Giant item overhaul

[Ali Radicali]

This is a compilation of many smaller remakes and new item ideas. The reason for posting this as one thread is that the changes are very much related to one another. I'd prefer discussion to just t-up/down comments, since these suggestions are still being developed. The reasoning for these changes is posted below the suggestion, but feel free to ask me to clarify if you don't understand it or disagree with it.

Blood Knight's Visor (formerly Helm of the Dominator)
"Though the Blood Knights are long dead, any who wields their ancient weapons feels their bloodlust."

+ Helm of Iron Will - 950
+ Mask of Death - 900

= Blood Knight's Visor - 1850
+ 20 damage
+5 armor
+ 15% lifesteal Orb Effect

Battle Madness - Passive
Attacks against a unit with less than 30% hp grant an additional 10% lifesteal.

Reasoning:

The Dominate ability is terribly out of place on HotD. Since the item itself is meant for carries, an active that's best used by support heroes is pretty bad design. HotD is almost never gotten by support heroes, and the Dominate aspect of the item is utterly underused.
I've removed the dominate ability so that a support-item with a similar active can be introduced. The new effect, Battle Madness, obviously has better synergy with the type of hero that uses HotD, and it resembles Satanic's active a bit better.

Satanic

+ Messerschmidt's Reaver - 3200
+ Blood Knight's Visor - 1850
+ Satanic Recipe - 950

= Satanic - 6000

+ 25 STR
+ 20 damage
+ 5 armor
+25% Lifesteal

Unholy Rage - active
Upon activation, grants +150% lifesteal for the next 4 attacks (lasts up to 8 seconds).

Reasoning:

Satanic is now slightly cheaper, and the active is no longer easily countered by a single disable. Satanic is hardly ever worth getting early, so hopefully this change will help popularise it a bit.

Horn of Cenarius

"A magical horn that inspires loyalty and devotion."

Ring of Basilius - 500
Headdress of Rejuvenation - 603
Recipe - 400

= Horn of Cenarius - 1503

+2 to all stats
Brilliance Aura - +0.8 mana per sec - 800 AoE
Devotion Aura - +3 armor - 800 AoE
Healing Aura - +3 hp per sec - 800 AoE

Convert - Active
50 mana cost, 90 sec cooldown
Converts target enemy or neutral unit to the bearer's side. Converted units die after 3 minutes.

Reasoning:

Now the ability to control neutral creeps is on a cheap, easy-to-assemble supportive item that has great synergy. The dominated creeps benefit from the auras too, and this makes it great for pushers. Ganking heroes can obviously also make good use from the regen and cheap creep domination.

Lastly, this item gives RoB and Headdress an additional upgrade, which will hopefully promote the use of RoB and Headdress, both of which aren't gotten that often, especially during laning.

Arcane Ring

Ring of Basilius - 500
Energy Booster - 1000

= Arcane Ring - 1500
+3 armor
+250 mana
Replenish Mana - active
No manacost, 30 second cooldown.
+ 110 mana to allies in 600 AoE 30 sec cooldown.

Reasoning:
RoB and AC are both relatively underused, and Arcane seems ideal as an upgrade of RoB, since it essentially grants a +3.333 mana per second "aura". This change should ensure that both these items see play more often, due to the cheaper, easier buildup.

Hood of Defiance

+ Planeswalker's Cloak - 400
+ Ring of Regeneration - 350
+ Ring of Regeneration - 350

= Hood of Defiance - 1100

+ 20% Magic Resistance
+ 5 hp per second

Most people really hate how you lose the armor from Helmet of Iron Will in Hood of Defiance. Since helmet gives only regeneration in the completed item, I decided to simply remove it entirely and nerf Hood's stats.
The item now gives significantly less final stats, but since it's very cheap it becomes affordable for a lot more heroes. It's a really useful item during laning, but it does cost you an item slot.

Khadgar's Pipe of Insight
(can be upgraded once by buying the recipe again)

+ Hood of Defiance - 1100
+ Nathrezim Buckler - 803
+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight recipe - 1100

= Khadgar's Pipe of Insight I - 3003
+ 5 hp per second
+ 25% magic resistance
+ 5 armor
Barrier - active

+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight - 3003
+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight recipe - 1100

= Khadgar's Pipe of Insight II - 4103
+ 8 hp per second
+ 30% magic resistance
+ 5 armor
Barrier - active

Now Nathrezim Buckler has two upgrades again. Cheap, upgradable Pipe means it's easier for a support hero to get this for the team. The final item is more expensive than the current Pipe, but the buildup is easier and has more immediate benefits. The completed item gives 2 hp/sec less than the current Pipe, but 5 armor more, but it also costs 450 gold more.

