavily on melee or short ranged champions who have higher than average damage based upon faction bonus. It is also as a rule of thumb the job of the UD player to rush or initiate the attack or aggression or lose horribly because the enemy player will use their long ranged units to whittle down the UD forces if the UD player just sits around passively. This makes UD an unforgiving faction to play compared to other factions and it also means that UD spells have to do things very differently. UD isn't really geared too much around keeping things alive on your own side of the map.... it's about killing enemies quickly and keeping their numbers smaller than yours so that you can constantly apply pressure. This brings me to my next point. There is always that key turn as a UD player when you need that "power turn" to really turn the battle in your favor. You know exactly what I'm talking about... that moment when all the enemies are sort of in a group in front of you and your mob of UD champs are also in a group and there's that big face off... While most factions have a "power turn" spell they can use such as Draconic Benediction in SL, or Mobilization in FW, UD has only Price of Victory... and don't get me wrong here, Price of Victory is AMAZING, and is almost always an auto-include in any competitive full faction UD Battle Group, but you can't use it again and again as it hurts your shrine... if you can get off one really good Price of Victory in a game you're considering yourself lucky. There's no real power turn spell out there for UD that makes UD be able to change the tide of battle in one turn all in one spell. I mean there's a bunch of damage spells like Superiority or Maddening Echoes that COULD help you... but nothing that really helps with UD in terms of doing what it NEEDS to do which is to KILL something and what I mean is there isn't one spell in UD that does that as a power turn for ALL champions within UD. Part of the reason is that it's really hard to balance such a spell. UD already has the damage faction bonus... it doesn't technically NEED more numerical damage... I have seen my Deep Elf Fanatic go up to 30+ damage but it does me absolutely NO good if he doesn't have the AP to attack, or the ability to move. There are lots of ways other factions have to stop UD from being able to pull off a successful attack such as effects like ensnare, etc. Now, giving UD cleanse options is probably something that many of us UD players have wanted and for a brief time Pure Fire had cleanse, but now it's been changed and our only cleanse is Cleansing flames on Demonlich and Relieve on Puppet Master... but giving cleanse to UD doesn't really solve this issue of a lack of proper power turn. Actually, first let's define what a power turn is. I don't think power turn is necessarily about damage or even dealing damage, it is the ability to inflict that damage that is important. Draconic Benediction gives flying and some AP along with damage to give that power turn for SL where they can come in swinging, or Quickening allowing all their attacks to hit twice for some serious unexcpected/expected damage that comes out of nowhere (power turn spell). When I invented Deep Elf Masochist, I had in mind that UD at that time needed better frontline units that can take hits and be survivable enough to allow the UD champions to over come the disadvantage of being forced to be the ones to charge in to the enemies so that they would give their enemies a full free turn of full AP damage on the UD champions before the UD champs could really go for aggression in earnest... the real issue here is AP. Mobilization is the epitome of Ap generation, but AP generation too can be stopped or punished with things like Blockade or Rebuke... so gaining AP is just like giving flat damage... it's been done... can be fairly OP and UD shouldn't really have these as their power turn options, since per AP spent, UD does more damage per attack... But just as Masochist inspired me to make a spell that complements the idea that UD needed more "Meat" in order to be able to just charge in balls to the wall and spend most of their champions' AP that first turn to close in on the enemy, giving the enemy the next turn to go ape Bane Shift on the UD champs before UD has a proper turn to attack... I'd say nowadays I have problem with that key 1-2 turns where you've already engaged the enemy, you can't really back off now since if you do they get extra hits off on your champions and you lose... but you may not have enough health or damage to kill off the enemy and your champions might also die soon if you don't do something RIGHT NOW. Sadism is a spell that is designed to fix this conundrum... you don't need to spam 2 or 3 spells to try to kill off 1 champion because you feel forced to do so... And finally this spell I think really FITS the UD theme as well as helps with that crucial turn where you really don't have enough damage to do what you want to do or you're just not able to get that last hit off on more than one champion, but you can't justify spending 2-3 spells killing each enemy champion off.

Sadism 30/35 nora (Spell: For the next 3 turns, all champions gain the ability Sadist) (Sadist: This champion gains 1 damage and 1 rank of multiattack for every 25 missing HP on other champions within 6 spaces of this champion. For every 25 Hp missing beyond 3 ranks of multiattack, this champion gains Unstoppable).

It's pretty much Vampirism with a twist, and it's not a spell you just spam or play on every turn... it is specifically only good on that one POWER TURN situation when all champions (including your own) are on mid to low HP but you need that extra OOMF to finish them off... mind you, Sadism goes both ways, and I think it's fair, just like Vampirism, to give the enemies a turn in between yours if you Firk it up... that's the thing... I LOVE it when a spell does this, it's not just one sided, you have to play this spell in a very calculated manner, and if you screw up you could also be hurt by it. That said, giving sadism is also great for the purposes of anything with counterattack or riposte as well. Finally... there's a lot of synergy for UD when you use this Sadism spell in conjunction with Mindslicer Boomerang, Fire Blast, Maddening Echoes.. this spell is like the follow up spell to really seal the deal. Finally, in cases when every champion in an area of the map is very very low on HP, there's a good solid chance that you wouldn't want to miss out on the opportunity by some bullshit like being ensnared or stunned or something so getting unstoppable at that crucial point in time is very valuable. This spell isn't OP or too overwhelming I would argue because it is actually pretty situational. You can't just use it to boost damage randomly, it has to be for situations when both allies and enemies' health are low and you need to finish more than one champion off or really make it count on that one turn or you might lose the game on your opponent's turn... It doesn't just blindly give stats or abilities, it comes at the right time when you need it most.

 

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Nefari Submissive
So I have already covered a lot on the subject of how the Deep Elves were displaced from there Elven homes, but I think it's easy to forget that there's a new generation of Deep Elves or Demon Elves who have never called K'thir their home. I'm not sure if this is correct according to lore, but to me, the units with the Nefari in their name does not strike me as in any way the old generation but are the ones who are born in the UnderDepths. This is just my own personal interpretation on this, and I know that griefsinger and griefbearer both would seem to imply that they remember their K'thir past... but bear with me here as I believe it is important to understand the Deep elves and their mentality on how they see the world. They are both your holocaust survival victims in a way, as well as the ones who are actually truly manipulated and betrayed by those they trusted, since their treachery was a trick by Maxxerek (from Grim'lic's Descent). I believe that when you experience so much pain and betrayal, you develop differently mentally. Some are Tormented, yes, but still others turn to Fanatics, and still others to BDSM related things such as S&M to sort through all the anguish and pain and suffering. Now... I'm not sure if all of you are actually educated in the BDSM world of things and since I'm taking a gander here to guess that if Masochist is allowed as a deep Elf, then the other pieces of the BDSM world could also fit in here as well... Personally I'm a Dominant or Master who have had a few D/s relationships, and as such I can describe that there are some people in this world who have experienced so much pain or abandonment (think daddy issues) that they just wish to "belong" to someone else, or have someone else "belong" to them. In most relationships this is frowned upon by the other partner who doesn't want the same thing and the term is called neediness or possessiveness, etc. However, there are many relationships that are actually founded on this very idea, which is called D/s where one partner submits to the other out of free will. How does this relate to Poxnora and to Deep Elves? Well, simple. Different people break in different ways. The Deep Elves are a deeply traumatized and broken people, and some might turn to these things to bring them comfort. So a Deep Elf who is a submissive is a Deep Elf who wishes to belong to someone else. Often this is shown by a collar that the individual wears willingly, kind of like a wedding ring, except with a different meaning implied. Finally, I'm not here to assign gender roles to Domination and submission, but in line with the trend of Deep Elves being mostly scantily clad and attractive females, and also the fact that there are far more women out there who wish to be submissive than males who wish to be submissive, I'd say it's fair to include some "flavor" and meaning in this champion by making this champion be a very attractive individual. We have plenty of abilities in this game that bring forth that idea, and so I'm not reinventing the wheel here, but Nefari Submissive is the new generation of deep elves who grew up in the Underdepths and is a girl who wish to belong to another and as such many out there are interested... how interested? Let's just say when a woman declares in any public space or online that she's a submissive? She is immediately swarmed by interested men who are all suddenly discovering their "dominant side" (which is why I gave her the ability Discovery)... -_- yup... and since that real life experience can be translated into in game flavor, here's my very highly flavorful rune suggestion to spice up UD like you didn't think possible. I highly recommend making this rune be a Legendary rune as the Discovery of this rune will make many Dominant.

Nefari Submissive
Picture - A Nefari girl who wears a collar around her neck with a short chain attached to it. She is shown kneeling and smiling.
Race: Demon Elf Class: None
Damage 12: Attack Psychic, Range 1-3, Speed 6, Discovery, Inexperienced, Declare Consent (Declare Consent: When this champion is deployed, this champion is equipted with Consent Collar) (Consent Collar: Equipment 20 Nora: Upon being equiped, the closest friendly champion sharing the same race as this champion becomes Dominant. When this champion is within 5 spaces of a friendly champion with Dominant, this champion gains Fascinate and Abash. If this equipment is destroyed or if the champion with Dominant is destroyed, this champion gains depression for 4 turns) (Dominant: When this champion is within 5 spaces of a friendly champion with Consent collar, this champion gains Protective and Hostile. If friendly champion with the Consent Collar is destroyed, this champion gains Manic for 4 turns).
Upgrade list 1: Antagonize, Psychic Magnetism, Psychic Aura 3
Upgrade list 2: Grant Manic, Grant Scrapper, Charm 3 (grant manic; gives manic to friendly champion within 7 spaces for 2 turns) (grant scrapper: gives scrapper to friendly champion within 7 spaces for 2 turns)

I see her as a medium cost to maybe even a high cost champ. She's meant to really screw up the enemy's champions. Believe me, it fits the theme, most who declare themselves as submissive can be quite manipulative... and that's what makes this rune an interesting idea. There's a lot of inside jokes and humor in this champion for those out there who are familiar with D/s relationships as the upgrade lists literally embodies the different "personality types" that exist within those whom I have come across in this lifestyle who identify as submissive. Also, there's mini combos in her kit. Antagonize and Charm 3 is supposed to be that type of annoying shut down mechanic. Psychic Magnetism combos well with her Fascinate that she gets from the Collar along with granting Manic to really help with saving AP. If you're not really interested in combat tricks and the like, then I included Psychic Aura 3 and Grant Scrapper to give her and her partner some serious efficiency, not to mention Psychic Aura 3 also has synergy with Abash from the collar.

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Consent Collar
This is pretty self explanatory once you read what I wrote for Nefari Submissive. That said the collar means every champion in your BG can have this collar mechanic and it's a very thematically interesting as well as mechanically fun idea in my opinion and you don't have to include Nefari Submissive in your BG in order to use this equipment!
Consent Collar: Equipment 20 Nora: Upon being equipped, the closest friendly champion sharing the same race as this champion becomes Dominant. When this champion is within 5 spaces of a friendly champion with Dominant, this champion gains Fascinate and Abash. If this equipment is destroyed or if the champion with Dominant is destroyed, this champion gains depression for 4 turns. (Dominant: When this champion is within 5 spaces of a friendly champion with Consent collar, this champion gains Protective and Hostile. If friendly champion with the Consent Collar is destroyed, this champion gains Manic for 4 turns)

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Nefari Dominator
Soooo you guessed it! BDSM... I'm going to complete the quartet. That said, this rune is quite a challenge shall we say... WTF is dominance in real life? I can ask 100 people this question and get 100 different answers and yet everyone will agree that they know dominance when they see it... but NOBODY agrees on the same definition... it makes impressing submissive women that much more of a confusing and frustrating process... and hey, speaking of which, a lot of "dominants" are very frustrated, both men and women who identify as "dominant" and wish to find a submissive partner is quite frustrated... until they're in a relationship, then it's all sunshine and puppies... it can be very feast and famine as we "dominant" people tend to just be poorly adjusted or egotistical at best when we're on our own... how can you be caring or nurturing or protective or a guiding hand when you're single and alone? What?! Well at least that's what all the newbies say anyway... Me? I've been around "in the scene" long enough to know that everyone thinks they know what they're talking about, until they listen to what they're talking about... and then realize something is missing from the picture.... if they aren't too proud to admit it. So what is dominance? Arrogance and Ego? Anger and violence if need be? Protective, caring, and nurturing? A leader or someone with power and is in charge? Or is there something more to it? Now mind you, I spent a LOT of time thinking about poxnora in terms of making new runes and ideas... even when I'm NOT playing Poxnora... I do this with a LOT of games I play... I just like to design stuff and I came up with a few League of Legends champions as well such as Tahm Kench, but hey, nobody gives me any credit ever for these ideas because I'm not an employee ... pffft. Firk it. Creative people just gotta be creative... isn't that right, Viktor (another league of legends reference)? The good news with Poxnora Runes is there is a lot of player choice based on the upgradeable abilities. You get to decide what a rune is like for you... in this case I'll try to incorporate some of the themes of what many people perceive as Dominance and include them on this rune to make sure that there's plenty of wiggle room to fit everyone's own little checklist of what makes a Dominant person a Dom. But for starters I have to include a few things on the rune that makes this champion a Dominant in my book that I believe are universal traits for all those who perceive or declare themselves to be Dominance... you see... in nature, dominance is something that must be expressed, competed for, and reinforced. It's almost a social status that can be obtained, but at the same time it is also an innate quality that makes an individual either really competitive or a great leader. There are many facets to it, but there is without a doubt a competitive aspect to it, which works GREAT for the purposes of Poxnora since we're all about being competitive here... sooo it's very convenient that every quality that we can think of that makes a great Dominant personality is also a list of wonderful traits and abilities we can put on this Champion to make him a very flavorful rune indeed.

