CDC #10: Rework: Tassadar

Hello Ladies, Gentleman and assorted attack helicopters
I"m Melke returning with my piece to add to the 10th CDC
The theme this time around was Reworking existing characters and I chose to handle the man who defeated the dreaded overmind and is evoked in reverence by all templar. Tassadar.
Before I begin I’m going to put this in black and white in case someone dosen’t notice while reading
Yes Distortion Beam is gone!
So please for the Love of the Nexus no more “MUH SENTRY” non sense, the only thing left is that is Sentry like is “plasma” shield which will be renamed Telekinetic Shield

With my rant aside here ya go, enjoy :slight_smile:

A Few Notes before starting
  1. Void and Kalai function exactly like Mana, any ability or item such as regeneration globes that would affect mana is divided equally between Psi and Void.
  2. as always unless specified otherwise all numeric values given have the standard 4% increase per level
  3. Just to make sure it’s in black and white when an ability is labelled with Resource for its cost, that is to imply that the cost will be applied to Kalai or Void and is decided based on which the player has active with their trait.

Without further ado here we go.

Base Stats

Health: 1300
Resource: 250 Kalai and 250 Void
Base attack speed: 4
Base attack Range: 6.5
Base attack damage: 35
((To avoid wasting time checking these stats are (or supposed to be if I missed something that is un intentional) unchanged from Tassadar’s current stats with the exception of Kalai and Void which are now a replacement for Mana) and his damage output which is doubled due to the removal of the baseline utility

Base Abilities

Trait (D) Protoss harmonics

1-second cooldown.
No mana cost

Activate to swap which resource is active Kalai or Void energy.

All spells cost the same amount of Kalai or Void energy however a secondary effect will occur that is unique to Void or Kalai Energy, specified on the abilities.

Q: Plasma Shield

50 Resource
8 second Cooldown
Grant target ally hero 480 health shield that lasts 4 seconds

If Kalai was used to cast: the target also gains 15 armour while the shield is active

If Void was used to cast: the target gains 45% lifesteal on their basic attacks

W: Psionic Storm

50 Resource
8 Second Cooldown

Deal 82 damage per second to enemies in target area for 3 seconds. Damage increases by 12% for each consecutive instance of damage, up to 60%.

If Kalai was used to cast: all friendly units also gain 71 shields per second which shield granted increase by 5% per instance of granting up to to 55%. These shields last for 1.5 seconds after leaving the Psionic Storm and the multiplier is reset when leaving. re-entering a psionic storm does reset the duration, however.

If Void was used to cast: Enemies also have their outgoing damage reduced by 5% ramping up to 25% over 3 seconds this effect lasts 1.5 seconds after leaving the Psionic Storm

E: Feedback

50 Resource
8 Second Cooldown.
.75 second cast time

Short ish range

Target is silenced for 1.5 seconds and they take 40damage for every ability they used within the last 4 seconds

If Kalai was used to cast: The energy bursts outwards slowing all enemy targets near the original target by 35% decaying over 2 seconds (including the original target)

IF Void was used to cast: also adds the Concussed effect to the heroes most recently used ability, adding 3 seconds of cooldown to that ONE ability (the last ability the hero used prior to being hit)

Heroics

Heroic 1. Balance of Power

Free to cast
Cooldown: 75 seconds

For 8 seconds Tassadar gains 15% spell power, his abilities recharge 10% faster and all of his Abilities activate both their Kalai and Void bonuses
costs are divided equally between Kalai and Void

Heroic 2. Swelling Psionics

Cost: 85 Resource
Cooldown: 100 seconds
Effect Radius: slightly larger then Ring of Frost (Jaina) divided into three rungs the center, the inner and outer ring
Over .75 seconds a psionic burst expands to full radius, enemies within the center take 200 damage per second, enemies in the Inner ring take 100 damage per second and enemies in the outer ring take 75 damage per second
After 2 seconds the outer ring moves inward (disappearing) and enemies still inside the center and inner ring take a bonus 200 (center) and 100 (inner ring)

If Kalai was used to activate enemies caught at the center are stunned for 1 second and enemies caught in the Inner Rung are slowed by 80%
If Void was used enemies caught at the center recieve a debuff that absorbs 200 healing that lasts 2.5 seconds (This means no healing until that 200 healing would have been met) and enemies caught in the inner ring gain the same effect but for 100 healing

