Ages ago, the Pantheon of the Titans traveled the cosmos fostering world souls and using their powers to shape life and lock away the evil forces of the universe. The nathrezim were one of the oldest beings in the galaxy, delving into shadow magic. One day, Norgannon encountered a world devoured in the Void’s influence, with a conclave of Nathrezim serving as their minions. From them he learned a great deal about the Void, and, noting the potential of the race, offered them a choice: they could work as his emissaries in a purified form, or could be imprisoned by the demons. Their leader, Tichondrius, was the first to take up the gift, losing his physical form for a brilliant form of stars. With Norgannon’s blessing, he became an emissary across the stars, manipulating life across the galaxy, preparing it for the invasion of the Void.
Designer Notes
Originally, the world was discovered by Sargeras, who, in fear and rage at the Void, sundered the world. This event is what led him down the dark path of becoming the leader of the Burning Legion. Under Norgannon’s wisdom and guidance, the manipulative and scheming nature of the nathrezim was refocused on preparing the cosmos for the void’s coming. The look of the character would be similar to Alganon, but with the shape of regular Dreadlords. In addition, they would have galaxy-like faces. For silhouette, Tichondrius would float as opposed to walk and would be much more graceful in his movement. The wings would be shaped differently from Mal’ganis to reduce silhouette confusion.
In HotS, Tichondrius is an elusive spell-based mid-range assassin. While he can engage in melee and use his elusiveness to stay alive, he excels at a midrange, annihilating enemies with conditional spells that align just right.
Universe: Warcraft
Role: Melee Assassin
Summon Mount
Z (Mount) – 4 sec Cooldown
Increases your movement speed by 30% while mounted.
Explanation: There is no need for a special mount.
Astral Projection
Trait (20 sec cooldown)
Tichondrius summons a clone of him within 4 units that will then mirror his movement exactly. The clone will stay at this exact distance away from Tichondrius at all times, and any disruption applied to one is applied to the other. The inactive copy can fade through impassible terrain. This clone has the same health as Tichondrius. Tichondrius can reactivate the ability to swap main control between Tichondrius and his clone, changing which one can basic attack and cast abilities. Whichever Tichondrius is dealt 20% of his maximum health in damage first is slain, and Tichondrius resumes control of the other one. Any excess damage dealt to the slain image of him is ignored. Cooldown starts when the copy is slain.
Explanation: Astral Projection serves two key purposes; it allows him to protect himself in a high damage fight (since he has low-ish health) as well as allowing him to always keep at a distance from enemies if he positions correctly. Thematically, this matches the Dreadlord’s habit of illusion magic but with a Mirror Image spin. The distance and direction of the image are all set in stone upon being cast, and distance cannot be added or removed from Tichondrius’s clone.
Alignment
Q (3 sec Cooldown)
Tichondrius calls forth the images of two stars that fly from the sides of him to a center area. The stars are always 3 units away from him, and are 1 unit in width. Any enemy hit by the stars are dealt 120 (+4% per level) damage. Enemies in the center are dealt damage from both stars and are slowed by 40% for 1 second.
Explanation: Alignment is Tichondrius’s main damage tool, and focuses on spacing with a small amount of extra disruption to supplement Tichondrius’ ability to stay alive. As with the other titan creations, Tichondrius can reshape the cosmos while he fights. Alignment has a baseline cast time equal to the time it takes to perform the ability, which is not increased by Starwatcher’s Night.
Spatial Warp
W (10 sec Cooldown)
Tichondrius sweeps along a wide 5 unit line incredibly quickly, gaining Unstoppable and able to pass through units while moving. Any enemy hit is dealt 140 (+4% per level) damage and has their soul severed, being pulled along with Tichondrius. The soul remains severed for up to 3 seconds or until collected by the enemy, reducing their spell armor by 15.
Explanation: Spatial Warp gives Tichondrius some much needed mobility to reposition in a fight or escape. The spell armor reduction allows his Alignment to have some extra punch when he can use it to keep space between himself and his foe. Thematically, Norgannon has been known to practice soul magic, such as when he seals the souls of the Pantheon within their Keepers. It would make perfect sense for these teachings to have passed on to his prized subject, which also relates to the Dreadlords’ history in the necromantic arts.
Celestial Shroud
E (12 sec Cooldown)
Tichondrius unleashes a swarm of celestial beetles in a ring around him for 4 seconds, which starts 2 units away and ends 4 units away. Any enemy in this swarm is dealt 35 (+4% per level) damage per .5 seconds, are marked with Lifeblood for 3 seconds, and have their damage dealt reduced by 40% for .5 seconds. Lifeblood stacks up to 4 times, and is consumed when Tichondrius damages the enemy with another ability or basic attack, healing him for 25 (+4% per level) health per stack.