Nefari Dominator
Picture - A muscular Nefari Demon elf male with tattoos on his arms and a smug smile, wearing a leather vest and with his arms folded across his chest. He holds a flogger in one hand.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Warrior, Knight, Brute. HP: 55
Damage: 13, Attack: Whip. Range 1-3. Speed 7. Def 1. Prestige, BattleLeader, Resilient
Upgrade list 1: Preparation, Unleash, Pin Down
Upgrade list 2: Encroached, Intimidating, Courage
Nora Cost: ?? (Probably 80+)

Upgrade list 1 all deal with giving him options to close in on the enemy in some way and be as competitive and in their face as possible with different styles of doing so. These styles show more of the personality of the individual. Does he prepare? Does he just goes in and wing it, or is he more tactical and pins down his opponents? I believe that List 2 is more about how others perceive a Dominant personality or how he carries himself. He could be a champion that has that competitive spark and if he falls behind he'll do anything to get back in the lead again (encroached), he could have a very powerful presence and cause others to fear him without him having to do much of anything (Intimidating), or he could be the type who will endure and persevere through setbacks through his Courage. All in all, I wanted to make a Demon Elf who is not only tanky and strong but can stand toe to toe with any of the heavy hitting bruisers/smashers in the game and stand a good chance of coming out on top. After all, he dominates people, that's what he is supposed to do. I envisioned him as something that could be on par with Sheoul Demon or Gahlroon in terms of sheer power and sturdiness as well as the ability to bolster his allies with his leadership through BattleLeader. A frontline heavy hitter who packs a lot of personality and flavor. I mean, sure there's the Heretic Overlord and the Chosen of Osarius, who are decently nice at being tanky frontliners, but honestly, where's the Demon Elf who is on par with Sheoul Demon in terms of offering meatiness and just plain bulk? Which brings me to my next topic, Deep Elf Masochist Changes that I'd like to advocate.

>> UD RUNE CHANGE/UPDATE Suggestion: Deep Elf Masochist
So a few years ago on some dark and lonely night, I decided to submit an idea of mine on the forums called Deep Elf Masochist along with a spell called Masochism. I didn't think it would be accepted or implemented because I thought it would be shot down by trolls or social justice warriors or various other people who shun or hate on those they don't understand... but surprise surprise, Masochist was implemented, exactly as I designed her on the forums... and then over many patches and expansions and revamps later she had been changed and modified repeatedly until now she's barely recognizable to me, the originator of the idea. I started coming up with this idea of a sheer Tank frontline champion who is a Deep Elf but behaves like a Gahlroon but not because purely out of rage, but... well, out of enjoyment of pain. I've been in a few really bad fist fights before growing up, and I was a bully magnet, and let's just say that they didn't know what hit them when they started to fight me... because I go berserk and not only that... but my dad used to hit me at home so I was very used to any sort of pain, so when a bully used to try to hit me at school it would be more annoying than painful, and I didn't even really care about the pain after a certain pain threshold was reached... I can literally tune out of all pain at some point and just have insane strength and break things. I learned later that this is kind of what happened with the Viking Berserkgang technique and what we now call an adrenaline rage. A full fight or flight response if you will. That said when I was coming up with this idea, it was also some time after being "bullied" by "Thirion: Hunter UD" and feeling like flying into a Firking rage at that bullshit because nothing I had in my battlegroup in my deep elf bg back then could stand toe to toe with that shitFirker... (sorry I still Firking hate whoever came up with Thirion with Hunter UD...) I mean literally my Deep Elf assassin's assassinate would deal 22 damage to Thirion and then he'd turn around next turn and kill her in 2 hits, and almost kill anything else I had within 2 spaces of her from just the splash damage alone. Not only that, but back then we didn't have anything solid to throw out front... the Voths haven't been invented yet and pincushion would be killed by Thirion with Elite Blade... ****kkkkk..... so at that point I wanted to literally fly into a rage and kill Thirion. I actually did that... I think a lot of people spectated my games at that point in time since I did post on the forums semi regularly and I was a guild leader and held tournaments for my guild members. Anyway, it took 4 deep elves surrounding Thirion, a price of victory, a maddening echoes and a retribution to take that Firker down... and then after that it was just easy because literally all KF players did was support Thirion with spells and equiptment... couldn't do jack Bane Shift to my K'lzik with demon shield and I won that match... but the point was, I killed that Firking Thirion using full faction UD and I won the game despite the single most OP bullshit rune ever made in this game specifically targeted at UD players. And all I could think of was... I needed something that can't be one rounded so easily... I needed something that can take the damage and stay alive... but not so OP like making a UD version of Thirion and making a tank that is unkillable. I needed a tanky champion in Deep Elves (since I'm mainly a Deep Elf zealot if you can't tell by now) that can take the abuse using a mechanic that isn't completely broken and imbalanced as all hell. Well all those years of smashing the bullies' faces until they have broken noses and I get suspended for "martial arts" taught me one thing about "combat" and that is if you are willing to take it further than the other guy, you've won. In essence I'm kind of a berserker/sadomasochist when I fight. I break things ... punched through a door straight through once and NO I don't practice martial arts, I just get really really pissed and get into fights that I don't try to start (this was the past... now I'm more Nokan Do attitude in real life). The point is... This is so you get the idea of what was going on in my life, where I got the idea, and what role I had in mind for the Deep Elf Masochist at the time of creation. She was my idea for being able to handle the counter aggression of anything BIG and OP like Thirion. I made her specifically with a bit of a gimmick... I specifically made her have a higher than normal... no absurdly high HP pool, and I gave her an ability that became known as Thrash where she could hurt herself and every enemy champion within 5 spaces of her becomes Frightened. This buys her an extra turn to go in hard the next turn... it's kind of like Fear... but more hardcore and thus it gives her more range since it's kind of based off of line of sight... if you can see someone just go nuts and hit themselves while running at full speed towards you, you're going to think twice about hitting them since clearly pain isn't a deterrent... which explains the 5 range on Thrash, while fear is only up to 3 spaces away. Another ability that was fresh on my mind and was starting to appear on champions at the time was Tormented. Deep Elf Fanatic was my favorite Deep Elf Champion at that point and he was one of the first to get Tormented, along with DE Ritualist and DE Summoner. I knew that Thrash would have amazing synergy with Tormented and so that was another DE Masochist ability that organically formed on her. However, the thing is... that was just my term back then for this style of fighting that I deemed to be masochistic in nature. I guess I knew then too that I was kinky but I didn't fully explore that along with BDSM or Kink at the time... I've only been exploring that stuff for the recent 5 years or so. Yes, this sounds like ancient history but bear with me, it IS relevant for what I'm going to say about DE Masochist. My definition of what a Masochist was back then is very different from what my understanding of what a Masochist is now... I can also say that the champion I designed is more of a sadomasochist than just a masochist... or simply, that she was a both a masochist in being able to take pain and enjoy it... as well as being able to inflict it upon others. I think this still fits the Masochist but with my better understanding of what truly makes a Masochist a Masochist, I can explain further why there needs to be some changes and updates to this champion and why also it would benefit the game and better and more clearly define the niche or role this champion would fit into. To be honest, she's one of my proudest creations, next to Broodmother. In any case... Thrash was my idea to put on a high HP champion so that that champion can hit themselves and justify the benefits of a 5 range AOE Fear effect. That said, there's still been some power creep over the years whereas even that doesn't sound very efficient anymore so I'm guessing that is why the ability was removed from DE Masochist and instead she has Masochist (Heals 2 hp every time she is attacked). Sounds pretty good on paper but I still rarely see her included in any BG's... I think the devs from SOE as well as our current Devs might be at a loss for how to change her or update her to keep her on par with current rune standards. So allow me to help, since I did create her in the first place in as close of a sense as possible from a fan creation standpoint. DE Masochist still fills that role of a pure meatshield tank that is insanely hard to kill in one round. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it's actually not THAT important to amp up her damage with abilities such as Enrage... and while Reflection is a nice touch, it's almost not her niche since she's more meant to resist dying at all costs in terms of the role she's supposed to fill. As so far, no Deep Elf is meant purely for that role, and it's understandable since UD in general isn't really about tankiness and surviving. Also since it's a damage faction, I can understand why Enrage and Tormented stayed on the champion since I originally gave her those abilities to synergize with Thrash... although Enrage wasn't part of my idea since frightened enemies can't really hit her to trigger Enrage... the entire point was... it does you NO GOOD to have a dead champ with high damage... it's better to have an almost dead champ with high damage... so survivability on her is the most important thing... The fantasy of her is that champion who you can hit and she'll even hit herself but she'll keep charging in and you are absolutely scared shitless what she might do to you once she reaches you... at least that was what I had in mind when I first made her... Now... real life experiences have taught me that real Masochists don't behave like that but actually take a lot more pleasure in the pain they receive. In many cases they would not be enraged by it, but rather feel a sense of heightened awareness followed by an almost out of body experience known as "subspace"... or medically described as euphoria. To top that off? Most masochists I've come across in real life are very heavily interested in bondage and together with pain those things go hand in hand... and those who love getting tied up actually tend to also learn how to escape from experience... They are beyond the ability Unstoppable. Sooo my definition and the "fantasy" of DE Masochist can be updated to be something slightly different than my previous vision of her. She can still keep tormented, as that's just a great synergetic ability on her, but the rest of her kit should be geared towards showing how unstoppable and tanky she truly is and how capable of shrugging off damage she is. THAT said, there's just a LOT to explain scientifically and medically and psychologically about real life masochists that I don't really feel necessary to discuss on a game forum, SO I've simplified it down to Poxnora game terminology and concepts... She's a Tank... She ignores pain and damage a lot better than other champions so she's hard to one round, and She is amazing at ignoring crowd control effects such as ensnare, etc. So that tells me she has Unstoppable or that she might need a better ability to reflect that.

Deep Elf Masochist
Picture - I would firstly update her picture to be a Deep Elf who is tied up or restrained in some way, kind of like Chained Fae but instead of looking like she's almost dead, she'd be rushing forward almost breaking free from any chains or bonds that's holding her back and her expression is of pure ecstatic joy and elation. I mean she's literally high on adrenaline...
Race: Demon Elf, Class: None (I'm not sure why someone gave a masochist the warrior class... uh?? Most military types would cringe at a true masochist and think they're crazy)
Damage: 8, Attack: Whip (Ok... I guess whip works.,.. but then that's self flaggellation and that's a theme that's better suited for IS as a faction and THEIR religious fanatics... imo... attack Physical and no whip is probably better suited to mimic reality). Ok, now the rest of her abilities... it's time to get real and get weird.
Blood Spurt, Tormented, Masochist (Passive Ability: Each time this champion is hit, this champion gains 1 rank of regeneration and 1 rank of tough for 6 turns (stackable) After 3 stacks have been reached, each additional attack against this champion grant Unstoppable and 3 bonus Max HP for 6 turns)
Base HP (something above 55... I remember it was like 60 or 70 when I made her).
Upgrade list 1: Resilient, Impenetrable, Absorb
Upgrade list 2: Thrash, Bleed, Frightening (When this champion is successfully attacked, the attacker becomes frightened 2)

She's just the meat you're looking for.... is my point for making her and exactly what the niche she needs to fill... just giant HP sponge but isn't entirely unkillable unless you upgrade her specifically to fill that role and even so you have to choose between Resilient, Impenetrable, and Absorb, but all of them are there to help her do the one thing she's supposed to do... "not get killed in one turn". Which is exactly why the spell Masochism was originally intended for her as well... putting masochism as a spell on her is a great way to trigger this new version of Masochist as an ability. Finally, she doesn't seem to see a lot of play due to low synergy with other themes within UD and even within the Deep Elf theme she's not your top notch go to champion for being the frontline tank sooooooo I'd say bloodspurt just gives her that extra edge she needs from being just a fat thing that doesn't die to being very flavorful and interesting... blood spurt makes Masochist even more survivvable in the long run if she can collect the blood globes... but more importantly she could then fit into some interesting Bleed/blood BG's. Also ever since I created Abash as an ability it didn't seem like people took too much interest in expanding along that line of thought... why not update fear to have a type of mechanic that works like Abash where you get frightened after you hit a champion successfully like Abash? So that's my idea called Frightening... for a lack of a better word and well, there's only so many ways you can say Fear and Frightful. And Thrash? This is the main reason why I made Thrash as an ability... that a champion can be tanky enough to use it and last extra turns with it... Give this champ really good Nora cost for HP efficiency and Thrash and suddenly you have a seriously SCARY champion But not OP... All she does is stay alive... a lot of champions do a LOT more than that... and well what do you expect from a Masochist but to enjoy and even thrive all imaginable kinds of torment and pain you can inflict on her?

