This is my concept for the 13th Community Design Contest “Cult / Classic”
(Link to the contest: CDC #13 - Cult/Classic )
Sarlac, King of the Ka’dra’suul
Contest entry info
Sarlac is the final boss in the classic SNES game Blackthorne. That game was published in 1994, so it meets the criteria for a “Classic” character.
Aspect
We don’t actually get to see him a lot in the game, but this is the gist of it:
https://horriblegames.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/sarlaac.jpg
https://blogjonstud.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/blackthorne_338557.jpg
Some people have said he looks similar to Diablo, so he might need to be slightly redesigned if that’s a problem
General Hero info
Class: Melee Assassin
Max HP: 2000 (~4.167 regen)
Resource: Mana (500 max MP)
Attack Speed: 1.11
Attack damage: 95
Mount: Normal
notes
His HP is on the high end for Melee Assassins, but considering he has no baseline sustain and almost no defensive Talent options, I think it’s OK.
His attack damage is on the lower end for Melee Assassins, but his attack speed is rather fast, and he’s kind of a mage-ish, so I didn’t want too much damage to come form AA’s.
Abilities:
D: Xandralite fuel
Passive: hitting an enemy Hero with a Basic Attack grants Sarlac 1 stack of Xandralite, up to a maximum of 20 stacks.
Active:
self cast; 30 sec cooldown; no mana cost, but spend all stacks of Xandralite.
For 10 seconds, ability cooldowns refresh 2% faster per stack spent; doesn’t affect the cooldown of Xandralite fuel
Explanation
The idea is that Sarlac’s abilities have a slightly too long cooldown for the punch they pack, but the Trait makes them have a slightly shorter cooldown than would normally be expected of such an ability (if used at full stacks), giving Sarlac a burst of power.
The point is that it’s important for him to use both abilities and basic attacks for maximum value.
lore explanation
In the original game (or rather, its manual 
), Xandralite was a special metal that radiated energy, used as a fuel source by both of the kingdoms involved.
Sarlac wanting to steal the Androthi’s supply of Xandralite for the Ka’dra’suul was the whole reason for the conflict in the game.
Q: Flaming Punch
directional cone; 10 sec cooldown; 35 mana
Attack in a small cone in front of Sarlac, dealing medium damage and knocking enemies slightly away from him.
Enemy Heroes hit by this ability are marked with Sarlac’s Flame for 4 seconds
Passive:
Sarlac has 25% increased movement speed when moving towards an enemy marked with Sarlac’s Flame.
Explanation
While it might seem odd for a Melee Assassin to push targets away, the shove is very small, and meant more to interrupt enemies channeling, and the like, plus it helps give Shadow Warp slightly more versatility (see below).
The effect of Sarlac’s Flame alloes him to be sticky and keep landing Basic Attacks (it’s the same movement speed bonus as Samuro or TB Varian, but only works on marked enemies like Butcher’s “Insatiable Blade” talent).
W: Shadow Warp
ground target; 12 sec charge cooldown; 50 mana; Hold 2 charges
Sarlac becomes a shadow, losing unit collision and rapidly charging to a designated location.
After the Warp, Sarlac casts a free (untalented) Flaming Punch, aimed toward the location where he was before warping.
Can’t warp through impassable terrain
Explanation
This is Sarlac’s main way of being sticky other than Sarlac’s Flame (sticky-ness is an important aspect for a Melee Assassin).
Note that, because Sarlac’s Flame is a baseline feature of Flaming Punch, the free cast here does apply it, despite being untalented.
Rather than helping him chase, it works by stopping the enemy from escaping, body blocking them and (if the free Q hits) pushing them back into the frey a little.
I can also be used for an escape/disengage, warping away from the battle and shoving pursuers away, but because the free Q is not optional, it forces Sarlac to sop for a moment after warping, so that this ability doesn’t make him hypermobile.
