[HC] Rhonin, Draig'cyfail

[Bliztron-1378]

Rhonin is a lesser known, yet gravely important mage from the Warcraft universe. A key player in the War of the Ancients, former leader of the Kirin Tor, friend of Jaina and the one who protected her from the Mana Bomb on Theramore, Rhonin has had an active part in the warcraft story, even if many seem to forget him.

In HotS, Rhonin is a high utility support who utilizes his mana and careful management of his abilities and health to shut down the enemy team and protect his team. He has no healing capabilities (hence why he is a support), but contributes moderate damage and disruption.

Universe: Warcraft
Role: Support

Summon Mount
Z (Mount) – 4 sec Cooldown
Increases your movement speed by 30% while mounted.

Explanation: There is no need for a special mount.

Overburn
Trait (Passive)
Rhonin can cast basic abilities while they are still on cooldown, costing twice the usual mana and dealing damage to himself equal to the mana consumed (+3% per level). Every time he casts an ability on cooldown, he gains a stack of Overburn, which lasts for 5 seconds. At 2 stacks, he is silenced for 3 seconds and all stacks are removed after the silence abates.

Explanation: Mana is a core resource of Rhonin’s gameplay, and it is something he must constantly be watching, weaving his spells when needed. Rhonin players will need to watch to be cautious of overusing his abilities, as the silence effect can shut him down and lead to a death.

Frostfire Bolts
Q (6 sec Cooldown) - 40 Mana Cost
Rhonin fires a firebolt 8 units in a target direction that impacts the first enemy it hits, dealing 180 (+4% per level) damage in a 2 unit radius around them. All enemies hit are dealt an additional 22 (+4% per level) damage every second for 3 seconds. Rhonin’s next cast will instead fire a frostbolt 8 units in the target direction, which impacts the first enemy hit and deals 180 (+4% per level) damage in a 2 unit radius around them. All enemies hit are slowed by 35% for 3 seconds. If an enemy is hit by both the firebolt and the frostbolt, it combines to apply the Frostfire debuff for a full 4 seconds, dealing 22 (+4% per level) damage every second and slowing them by 35% for the duration.

Explanation: Frostfire Bolts is Rhonin’s main damaging ability, constantly switching between more damage and more disruption. He can combo them with his Overburn to apply a powerful debuff to an enemy.

Counterspell
W (10 sec Cooldown) - 50 Mana Cost
Rhonin sends a small pulse of magic in a thin skillshot 9 units long. If the pulse collides with an enemy ability, both that ability and the pulse are nullified.

Explanation: Counterspell is a very high skillcap ability that can turn a fight if he manages to block an important projectile (like Hanzo’s Dragon Arrow or Dragonstrike). It is important to note this can destroy ALL abilities, both projectiles or areas of effect.

Prismatic Barrier
E (10 sec Cooldown) - 25 Mana Cost
Rhonin shrouds an allies hero in a shield for 5 seconds, causing all damage they would have taken to instead by dealt to Rhonin’s mana at 35% the effectiveness. This can be cast while silenced from Overburn, and if it is, Rhonin restores 10% of his maximum mana per Overburn stack. Rhonin can apply this to multiple allied heroes at once, but cannot apply it to an allied hero multiple times. Rhonin cannot cast Prismatic Barrier on himself.

Explanation: Prismatic Barrier is what Rhonin will use to protect his allies, using his mana as a shield for them. Enemies can abuse this to deplete his mana if Rhonin is not careful.

Time Warp
Heroic #1 (120 sec Cooldown) - 80 Mana Cost
Rhonin empowers all allied heroes in a 6 unit radius around him, causing their basic ability cooldowns to refresh at 200% the speed for 7 seconds.

Explanation: Time Warp is a simple, powerful team buff that can quickly and easily turn a teamfight if used in an ability heavy team. It’s very high cooldown opens opportunities for his enemies to attack him.