--- Update : I've been writing all night... and well, I have a LOT of ideas that I want to write and this is just the first theme of the first faction that I wanted to talk about... and I'm not even done yet with all my ideas for this Theme... much less UD... SOOO I'll post this thread, post some replies as place holders for other factions that I will write my ideas about and then head off to bed... good morning? (9/27/2016)

 

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Nefari Fencer
So I have a lot to say about stealth mechanics and also about revamping a bit what it means to be a Rogue or Ranger in Poxnora and I'll go into greater depth and detail then. But for this champion, I would like to just introduce this concept that I've been having here in the Deep Elf theme because I think this Champion is uniquely a Deep Elf and specifically a Nefari, someone who grew up in Sheoul.

As a young nefari or deep elf, you'd probably learn a lot of harsh lessons about life... I mean you live around demons and imps you're bound to learn that playing fair only makes you lose, and it's not always a matter of having any rules on how to conduct combat. Sooo in other words the Deep Elves learn from an early age to fight dirty and to use any means necessary to win. Now there's plenty of rogues and rangers already but in UD there doesn't seem to be a lot of Duelists... or to use a World of Warcraft concept... we have plenty of subtlety and assassination rogues but no combat rogues... To me there are many types of rogues and duelists are a special kind who likes to take someone down face to face without needing to hide and a Nefari Fencer would be one such duelist who fights dirty but doesn't rely on stealth... this by the current definitions in the game would be better classified as a Ranger. More on rogues and rangers later in my long discussion about Stealth, but for now let's just say he's a ranger, and that he fights dirty because he grew up in the rough part of town in UD. A bit of a contract killer, ruffian, and the type you don't want to meet alone in a dark alley at night... even if he sent you a challenge in your mail. What this translates into for Poxnora is a champion who can handle fighting 1v1 against another champion using combat tricks. This niche or role for a champion is specifically the type of champion who needs to go alone to a font on the side of the map to fight off a would be invader or be the invader who applies pressure to contest an enemy font alone without any help from his allies, since UD does tend to struggle a little sometimes on very large maps where you are forced to split up your units to contest all the fonts or fall behind... but if you do split up your troops you end up not having enough kill potential and you are then forced to spam spells in order to win these small scale engages. There are a few champions who can do this role currently but I wanted to suggest a champion who is specifically tailored for this niche role. Finally, I want this champion to feel really clean and crisp the same way I feel about Salaman Hunter... I don't want to make an unstoppable or unkillable champion that's OP as all hell, but something that's really cool as a concept and a champion who can literally kill another champion 1 vs 1 on his own without any support at all if given enough time. A duelist to me is someone who can solo kill but that doesn't mean lots of damage, just abilities that help win the fight against his opponent and some of them might not be about playing fair if it gets the job done (thematically unfair like a kick in the groins... but not unfair to the other human player/opponent in terms of actual strength of this rune). Finally I wanted to go with a fencing theme because in fencing it's all about lunges and parries, thrust and counter thrust, and a part of me miss the days when I had exactly that type of champion in Nefari Reaper... but alas Reaper is no longer the block + Riposte type of champion I so enjoyed.

Nefari Fencer
Picture: A young nefari deep elf (male OR female, both makes sense) dual wielding two rapiers, one foot on top of the body of a dead enemy while challenging a nearby enemy to a duel by pointing one rapier directly at his next challenger/target.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Ranger
Damage: 9, Attack: Physical, Range 1-2, Speed 7, Duel, Fury, Riposte 2
Upgrade list 1: Parry 1, Lunge 2, Feint (Parry 1, AP Cost 1, CD 2: The next basic attack against this champion misses) (Lunge 2, AP Cost 1, CD 2: This champion makes a basic attack against target enemy champion at +2 max range and is relocated to a space next to the enemy and gains Mobility for 1 turn. This attack counts as a basic attack within a chain. [so think of this as a different form of Charge]) (Feint, AP Cost 1, CD 1: This champion makes a false attack at target enemy champion within attack range. This attack deals no damage if successful and triggers defensive abilities such as block or dodge.)
Upgrade List 2: Antagonize, Blind, Lunge and Parry (Lunge and Parry: Every time this champion makes a successful basic attack, this champion gains a rank of Parry for 2 turns, if this champion already has Parry, then its cooldown is reset. Each time a basic attack misses against this champion, this champion gains a Rank of Lunge for 2 turns. If this champion already has Lunge, the cooldown is reset.) (Lunge 1: AP Cost 1, CD 2 ~ makes a basic attack at +1 max range..... and Lunge 3: AP cost 1, CD 2 ~ a basic attack at +3 max range).

Within the context of all possible uses for this champion, you can also think of this as a combat rogue who is like a bounty hunter who singles out a target on the battlefield and has the ability to Lunge at the target and duel and gain Mobility on that turn to either pull back or reposition. The Lunge and Parry ability specifically works like block and dodge except it isn't a hidden effect (the champion will spend 1 AP for Parry, and it can be seen by the opponent) and as for the combination of lunging and parrying it does not make this champion impossible to kill with focus fire from multiple enemies, but if it ever were a situation where the Fencer meets in 1 vs 1 combat situations, the combination of Lunge and Parry could be deadly, giving the enemy very little option but to pray for support from an ally or in the case of the player, cast spells to kill the Fencer or defend their champion. Feint is an ability I've always thought about as something that would make sense with champions in this game who are blockers and dodgers... what if you could make a feint attack and trigger their block or dodge before striking a real direct hit? If you were a fencer or duelist you'd understand how this works so it makes sense. Finally, in the dirty world of fighting and warfare there's nothing that says you can't blind your opponent or antagonize them ... which goes well with a Nefari youth being a dirty fighter who can duel just about anything 1 vs 1... although he/she still might have some trouble against a Groble Rock Eater...

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestions: Nefari Explorer & Nefari Engineer (Split Faction Runes)
I think that the one thing UD lacks is range... big surprise there... but that also means in order to hit our enemies we have to get in close and that cost us extra AP to get in close while in the meantime enemies get to hit us for free... Demon Shield is one option to deal with this, but the enemies also get to have melee champions and on their turn they can use their AP to do damage and attack where as UD champions are forced to spend AP to rush in. This is why in the OLD DAYS we had a champion called Deep Elf Priestess... nowadays she's not even viable (hint hint). That presents a problem of UD lacking and needing support to bring us in closer to the enemy. We have seen in the past few expansions that UD had gotten a few more Pull, Swap, Bloodseeker, Fascinate, and other gap closing options and that's great, but I feel like as a whole UD lacks support and specifically within the Deep Elf/Nefari category since now we only have a weakened and worthless DEP and a semi useful DE Summoner as our only choices... not to mention our only real reliable source of shatter on a champion is now Deep Elf Scout ... Sooo I've been thinking along those lines and another thing came up... it's true we're mostly melee, and it's also true for melee heavy compositions that we lack good sources of alternate damage... we mostly have Attack Physical at close range... Magic and Fire are nice in a few of our champions but predominantly we have Fire and Magic... Lots of champions resist Fire and Magic... such as Dark Knight ... Dark Knight has Immune Magic after it respawns and can get the Resist Physical upgrade... dang... now we've really only got fire that's effective.... or when we REALLY need the Magical, something like say Raven Wraith puts on an Oblivion Shield and has Resist Magical on her... and well there we go again, she's practically unkillable. Finally I would say that thematically the Deep Elves are DEEP because they live underground and so far there's really only been a Caverunner... who else DIGS? Who else tunnels? Who BUILDS things? Everyone seems so obsessesd with burning Bane Shift up or going berserk, who actually goes and expands their homes and explore? I'm proposing 2 champions as almost a two fold solution to these issues and to add flavor to the DEEP side of the Deep Elves.

The Nefari Explorer is an individual who doesn't conform to the norms of being angry and violent in the UnderDepths... the Nefari Explorer wishes to explore the world and engage with other cultures. His favorite dishes are the exotic foods made by the Firks, he has communicated telepathically with the Jellebrium, and he calls amongst his friends many of the Boghoppers and Salaman of Forglar Swamp (possibly including Jyx). He admits he has led an interesting life and he would like to explore other foreign lands, but many out there are hostile and unfriendly to his kind. He is very learned and experienced in the world outside of UD and is very open minded, but as a result he is scorned by many of his kind. He's not very interested in conflict and would much rather travel to different places and explore new things. I think I'd like to suggest other Explorers as well, for different combinations of races and factions that seem unlikely, since I feel that these could be very unique runes and potentially the LE/Legendary runes for an expansion.

Nefari Explorer: (Split Faction rune, UD/FS)
Picture: A Nefari wearing a ragged and torn up cloak while carrying some provisions in a small pack on his back and a few tools and potions on his belt while reading a map and a compass. He is gazing at the landscape around him with a group of Firks, Boghoppers and Salaman who seem curious and interested in what he has to say about their surroundings.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Ranger, Monk
Damage 11, Range 1-3, Speed 7, Scorn, Pariah, Adept Arcanist, Amphibious, Explorer's Survey (Activate Cost: 4 AP, CD: 3: Range 3 AOE 3: Target spaces are Surveyed for 1 turn) (Surveyed: All traps and Stealthed enemy champions and relics in the affected spaces are illuminated and revealed; friendly champions moving into any surveyed space does not spend AP on movement.) Deck limit 1
Upgrade List 1: Mind Wipe Aura 2, Blockade, Bastion of Courage
Upgrade List 2: Grant Amphibious, Grant Tunnel Earth, Grant Subsume (each of these fit his story... he tunneled his way out of UD to explore and he came across FS and befriended the wary residents of the Swamp, so he learned how to swim, among other things. He knows how to absorb the abilities of new cultures and can teach that to his fellow kin once he comes home.. except he considers both FS and UD his home).


The Nefari Engineer is your go to guy to fix things, your handy man of a Deep Elf, and who you call when you want to expand your cave dwelling... it's what Deep Elves do... but they don't like to talk about him or talk to him for that matter. Nefari and the Deep Elves have little appreciation for those who wish to build things or nurture things... blehhhh... but they do see it as a necessity and such a menial task of physical labor is given only to those they need not aggressive, athletic, or strong enough to go into combat. Your nerd, your social outcast, your janitor or plumber of a guy... but that's what everyone seems to make him out to be. The Nefari Engineer knows far more about construction and well, demolition, than most people give him credit for, but while he is given the menial tasks of constructing things and repairing things, his true passion is blowing stuff up and rebuilding them again and then blowing it up again in more ingenius and exciting ways. Unfortunately no matter how creative he gets with his explosives, his kin won't accept him for his brilliance and call him weak, since he isn't interested in physical combat at all. Why fight with weapons when you can blow up entire buildings or create bombs that go boom? Still, everyone has to make a living somehow, and it's no different for the Nefari Engineer, so he goes about his day building mines and tunnels in the Underdepths, fixing things, repairing things, and secretly looking forward to his own private time when he can go back to his ingenius contraptions and explosives.

Nefari Engineer (Split faction UD/IS)
Picture: A picture of a Nefari with glasses, disheveled hair, and soot on parts of his face and clothing, and sloppy or mismatched attire. In his hand he holds a remote control while he hugs to his chest with his other arm an armful of tools and various mechanical parts.
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Tinkerer
Damage: 7, Attack: Electricity, Range 1-2, Speed 6, Mason 3, Build Mine, Relocate Relic, Deck Limit 1
Upgrade list 1: Detonate Relic, Reclaim Relic, Provision: Utility
Upgrade list 2: Pet: Magnetic Rover (When this champion is deployed, a Magnetic Rover with no upgrades is summoned next to it), Summon: Rusty Firecase, Grant Fire Bomb 2.

>> UD RUNE CHANGE/UPDATE Suggestion: Nefari Reaper
So Nefari Reaper is an old rune... and while the likes of Nefari Fireslinger had received enough tender love and care to become something that's finally what it needs to be in order to be a healthy rune that can fit in both Deep Elf BG themes as well as Fire BG themes... the Nefari Reaper (along with many other runes in many factions to be honest) feels left behind and forgotten. I personally used to auto include 2 Nefari Reapers in all my UD full faction BG's back when they had Block and Riposte... because when you slap a demon shield on them they can be very tactically used for setting up 1v1 font contesting situations where the enemy can't land a single blow before my Nefari Reaper takes out the enemy champion. However, I did just make a suggestion for the rune Nefari Fencer to fulfill this role... the Reaper however seem to carry a name that is not being used to the maximum potential. First of all when I hear the word REAPER I picture in my mind a close association with death... specifically if a reaper comes for you it means you're almost dead or about to die. That means that a Reaper can totally finish off a champion that's near death in some way and there's simply not a lot one can do to stop it... it's inevitable... or so the fantasy goes of such a being. In terms of Poxnora we actually have many Runes currently that have abilities that I personally think would go very well with a Reaper unit... we have Nefari Reaper... we have soul strike as an ability, we have death sense, and many other abilities that make a Reaper fantasy come to life... in fact, decapitating blow also makes a lot of sense. While Life Siphon is kind of nice on the champion for survivability... it's a 66 nora champ for me ... and even then I still don't feel like running it since it's damage is way too lack luster to even justify Life Siphon and I almost use it as a Masochism target that can heal itself back or that I can Retribution it on the following turn... that to me is just sad... it's totally unsatisfying to play a unit called REAPER and then to watch it get killed by some moga or something. It's just PATHETIC. That said, when I look over on the FW side of runes I don't see any Reapers or things that are like reapers being unkillable or can't be dealt with... I see things like Aspect of Death being extremely fun and flavorful and "like a reaper" but not something that makes people rage quit the game like Thirion Hunter UD. They can be killed, they can be dealt with just like many other champions in the game... to me a Reaper is always associated with those that are near death or ensuring the death of something. It also means harvesting souls like stalks of wheat... which is kind of where the term Reaper came from... although it's hard to think of what a Sower would look like... . So here's my rendition of what I think the Nefari Reaper needs to be changed to or updated to because right now it's really lack luster and doesn't seem to fit it's role as a reaper.

