Kurogamon wrote:And you know, you can make new topics...
Yeah...
On the hero himself... I really dislike all aspects of the third skill, first because it doesn't level (at all?), second because it's an unconditional perma-cripple if they are within 300 AoE, and third because no matter how magical you are, it just doesn't make sense to make two corpses fall out of one body.
As for the rest of the hero, I just don't like the feel. You've made a corpse consuming hero that does nothing but corpse consume... which is kinda lame, seeing as they can never actually leave an active battle site for fear of losing a means by which to act.
Something to notice with this hero is that even you have no confidence in the last three skills. You know how I know this? All three have tacked on, passive elements to them (yes, the 3rd is a passive, but my point stands). If any of the skills were solid enough as they were, you wouldn't need to go and add the passive effects. Look at the map as it stands, I don't think I know of any non-passive skills that have an "oh by the way" passive effect. If you'd like to enter some discussion as to why you thought these skills were good, or in the logic behind them, that'd be great, and if you ask around, I'm sure there's a lot of people willing to help with hero design.
I'm sure I've said these things before, and I know I'll probably have to say them again, but here are the keys to putting together a good hero:
1) Keep in mind the system. What are it's rules, what are it's complexities. Are there any interesting mechanics in this system that have:
A) Not been explored
B) Not been explored deeply in one aspect
C) Could be used to interesting effect
If you find something that fits into this, it is generally a good launching point for a hero. A hero can be done without this, but as a whole, it will have a much more muted effect with the community at large.
2) Define a goal, both for yourself and for the hero. Oftentimes these will be one in the same, for example, "I want to build a solid hero that is capable of Pushing by the use of Summonings". This serves a dual purpose. It first gives you something to look back to and remind yourself what the overall intent for this hero is, and it also defines the role of the hero. Sometimes these goal can be different, such as "I want to build a hero with only passive skills" and "I want a hero that uses a Swarm mechanic to Hero Kill", something like that.
3) Do something else. Whatever it is that you can do that will keep your mind free to mull over this idea. For me it's taking a walk with some music, I remember Dusk saying he herocrafts while working out with his bo staff. Whatever it is you need to do to let your mind do it's thing, do it.
4) Return with some fresh ideas, and jot down at least the first two or three skills. At this point you should hope to have a solid image of who and what this hero is, as well as how they will work on the battlefield. If you are having difficulty getting more than one skill, that's ok, the next step works on that, for now it's important to just get whatever ideas you have down in a written form.
5) Now comes the hard part, where you've got to do some significant thinking. The questions you should ask yourself vary based on the role and mechanic you're using, but they should be making sure that the hero is both well rounded enough to exist in more than just one way, while still being unique in it's means of doing so. When you have an idea for a skill, jot it down, then read it along with every other skill you have thus far two or three times. Make sure you can see each skill working with the others in a meaningful and interesting way. If not, it may be time to rethink that skill. Either way, keep with this process as long as you can, and if need be repeat 3 and 4 a couple times til you've got a product you're happy with
(OPTIONAL) While I havn't done this, I know several who have, and that is to take what you've got so far, and send a PM to someone you respect and view as a good Herocrafter, asking for their ideas on what you've got so far.
6) Post it up! You've got at least the startings of a hero going, let's see what people have to say. Remember that by this point, you've pretty much maximized the hero's operation within your own head, so listen carefully to what other people say. Generally speaking, a hero won't change 100% once they reach this point. That's not to say that they won't, but the changes should be much more subtle than those in stage 5. Generally expect 1 skill to change in a significant way, with minor changes to 1-2 others. These are by no mean accurate numbers, but I'm putting them here as a best guess.
7) Smile! You've just made a hero, and whether it makes it or not, Dusk tends to surf the suggestions while looking for inspiration, and this hero may be just what he's looking for.
And as always GL, HF.