Pocket Portal
Heroic #2 (35 sec Cooldown) - 30 Mana Cost
Rhonin conjures a portal under a 2 unit radius area location, that pulls all allied heroes in the area into a pocket dimension for 1 second. After this time, they reappear at their cursor location within 6 units. After teleporting, allies gain 10% increased movement speed and a 200 (+4% per level) shield for 1.5 seconds.

Explanation: Pocket Portal is a low cooldown, quick save to protect his allies or himself from a dive. It can also be used to allow his allies to cross over terrain to follow a chase.

Tier 1

• Ward Matrix: When Prismatic Barrier is cast through Overburn, its cost is not increased. In addition, the first recast of Prismatic Barrier does not apply a stack of Overburn to Rhonin.
• Dampen Magic: If Counterspell moves through an allied Hero, they gain 50% Spell Armor for 1.5 seconds.
• Draconic Blessing: Frostfire Bolts heals all allied heroes effected by Prismatic Barrier for 25% of the damage dealt.

Tier 2

• Frostfire Mastery: When Frostfire Bolts is cast through Overburn, it’s cost is increased by 50% rather than doubled, and empowers his next cast, increasing its damage by 25%, its explosion radius by 25%, and causing it to apply Frostfire instead of its usual effects.
• Mana Leech: If Counterspell successfully destroys an enemy ability, its mana cost is refunded.
• Dalaran Brilliance: Rhonin’s maximum mana is increased by 20%, and when he has no Overburn stacks, his mana regeneration is increased by 100%.

Tier 3

• Null Magic: When Counterspell is cast through Overburn, it’s cost is only increased by 50% rather than doubled. In addition, it’s radius when being cast through Overburn is increased by 50% and can negate all enemy abilities in its path, rather than just the first.
• Fire Blast: While Rhonin is silenced from Overburn, Frostfire Bolts is replaced with Fire Blast, which can be cast while silenced. Fire Blast deals damage to all enemy heroes in a 40 degree, 6 unit long cone equal to 12% of their missing health. Fire Blast has its own 6 second cooldown.
• Kirin Tor’s Mark: Prismatic Barrier lasts 3 additional seconds, and only deals damage to Rhonin’s mana equal to 30% of the damage.

Tier 4

• Time Warp: Rhonin empowers all allied heroes in a 6 unit radius around him, causing their basic ability cooldowns to refresh at 200% the speed for 7 seconds.
• Pocket Portal: Rhonin conjures a portal under a 2 unit radius area location, that pulls all allied heroes in the area into a pocket dimension for 1 second. After this time, they reappear at their cursor location within 6 units. After teleporting, allies gain 10% increased movement speed and a 200 (+4% per level) shield for 1.5 seconds.

Tier 5

• Cauterize: Overburn damage dealt to Rhonin is healed over 5 seconds. Becoming silenced by Overburn ends all healing granted by Cauterize.
• Curse of the Elements: Enemies being damaged by a Firebolt have their physical damage dealt reduced by 25%. Enemies being slowed by a Frostbolt have their spell damage reduced by 25%. Enemies suffering from Frostfire have all of their damage reduced by 40% for the duration.
• Siphon Magic: All damage Rhonin takes to his mana from Prismatic Barrier grants him a shield of equal amount for 3 seconds, which can stack infinitely, and refreshed with each now application.

Tier 6

• Spellweaver: Frostfire Bolts has a 3 second reduced cooldown, and its mana cost is reduced by 40%.
• Spell Lock: If Counterspell hits an enemy Hero, they gain Spell Lock for 1 second. If they cast an ability while Spell Locked, it is consumed and they are silenced for 1 second.
• Lifefire Shield: For each stack of Overburn Rhonin has when he casts Prismatic Barrier, he is healed for 5% of his maximum health.