Picture: The picture is nice, I've always liked it... dont' change it
Race: Demon Elf, Class: Ranger (please... reapers are not warriors... they are killers, while warriors are brute who like to hit things and drink beer)
Damage: 13, Attack: Physical, Range 1-2, Speed 6, Kill Sense, Reaping Strikes (When this champion deals damage to enemy champions at 50% health or less the damage is Loss of Life), Decapitating Blow
Upgrade list 1: Bloodseeker, Scythe Whirl, Cleave
Upgrade list 2: Soul Siphon, Soul Drinker, Illuminate (you can't hide or run from the Reaper...)

>> UD RUNE CHANGE/UPDATE SUGGESTION: Deep Elf Priestess
Please bring back shatter and give back the 1 turn cooldown of Beckon Demon... seriously, UD is a low range to melee range faction... we only have price of victory to give us extra AP... we NEED to close in on our enemies and engage them in melee ASAP or else be poked down by their long range and die and lose... Instead of having to make new champions and abilities or give champions more Bloodseeker or Swap or Pull or Dragging Attacks or Fascinate... just bring back what was always the single most important and central mechanic of playing UD, please bring back Beckon Demon and give us our DE Priestess back... PLEASE. In her current state she is unrunnable... I've tried putting her in BG's and she's just not useful enough to even warrant the nora I paid to summon her.



UD DEMON ELF THEME RECAP:
- Demon elves still lack a central theme after all these years. I don't think they need a racial ability but they're not THAT different from the rest of the demons. I suppose the Elves in K'thir aren't THAT different from the faeries either... what exactly make elves, elves? hmmm... Is it just because they look like Legolas? Kthir uses magic... and now lately in the past few years with Delim and his ilk they have developed their technology to include fire... wow, they're a bit slow there aren't they? Deep Elves already know how to use fire, presumably because they live in cold dark caves underground or they kidnap young dwarves for warmth.

- With the strong nerf to Deep Elf Priestess's Beckon Demon, Deep Elves, and I suppose UD in general lost a lot of kill potential and mobility around the map... it honestly felt like nerfing or changing Gale in ST... like honestly the spell Gale in ST almost defines the faction in a way... and DE Priestesses have literally been auto-includes in all the UD BGs since forever... they have beckon demon with CD 1, and shatter, the perfect combination of support that UD was practically BUILT AROUND... and then somehow the melee/short ranged faction who NEEDS to spend AP to MOVE to get in close the enemy loses their main way to close the distance... I just don't understand the nerf to DEP and I don't agree with that decision because now it makes it very necessary for UD to have other option for closing in on enemies such as swap, such as manic, such as pull, such as relocate enemy, such as bloodseeker... when really there was absolutely nothing wrong with having a champion who can relocate your demons around for you once per turn... it was standard UD... Deep Elves specifically lack ranged units with detection... this is something almost every faction has, we have melee detection units... that's great in concept but in practice a melee champion is much easier to kill, they kill our detection unit and we can't detect anymore... and we're not about to just sit around with our melee units doing nothing... they're going to see more face to face combat, take damage, and die! Finally, we just pretty much over all as a faction lack good solid support units. All other factions have tons of choices when it comes to healing, shatter options, and various other forms of support. UD units have support hybrids like UD Doombringer with Bounce... uh... bounce is great ... it's really strong but what's the role of a Doombringer exactly? Is it a support? Then again a LOT of new champions lately from ALL factions have been getting really "weird" lately in that they dont' really fit a role. But specifically to UD's Deep Elf themes... we lack supports. Imps somehow have great support options and often we have to bring imps into our BGs... but a pure Deep Elf bg's only real options for support right now are DE Priestess (not even worth the nora that it takes to summon them right now) and Summoners with Invigorate 2... outside of that... MAYBE Demonlich with her Set Ablaze and cleansing fire.... MAYBE... So Please for the love of Poxnora, bring some more viable support champions into UD Deep Elves! Or un-nerf Deep Elf Priestess and give us 1 turn CD Beckon Demon + Shatter again! I know we're a KILL and Damage faction, but we can't kill anything if we're all sitting around twiddling our thumbs and wandering and confused and statused and blinded and equipped with ball and chains and various other things... we need SUPPORT to be able to get in there and fight properly and right now Deep Elves lack support units that are purely designed for support roles. My Deep Elf Matriarch is one such attempt at filling that deep dark void.
- Sooo deep elves live in caves right? Do they like... TUNNEL EARTH? How do they even see in the dark or get around? Huh? Do most of the Demons just like swim around in volcanos or something? How come we don't see much of that theme? I've seen Nefari Caverunner and that's been it so far in that sense. What's with that? Do 99% of the Demon Elves just follow behind the Caverunner when they need to go somewhere? I'm not a huge Lore hound... but I AM very interested in thematic and stylistic choices within games. When a champion really clicks for me and makes sense and plays the exact way it should such as Salaman Hunter (hint hint), it feels RIGHT ... and right now a lot of things still don't fully feel RIGHT in poxnora. I love the revamps don't get me wrong... SOE kids are just insane in the brain and have no idea what balance means. Now that we have a better sense of balance in this game and all the totally bullshit OP Bane Shift have been nerfed down to realistic proportions, we can start focusing on stylistic choices and hopefully, maybe get things to feel RIGHT again... because honestly things like Nefari Reaper and Deep Elf Priestess just don't feel RIGHT to me right now...
- Grimlic needs more Deception... ok so another point to make, a small point but a key point since Grimlic is the Hero of the Deep Elves... His deception copies of him used to have the same equipment AND SAME AP as him so that the enemy player can't tell which copy is the real Grimlic... that's the whole point of Deception as an ability I thought... now it just seems like a really weird clone of the ability Teleport and the enemy player knows exactly which is the real Grimlic since the one with AP is the real one and all the clones have 0 AP... uhhh what? Grimlic's Deception isn't very Deceptive anymore....

 

> UD Theme Arthropods Spiders ... The spawn of K'lzik.
There are many minor things that aren't quite right in this moment with the Arthropods in UD specifically. I will mainly focus on this theme, as opposed to split faction arthropods such as UD/SL or even full faction SL arthropods with their "split" ability being a theme... because I <3 K'lzik. I started playing this game during Drums of War's release and I got K'lzik in my first pack... I was soooo excited that I decided to play UD as my main faction, and then I fell in love with all the cool Deep Elves and became primarily a Deep Elf UD player but always tried over the years to make decks for K'lzik and eventually I succeeded with Broodmother and Arthropod Frenzy... both of which are suggestions of mine a LONG time ago, and while I didn't receive any credit or runes, I was super proud of myself for helping out with K'lzik and making her a playable theme in her own right. All this is to say I've invested a LOT of time on BG's built around K'lzik and I can personally tell you EXACTLY what this spider queen needs.

>> UD RUNE UPDATE/REWORK: K'lzik
Over the many years I've spent playing this game... and raging at SOE's OP power creep bullshits causing me to ragequit... and then coming back because ... well I love K'lzik and I missed my Deep Elves... although recently it's partly because of my new personal favorite rune Salaman Hunter... <-- did I forget to mention Salaman Hunter is literally the PERFECT rune that is exactly the right combination of power to nora cost ratio and that it does what it needs to do in exactly the right way to make it feel totally RIGHT thematically and within the power level of the rune and nothing needs to change? (I'm talking about the most current version... the way I run him now is 70 nora with Precision and Piercing Shot 3)... Salaman Hunter feels SOOOO clean and crisp right now... and well, sadly for a lot of runes that I have mentioned above such as Deep Elf Priestess and Nefari Reaper... they are just not where they need to be. But if you take heed of ANY of my suggestions, please really take heed of this post about K'lzik because I can say I've played K'lzik repeatedly and through ALL the many different expansions and reworks and changes made to her so I know her inside and out and backwards. I've played her when she had Vulnerability Fire... I've played her when she had Immunity Poison... I've played her when she could get Surge: Arthropod 2, I've played her when she had 7 speed, I've played her when she could get over 100 nora cost, I've played her when I could reduce her cost down to 87 or 89 nora. So believe me when I tell you, K'lzik is NOT currently in her best state and she is currently in NEED of a rework.

Firstly let's look at her abilities. She does NOT need Multiattack 2... not even Multiattack 1 even... It's there totally as a nuisance and an excuse to make her over priced in terms of Nora. She has Creep and Crawl, which is a racial for arthropods and if you're running K'lzik it is a very simple matter to get to 4 arthropods and get that racial ability activated! You ONLY need 1 rank of multiattack on K'lzik! with 1 rank of multiattack and at 6 speed she can attack twice without moving, that is plenty! Those 2 ranks of multiattack on her currently is hurting her way more than it is helping her because of what it is doing to her cost. It doesn't benefit K'lzik to attack more than 2 times per turn because usually the second hit will fully heal her HP back to full. In my MANY YEARS of playing K'lzik I can attest to the magic nora cost number for K'lzik. It is 89. Every time she gets close to 89 cost, she gets to work better... at 90 cost or more she is unreliable at best and here's why; a dead k'lzik is a worthless k'lzik. No, really? But listen... If K'lzik is 90 nora or above, what happens to her is that usually you can't play another spider on the next turn... and K'lzik, while she is a spider queen and has a decent HP pool, is a Melee hero unit that NEEDS to have support units keeping her alive or helping her kill enemies. If you can't summon any support or other units after you play K'lzik, you are essentially giving your opponent a turn or two when K'lzik is alone (if you play her first turn)... OR you are going to have 1-2 turns in which you don't have enough friendly units near K'lzik and she is alone... When K'lzik is alone, trust me, she's going to get focused down... nobody is stupid enough to let a lone K'lzik to survive to the next turn... All kinds of spells and damage will come in to try to kill her in one round. In the case of a lower cost K'lzik, and you have some other unit nearby, EVEN IF she dies you can retaliate or take her nora globe or DO something, along with moving those little spiderlings into attack and revenge mode. A dead K'lzik with no support units and just a few spiderlings lying around? That's not going to work out well. SOOOO, Multiattack 2 needs to go away and for good. In fact please never again give her Multiattack beyond the Multiattack that she gets from Creep and Crawl... it makes me sick to be sold on the illusion that K'lzik can actually kill an entire army by herself at 90+ nora cost. She can't... she needs support and she wont' get that support if she 90+ nora, Period. She is just ONE champion... and she can't be made into some kind of juggernaught either... it would make her very unfair to play against... She just needs to not be able to be one rounded by enemy champions and maybe be supported by spells like Dark Pact and champions with BodyGuard. Which brings me to my next ability to gripe about.

K'lzik doesn't need Surge Spider 1 as an upgradeable ability especially when there's no other choice on her... like why even have a level 2 upgrade that is ALWAYS going to be Surge Arthropod 1? Let's just explain some math related things here... With Surge Arthropod 1, from my experience with playing with K'lzik, most games I am able to 2 shot champions with her and whatever doesn't die in 2 hits will be killed by either spiderlings or my spider champions that are supporting my K'lzik nearby... It is plenty of damage and she honestly doesn't NEED more... BUT, if you have Surge Arthropod 2 on her, she can in many cases one shot enemy champions. THIS would make it worth playing her at a nora cost greater than 90 nora, because a Surge Arthropod 2 K'lzik doesn't really need support anymore. Currently this isn't an option. Soooo I think in terms of nora cost changes based on upgrades, the choice at least for one of these upgrade lists is whether to run her cheaply with surge arthropod 1 and be able to play support units for her in a timely fashion, or run her at almost 100 nora... I'd say 98 nora is a specifically healthy cost for a Surge Arthropod 2 K'lzik. That's the MAIN choice that I have to make when I come to upgrading K'lzik... currently she can't one shot enemy champions at all... and multi attack rank 2 to start with is ridiculous because if you're going to play a high cost K'lzik by herself, she sure as hell won't have the damage she needs from Surge Arthropod to 2 hit enemy champions by herself... so this Multiattack 2 thing is NOT what's going to help K'lzik reach that dream of being able to solo enemies by herself.