Explanation: Celestial Shroud is a titan reimagining of Carrion Swarm, which both supports the midrange identity of Tichondrius while offering him much needed sustain to keep in a fight long enough for his Q to punish his foes. To match the titan iconography from Uldum, he uses celestial beetles as opposed to locust.
Cosmic Intercession
Heroic #1 (X sec Cooldown)
Tichondrius performs a unique movement ability based on the distance of the ability. Each ability puts the entire ability on cooldown for a unique amount of time.
(0-4) Tichondrius blinks to the target location. 4 sec Cooldown.
(4-10) Tichondrius hesitates for .25 seconds before rocketing to the location in an arc, dealing 80 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies hit along the way. 12 sec Cooldown.
(10-25) Tichondrius channels for 2 seconds before teleporting to a target location in a burst of cosmic energy, dealing 300 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies within 4 units of his landing zone. 60 sec Cooldown.
Explanation: Cosmic Intercession gives Tichonrius an intelligence-forward, player-controlled movement option that can allow him to enter or leave a fight as he needs. The ability matches his story, with him interceding on a planet as a cosmic messenger, and the forward-thinking nature of the ability feels like a natural fit on Tichondrius, being the mastermind he is. While not a massive, teamfight winning effect, I think it’s versatility without complexity should make it feel good to use.
Starwatcher’s Night
Heroic #2 (90 sec Cooldown)
Tichondrius creates a 7 unit radius of shadows around his cast location. While within this shadow, Tichondrius becomes a faint shadow, becoming unable to be affected by any ally or enemy in any way, but can still move. While in this form, Tichondrius can still cast abilities, but they move much slower (about 30% speed). However, Tichondrius’s abilities only have a .1 second cooldown while within this form. Starwatcher’s Night lasts a total of 4 seconds, and ends instantly if Tichondrius exits the zone.
Explanation: As opposed to the combo enhancing power of Mastermind, Starwatcher’s Night causes Tichondrius to hone in on the elusive aspect of his kit. Starwatcher’s Night gives Tichondrius a way to sow destruction and area damage across a wide group of enemies, with the added benefit of disruption, healing for Tichondrius, and spell armor shred. Starwatcher’s Night can be a powerful teamfight heroic if Tichondrius is being focused. The heroic is a direct reference to his Phase 2 in his Nighthold fight in WoW. Instead of creating a night of nightmares, he instead creates a surreal, starry night.
Tier 1
• Reach of the Titans: After using an ability, Tichondrius’s next basic attack gains a range of 3 instead of melee, and deals spell damage instead of physical damage, plus an additional 22 (+4% per level) damage.
• Guardian Orbit: Alignment now also fires in the opposite direction on use. These stars act exactly like Alignment, including colliding at the middle point opposite to the targeted one.
• Draining Swarm: Celestial Shroud now slows the enemy’s attack speed by 10% each time they are hit by it, stacking up to 40%. This slow lasts for 1 second. Upon reaching 40%, the enemy is dealt an additional 115 (+4% per level) damage.
Tier 2
• Intergalactic Void: (Toggle) Whenever Tichondrius basic attacks an enemy Hero, he blinks 1.5 units in the direction opposite to them.
• Beguiling Asterism: When the copy that Tichondrius is not controlling from Astral Projection is slain, Tichondrius is reset to the health amount he had when he cast the spell and gains 20% increased movement speed for 1 second.
• Black Hole: Celestial Shroud no longer strictly follows Tichondrius, and instead slowly creeps towards his current location 1 unit every second. In addition, Tichondrius gains stealth while Celestial Shroud is active. If this stealth is broken, he re-enters it after .5 seconds.
Tier 3
• Shooting Star: When Alignment collides in the center, it will hesitate for 1 second before firing in a 5 unit line beyond the collision area, dealing an additional 120 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies hit and applying the slow. This damage can also be dealt to enemies in the collision area.
• Subverted Ephemeris: Astral Projection’s mimicked Spatial Warp now acts as a full cast of Spatial Warp, damaging enemies and dislodging their souls as per the ability. If an enemy is hit by two Spatial Warps, they are dealt an additional 150 (+4% per level) damage, but a second soul is not severed.
• Tools of Creation: Tichondrius’s basic attacks deal 25% increased damage for every stack of Lifeblood the enemy has. During Celestial Shroud, Tichondrius gains 25% increased attack speed.