Talents
Level 1

Protector of the First Born

Quest: block 7500 damage with Plasma Shield
Quest: Cast 55 Plasma Shields that take damage
Quest: Hit enemy heroes with Basic Attacks 125 times

Reward: Completing 1 quest increases the duration of Plasma shield by 1 second
Reward: Completing two also increases the shield health by 30%

Reward: Completing all 3 quests Plasma shield now also applies untalented shields worth 50% of the original shield to allies near the target

Storm of the First Born

Quest: Deal 5000 damage to minions with Psionic Storm

Quest: deal 5000 damage to enemy heroes with Psionic Storm

Quest: Secure 5 Enemy Takedowns

Reward: AFter completing 1 quest reduce the cooldown and mana cost of Psionic Storm by 15%

Reward: After completing 2 quests increase the radius of Psionic Storm by 25%

Reward: AFter completing all three quests Kalai based Psionic Storms provide an Extra 50% shields and Void based Psionic Storms increase from 25% outgoing damage reduction to 40% ramping up over the same time frame

Warrior of the First Born

Quest: use Feedback 35 times on enemy heroes
Quest: Collect 15 Regen Globes
Quest: Collect 30 Regen Globes

Reward: after completing 1 quest Feedbacks cooldown is reduced by 1 second
Reward: After completing 2 quests Feedback can be used on structures to disable them for 3 seconds.
Reward: After Completing all three quests Feedback range is increased by 75% and Regen Globes now generate Twice as much Resource

Level 4

Dimensional Shift:

Active: 35 Resource 45-second Cooldown.
Tassadar becomes Invulnerable, Unstoppable and Unrevealable for 2 seconds. Increases his movement speed by 25%
If Kalai was used when the effect ends slows all movement of enemies around him by 75% for 1 second. If Void was used targets around Tassadar are also blinded and have their spell power reduced by 25% for 1 second. (Note this is a very short range for the secondary explosion, if used offensively Tassadar would be right next to whoever is effected when the effect subsides, using this aggressively is VERY risky))

Oracle

active: 15 Resource, 20-second Cooldown,
Activate to greatly increase Tassadar’s vision radius, allow him to see over obstacles, and detect stealthed units. Lasts for 2.5 seconds
If Kalai was used Tassadar gains 150 health in shields (no duration) If Void was used Tassadar becomes stealthed for 2 seconds.

Refocused Mind

Feedback can now be used on Tassadar and ally heroes. When used on Heroes they gain 10% spell power and 10% movement speed
If Void is used target gains 50% spell for 2 seconds or until they attack
If Kalai was used target gains 50% phsyical armour for 2 seconds

Level 7

Defensive Attunement

Reduce the cooldown of Plasma Shield by 1.5 seconds.

Burst of Power

Kalai Plasma shields now grant 40 Armour but reduces down to zero over 2.5 seconds

Augment of the Void

Void Plasma Shield now also grants 45% movement speed decaying over 1 second

Power of the Void

Void Plasma Shield now increases attack speed by 35% decaying over 1.5 seconds

Level 13

Unrelenting Feedback

Landing Feedback on an enemy inside a Psionic Storm of the same resource applies a bonus effect.

If Kalai is used the target is rooted for 2 seconds

If Void was used the energy sparks outwards increasing nearby ally Spell Power by 10% for 1.5 second

Overcharged Barrier

If a hero with a plasma shield runs through a Psionic Storm of the same type a bonus effect occurs.
If Void shield and storm are used target gains a bonus 35% lifesteal. If Kalai was used double the received shields from the Psionic Storm

Shrouded Defence

Enemies inside a void Based Psionic Storm have their vision reduced by 25%

Level 16

Psionic Overload

If an enemy remains inside a Psionic Storm for 2.75 seconds they are stunned for .75 seconds

Bare your own power

Feedback reduces primary targets armour by 25% for 2.5 seconds

Power of the Mind
Feedback can now hit enemies in a very short range around the initial target

Dark Wave

Void Plasma Shields now erupt when destroyed around the target for 5% of enemy hero health