However, the idea is more to use this in order to “go Dragon Ball Z on their asses”: hit them with Q, warp behind and hit them with the free Q, repeat with second charge of W
E: Lightning Hunter
Point and click; 16 sec cooldown; 60 mana
A warning circle appears at the location of the targeted enemy; after a short delay, the area is hit by lightning, causing heavy damage to the target, and medium damage to other enemies.
This repeats a total of 3 times, with a short delay between each attack.
Explanation
By automatically re-targeting, this ability forces the enemy to keep moving in order to avoid it’s potentially huge damage, sort of like a Basic Ability version of Artanis’ Purifier Beam.
The AoE is small, and the delay long enough that a hero moving at normal speed can avoid it completely (again, like Artanis’ laser)
This meshes a little with Shadow Warp, as he can warp ahead of the enemy and body block them to get a hit in (the damage is only “huge” if all three strikes connect)
This also makes it really dangerous to stay in one place while fighting Sarlac (which was already a bad idea because it lets him get in more Basic Attacks and benefit from his Trait)
If this ability would make it too easy for Sarlac to merc, it could be changed to only target enemy heroes
R1: Guardian Gargoyle
Vector targeting; 50 sec cooldown; 50 mana
Summon a destructible stone Gargoyle in a pedestal that blocks pathing.
(use vector targetting to decide the position of the Gargoyle and the direction it faces)For its duration, the Gargoyle periodically spits fire, dealing damage to enemies in a small area in front of it.
The pedestal and the attack area are roughly the same size… Something like this
https://imgur.com/a/UnRgeZa
Explanation
A smaller and destructible version of Tassadar’s wall (well, IDK if that one was made smaller with his rework)
Its main use is to block chokepoints so Sarlac can get in close, but because it also attacks, it makes Sarlac even more effective against stationary enemies like Ragnaros in Molten Core or Hammer in Siege Mode. (or NPC’s, like objectives and bosses)
Original game comments
In Blackthorne, the Gargoyles were avobe the room where you fought Sarlac, so they didn’t block your movement, but I tought doing it like this would make the ability more interesting, or at least more versatile.
R2: Flaming Bomb
Linear skillshot; 30 sec cooldown; 50 mana
Launch a fireball in the target direction, if the fireball hits an enemy or impassable terrain, it explodes in a circular area.
Enemies caught in the explosion are damaged and otherwise affected as if they were hit with Flaming Punch (being pushed away from the center of the circle); this effect benefits from all Flaming Punch Talents Sarlac has enough level to pick, even if Sarlac picked something else.
if the fireball impacts an enemy, it deals bonus damage to that target (in addition to damage from the explosion)
Explanation
This one can more realistically be used agaisnt enemy heroes who won’t just stand there and let the Gargoyle cook them.
It can be dodged, but if the enemy is close to walls, it can be tricky to completely avoid it, so the idea is to shoot it at an angle to land on a wall or minion to the side of your target, stopping them from fleeing (except straight back), and marking them with Sarlac’s Flame so you can engage more easily.
And if the enemy is rooted or something, this can be used to just make your “DBZ combo” even longer.
Original game comments
Sarlac did use a move like this in Blackthorne, where you could dodge the fireball the same way you would normally dodge enemy shots, but if you were too close to the wall, it would explode and hit you anyway.
Talents:
Tier 1 (level 1):
- (D) Fuel Overcharge
(!) Quest: Hitting Heroes with Basic Attacks increases the duration of Xandralite Fuel by 0.25 seconds, and Takedowns increase it by 1 second, up to a maximum of 5 seconds.
(!) Reward: after reaching 5 seconds, the cooldown of Xandralite Fuel is reduced by 5 seconds.
- (D) Xandralite Armor
Xandralite Fuel also grants a shield for its duration, worth ~2% of Sarlac’s maximum HP per stack spent
- (D) Fuel the Flame
While the effect of Xandralite Fuel is active, Sarlac gains 1% Spell Power per stack spent, and every third basic attack agains Heroes marked with Sarlac’s Flame grants an additional Xandralite stack.