K'l'zik's tactics 101: She needs to survive the enemy turns every turn... that's her main goal... no, it's NOT trying to kill everything around her in very fancy 50+ damage attacks, although you CAN go that route if you get Surge Arthropod 2 instead of Multiattack... and her job isn't really to kill MULTIPLE targets... she's supposed to consistently SURVIVE and MAYBE kill an enemy champion in one turn with 2 hits which will HEAL HER BACK TO NEARLY FULL HEALTH with life siphon, which combos with her propagate spiderling ability so that if the enemies hit her again the next turn or damage her in order to try to kill her and FAIL to kill her, she will once again be able to attack and heal herself. SURVIVAL is K'lzik's main goal in life. Now that we've got THAT out of the way, let's take a look at what abilities she has currently that helps her survival... The choice that we've always been given is to choose between any number of ranks of poison and Entangle and to which I will ALWAYS pick Entangle hands down without a doubt, because it gives her an added RANGED ATTACK which will proc her Life Siphon and KEEP HER ALIVE. That's crucial! Poison??? Forget it... K'lzik doesn't need poison.. it's redundant because her spiderlings can do that for her. Entangle also has the added benefit of making enemy Melee champions have a harder time getting to her so that she can SURVIVE. The ONLY instance in which I might consider Poison 3 on K'lzik is if I had Weaver out and she can disengage using Mobility... but then she's wasting AP on movement and repositioning when she could totally have used her AP to kill the enemy champion... In cases where she doesn't have enough AP to kill and she needs to heal from hitting with a melee attack, that's usually a great time to cast a spell or get her out of there with Relocate Spider from Weaver anyway... so the hit and run thing with Poison like real spiders in nature doesn't really fit our Demon Spider Queen K'lzik.

This suggestion for a rework of K'lzik is intended to give the devs something to think about in terms of how I think K'lzik should be, and what choices should be given in terms of her upgrades. I've played almost every known combination of upgrades on K'lzik since she's been released... so please take heed. Finally, since personally I think K'lzik's main role is a tank that can keep herself healed up repeatedly and be a constant frontline threat unless killed in one round, I would like to point out that Spiders and all arthropods have exoskeletons or that outer armor/shell that is pretty tough. While it isn't fair to make her too tanky, I believe that is a choice that players should be given instead of something like poison... and I do NOT think multiattack is necessary at all on her since she already has Multiattack from Creep and Crawl.

K'lzik: Base Cost Cost with none of the upgrades I'm listing: 82 nora (add the upgrade abilities on her for her total cost for each build and see that it's fair).
Picture: Same beautiful Spider Queen.
Race: Demon Arthropod, Range 1, Speed 6, Surge Arthropod 1, Creep and Crawl, Life Siphon, Propagate Spiderling.

Upgrade list 1: Surge Arthropod 2 (+10 nora cost), Entangle (+3 Nora cost), Tough rank 2 (+10 nora cost)
Upgrade list 2: Trail web (+3 nora cost), Speed +1 (+6 nora cost), Bulwark Arthropod (For each friendly arthropod in play, this champion gets +3 max HP) (+4 Nora cost)

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Long Legged Spinner
So I've suggested the Broodmother to help with surge spider as a thematic choice since there was already protect the nest and I looked over at Ghern Birthmother and I said, "K'lzik needs one of those"... I also suggested the spell Arachnid Frenzy... I know some players like it and others don't find it too compelling, for me that's a spell that spells life and death for K'lzik in some situations when her Entangle is on cooldown and she is unable to reach a champion on low health and there isn't a good option to run away (since she might get killed if she doesn't finish off that low HP champion), so giving her some way of getting pounce was one such way of ensuring both objectives of kill potential and surviving the enemy's turn. It also makes for a nice spell for a spider bg's power turn and combos nicely with Price of Victory for a massive power turn that is totally unexpected and with huge damage potential (ie, spiderlings that can pounce... and if weaver is out it's even scarier since spiderings and other spider units can move out of the way for another spider to pounce). But what I did NOT suggest is Weave Web... and the ability that followed, Trail Web... and well, I can't think of EVERYTHING But at those were amazing ideas that really fit the theme of spiders! Over the past 3-4 years or so after those abilities came out, I've been coming up with MANY renditions of a champion that is a spider that has something to do with web weaving... now, weaver and demonbarb spider both came out right before I was about to suggest some of these ideas and once they came out I promptly shut up and ran out of ideas that were original enough to stand next to those since they both offered the Spider BG something unique that had to do with webs, and the dragging attack was a kicker that I felt would work great. That said... I felt that something was really missing in terms of the web aspect of Spider Bgs... you see in nature spiders actually rely MOSTLY on their webs, their poison is the last step of the process after the prey is fully wrapped up so that there is no risk of the spider getting injured by their prey. There are of course the breeds of spiders like Wolf Spiders that actually rely on their speed and strength to pounce on their prey and maim or poison their prey before they can react... which actually K'lzik is kind of similar to in a demonic way, while looking gorgeous and sleek like a black widow spider. But what was missing? I couldn't figure it out until recently... it was the size and magnitude of the webs! In proportion to their bodies the spider is tiny compared to the web that they weave! Not only that, but the prey often encounters the WEB before they encounter the spider and then there's more web spinning around the prey before finally going for that poison injection at the end.
Long Legged Spinner is my attempt at really going for that webbing aspect of spiders.

Long Legged Spinner:
Picture: Something that looks basically like a Deinopidae or Net casting spiders who make a throwable web ... if this looks too close to Demonbarb Spider, which was one of my major concerns with this idea, then I would go with something like a Daddy Long Leg or Cellar Spider, hence the name.
Race: Arthropod, Class: Rogue
Damage 6, Range 1-3, Size 2x2, Attack: Poison, Speed 7, Elusive, Weave Web
Upgrade 1: Assault Web (whenever an enemy champion within 5 spaces of this champion becomes ensnared, this champion makes a free basic attack against that champion. The enemy champion then becomes ensnared for an additional 2 turns) , Web Weaver (At the end of its turns, tiles within 3 spaces of this champion become Web terrain for 4 turns), Pin Down.
Upgrade 2: Propagate Web (whenever this champion takes 5 or more damage, this champion extends any web terrain within 3 spaces by 1 space around its perimeter, if there are no web terrain within 3 spaces of this champion, then a random space within 3 spaces of this champion becomes web terrain for 4 turns) , Tighten Bonds (whenever this champion makes a basic attack against an enemy champion, that champion becomes Ensnared. If that is ensnared, that champion becomes rooted 3. If that Champion is Rooted, that champion becomes immobile and pacified for 4 turns), Lethal Poison


>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Spider Nest (Relic)
To take the idea of web terrain one step further... there have been in the history of Poxnora a lot of terrain generators... I think that while a terrain generator that generates lava would be almost too overpowered since lava terrain actually deals damage, what if there was a web terrain generator? Instead of automatically generating MORE web terrain however, it's a nest for spiders, so it would make sense that only by playing more spiders does this terrain expand. Finally, I wanted to make this generator of web terrain be useable offensively, so that you could put it down and use it to contest fonts or use it as a combat related relic that would help swing the fight in your favor, so I added a little twist to make it more interesting.

Spider Nest: (relic), Nora: 35, HP 21: This relic has Web Aura (when this relic is deployed and at the beginning of each turn, spaces within 3 of this relic become web terrain), spider weave (for each additional friendly arthropod in play, terrain generated by this relic is expanded by 1 space), and Hatch Spiderling (whenever a friendly arachnid within 5 spaces of this relic is destroyed, spawn a spiderling on the nearest available space next to this relic).

Finally, I think it might be interesting that if you make this Relic a reality, the spell Protect the Nest could prioritize spawning Spider eggs near this relic instead of the Shrine/Avatar and if no Spider Nest Relic is in play, THEN the spell would spawn them near the Shrine/Avatar... I've always found Protect the Nest not very "protective" when I need to transform my Shrine and run my Avatar away from impending doom... and the eggs and spiderlings tend to get in the way of that...


>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: UtterDark Wasp (UD/FW)
So UD is in need of cleanse options... this has been known for a very long time... a lot of UD champions get completely screwed over by a single spell like Hammer Strike or Reverberating Blast or Blinding Flash and then that champion is basically as good as dead since UD's best defense is a good offense. I'm not entirely sure why we've been denied reliable cleanse options consistently for so long, but I might have a creative idea here to suggest that might make an interesting addition to the UD Faction without totally upsetting anybody or causing major upheavals in the balance of the game.

UtterDark Wasp (UD/FW)
Picture: It's almost like a shadow on the wall you see in a horror movie, but the spider itself is actually really small, but all you see is this big looming shadow towering over it as if the only light source is from beneath it and it's casting a dark shadow of itself on the "walls" behind it and above it.
Race: Arthropod, Spirit Class: Rogue
Damage: 10, Range 1-3, Attack: Psychic, Inscrutable Form, Vaporize, Phase Cleansing
Upgrade list 1: Bodyguard, Relieve, Defender
Upgrade list 2: Horrific Aura, Unspeakable, Psychic Aura 3

>> NEW MECHANIC UPDATE/CHANGE Suggestion: Web Terrain
When a spider walks on a web they are suspended in the air... soooo
- Please consider making it so that web terrain can be placed on Chasm spaces, such that arthropods walking on web terrain can go over chasm spaces without being destroyed (this makes weave web a much much more interesting ability on some maps).
- Please consider making web terrain be able to supercede impeding terrain, such that if a space is impeding terrain, but a web is placed over it, arthropods walking over impeding terrain are not impeded.
- Please consider making web terrain also prevent damage (AND HEALING from Fire Eater) when walking over Lava terrain when an arthropod is walking over the web terrain laid over the lava.
- Please consider making arthropods standing on Web Terrain be considered Flying in terms of spells and abilities effects that are in the game (ie, you can't DROWN a spider when it is on a web as it's technically not IN the water... and spiders won't have trouble hitting Flying targets while in the air on a web... BUT would be vulnerable to those that have abilities that deal bonus damage to Flying targets such as Hunter: Flying) They are suspended in the air, so they're not Flying but in terms of many of the mechanics that don't affect or do affect flying units, I think spiders or arthropods that are walking on web terrain should be granted those Flying considerations.
-- Whew! I'm totally pooped out for the day... I made a lot of new updates to my suggestions and added a lot of new ones... enjoy! Also made things a little tiny bit easier to read by including COLOR CODING

 

UD MINOTAUR THEME SUGGESTIONS
I have always wondered at what goes through the devs' minds when they decide to make a new "race" within Poxnora, what makes it viable? What qualities do they look for in a new race? For me personally, I have never really felt too compelled by the Minotaur as a race. Maybe big bullheaded beastmen aren't my thing? I did like Thunderhoof waaay back when there weren't any Avatars in the game and he was part of my shrine rush BG... However, as a UD zealot who consistently try to own all the UD runes (I only don't have all the LE's that are renames/recolors and I don't have a few of the recent Legendaries/Exos) I did try my hands at the Minotaurs and I have to say, which stylistically or thematically I'm not a huge fan, they play in a way that is unique to them, with the portal mechanics helping with much needed mobility. In fact, regardless of actually how strong each minotaur rune is on its own, just because it is a Minotaur and can use the portals to travel around the map, gives it a lot of viability because of the mobility it adds. This is totally what UD needs as a faction in GENERAL but the portals are exclusive to Minotaurs and I guess that is just a mechanic that was designed to fit them specifically... (Please un-nerf Deep Elf Priestess).

With all that said, who are these Minotaurs, these champions who are all basically always consistently within the "Meta" of the game because they can use portals? In mythology, the Minotaur is what you find in the Labyrinth and they eat humans... just saying. So far, there's nothing Labyrinthian about them outside of their disturbing complexions and their ugly faces. I'd like to make a few suggestions here that could potentially help UD as a faction in general but also tie into the Minotaur theme.

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Labyrinth (Spell).
So I forget which rune it was but IS used to have a spell that created a circle of relics around an area, I think it was changed since I haven't seen it for a while now. But I was thinking of a spell that could have a theme of that nature without it being too overwhelming.

Labyrinth: 40 nora spell: AOE 3, target spaces become Labyrinthian for 6 turns. (Labyrinthian, whenever an enemy champion moves onto a space with Labyrinthian or off a space with Labyrinthian, the champion moves 1 space in a random direction and gains Wandering for 3 turns. Enemies may not place relics on Labyrinthian spaces or relocate them to these spaces, friendly relics gain 10 max HP and spell resistance).

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Minotaur Maze (Relic)
So I wanted to make an actual relic that would really fit this theme of minotaurs and their original mythological setting of being scary nightmarish man eating creatures inside of King Midas' Labyrinth. There have been lots of runes created already where certain runes and spells give bonuses to faction wide champions but additional bonuses to a particular race or class. I'd like to make one such suggestion.

Minotaur Maze: Nora Cost 45, HP 45, Defense 2. This relic has Summoned, Split, and Minotaur Maze (Minotaur Maze: Friendly champions within 3 spaces gain 1 rank of evasive and hide <please look below at the Stealth Mechanics suggestions> Friendly Minotaurs gain Relocate Relic).