Level 20

Might of the First Born

Quest: Complete Protector of the First Born quest
Reward: The secondary shields granted now also benefit from any talents that would affect the primary Plasma Shield

Quest: Complete Storm of the First Born Quest
Reward: When casting a Psionic Storm Tassadar can activate it 2 extra times within 3 seconds for free. (Note the free Psionic Storms will be the same type as the first even if the resource is swapped)

Quest: complete Warrior of the First Born Quest
Reward: Feedback deals a bonus 8% of a heroes health as damage and damage is calculated based on an additional 2 seconds (so now it’s all abilities used in the last 6 seconds as opposed to 4 seconds)

Psionic Link

Passive:
Tassadar creates a link around him (Radius equal to cast range of most mage spells) he and all allies with 1% armour, and 1% spell power for each ally hero in radius
Active : Call to Arms 60 second Cooldown
increase the bonuses of Psionic Link to 3% Armour and 3% spell Power per ally hero for 5 seconds

Telekentic Thrashing

Psionic Enemies caught within the third Rung of Swelling Psionics are pulled into the second Rung right before the burst. Enemies in the second Run are pullled into the first

Perfectly Balanced

Reduce the Cooldown on Protoss Harmonics by 20 seconds and increase ability refresh rate while active by an additional 25% (This does not apply to the ulti itself))

New Skin Ideas

Magician: a silly wizzard hat and floating in classic starred robes and long beard.
Neon Punk: Tron Inspired neon effects
Reaper: A grim reaper like getup, this effect would also change his Pisonic Storm to look like a shadowy void and his psionic attack to look like Shadowbolt from WOW (Note this would be a bright purple not unlike the Dark Nexus)

Voice Lines

I never knew Carriers could be such potent blunt weapons
2. What’s a sentry?
3. What is a sentry?
4. No I’m not a sentry I’m a templar

Mandatory Link

CDC #10 - Retroactive Reconstruction

Total Score - 16/20

Creativity - 5/5
This is a fairly creative way to overhaul Tassadar’s kit. Lorewise, he is known for being a high templar that also embraced the power of the dark templar; this literally shows up nowhere in his current HotS implementation and I think your choice to rework Tassadar’s resource and basic abilities to play into this was a creative and thematic choice. I can also appreciate going for a carrier interaction with Interceptor Run, though I have some problems with it (coming up later). Feedback is a pretty expected ability for a high templar, but I think it does fine for Tassadar; I’m a little sad for the loss of Dimensional Shift because I think it could’ve played interestingly to the dark templar side.

Cohesiveness - 3/5
Quite a few elements of this kit feel like they could generate cohesion but just fall short. For example, Khala and Void versions of abilities should each have clear and defined utility. Generally, you made Khala focus on Shields and Slows, while Void focused on Lifesteal. Lifesteal seems kind of out of place to a dark templar identity I think, but the biggest problem for this cohesion is that Psionic Storm’s Void effect Slows, which takes away from the Khala effect identity. Also, Interceptor Run exists as the only ability that doesn’t play into the Khala vs Void system you set up and feels disjoint from the kit for it. Furthermore, I think your Tassadar concept here struggles with class identity. Tassadar already does to some extent in HotS, having a weird mishmash of damage and support skills while not excelling in either. I think you’re trying to push him more toward a Support role since you gutted Psionic Storm’s damage, in which case him Lifestealing to himself feels weird. In this Support identity Interceptor Run feels even more out of place, with its potential to hit harder than Pyroblast in a 1v1 scenario. The loss of Dimensional Shift also feels really bad in his kit, since you left Tassadar pretty much just as fragile as before with less damage, and now he’s lost his main escape tool. As a final note, I know you really want to integrate Mana interaction some way with Feedback, but dealing damage based on current Mana just feels too jank for HotS since plenty of heroes don’t have Mana. I would advise reworking it somehow to be based on ability casts rather than Mana.