Tier 7

• Bronze Anomaly: 40% damage allies take while effected by Time Warp is reverted when the effects end.
• Sacrificial Measures: Pocket Portal can now be effected by Overburn. Recasting it grants Rhonin 2 stacks of Overburn, and deals 200 (+3% per level) damage to him.
• Mana Ruby: When Rhonin deals damage to an enemy Hero with Frostfire Bolts, destroys an enemy ability with Counterspell, or takes 75 (+4% per level) damage to his mana through Prismatic Barrier, he gains a stack of Mana Ruby. Can only be used at 10 stacks. (Active) Rhonin restores 35% of his maximum mana, consuming all stacks. Cooldown: 30 seconds.
• Dragonheart: Rhonin now only becomes silenced when he gains 4 stacks of Overburn. However, the silence duration is increased by 2 seconds, and the cost of abilities past the first 2 stacks is increased by 50%.

[Nortin-1980]

This is a fairly interesting concept, with a bunch of ideas that are unique to the game. I think that overall, Rhonin would be an actually good non-healer support (poor Tassadar feels so underwhelming to me), and the Overburn trait offers a high skill cap for the hero in deciding when to second-cast abilities and when to hold them. I think the downside of Overburn is well implemented, with the cost increase, extra damage, and potential Silence, though I do have a couple concerns about the specific implementations of other abilities’ unique Overburn interactions (I’ll talk about them as I get there).

On to Frostfire Bolts, I think it functions well as a main damage tool for Rhonin. It has simple targeting and simple effects that make it intuitive to use, plus the Frostfire debuff gives it an extra interaction with Overburn, rewarding its use in a more interesting way than just casting more damage. I think that a 40% Slow for 3-4 seconds might be a bit much, but I’m not sure and it’s just a number thing, so not a big deal.

Counterspell is a very interesting ability, and I’d like to see more abilities like it in general. Projectile interception mechanics are very lacking in Heroes of the Storm (or more specifically, non-existent, even when it was an obvious mechanic for D.Va). Counterspell is again a simple spell that is intuitive to use, though much trickier to land than Frostfire Bolts. It ends up being somewhat situational since not every game will have projectile abilities to block, but that is leveraged somewhat by talents. I think adding a component to hit a hero in the middle of a cast/channel to punish them (can be nullifying the ability, or something less powerful) baseline would make it more generally useful. Also, I’d assume that it doesn’t work on ground-targeted AoE’s like Kael’thas’s Flamestrike because that would be very easy for Rhonin to land.

Prismatic Barrier is very obviously Rhonin’s main support ability, and does a decent job of it. Giving other heroes a Mana shield using Rhonin’s Mana is a neat effect, though I’m not entirely sure of its specific implementation. For one, no duration or cancellation effect is specified, which seems like a mistake so I won’t criticize it there. Second, the fact that it blocks 100% of damage makes it a very imposing all-in ability; Rhonin’s allies will be very well protected while it holds but when it breaks Rhonin risks being useless for the fight. I think that redirecting only a part of the damage the ally takes would make Prismatic Barrier more reasonable over time and less frustrating for both enemies and Rhonin, but that’s just my opinion and I might just not get the current effect. Finally, the interactions with Overburn are a little confusing to me. Prismatic Barrier says it can be cast while Rhonin is Silenced from Overburn to return Mana based on Overburn stacks, but in the trait Overburn stacks are said to be removed when it Silences Rhonin. Does that mean Rhonin gets no Mana, or does it give Mana after he triggers more Overburn stacks from casting Prismatic Barrier? I might just be overthinking this but I feel it could use more clarification.

Time Warp is a very straightforward but incredibly powerful support heroic that fits well into Rhonin’s kit. It helps him avoid some Overburn while enabling certain allies (Jaina would be pretty damn scary with this on). The total refresh speed plus duration feels high to me, but again, just a numbers thing and not too important.

Pocket Portal is a very cool heroic ability, and easily my favorite of the two. I don’t really have anything to criticize except that it might be disorienting for Rhonin’s teammates, but I don’t consider that too big a problem (there are plenty of abilities that suffer similar problems in the game).