Tier 4
• Cosmic Intercesion: Tichondrius performs a unique movement ability based on the distance of the ability. Each ability puts the entire ability on cooldown for a unique amount of time. (0-4) Tichondrius blinks to the target location. 4 sec Cooldown. (4-10) Tichondrius hesitates for .25 seconds before rocketing to the location in an arc, dealing 80 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies hit along the way. 12 sec Cooldown. (10-25) Tichondrius channels for 2 seconds before teleporting to a target location in a burst of cosmic energy, dealing 300 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies within 4 units of his landing zone. 60 sec Cooldown.
• Starwatcher’s Night: Tichondrius creates a 7 unit radius of shadows around his cast location. While within this shadow, Tichondrius becomes a faint shadow, becoming unable to be affected by any ally or enemy in any way, but can still move. While in this form, Tichondrius can still cast abilities, but they move much slower (about 30% speed). However, Tichondrius’s abilities only have a .1 second cooldown while within this form. Starwatcher’s Night lasts a total of 4 seconds, and ends instantly if Tichondrius exits the zone.
Tier 5
• Meteor Shower: Whenever Tichondrius uses an ability besides Alignment, Alignment’s cooldown is refreshed.
• Entropic Expansion: Every .25 seconds an enemy’s soul is severed by Spatial Warp, the cooldowns of all of Tichondrius’s basic abilities are reduced by .25 seconds.
• Starlight Falsity: Every 3 seconds, one of Tichondrius’s basic abilities that is not on cooldown will become an illusion cast. When Tichondrius casts the ability, it will act as if cast visually, but deal no damage and have no effects. This will not set the ability on cooldown. Every time an illusion is cast, Tichondrius’s abilities on cooldown will have their cooldowns reduced by 10%.
Tier 6
• Nebulous Claws: Every third basic attack against an enemy Hero gives Tichondrius Nebulous. His next basic ability will create a 4 unit circular cloud around him which grants allied heroes within 15 physical armor and Tichondrius an additional 15% spell power. Only one cloud can be active at a time, and lasts 3 seconds.
• Stellar Winds: Spatial Warp travels 2 units farther and leaves stellar force along the dash range. Allied heroes in the area gain 15% increased movement speed while in the area.
• Eyes of the Dunes: Celestial Shroud lasts an additional 2 seconds. Any enemy Hero in the area is revealed. Allied heroes within the Celestial Shroud can see through terrain, brush, and stealth.
Tier 7
• Astral Highway: Each of Cosmic Intercession’s range-based abilities now have their own, individual cooldowns.
• Infinite Stars: Starwatcher’s Night creates three additional copies of him in a triangle around him, each 2 units away from him. Tichondrius can reuse the heroic to select any of these clones and swap places with it. These clones stay exactly in the distance they were summoned from the central Tichondrius, and when Tichondrius walks, all clones additionally walk, exactly like Astral Projection. All of these copies also cast Tichondrius’s abilities, but these copied spells deal no damage.
• Norgannon’s Foresight: When Tichondrius is hit with a crowd control ability, he blinks 3 units backwards and negates that effect. If he is dealt lethal damage, he instead becomes unrevealable for 2 seconds and heals for 25% of his maximum health. If the first effect is activated, this goes on a 15 second cooldown. If the second is activated, this goes on a 75 second cooldown.
• Occultation: When Tichondrius has Astral Projection active, the copy that is not currently selected becomes stealthed. In addition, Tichondrius gains a secondary ability to cause the copy to start to rotate around his currently selected one at a rate of one revolution per 5 seconds.
Cosmetics
Skins
Hoarfrost Tichondrius - 750 Gems / 1600 Shards
Tichrondrius no longer has any cosmic effects or appearance. Instead, his wing model is slightly changed to be overgrown with ice, and he loses like an ice revenant. He also has a face now, which is shown as an ivory skull frozen in a block of ice. His voicelines will be changed to darker versions. Notable ability changes are his Alignment (which has a snow aftereffect), Spatial Warp (which has a more shadowy, snowy effect), and Celestial Shroud (which looks like a blizzard).
High Heavens Tichondrius - 350 Gems / 400 Shards
Tichondrius would have a diablo aesthetic now, with glowing white light wings. His face would now be pure black. He would not have themed abilities, voicelines, or animations.
Voicelines
You cannot stand against the cosmos.
We will burn the corruption from the stars.
Never trust a mortal to do a titan-spawns work…
Abandon your petty resistance and accept the salvation of the Titans.
You are a like a swarm of gnats, fit only to pick at corpses.
Special
The hero launch would come with a new event dedicated to redemption and corruption themes with corruption/redemption skins for other Heroes. Mephisto would get an Archangel skin, Ragnaros would get his LIghtlord skin, and Stukov would get a cybernetic skin in the same vein as Queen of Ghosts Kerrigan.
The event would also come with some corrupted/redeemed recolors of various mounts and the Celestial Steed from World of Warcraft.