Tier 2 (level 4):
- (Q) Long Reach of the King
The radius of Flaming Punch’s cone is increased by 30%.
Enemies hit in the extended range don’t get knocked back.
In addition, the duration of Sarlac’s Flame marks from Flaming Punch is increased by 2 seconds (from 3 to 5).
- (W) Shadow Claw
Shadow Warp now deals damage to enemies it passes through.
Enemies damaged by this are marked with Sarlac’s Flame for 3 seconds
- (E) Lightning Blast
The radius of Lightning Hunter is increased by 33%, but its delay is also increased. (just enough so that it’s still possible to avoid it by walking at 100% speed)
In addition, Lightning Hunter deals 50% additional damage to enemies in the center, and applies a mark of Sarlac’s Flame to them for 3 seconds.
Tier 3 (level 7):
- (Q) Enduring Flame
After hitting an enemy Hero with Flaming Punch, a pool of flame remains (in the same cone area the ability covered), dealing moderate damage to enemies who remain there.
In addition, Sarlac’s next 2 Basic Attacks within 5 seconds deal bonus Spell Damage equal to 50% of his normal Basic Attack damage.
- (W) Shadow Hunter
Shadow Warp casts a single strike of Lightning Hunter at Sarlac’s location before warping, and another one at the destination after the warp.
- (E) Relentless Hunter
If Lightning Hunter hits the targeted enemy Hero with at least one of its attacks, it repeats an additional two times (for a total of 5 “attempts”)
Can only trigger once per cast.
Tier 4 (level 10):
-
(R1) Guardian Gargoyle
-
(R2) Flaming Bomb
See description in “Abilities” section above
Tier 5 (level 13):
- (Q) Flaming Vitality
Whenever Sarlac aplies Sarlac’s Flame to an enmy who’s already marked, Sarlac regains 5% of his maximum HP and MP
- (Q) Relentless Battering
Hitting an enemy Hero with Basic Attacks while he’s marked with Sarlac’s Flame deals bonus damage and increases the mark duration by 0.75 seconds
- (W) Fade into Shadow
Sarlac gains Evasion while charging with Shadow Warp, and for 2 seconds after
Tier 6 (level 17):
- (Q) Combo Strike
Flaming Punch gains a second charge, but its cooldown is increased by 4 seconds.
In addition, while Sarlac has the movement speed boost from Sarlac’s Flame, he also gains a 15% attack speed boost.
- (W) Impenetrable Darkness
Shadow Warp leaves behind a shadowy image of Sarlac that body-blocks enemies.
The image mirrors Sarlac’s free Flaming Punch for 50% damage, and disappears 1 second after.
The image doesn’t move, or make any other actions (except for the free Q).
- (E) Lightning Rod
Casting Lightning Hunter on an enemy Hero also casts a free one targeted on Sarlac.
Tier 7 (level 20):
- (R1) Gargoyle Hound
Guardian Gargoyle loses its pedestal and grows in size (so that it has the same collision size), gaining 30 Physical Armor and becoming animated:
While the Gargoyle is active, it can be reactivated to order it to charge to a target location near it, damaging enemies in its path and knocking them aside.
This effect has an 8 second cooldown
- (R2) Bombardment
Flaming Bomb now pierces through enemies, but will only explode on the first enemy impacted.
In addition, it gains a second charge (charges cooldown independently)
Note: this doesn’t allow Flaming Bomb to pass through walls, but the missile can explode twice: once on the first enemy hit, and once more if it hits a wall behind them.
- (D) Power of the Darkstone
Upgrade Xandralite Fuel to Darkstone Fuel, increasing maximum stacks by 5, gaining the benefits of all tier 1 Talents, and instantly completing the Fuel Overcharge Quest.