Thematic - 3/5
In some ways, I appreciate this as being more thematic to Tassadar than the base kit, working his high templar and dark templar influence together instead of just ignoring the latter. A bunch of the theme still feels off to me, though. Tassadar’s beam attack may have become iconic to him in HotS but has no support in his source material, and it still feels like just a Sentry beam. Force Wall suffers from the same problem; it’s in his current HotS kit but just feels like a Sentry ability. As fun as it can be on Tassadar it just doesn’t fit into his identity. Finally, while I can appreciate what you tried to do with Interceptor Run, it just feels out of place for Tassadar’s character. As iconic as his carrier, the Gantrithor, was to his time in Starcraft 1, Interceptor Run itself feels more like a fleet commander ability, while Tassadar’s identity feels more in line with a warrior-templar. I might give it a pass if the Gantrithor were integrated more into Tassadar’s kit and identity here, but as a single heroic it feels a little like a throwaway. I’d also like to clarify that a one-off Gantrithor heroic could fit in my opinion, but it would need to feel more direct and less like Tassadar is calling in fleet backup.

Interaction - 5/5
I don’t see any major problems with interaction for this kit. As I said above, Interceptor Run does too much damage in fringe 1v1 scenarios so you should at least rework it with that in mind if you choose to stick with the ability.

1 Like

Overall Score

Category Rating
Creativity 4/5
Cohesiveness 4/5
Thematic 4/5
Interaction 3/5
Overall 15/20

Creativity

4/5

Overall, it’s a pretty creative and solid take on Tassadar that brings an interesting central mechanic to the table. However, a few of the talents here are… Boring, even if effective, namely 3/4 of his Level 7/Tier 3 talents(Excepting Burst of Power) and Level 16/Tier 6 talents(Excepting Psionic Overload), and the fact that all of his level 1 quests require Regen Globes to complete is also a little bland.

Cohesiveness

4/5

As much as I really like the Khalai/Void mechanic, it feels… Jank. You have a number of talents that encourage you to focus on either side of the mechanic, but effectively give half as much mana to the hero for trying to play in this way. I think either Tassadar’s Khalai/Void effect talents should have an effect on both sides(keeping them a little on the weaker side to compensate), or Tassadar should be returned to using normal Mana, allowing him to freely swap or focus.

Thematic

4/5

The Khalai/Void mechanic really makes it feel more like Tassadar, but I still feel his current basic attack, the Distortion Beam, and his Plasma Shield just feel too much like Sentry abilities for such a noteworthy High Templar.

Interaction

3/5

The rework does a lot of interesting things… But it also has some key problems. His Void Plasma Shield enables Illidan really well baseline, untalented, which could cause serious issues. Feedback is in this weird spot where I’m not sure if it’d be too good as a point & click silence or too risky to cast due to short range and cast time. Feedback with the Level 4 talent to become a, “reverse blind”, quote unquote, is probably extremely good as a counterpick option, especially so early in the talent tree, even if missing out on Dimensional Shift and Oracle for it. Augment of the Void on 7 is obnoxious to ever deal with, making it incredibly hard to chase down or escape a target with the Void Plasma Shield. Overcharged Barrier at Level 13 takes Illidan to 100% basic attack lifesteal before you factor in Illidan’s talents, which is… Pretty spooky, and its Khalai effect is also really good on top of that.

Additional Feedback

A couple of his effects feel… Useless. Swelling Psionics’ Void effect inflicts a very minor healing absorption effect. Defensive Attunement… 1.5 seconds off the unspecified cooldown of Plasma Shield feels kind of… Meh. Maybe not quite as useless, but still really boring. Power of the Mind feels like a really bad Momentum talent, coming 9 levels later and being… Slightly more effective than most of them, at best.

1 Like

Total Score - 15/20

Creativity - 4/5
Seems some lack of creativity on those skins and voicelines to a point xP but i will admit those Sentry ones turned my mood around and got me laughing.

Cohesiveness - 3/5
Sadly i do agree with the other two when i skipped over the kit itself in that it seems to fit someone else better, not saying its bad though as the Khalai/Void mechanic is interesting ill give it that at least.

Thematic - 4/5
The Khalai side fits Tassadar perfectly, Void partially fits due to the end of SC1 and he still looks like a Sentry due to Blizzards part.

Interaction - 4/5
Skin wise there isn’t a ton of info for them, voiceline wise interaction is fine i suppose, kit wise i could see him doing too well for his team making it hell for enemies.

1 Like

Melke - 73/100

Creativity: 7/10
Cohesiveness: 6/10
Thematic: 7/10
Interaction: 7/10
(+0 Thoughtfulness, +0 Game Fluidity)