On to talents…

The talents are generally well made and have some interesting themes I like. In Tiers 1-3, the talents that give abilities extra Overburn effects/lessened penalties are neat. I really like Cauterize’s effect, bringing a classic mage effect for more sustain. Spell Lock is also a neat effect that reward Rhonin for predicting enemies and requires them to be mindful of potentially having their ability messed up, I’ve tried a similar mechanic in the past and I like it here.

However, there are a couple of problem talents in my opinion. First, Fire Blast has a neat effect that I like but as far as I can tell, Rhonin’s casting of it is only limited by his Mana and Health; it circumvents Overburn Silence and Overburn lets it be cast on cooldown, so Rhonin could just spam down any enemy with that ability. Second, Curse of the Elements looks like it might be overtuned to me. It’s a fairly safe 40% damage reduction on potentially multiple enemies that Rhonin can keep with almost 100% uptime; I think it might need to be toned down a bit, but not sure.

Looking at talent builds, I see some lines that emphasize some abilities over others. Draconic Blessing, Frostfire Mastery, Fire Blast, Curse of the Elements, and Spellweaver together focus Rhonin more toward Frostfire Bolts damage while still adding some utility like healing and damage reduction; Ward Matrix, Dalaran Brilliance, Kirin Tor’s Mark, Siphon Magic, and Lifefire Shield build up a Rhonin focused on shielding his allies while becoming fairly tanky himself; Dampen Magic, Mana Leech, Null Magic, Cauterize, and Spell Lock allow Rhonin to excel at sustained battling while nullifying his enemies’ spells more effectively. I think that these all create fairly distinct and interesting playstyles for Rhonin, but with few exceptions, most builds feel predetermined depending on which playstyle you want; I can’t imagine wanting to go for a Frostfire Bolts damage build and not taking those exact talents at any tier. That being said, there is still some variance that Rhonin can go for in builds; replacing Dalaran Brilliance with Mana Leech in a Prismatic Shield build may be preferable if the enemy team has lots of abilities for Rhonin to counter.

All in all, I think the talent tree is very well put together, but could use some more talents that don’t fit nicely into the builds I listed above. It might be interesting to have some wildcard talents, or one tier that doesn’t have any obvious choices based on build, to inject some more variance to the talents while still holding some clear build paths constant.

[Bliztron-1378]

Hello Nortin! Thanks again for the lengthy review.

Frostfire Bolts’ slow might be a bit too large for its duration, but I’m not entirely sure. It has a lengthy cooldown by effect that you can’t choose which cast slows (unless you Overburn). I could reduce it 5% or 10% if people think its needed.

I should clarify Counterspell to reinstate that it destroys all abilities it contacts, including ground-based AoE’s such as Alexstraza’s W and Kael’thas’s Q. Them being easy for him to hit is part of the strength of Rhonin’s power. It carries a bit of his power and utility within it.

I definitely messed up on Overburn and Prismatic Shield interactions. It seems I accidentally deleted the duration of Prismatic Shield when I was moving it around. I will fix up all of that.

Time Warp might be a bit high in power. I did try and leverage this with its very high cooldown, but I could see the duration needing to be reduced.

I will add a cooldown to Fire Blast. Thanks for mentioning that to me >.<

Curse of the Elements could probably have its effects reduced slightly. In order to keep it up, you would need to burn through your mana and health pretty quickly, though.

The point about build path variance is certainly an interesting thing to discuss. I realize it is a flaw in this talent tree, and I will brainstorm for ways to shake up the tree. I have always loved distinct build paths that change up how a player plays their character, but I can definitely see how some more variance would do the talents good. I’d love for some more input on this idea. I think perhaps swapping some tier 1 talents around to make a psuedo healing build with applying Prismatic Barrier to a bunch of people and healing them with Frostfire Bolts would be interesting.