- (Q) Cursed Flame
Reapplying Sarlac’s Flame to an enemy Hero who is already marked reduces that Hero’s Spell Power by 5 for the duration of the Mark.
This effect can stack up to 4 times (-20 Spell Power)
- (E) Storm Hunter
Active Ability - no Mana cost; 60 sec cooldown
Passive: Whenever Lightning Hunter hits the target enemy hero, it refreshes the cooldown of this ability by 1 second
Active: Cast a free (untalented) Lightning Hunter on every enemy Hero in a wide area around Sarlac.
The Heroes must be visible to Sarlac and be valid targets for Lightning Hunter to begin with (so heroes in Stealth, Invulnerable, Stasis, etc. aren’t affected)
Extras:
Taunt
In the original game, the main enemies would laugh at you whenever they hit you, and IIRC Sarlac did the same. That would be his taunt.
(couldn’t find a video of Sarlac doing it, because apparently any youtube video showing Sarlac has to be a no damage run 
, but here’s one of the regular enemies:
https://youtu.be/99F1lPHBWbM?t=228 )
Skins
Heavyweight Sarlac:
Once a boxing champion, Sarlac was completely discredited after it came to light that he was using a high-tech steroid known as “Darkstonine” to get the edge over his opponents. Now he works as an enforcer-for-hire in the grimy underside of New Tirisfall.
A skin set in the same Noir-style universe as the Scarlet Heist event, but with looks more resembling Kharazim’s “Dropkick” skin from Nexomania.
Basically, Sarlac wears boxers and gloves. Maybe one of the tints has a big scar across the chest, as a reference to a classic from a different franchise 
Abominable Sarlac:
Legends tell of a sorcerer who was so depraved, his visage changed to reflect his inner corruption. Now he lurks in the snowy peaks, abducting lost travelers for his deranged experiments.
Probably a Fall Event / Halloween skin; Instead of the normal red and fiery, he looks white (in the default tint) and furry, but keeps his big black horns, like the “wendigo” in Warcraft. Importantly, one of the tints is a deep blue (again for reference sake)
Tactics
Good against:
Enemies who tend to remain stationary, such as Sgt. Hammer or Chen, make for an easy targer for Lightning Hunter.
The large ammounts of displacements Sarlac has access to can also be effective at interrupting Heroes with long channels, such as Whitemane.
Works well with:
Because Sarlac can easily deal high amounts of damage to stationary targets, heroes who can reliably root or significantly slow enemies are good to have around.
Xul’s Bone Prison in particular can make it easy to time Lightning Hunter to coincide with the root, thanks to its long warning, thus somewhat turning a weakness of both abilities into a strength.
Furthermore, Sarlac’s ability to body-block the enemy to prevent their escape (rather than the more common styles of chasing) can make for a powerful combination when paired with a Hero who can deal sustained damage but isn’t that great at chasing, such as Gul’Dan or (new) Tassadar.
Struggles against:
Because Sarlac needs to hit enemies with Basic Attacks to maximize his effectiveness, Heroes with Blinds, such as Li Li or Cassia, can cripple him.
Also, he has a hard time being a threat to heroes with Evasion, like Illidan, or who can remove the Sarlac’s Flame marks from themselves, like Samuro (with his dumb “swapping positions with a Clone removes all amrks so you can’t tell the real one from them” mechanic).
Works poorly with:
Sarlac’s need to land Basic Attacks means he can be easily hindered by Heroes who crowd around enemies, such as Samuro with his Clones and Nazeebo with Zombie Wall (though the latter can also be a boon by holding enemies still to be hit with Lightning Hunter).
Also, though the displacement of his Flaming Punch isn’t huge, it can still be problematic for allies with narrow skillshots, such as Nova or Orphea, because of the relatively frequent movement of the enemy.
And here I was worried about lowering the average 
(well, I still have 2 chances for that 
)
) , and a couple of skins.
), and fixing it took longer than expected.