>> NEW UD RUNE Suggestion: Climbing Hooks (Equipment) (Split Faction UD/IS)
There's been a few ideas I've toyed with over the years regarding relics. To me they could be BUILDINGS... and well buildings are a lot more interesting than little statues that you can't really interact with, because you can go inside buildings, you can stand on top of them, you can move through them if they have doors, and you can also climb over them in some cases. This is just one such mechanic that I would like to introduce that could be the first step in that direction.

Equipment: 20 Nora Cost (UD/IS). Equipped Champion loses Rooted and gains Gore and Climb Over (Climb Over, Activate Cost 3 AP, CD 1: If this champion is adjacent to a Relic, activate this ability to relocate to any target space adjacent to the Relic).

In terms of the Minotaur champions themselves I don't really have much to add, they're just a part of UD to me and they're not Demons so I've not a whole lot of interest in them since I like Relocate Demons (or Beckon Demons as it was used to be called) ... I REALLY want DEP to be brought back... seriously having a 1 turn CD relocate Demons is NOT OP... UD is a Melee Faction and needs to have meaningful ways to engage and disengage ranged champions!

 

STEALTH MECHANICS Total Revamp Suggestions.
So let's start with the obvious stuff. Stealth is a really cool theme and idea and it is in a lot of games. Personally I really really enjoy rogues, stealthy assassins, and various other themes that revolve around this idea. HOWEVER, as a game mechanic, currently stealth has gone completely stale and unviable and here's why:

Stealth has no counter play to it and can only be hardcountered by things like Detection, Damage, and Illuminate. This is not healthy for the game for several reasons. As a stealth player or a player who uses a champion such as say Deep Elf Assassin, I'm investing 87 nora just to play this champion and I'm committing to being able to stealth my unit and doing stuff like Assassinating the enemy Champions. That is a huge commitment of resources on my part. Now... to the opposing player facing me... Unless he damages or Detects my Deep Elf Assassin in some way, he can't STOP me from doing what I plan on doing. There is only a "Hard counter" to stealth. Because unless he has Detection or champions that have Illuminate or even Discovery, or any number of things that HARD COUNTER my stealth champion, he can't stop me at all, I can literally walk my Deep Elf Assassin right next to his champion and if I have 6 remaining AP, I can stealth and use Assassinate 2 on the same turn and do 57 damage and usually completely destroy his champion. For the player on the receiving end of this Assassinate 2, it can feel extremely frustrating and the ONLY solution so far is to bring a HARD COUNTER with Detection... once a player brings out his or her Detection unit, now I am the one who's screwed... now my 87 nora champion is virtually a useless and bland champion that only can auto attack with no other abilities to really make it worth the 87 nora that I invested into playing my Deep Elf Assassin... This make it frustrating for ME the player who uses a stealth champion. SO it's a situation that's a Lose Lose. If I use stealth, my opponent feels frustrated and has no options for dealing with my stealth unless he Hardcounters me with Detection... once I am hardcountered with Detection, I feel frustrated because now my stealth unit is completely useless. This brings me back to the days of Thirion with Hunter UD back when Hunter gives additional 50% bonus to damage done and a 35% reduction to damage received... That's a HARD COUNTER to ALL of UD as a faction and the reason Thirion Hunter UD made me rage so hard I quit the game for a year is because it's a Hard Counter with not even an equal or opposite ANSWER or HARD COUNTER to make it go away... it's just pure and total frustration for one player and easy (Attack + move) for the other player. It's what creates this thing called IMBALANCE. It's OP, it's gay as Firk, I hate it, make it go away...

When you include abilities and mechanics into the game that can only be dealt with by using a Hard Counter or Answer, you turn the game into a list of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the game becomes STALE by limiting creativity in terms of what you can make as a viable Battlegroup. By including HARD Mechanics that give opposing players no meaningful way to deal with it outside of including champions with abilities that directly COUNTER it, players are forced to include these COUNTERS within their BG and the process of constructing a BG becomes somewhat of a long preflight checklist... "Did I bring Detection? Check... Do I have Shatter? Check... Do I have ways to destroy Relics? Check... Do I have damage other than Physical or Magical? Check.... do I have Cleanse? Nope... Sorry UD doesn't have reliable Cleanse options... Damn..." .... SO you see? Totally cramping everyone's STYLE here!!! You can't really go and make a really out there and creative BG because already half of the slots in your Battlegroup is dictated by having these checklists of HARD COUNTERS be filled... because if you didn't have these HARD COUNTERS you can easily lose the game to someone who brought 1 Deep Elf Assassin for example... That is NOT healthy for the game. In my discussion below about Balance and Meta I'll give a list of abilities and spells and other game mechanics that are on the HARD COUNTERABLE ONLY category where you literally can't do anything about that ability unless you brought with you in your BG a hard counter... you can't play around the ability if you don't have the correct answer and you could totally end up losing the game in that case. THAT to me is imbalanced and limits the fun factor in a game.

There's a difference between a HARD COUNTER and a SOFT COUNTER... and HARD COUNTERS are very UNHEALTHY for the game because it does causes imbalance and situations where it is impossible to deal with it unless you include the predefined answer to it. An example of this would be the difference between Arrow Eater, and Evasive. Arrow Eater is a HARD COUNTER and is highly unhealthy for the game. If I'm say playing KF and it is a part of my FUN to include in my battlegroup a high percentage of champions who all are long ranged units like archers and mages, and that to me personally is FUN, then when I face off against an enemy with a BG that HARD COUNTER's me with Pincushions and Voths and Demon Shields, that makes this game UN-FUN because I can't Firking deal with that in ANY meaningful way except to be forced to bring along melee champions which is totally going against what I thought was FUN in the first place in this example... because what if I don't WANT to bring melee champions?! HM? What if I'm just that guy who enjoys spending his time playing a fun style of having lots and lots of ranged units that go pew pew? Arrow Eater becomes something that completely ruins my fun as a player in that situation and it makes this game feel FRUSTRATING and that means the game becomes less about SKILL and more about building a Battlegroup that has all the answers that can deal with all the Hard Counters in this game... that's NOT fun to me... personally I like to play things with themes and Styles... if I win, I like to win because of my SKILL and my strategic game sense... if this means that I can never be top 10 ranked player that's fine... I've spent a lot of time with this game and I enjoy it for the FUN aspect of the game and not the "META" of the game. HARD COUNTERS make this game frustrating and takes the FUN out of it. Evasive for example doesn't take my ranged fun away completely. Evasive still allows my ranged units to deal damage... My ranged champions aren't totally worthless against Evasive, they are no longer as effective, and that kind of SOFT COUNTER is great and very flavorful for the game because players SHOULD be rewarded for their creative choices in what they put into their Battlegroups, but just because a player puts a certain Rune into his Battlegroup, it should not become so punishing and unstoppable for the other player that if he didn't bring the correct rune to HARD COUNTER that rune, then he loses the game because now his runes and champions are completely worthless and he just gets to sit and watch himself lose to a single game mechanic and not to SKILL. When I lose the game when I get outplayed by an opponent through skillful play? I feel like I LEARNED something and I feel really happy and I ask for advice and feedback... but when I lose because of a stupid game mechanic that I didn't know about (especially if I'm a new player to this game)? Firk YOU!!! NOOO just NOOO stop that Bane Shift right now! I don't feel GOOD losing to a player who abused a game mechanic and CHEESED me... a LOT of the top players in this game are only in the top rankings because they build Battlegroups that are incredibly dumb and cheesy... I'm sorry but I have no respect for that and more importantly it makes this game very UN FUN for newer players to learn and VERY PUNISHING for what might be called "mistakes" such as "not bringing a melee champion because of Arrow Eater"... or "not bringing a detection unit because of stealth champion"... I LIKE that there are abilities that you can have on champions that help you better deal with certain situations but doesn't make it so that the opponent don't have any options as well! For any competitive game you need to give players the opportunity to interact and have a meaningful back and forth exchange... The more HARD COUNTERs you bring into the game the less interaction there is.... If for example Arrow Eater became say (Arrow Eater: This champion takes 75% less damage from ranged attacks and abilities and gains 50% of the damage taken as bonus damage for 2 turns) then Arrow Eater becomes somewhat more fun for the enemy player who has to face off against this champion ability... AND on top of that if the enemy player chooses to attack into an Arrow Eater champion in order to deal damage, now the Arrow Eater effect of giving the champion bonus damage is actually viable and useful... right now, Arrow Eater, and Stealth and a LOT of abilities that are HARD COUNTERS or HARD Mechanics makes this game stale because there is no COUNTERPLAY through actions the player can take within the game.

From my personal knowledge and study of various Martial Arts and also actually being a real life enthusiast of all things relating to stealth, I can give some very meaningful suggestions to what Stealth COULD BE in this game that would make the mechanic a lot less stale and give both the player using a stealth champion and his opponent meaningful options and interactions that make the game FUN for both sides of the interaction. This does mean that what I am suggesting is on the level of a massive revamp... but hey, if that's what it takes to liven up this game and bring in newer players and GROW THE COMMUNITY and MAKE THIS GAME MORE FUN... then so be it right?

> STEALTH Mechanics Broken into 5 Different Abilities and Styles: Vanish/Undetectable/Hidden/Obscured/Surprise

>> NEW GAME MECHANIC AND ABILITY Suggestion: Vanish
I think there should be various different degrees of "Stealth" because the word "Stealth" is a very generic term to be used... it does in fact imply and include many different forms of what is known as "stealth". I believe that in terms of the current game mechanic of Stealth the one that is closet to the current way stealth is implemented out of the mechanics I am suggesting is Vanish. But it's still very different from Stealth.

Vanish 1: Ability Cost 3 Ap, CD 5 *cool down for this ability starts on the turn the champion Reappears*: Target unoccupied space within 3 spaces from this champion. This champion is removed from the game for 2 turns. When this effect ends, this champion Reappears to play to targeted location. If the location is occupied, this champion Reappears to the nearest unoccupied space. (Reappear: When a champion Reappears to the game, this champion returns to play with HP equal to what it had before leaving play and is cleansed of all statuses and conditions. In addition, this champion regains full AP)

Vanish 2: Ability Cost 3 Ap, CD 5 *cool down for this ability starts on the turn the champion Reappears*: Target unoccupied space within 3 spaces from this champion. This champion is removed from the game for 4 turns. When this effect ends, this champion Reappears to play to targeted location. If the location is occupied, this champion Reappears to the nearest unoccupied space. (Reappear: When a champion Reappears to the game, this champion returns to play with HP equal to what it had before leaving play and is cleansed of all statuses and conditions. In addition, this champion regains full AP)

Vanish 3: Ability Cost 3 Ap, CD 5 *cool down for this ability starts on the turn the champion Reappears*: Target unoccupied space within 3 spaces from this champion. This champion is removed from the game for 6 turns. When this effect ends, this champion Reappears to play to targeted location. If the location is occupied, this champion Reappears to the nearest unoccupied space. (Reappear: When a champion Reappears to the game, this champion returns to play with HP equal to what it had before leaving play and is cleansed of all statuses and conditions. In addition, this champion regains full AP)

To me, Vanish is the type of mechanic that would be best suited for Spirits that live in Forsaken Wastes and various Wizards. To balance this mechanic in which the opposing player doesn't have many options in terms of COUNTERPLAY, I made it so that the champion is removed from play... this makes this ability more balanced because to me, a champion that has completely Vanished can't have an impact on the game and doesn't have any map presence for casting spells or contesting fonts... it's just NOT THERE ANYMORE.

>> NEW GAME MECHANIC AND RELATED ABILITIES Suggestion: UNDETECTABLE
This here is another mechanic that is quite close to the way the current stealth works, but I added some changes to the Mechanic so that it's not so completely overwhelming to the enemy player and also provide the opponent some decision choices to have meaningful Counterplay. Now on the surface this ability sounds like a more unstoppable version of the current Stealth, but the reason I believe this is a much more fair and balanced version of Stealth is because it guarantees that the player who invested Nora into playing a champion with this kind of ability and play style to be able to enjoy his champion. At the same time, by introducing a duration to this effect it means that this can't be abused the way stealth has always been abused in the past, where instead of using stealth as a tool to choose the timing of an ambush or attack, players instead use Stealth as a way to permanently move a hidden unit around to contest fonts and when this effect is indefinite it makes it impossible for the opposing player to have any meaningful way of positioning his champions away from such a hidden champion. Finally in terms of the fantasy or lore explanation of this... Being able to Stealth and be Undetectable is pretty much the same thing as being able to be Invisible, Scentless, Etc. So even if someone was to stare directly at something that is Stealthed, there is no means of SEEING anything because there's nothing for the senses to perceive. It's like having an Invisibility Cloak that doesn't last forever. Finally, this ability is RARE and can only be used by only the most skilled and highly trained Assassin Class and is specifically used by these experts to carry out Assassinations.

