CTR Contest 2

The idea behind this contest is not like the others.

Typical design contests make you design whatever you want out of a broad category.

This contest is different: You design a MOBA kit out of a theme already given.

Why? Because it is an established psychological phenomenon that constraints can help with creativity - sort of like how a faucet's pressure increases if you restrict the water output.

Veteran: Ranged Carry


Passive: Sidearm: Veteran can choose between three items which he gets for free at level one, which changes the kind of ultimate he gets, which is available at level one.

In addition, Veteran can level his basic abilities up to six times each, his passive upgrading at levels 10 and 20.

Shield: Grants 100/400/700 health and 0/15/30 protections.
Sword: Grants 10/30/50% attack speed and 0/5/10% move speed.
Sniper Rifle: Grants 10/35/60 physical power and 0/10/20 physical penetration.

Before ANYONE says ANYTHING about balance, keep in mind that these items take up an item slot.


1: Dodge Roll: Become untargetable and roll 25 feet toward the direction you are moving over 0.75 seconds.

Cooldown: 24/21/18/15/12/9 seconds.

Not much to say here. It's an escape that makes you untargetable while rolling, that goes from a massive 24 second cooldown to 10. No damage, no CC, nothing like that. Just keep in mind that 25 feet is not a big distance.


2: Flare: Veteran fires a flare round from his rifle that lands within a 70 foot radius, dealing 50/80/110/140/170/200 (+50% of your physical power) to all enemies within a 15 foot radius, granting True Sight of all enemies within a 20 foot radius for 5 seconds. This is not the same as revealing them, which lasts after they leave the area.

Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14/13 seconds.

Simple.


3: Grenade: Veteran arms and tosses out a timed grenade that detonates in 3 seconds, dealing 50/90/130/170/210/250 physical damage (+100% of your basic attack damage), ignoring
50% of the target's armor, being treated as a critical hit, increasing its damage proportionally to the amount of critical strike chance Veteran has. Enemies hit are slowed by 50% for 2 seconds.

Veteran can hold down the button to cook the grenade, reducing the explosion delay, releasing it automatically (and detonating it 20 feet away) after 2.5 seconds.

This ability can hold up to 2 charges.

Range: 55 feet.
Radius: 20 feet.
Cost: 1 charge.
Charge Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Static Cooldown: 0.5 seconds. (Basically, CDR will increase how fast you get charges but now how quickly you can throw grenades.)
Critical Strike Formula: (1 + critical strike chance + critical damage bonus) x Grenade damage = final Grenade damage. So, 50% crit chance + Deathbringer passive will make your grenades deal 190% damage. 30% crit chance alone will make them deal 1.3x damage.

If it isn't clear, this ability can deal a disgusting amount of damage, being able to hurt even tanks with its free armor penetraion. However, this ability isn't really meant to damage people, with its massive delay and Veteran's lack of CC. It's true purpose is to draw enemies out of cover/position by tossing out a grenade, forcing them to move or take a ton of damage. With its decent range and radius, you can do stuff like force enemies out of towers, control choke points and buff camps, and other fun stuff.

It CAN be used for burst, but it comes with the drawback of being stuck channeling the ability (still being able to move) as well as the shortened range, quite dangerous for a carry.


4: Snipe: Veteran pulls out his sniper rifle, which is a 0.75 second process.

While in sniper mode, Veteran's vision range is increased by 15 + 1 per level, his turning radius is reduced heavily, his attack speed is capped at 1, and his move speed is turned to 0. His next basic attack has 100% crit chance (critting for 140% + 3% per level damage) and deals 20 + 5 per level bonus physical damage, gains maximum projectile speed, and 15 + 1 per level bonus range. His vision is also zoomed in like a Neith ult channel.

Critical Strike chance converts a direct portion of this ability's damage to true damage. 10% crit chance = 10% of this ability's damage is converted to true damage.

Veteran is limited to five shots before being forced out of sniper mode.

Static Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Not much use early, but it's a form of usable poke, and you can use it to stay in the far backline during a fight while still dealing a good amount of damage, or dismantle enemy defensive fortifications, say, if huddled in a tower, by shooting them from a massive distance.


4: Lunge: Veteran draws his sword, turning his next basic attack into a 20 foot radius dash, hitting the closest enemy within 15 feet, prioritizing gods. Upon hitting an enemy, Veteran gains 20% + 1% per level move speed for 1.5 seconds and this ability's cooldown is refreshed, staying in "Sword Mode," so to speak. While Lunge is active, Veteran gains 20 + 1% per level attack speed.

So basically, this ability offers DPS and offensive mobility at the cost of positioning and range. You can Lunge over and over to get offensive mobility as well as attack speed, but miss an attack and you lose an escape and the ability gets put on a pretty big cooldown.

Static Cooldown: 20 seconds.


4: Block: Veteran triggers his shield after 0.3 seconds, which blocks ALL damage from the front (a 10 foot wide wall in front of him, essentially as wide as an Art trap). While the shield is active, Veteran moves at 70% + 1% per level move speed and cannot attack (but can still cast abilities as normal).

The Shield costs 10 energy per second while active, draining 5 energy for every instance of damage blocked. Veteran gains 5 energy per second when Block is inactive, up to 100.

Static Cooldown: 0.75 seconds.


Analysis: Veteran's greatest strength is his ability to adapt to whatever situation his team needs. If he needs range to take down defensive positions or finish off retreating enemies, he's got Snipe. If he's up against heavy all-in comps, Shield can save him from attacks like Frost Breath, Spirit Ball, or Unstable Vortex. And if he needs damage or offensive mobility to chase or just outduel or outplay the enemy, he's got the Sword.

Aside from his ultimate, his kit is designed to give him very reliable damage. His grenades realistically won't hit anyone unless cooked (perhaps behind a shield), which comes with its own downsides, but they will force enemies into uncomfortable positions. Flares make it hard to catch Veteran off guard, and they can save a teamfight just by giving valuable information (plus, the BM for killing someone with it is so real). And Dodge Roll is a low-cooldown escape that lets him avoid concentrated points of damage.

It's not a complicated kit, but it's also elegant in its function.