So just a random thought. Orphea’s Q build is, based on heroes profile, not really underperforming per se (winrate wise), but it does have the lowest pick rate and popularity compared to her W/Trait build. Which is fine because Q build requires way more skill to pull off.
However, I do think that some changes can perhaps make it a bit more competitive. Here are some ideas I have and the numbers and effects aren’t strictly balanced so feel free to give your own thoughts:
Ravenous Hunger
Additional Functionality - Each time an enemy is hit by Shadow Waltz, they take 5% additional damage the next time Chomp damages them, stacking up to 20%.
Comment: I thought that Ravenous Hunger could have a little something that makes it synergistic with Q build considering it’s the lowest popularity and win rate on that tier. Q is often used for sustained damage and the bonus damage for Chomp from hitting enemies previously hit by Shadow Waltz can give it a good niche in Q build. You wear your opponent down and then go in for the kill with Chomp, getting the quest’s progression easier.
Determination
Adjusted Functionality - While Orphea has Positive Spell Armor, she gains 15% increased Physical Damage.
Additional Functionality - While Orphea has Positive Spell Armor, she gains 15% Movement Speed.
Comment: Determination is just outcompeted by Abyssal Symbiosis because they both offer the same thing which is protection. I’m proposing a modest bonus movement speed bonus whenever she has positive spell armor (including spell shields, so this synergizes with its current functionality) so that this makes her extra speedy and mobile when playing Q build. Also, I thought of making the bonus AA damage apply to whenever she has Spell Armor instead of the Spell Shield granted by Determination solely.
Final Toccata
Additional Functionality - Each time Orphea dashes with Shadow Waltz, reduce the channel time of Shadow Waltz by 10%, stacking up to 50%.
Comment: I thought this could be a cool thing to add to Final Toccata. It has the lowest popularity because, I presume, due to the fact that if you miss your Q once, this ability is wasted so I thought a good way for skilled Orphea’s to more easily maintain their Final Toccata is to have each consecutive hits of successful Shadow Waltz decrease its wind-up time. I think this can make Final Toccata a really competitive talent against Engulfing Oblivion and Eldritch Conduit.
I appreciate the effort you have put into your post, but I don’t think that there is something like a Q-Build or W-Build.
The biggest advantage Orphea has is the synergy between her different abilities.
E has the longest reach and slows down your target, Q Dash moves you in range of your AA. If you don’t have three stacks of chaos at this moment, you can throw in a W. The AA with three stacks of chaos hits like a truck.
There are several talents that improve this synergy like ancestral strength on level 1 (deals 15% more damage to rooted, stunned, slowed enemies), Chaotic assault on level 4 adds another 75% extra damage to her AA with three stacks of chaos and with dead magic, AAs ignore armour.
Orphea can bully almost every other hero out of the solo lane in early game, but she doesn’t scale as good as other heroes in mid game until she hits level 20 and gets another huge power spike with Eldritch Conduit.
I would love to see some changes to her level 13 and 16 talents to give her more impact in mid game. Determination is a great talent that gives her Spell armour and more physical damage, but it relies on hitting Q reliably. Abyssal symbiosis gives her a shield for three seconds, after hitting a hero with chomp, where she is already very close to the opponent. Invasive Miasma deals aoe damage after 2 seconds to all enemies (including minions, mobs and camps) but it only heals her if she hits heroes with it. 2 seconds is a long time to get away from her. Bond of anguish Deals percentage damage to heroes, but again only if you hit Q reliably. That’s why dead magic is the better talent on this level. Lurking terror is a situational talent that is useful against very long range enemies like Hammer and Azmodan. It synergies with almost all talents that boost chomp, but this means you have to give up way better talents on the lower levels to boost it.
Her level 20 ult upgrades are only mediocre and could need a slight rework.
That and the insane boost through Eldritch Conduit make this talent so incredible good.
The level 20 upgrade to crushing jaws (Engulfing Oblivion) could root enemies after the crush instead of only reducing the armour.
Eternal feast (Monster within) could silence enemies within the aoe instead of granting her chaos and recharging her other abilities faster.
I used to like her Q build the most (in regular games) until they buffed her E build.
My biggest gripe with Orphea is her level 20 Q talent. It’s literally useless if you miss your Q xP
They could make it like: Q cooldown reduced to 2 second for 6 seconds. Blinking after hitting an enemy with Q resets the duration and reset’s Q’s cooldown. Or they could add some passive benefit to the talent, like Q’s cooldown is reduced by 1-2 seconds, even when it’s not active.
Well, I think there are such things because even her spotlight video showcased her supposed Q build and now we have her trait build with 2 W talents centered around Ancestral Strength and Eldritch Conduit.
I just thought that her Q talents can use a little bit more spice and I did want to tap into her other underutilized talents like Invasive Miasma and Lurking Terror, but I decided to stick to the Q talents that I find underwhelming with the addition of Ravenous Hunger which I think can use a little bit of buff to differentiate it’s niche from Insatiable.
Idk about the Engulfing Oblivion one because I think the reset and the minus armor is already very strong however I do like your Monster Within idea as I think people just too easily walk out of your Feast.
Yes I agree that Final Toccata is a literal hit or miss because if you miss just once that ability is wasted.
I did think of just giving it a passive “reduce CD of Shadow Waltz by 1 second” Given the trend we’re having of multiple talents giving CDR (Probius, Stitches) however I thought that having the cast time reduced instead in a stacking kind of way would make it more fun to play.