Stealth 1: 2 Ap Cost, CD 3: This champion becomes Undetectable for 3 turns. Basic Attacks and Abilities made by this champion cause this champion to lose this condition. At the end of this affect or if this champion loses this effect with an attack or ability, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns and Mobility. (Undetectable: This unit's location is hidden from your opponent. In addition, this unit cannot be detected by any means) (I will cover Surprise in detail in its own section below).

Stealth 2: 2 Ap Cost, CD 3: This champion becomes Undetectable for 4 turns. Basic Attacks and Abilities made by this champion cause this champion to lose this condition. At the end of this affect or if this champion loses this effect with an attack or ability, this champion gains Surprise and Obscured for 2 turns and Mobility for 1 turn. (Undetectable: This unit's location is hidden from your opponent. In addition, this unit cannot be detected by any means) (I will cover Surprise and Obscured in detail in their own sections below).

Stealth 3: 2 Ap Cost, CD 3: This champion becomes Undetectable for 5 turns. Basic Attacks and Abilities made by this champion cause this champion to lose this condition. At the end of this affect or if this champion loses this effect with an attack or ability, this champion gains Surprise and Hidden for 2 turns and Mobility for 1 turn. (Undetectable: This unit's location is hidden from your opponent. In addition, this unit cannot be detected or revealed by any means) (I will cover Surprise and Hidden in detail in their own sections below).

I would like to say that a highly skilled and trained Assassin who has gained the ability to kill an opponent in one strike does NOT become totally useless when the opponent can SEE him... Stealth would make sense on an Assassin to help gain an advantage in terms of positioning and also in dictating where and when the strike is going to come from... BUT even if an assassin comes out of stealth, the assassin doesn't just forget all his years of training and become incapable of carrying out a kill. Assassins should rely on Surprise as their main weapon and as long as they have Surprise they should still be easily able to carry out their Assassinating attack, that powerful and skillful strike that can kill or devastate the opponent. What this actually means for a champion like DE Assassin is that if she is at least 9 AP, and she is standing right next to 2 enemy champions, when she comes out of stealth and lose Undetectable, through an auto attack or using Assassinate, she still has that Surprise on her side. That does mean that she can use Assassinate on an enemy for 4 AP, and then Auto attack again for 5 AP. THAT to me is the maximum damage in a round that a proper Assassin should be able to do... and the COUNTER PLAY aspect of this is that becoming Undetectable through this new version of Stealth lasts only for 3 turns... the opposing player can choose to BACK OFF once they see that an Assassin has gone into Stealth mode nearby and is undetectable. THAT to me is the right play to make, and then they should wait for her to reappear later and try to KILL the Assassin before she can go back into Stealth again.

Assassinate 1: 1 AP Cost, CD 2: This champion makes an attack at target champion within attack range and deals double damage. This damage is considered Loss of Life and cannot be prevented, or reduced, and does not miss. This ability can only be used when Undetectable or when the Champion has Surprise. (This makes Assassinate an ability instead of a basic attack and that means that Champions with Impenetrable and Subsume would not be affected by Assassinate)

Assassinate 2: 1 Ap Cost, CD 2: This champion makes an attack at target champion within attack range and deals triple damage. This damage is considered Loss of Life and cannot be prevented, or reduced, and does not miss. This ability can only be used when Undetectable or when the Champion has Surprise. (This makes Assassinate an ability instead of a basic attack and that means that Champions with Impenetrable and Subsume would not be affected by Assassinate)

 

>> NEW GAME MECHANIC Suggestion: Hidden
The most classic form of "stealth" should be kind of like the game Hide and Seek. It's really not that hard to Hide from someone. It doesn't require years and years of Ninjutsu training... All you are doing is "breaking line of sight". To me, any Rogue Class or Ranger Class champion can use this technique. It is basically Concealment and another person can easily FIND and DETECT you, by actively or passively searching for you through finding your location or being very observant. This introduces 2 forms of counterplay that could be very meaningful and fun. First of all, ANY champion should be able to detect a champion in Hiding by proximity. However this adds to it the issue of Line of Sight. This type of Active scouting should only work if there is an unobstructed line of sight to the Hidden Champion, similar to how Charge works. Except it doesn't have to just be in a straight line. If there's a champion or relic in between the detecting Champion and the hidden Champion that should make the Hiding champion be able to maintain Hidden status. (in terms of square tiles and grids are concerned, I think to make it simple, if you draw a straight line from the center point of a tile the observer is on to the center point of a tile the hidden champion is on, if there is another champion or relic along the path of that line, then Hidden status is maintained) Without any special skills or training however, ALL champions should be able to see or detect Hidden champions when there is a clear and Unobstructed View (yes, I AM referencing the IS spell... I think that spell with this revamp suggestion would globally reveal any champions with Hidden that are remaining in hiding because of having a relic or another champion in between them and a would be discoverer). Finally, the second level of interaction would be to have a champion or relic with DETECTION, where really the individual with Detection is someone who is highly aware of their surroundings and have better senses and observation skills.

Hide 1: 2 AP Cost, CD 3: This champion attempts to become Hidden. If there are no Enemy Champions or Enemy Relics with Detection within 3 spaces of this champion, this champion becomes Hidden 1. When this champion loses Hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns.

Hide 2: 2 Ap Cost, CD 3: This Champion attempts to become Hidden. If there are no Enemy Champions or Enemy Relics with Detection within 2 spaces of this champion, this champion becomes Hidden 2. When this champion loses Hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns.

Hide 3: 2 AP Cost, CD 3: This champion attempts to become Hidden. If there are no Enemy Champions or Enemy Relics with Detection adjacent to this champion, this champion becomes Hidden 3. When this champion loses Hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns.

As you can see already, this brings much more style and flavor to the Rogues and Rangers who hide... AND Detection champions DO provide a very meaningful hinderance to Hidng.

Hidden 1: For the next 5 turns. This champion's location is hidden from the opponent. If an enemy champion moves within 3 spaces of this champion (and there is an unobstructed line of sight to this champion) or if this champion spends AP moving or activating an ability or basic attack, this champion loses this effect. When this champion loses hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns. (if this champion gets relocated but didn't spend AP moving, this champion is still Hidden... also things like Shadow Shift and other abilities that specifically don't break stealth will preserve the Hidden effect)

Hidden 2: For the next 7 turns. This champion's location is hidden from the opponent. If an enemy champion moves within 2 spaces of this champion (and there is an unobstructed line of sight to this champion) or if this champion moves more than 3 spaces per turn or if this champion activates an ability or basic attack, this champion loses this effect. When this champion loses hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns.

Hidden 3: This champion's location is hidden from the opponent. If an enemy champion moves adjacent to this champion, or if this champion activates an ability or basic attack, this champion loses this effect. When this champion loses Hidden, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns.

Ambush: While Hidden, if an opposing champion moves within this champion's attack range, this champion makes a free attack against that champion that ignores Def if greater than 0 and causes Ensnared 2.

Hunter's Blind: Cooldown 0, AP cost 3: Until this unit moves, it gets +3 Damage, its range becomes 4-8 and it will become Hidden 1 at the end of your turns.

Detection 1: Opposing champions moving within 3 spaces of this champion loses Hidden. When this champion moves within 3 spaces of an opposing unit with Hidden that champion loses Hidden. (The difference here is if both the hidden unit and the detection unit doesn't move, the Hidden unit stays Hidden... A champion with Hide 2 and Hide 3 can hide within 3 and 2 spaces away respectively from a Detection 1 unit and remain Hidden as long as they don't move and the Detection unit doesn't move... also Stealthed Relics are now Hidden and can be hidden when deployed as intended but can be detected if the Detection unit moves).

Detection 2: Opposing champions moving within 4 spaces of this champion loses Hidden. When this champion moves within 4 spaces of an opposing unit with Hidden that champion loses Hidden. (The difference here is if both the hidden unit and the detection unit doesn't move, the Hidden unit stays Hidden... A champion with Hide 1, Hide 2. and Hide 3 can hide within 4, 3, and 2 spaces away respectively from a Detection 2 unit and remain Hidden as long as they don't move and the Detection unit doesn't move... also Stealthed Relics are now Hidden and can be hidden when deployed as intended but can be detected if the Detection unit moves).

Detection 3: Opposing champions moving within 5 spaces of this champion loses Hidden. When this champion moves within 5 spaces of an opposing unit with Hidden that champion loses Hidden. (The difference here is if both the hidden unit and the detection unit doesn't move, the Hidden unit stays Hidden... A champion with Hide 1, Hide 2. and Hide 3 can hide within 4, 3, and 2 spaces away respectively from a Detection 3 unit and remain Hidden as long as they don't move and the Detection unit doesn't move... also Stealthed Relics are now Hidden and can be hidden when deployed as intended but can be detected if the Detection unit moves).

Adding the Requirement of movement to Detection and losing Hidden makes this game way more dynamic because of the possibility of a Hidden unit that remained motionless and it also makes Detection an active process instead of a passive one. All this is to increase interaction between the two players and to allow room for skillful maneuvering.

Guard Tower: (IS relic) Everything on Guard Tower can remain the same except Detection 3. Instead, it can be given a new ability called Revealing Presence 3. (Revealing Presence 3: All units within 3 spaces of this relic loses Hidden, Obscure, and Surprise). Once you read through all the mechanics I am suggesting you will see that in effect by adding these many layers and versions of Stealth, Guard Tower's new ability, Revealing Presence 3 is actually an incredibly powerful ability.


>> NEW GAME MECHANIC Suggestion: Obscure
So, what happens when you throw a smoke grenade? We have flash bang's in this game in FS that causes blindness and some damage, and in KF there's Blinding Flash... similar concept, different execution... In FW there's Elsarin Night... and in UD there's Breath of Ash... the thing is, an AOE protective zone is a very common and popular concept, and it can be done in many different ways... but what if there was a stealth AOE? What does that look like? I believe a Smoke Bomb is the concept to base this idea off of. PLUS, what if a Champion can naturally make itself be difficult to perceive? It is different from Hiding because you could be looking directly at an Obscure unit and still not be able to make heads or tails out of it. You can't see very CLEARLY what that unit really is, but you CAN see its location. Welcome to yet another version of Stealth

Obscured: This champion takes 10% less damage from ranged attacks and 6 less damage from all non physical damage sources. The first basic attack that causes Physical damage from each enemy champion misses. Aura Effects and other spells and abilities that ignore Def will still deal the original damage to this unit. In addition, this champion's Sprite is shown in Silhouette (this is just a graphical change... the opposing player can still see the Obscured champion BUT the name of the champion and what equipment is on the champion will no longer be shown to the Opponent when he clicks on the champion) (Obscure can be gained like a status from spells and equipment OR it can be an upgrade or ability on a Champion. It can be dispelled or one can also use Illuminate... read below... also Precision would counter Obscured much like how it also goes through Dodge and Elusive.)

Murk (the ability on Murk Demon in UD): Hidden Champions within 8 spaces including this one gain Obscured and do not lose Hidden when taking damage. (I've thought long and hard about this one trust me... it works... but basically Murk pretty much does the same thing except it also reduces non physical damage by being able to Obscured, making it slightly more relevant and useful. Murk will provide no effect to friendly champions who lose Hidden and are detected but Champions gain Surprise when they lose Hidden so they don't really need Obscured to protect them as much).

Night Blade: 20 Nora: Equipped champion gains Obscure, and Surprising Strike. (Surprising Strike: Whenever this champion makes a basic attack, this champion gains Surprise for 2 turns). (Does anyone still remember this rune's existence? I think it's about time Night Blade gets to do what it really needs to do... which is to Obscured your champion and Surprise the enemy!)

Illuminated: This unit cannot become Hidden and/or Obscured. (Yup, I think this is what Illuminated should be changed to if everyone agrees with my suggested changes and they become implemented.)

Acrid Smoke: Spell... Nora Cost 40: AOE 3: Upon casting, affected units take 6 Physical damage. At the end of your turns enemy units within or entering the affected area are blinded and inhibited for their next turn. Enemy champions entering or moving through affected spaces take 6 Physical Damage. Friendly Demons within this area gain Obscured. At the beginning of your turns the area of this effect decreases by 1. (Why do all the other factions get cool spells like this one but UD's Acrid Smoke is so weak and cleansable? NO More of this Imbalance I say! No more! Acrid Smoke needs to be that smoke bomb spell I was talking about earlier.)


>> NEW GAME MECHANIC Suggestion: Surprise
Ok, so surprise is simple to understand but very difficult to come up with. It needed to give an undeniable advantage to those who use stealth to their advantage and let's be honest, when we talk about stealth we're really using it for the element of Surprise aren't we? So with both Stealth which causes Undetectable and Hide which gives Hidden, enemy champions presumably could not see the location of these champions so that means these champions gain the element of surprise when they lose stealth for the first time! And it's not just ONE champion... If I come out of hiding or suddenly seemingly appear out of thin air in the middle of a room with several different people, they're ALL going to be surprised for a brief moment and they wouldn't be very ready for action. It's supposed to be stronger than say Dodge or Block... BUT it can't be so invincible or a HARD MECHANIC that there's no way to outplay that... There HAS to be something the opposing player could do to overcome the surprise while the player with a champion that gained Surprise should still have an undeniable advantage. That's a hard thing to come up with within Poxnora but I believe I have done it.

