To have a start for new forums here's a compilation of my ideas for different themes. Vampires: Coolest looking yet worst theme. Overcosted champs, inconsistent abilities (some have bleed synergy, some have ls, race difference in split), no cheap units. Remove vamp race from creepers. Remove ls/bleed from champs that don't need it. Split vamps into clans like barbs. When a new vamp is deployed, any vamp may activate corresponding boon like barbs. Unlike barbs, benefit is gradual (like yetis) and permanent (unlike yetis). Flavor-wise it represents ancient vampires - ones who stay alive for long get crazy powerful, while neonates don't get anything. Clan examples: Monster (tracker, fiend, demonvein): offensive abilities/stats, stealth/assassinate, fear, beast synergy (summon/control/boost) Social (original, enchantress, banshee): defensive abilities/stats, charm/possess, tactical abilities (relocate, battlemaster, etc) Magic (binders, seeker): bleed-related, spell-related, healing and other magical stuff Witches: They simply don't have any win condition. Everything is cursed - so what? For me witch coven associates with communion master-slave casting. It can be done with epic-cd Maxxy-style abilities or spell-related stuff. Creepers: I have no idea what were dev plans for racial rework, but it's terrible. Currently racial is definitely useful on 3 maps, completely useless on half maps, and barely useful on other half. Make zone auto-stretch to any captured font. So for example if you have actual zone of +3, and you have a font 5 spaces away, zone auto-stretches to that font. If you deploy a creeper in that font you get "virtual" increase to +4, but zone can expand further only once you get it to +6. If you deploy a non-creeper in that font you get "virtual" decrease to +3, but zone remains while you control the font. Make noncreep mutants at least not decrease zone on deploy. Give mutants some magic damage and shatter. At least one FW slot is desperately needed in UD or SL splits, make one creep UD/FW rune and another - SL/FW one. Paladins/CtE: The problem is ff paladins are much better than split. Suggestions: Make both paladin heirs have their abilities activated by both magnuses in split. Few minor buffs for FW side. Humans/Foul Rite: This theme simply doesn't have enough slots - you have to use ~7 slots for meatgen and support while having almost no death benefit. Humans which can spawn real undead may be easy solution. Also it would be cool to have alternate non-undead human versions of magnus, korsien and defiler. Elf/Witch: Would be cool to have alternate versions of witches with race: elf. Skeletons: I'm definitely not a fan of removing speed from boost, old skellies were not compensated right. This is best seen in ST and KF splits, where you don't want any new skellies. Zombies: Need cauldron-alike thing for disease. Stitched: Make arise and disintegrate split runes, cause for ST and SL splits you can't have both. Clops: Add cyclops race to CC, give him normal ranged attack or bomb, add any defensive or healing ability. Nerfs: Domi - make cliffing result in vertical push instead of instagib. Make death pact and BfN unusable while possessed or simply give iron will to champs with those. Or just ban it from ranked. Coragh - just make him and other 150ks unique. Ethereal soldier, whisperghast, lerper, lamia - cost nerf. Stealthy spirits - insubstantiate to aoe from global, decrease aoe for murk, make actual murk champ unaffected by it. Release accessible version of disturbed spirit.
If witches were to branch out a little bit, KF/elves is a pretty sensible direction. I also really like the Fallen Paladins theme/split and would love to see it get some retouching. Elsewise, I've been working on some ideas for Foul Rite myself. It mostly involves human support champs, at least one of which can spawn a small group of real minions (most likely needing charges) and one that can give important undead champions a buff that makes them immune to the spell.
I did some work on witches on the old forum. I´ll try to track it down and copy it over for sugestions on what to do for them.
I expected to see another cry 'I need this in my bg' kind of post. I'm pleasantly surprised and fully agree with the OP
Disagree with skeleton part. Skellies are just fine, even after the nerf to boost. As far as nerfs go: Why nerf spirits? Agree on coragh, lerper, whisperghast and soldier, but lamia just isn't all that anymore. Making domi a vertical push when cliffed would be saying "screw physics"... REALLY like the idea with the font stretch on the creep ability. It might actually be a good way to balance the ability. Would have to go through the maps though to see if it would be really broken on some maps. (SP comes to mind)
Pre-PoB skellies were not toptier theme (though close), now powerlevels have gone up, while they were nerfed (well, merc was actually buffed, and bonewing is more or less same) — how can they be toptier now? Sure, with PoB cheap fast Bane Shift hey are fine, but I was referring to old ones. As for spirits, lots of decks barely have any "real" detection, relying mostly on aoes and pings. Stealthy spirits are ridiculously gay for such decks. Spirits should evolve into a normal combat theme with strong stealth only if you invest into it, rather than hide-and seek right from turn 2. Lamia on her own is not a problem. It's when you have lamia, another cheap champ and apgen when she becomes one. 75 is a border number here, with 78 such cases would be much less frequent. Vpush and falling to chasm are exactly same physics-wise except direction order, and animation may be simply reversed.
When looking at boost skelly to give +1 spd again, you have to consider not only the old skellies, but also how it will affect the newer released ones. I've played skellies recently and done just fine with them. In fact they counter most meta decks in several ways. Detection can be solved with good deck building. If you want to sacrifice detection in your deck, you have to live with the consequences. I do however agree that some stealth champs are out of line. SP players say they have no real detection, but when I look at Pit Wolf, I see one of the more efficient runes in the game. I don't mind nerf to Lamia to be honest. She doesn't make the cut for my decks anyways. I used to run her, but realized I always deployed Whisperghast or Shadestriker over her. I mean physics as in gravity. How does a champ fly up into the air when it falls down a hole? Just doesn't make sense. I don't have any ideas about it myself though...
i am interested in seeing more blood effects(spells, equipment, relics)/ blood magic from from fw. It would give ff fw more detection and healing options and make vamp splits more versatile.