Surprise: The first basic attack or ability each enemy champion make against this champion while this champion has Surprise, misses. This effect cannot be dispelled. This effect will not trigger if this champion is Paralyzed or Stunned. (It's supposed to work similarly to block or dodge but on all enemy champions at once and not for a single enemy because surprise isn't something that just work on one enemy at a time. That said enemies who can attack more than once... or basically they are more ready with more action points, they are better able to deal with being surprised.)

Forward Scout: Friendly units within 5 spaces of this unit including this one may ignore the effects of Surprise on an enemy Champion or Unit. (What makes the Scout class unique or different from a Ranger or Rogue or Assassin <yes, please make a new class called Assassin and a new class called Scout>? Basically this)

Discovery: Enemy champions and units within 5 spaces may not gain Surprise. (Making enemy champions become illuminated upon deployment doesn't really make much sense to me... "whaaat? I just played a champ all the way at my shrine and you lit me up from all the way across the map? *gasp* you've GOT to teach me THAT trick!")

Surprising Strike: This champion gains Surprise for 2 turns after making a basic attack.

Shadow Strike: This Champion gains Undetectable for 2 turns after making a basic attack.

Combat Reflexes: This champion may not be Stunned or Paralyzed. (I've a soft spot for the type of rogue or assassin or duelist who favors dexterity over strength... and I don't like to have just a bunch of abilities like Scrapper around to reduce damage... reducing damage isn't the only way to make this game fun.)


STEALTH MECHANICS TOTAL REVAMP Suggestions Recap:
- I wanted to make things concerning stealth less about hard counters but more interesting and fun for both sides of the interaction between a stealthed unit and the enemy.
- I separated the Rogue and Ranger class into 4 recommended classes:
*Assassins tend to have Assassinate and Stealth
*Rangers tend to have Hide and Detect
*Rogues tend to have Hide, and Obscure
*Scouts tend to have Hide, and Forward Scout.
- Spirits and Mages can now have a stealthy element to their game play with Vanish.
- Each of the stealth mechanics I introduced are waaay more balanced:
*Vanish removes champion from play but that means they can't contest fonts.
*Undetectable lasts only 3 turns and can be reacted to by pulling forces back, and the timing of an assassination can be predicted based on this limited timing window.
*Hidden can last a bit longer or indefinitely and is more about the level of training of the Champion to determine how stealthy that champion is AS WELL AS player skill at maneuvering Hidden units skillfully to evade Detection.
*Detection is a more active process due to its requirement of champion movement on both sides of the equation. Also I suggest adding line of sight to the mix for more advanced skill limits for players.
*Hidden can be actively detected by Champions without Detection a lot more reasonably so that there is still an opportunity for Counterplay for the opposing player even without Detection units.
*Obscure as a concept can bring more meaning and flavor to certain champions and give the Murk Demon along with future champions with Murk a very central role in a Stealth Themed Battlegroup.
*Surprise is added as a concept to give champions who rely on stealth that added utility and survivability needed even after being detected or revealed so that it's not so feast and famine with how these champions work and gives stealth themed Battlegroups more to work with.
- Over all if all of my suggestions are implemented, stealth will no longer be so frustrating to play as or against and this game will be a LOT less stale because now you're no longer forced to field Detection units, while at the same time stealth units will require a lot more skill to use effectively.


PLEASE COMMENT ON MY THREAD OR BUMP IT AND LIKE IT AND LINK IT TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THE DEVELOPERS OF THIS GAME IF YOU THINK ALL MY HARD WORK IS VALID!!

 

SAVAGE TUNDRA
So ... a couple years ago, right before the ferren came out, I was playing lots of Pox and UD was a faction at the time where you could only run "Meta" BG's or MAYBE spiders if you want to be competitive about the game... I felt cramped with the style... (Yeah, if you haven't figured it out by now I play this game just as much for the flavor and style of my runes as I do for the winning...) A player who was very high up on the rankings list, (Sadly I forget his name), who was an ST faction expert played me a couple times in ranked and I really enjoyed his BG... he used nothing flashy or imbalanced, just your standard ST Gale, and some other spells like Swap along with a theme or synergy based around amping up Frost damage. He repeatedly Swapped my champions with his using Yeti Spirits and either killed them due to being within kill range or with his deadly Gale sandwiches... I felt helpless against the way he handled his battlegroup and you could tell it was all because of skill... nothing was imbalanced about his BG it was purely the most standard and classic runes that ST always runs. I spoke with him after the game asking to learn from him... because honestly I wanted to get better skill wise... I wanted to learn how to make better BG's and also how to better pilot them... and so he did... he taught me many things... how to position the spell Gale for sandwiches as well as DOUBLE Gale sandwiches using only one Gale... and also the priority of which champion was deployed first, etc. He even had forum guides for ST posted. I'm not sure if he still plays but I learned so much about using Gale that I wanted to try this Frost Amp themed BG along with Gale sandwiches using Yeti SPirits and Swap.... and what that brought me was almost a year's worth of playing exclusively ST. I could honestly say that I got to a point then where I felt just as comfortable with playing full faction ST as I felt when I played UD... the familiarity with the runes and what each spell could do brought me closer to that level of "expertise" where I felt I knew exactly what I could do each turn to maximize the use of my BG's... I started to win a bunch and I climbed the rankings ... I was never top 10 or even top 50, but I got maybe close to the top 200's. That's always been my threshold... I've also gotten up that high using Deep Elves back when you could change the cost of runes and mess around with other stats like damage and defense... and some people played with 100 nora Imps... while I focused on 50 or less nora Deep Elves and an 80 nora Grimlic... My treachery decks back THEN and my ST decks during this time I have described were the peak of my skill for Poxnora. SO, ST is kind of my secondary faction. All this to say, that I have a fairly decent understanding of this faction and a lot of appreciation for what it is good at doing and what it lacks and desires. (ST wants shatter sooooo bad... but apparently they like to leave each faction with a shortage of one thing... like how UD lacks reliable cleanse options... ST really wants some kind of single target Shatter but it only has it on some champions and the Rebound spell).

> FERREN THEME SUGGESTIONS:
When the first Ferrens were released I felt like they were in the wrong Faction... I didn't think they fit in ST. Not that they weren't cool enough... I thought that perhaps they belonged in KF, since they were Ferrets after all and last I checked Ferrets lived in Forests... BUT that said, I started trying them out... there weren't a lot of Ferrens at first but their Racial Ability Ferren Focus along with their Ferren Hideout got me excited... it is possibly the single most exciting and interesting racial theme in the game of Poxnora! In a way I would use the Ferren racial as the example of what a really balanced and fun ability looks like. It has a lot of utility for handling and focusing down a target enemy champion but at the same time it's not completely overwhelming for the opponent. You could choose as a ferren player to stack up the ferren focus on one target and hindering that target further OR you could choose to spread out your attacks but not be able to focus down one enemy quickly while providing yourself some coverage through slowing everything down. It's built in crowd control in a way that isn't hard CC that makes the opponent be unable to move... like say Magnetic toads with those Wretched Witches that everyone and their moms were running back in those days... Anyone remember those BGs? FUN right? In any case, as the Ferren grew on me, I started to play them more and more until finally I wanted to make suggestions. The Ferren Dancer came as an indirect result of one of my suggestions. I was only responsible for her ability Flourish I believe, but by having contributed something, even if it was just one small ability to the Ferrens, it made me feel connected to them somehow... but what REALLY got me was when the Ferren started getting Ferren Ninja and they took on a more distinctly Asian theme... they were kind of your old Kung Fu movies from Hong Kong Cinema. They also included a few other cultures... like the dancer might come from India or Middle Eastern cultures, while the Ninja is distinctly Japanese, while the Ferren Wanderer is distinctly Chinese WuXia... But all in all, I felt like they definitely carved out their own niche within the game... They didn't belong in ST... no it was the other way around, the ST belonged to them... because while most of their units don't have direct synergy with the rest of ST, the spells and relics in ST really did fit in with them... the ferren might be fairly fragile too on their own but in ST they also gain that ST HP bonus making them fairly decently solid. SO all in all I'd say even today that they are fairly balanced... they were balanced when they came out, and they have remained fairly balanced throughout their existence in the game. They never stood out as the most OP, nor did they ever fall behind on the power curve. They're right there, smack dab in the middle of what they needed to be and they do get the job done. So with that said, what is there to add? What is there to suggest? What could the Ferren possibly want or need?

>> NEW ST RUNE Suggestion: GrandMaster Shu Jo (Ferren Hero)
So the Ferren has units that remind me most of a Shaolin Temple where you have warrior monks training and meditating. Of course not ALL the units fit into that fantasy but MOST of the Ferrens have that feel and flavor that they are all very skilled in the martial arts and they learned to fight with many fighting styles such as NoKan Do among others. Now, almost every new Race or Class that has a Theme around it eventually end up with a Hero. The Ferren are in the grand scheme of things still a fairly new race and theme, but they've been around long enough to have earned a place in Poxnora as a full on theme in their own right. A lot of the new races were split factions and those got their Heroes fairly quickly. Then there were several new "themes" such as witches and Ferren and Minotaurs and Faeries that came into the game... They don't have their heroes yet. Personally as I have said before I don't play the Minotaurs that much even though I am a UD zealot for the most part... I have never played the Fairies and I've only recently picked up the witches and started playing around with their BG theme to try to make heads or tails out of them. The Ferren however feel so clean and smooth in their execution... I almost wish that the combination of Ferren, Deep Elves, and Salaman were possible somehow into one BG... because that would be my ultimate BG. But alas that is not the case so I'm split between these three themes mainly. Since I'll talk about the Salaman later I'll just say that Ferren as of right now simply needs a Hero. They have everything they need, they have the support units, they have the ranged units, they have the melee units and anyone who have played the Ferren knows that they have plenty of utility built into them. They aren't LACKING in any department really. They have all the tools they need to succeed and they have a style that they use that is fairly unique to them. But in a world of ST Martial Artists who are the Ferren as we know them to be... who taught them their Martial Arts? Who was the source of all their wisdom? Who was the mastermind behind the fighting tactics they know so well? Who trained them? To me, only the Hero of the Ferren could have done that... only their GrandMaster who they all aspire to become closer to in skill and self mastery. Only GrandMaster Shu Jo.

GrandMaster Shu Jo:
Picture: A Ferren Master who is blocking a barrage of arrows with a spinning staff which he is using almost like a giant whirling shield, except he is meditating at the same time... yes, while standing on his tail, he is sitting in a Lotus, both legs in the air, with his right arm holding a staff that he is hugging to his side while silently counting the beads on his monk necklace, his left arm spinning the other staff to block off a multitude of arrows. His face if filled with calmness but at the same time due to what is happening and what we see him doing, we get the clear sense that he's not using his full martial potential but is almost at rest. He could easily be swinging and spinning both staves, one in each hand and likely defeat a small army by himself like an ST Ice Storm, but he prefers to be serene and calm, like the cool cleansing breeze.
Race: Ferren Class: Monk
Damage: 12, Attack: Physical, Range 1-2, Ferren Focus, Nokan Do, Hero, Silent Contemplation
Upgrade 1: Counterstrike 2, Multiattack 2, Defensive Strike
Upgrade 2: Freezing Discipline, Crippling Discipline, Forbidden Discipline

>> NEW ST RUNE Suggestion: Furbull Charger
So, basically I look at ST and one of the key spells is Swap. It's sooo useful for making a safe champion be in a very bad spot and/or swapping one of my champions into a really good position offensively. This is great for a lot of BGs in ST except for Ferren we don't seem to have a 2x2 unit to swap other 2x2 units. Hence I needed something big and fat to swap. I looked around... what's big and fat and something that a Ferren could potentially ride? A giant, mean, furry, Furbull... Sooo then I looked around some more at the new furry things that could be ridden and I saw the Corki Ranger... I think ST needs something like that, especially the Ferren. And then suddenly it all clicked.

Furbull Charger
Picture: A Ferren desperately trying to hold on to a charging Furbull who seems to be hungry and is running after something delicious as indicated by the tongue hanging out and the droop flying off behind them that is literally freezing in mid air. The Ferren appears to be gleeful and happy as well although barely holding on as his legs are in the air and he's hands are between his legs like he's holding onto a saddle but he's falling backwards.
Race: Beast, Ferren Class: Ranger
Damage: 14, Range 1, Damage: Physical, Size 2x2, Charge 3, Ferocious Bite
Upgrade 1: Ferren Focus, Iceguard, Resillient
Upgrade 2: Crazed Charger, Trample, Heavy Charger


*More Ideas to come... been a bit busy*

 

Reserved for ST Penguins + polar Bear type champs discussion

 

Reserved for ST Jekai discussion

 

Reserved for FW Witches

 

Reserved for FW Skeletons

 

Reserved for FW Zombies

 

Reserved for FW Spirits

 

Reserved for FS Salaman

 

Reserved for FS Boghoppers

 

Reserved for Firk

 

Reserved for IS paladins

 

Reserved for IS constructs

 

Reserved for Leoss