Orchid Malevolence

New Name: Mindcry
+ Oblivion Staff - 1675
+ Oblivion Staff - 1675

= Mindcry I - 3350
+12 Intelligence
+20% attack speed
+30 damage
+150% mana regeneration
Soul Burn (active)

+ Mindcry I - 3350
+ Oblivion Staff - 1675

= Mindcry II - 5025
+20 Intelligence
+30% attack speed
+45 damage
+225% mana regeneration
Soul Burn (active)

The name change has more than one reason:
1. The current name makes very little sense. What's so malevolent about flowers or a purplish blue colour?
2. The name is too long, especially since the item now has levels.

The proposed name comes from Diablo 1, just like many other DotA item's names (Messershmidt's Reaver, Eaglehorn, Buriza-Do Kyanon, etc.). In Diablo, Mindcry is a rare and powerful staff. The name itself matches what the item does, since Soul Burn silences heroes.

The level system makes Orchid a lot stronger by giving it more power during buildup. The current Orchid requires 5K gold before you get the disable, which is why it's rarely gotten, even in situations where the silence counters someone. For a mere 600 gold more you've got yourself a Guinsoo, which gives a much stronger disable all-round. With the proposed change, you'd have a minidisable for 3.3K.

Heart of Tarrasque
+ Messerschmidt's Reaver - 3200
+ Vitality Booster - 1100
+ Ring of Health - 875

= Heart of Tarrasque - 5175
+35 strength
+300 hp
Health Regeneration (passive)

IMO, the main thing holding back HoT is the fact that the item has no regeneration in the components (even though regen is one of the major benefits this item gives!). Once you have HoT, any other regeneration items you acquired become more or less obsolete, but without any regen chances are you can't farm Heart comfortably. Recipe-> RoH is a giant buff, so I nerfed the STR back to what it was before the last buff.

Reshuffled Sange, Yasha, Sange and Yasha and Manta Style. Yasha and Manta get a slight nerf to Movement speed, which is needed because both items are a wee bit too good. Sange gets buffed, along with SnY. With some slight numbers buffs and the huge damage buff to Maim, SnY hopefully becomes a viable alternative to Manta. It shouldn't be overpowered, because it doesn't stack with itself, I.E. the same hero can't be affected by more than one maim, so even if you proc it multiple times he'll only suffer 40 DPS.

Cranium Basher
Javelin - 1500
Belt of Giant Strength - 450
Recipe - 550

= Cranium Basher - 2500
+30 damage
+6 Strength
Bash (passive)

Basher is hardly ever gotten, since it's too expensive and too reliant on attack speed. The proposed Basher is cheaper and gives a reliable Bash that is independent from attack speed. This makes it ideal for chasers like Magina, Nightstalker and Lycanthrope. The fact that it's cheap and gives okay stats means that it doesn't force these heroes to forgo their normal core items. The fact that it doesn't work on ranged heroes prevents it from becoming the "poor man's Guinsoo", gotten by support heroes for free "Storm Bolts".

Force Staff
Oblivion Staff - 1675
Recipe - 475

= Force Staff - 2150
+15 damage
+6 Intelligence
+10 attack speed
+75% mana regeneration
Force (Active)

Reasoning:

FS's buildup is very similar to Oblivion Staff's buildup, and since OS is pretty underused, this seems like a perfect fit. If it turns out a bit OP, the active can be nerfed a little (manacost/cooldown), or the recipe can be increased a little.

Refresher Orb
Soul Booster - 3300
Soul Ring - 800
Recipe - 1200

= Refresher Orb - 5300
+450 hp
+400 mana
+4 hp/second
+100% mana regeneration
Refresh (Active)

Reasoning:

Refresher is hardly ever used, due to the horrible buildup and the even worse final stats. Half of the original items' stats are lost in the finalised version and the stats themselves make no sense on an item that's clearly meant to help heroes with big-ass ultimates.
Soul Booster is very underused ATM, and it seems like a perfect fit for Refresher. Soul Ring's active is quite similar to Refresh, the item fits the build of most heroes that would want to buy Refresher and the stats it gives are quite similar to Perseverance, so it seems ideal as a Refresher component. The final item is obviously a LOT better, but considering how bad Refresher is ATM, that's justifiable.

That's all for now, some more remakes are coming up.

[Linism]

I like them all. But I don't like how RoB is in both Cenarius' Horn and Arcane Ring.

Here is the catch, while I feel that it fits thematically better in Arcane Ring, the function is better suited in Cenarius' Horn (since iirc dominated creeps have no mana regen(at least the centaur doesn't)). Hhmmm conundrum.

Well if I must decide, I'd say keep Arcane Ring's recipe the same as now.

[gh0un]

I like all of them except the cenarius horn.
The cenarius horn looks painfully overpowered if you ask me.
Each and every supporter would get it.
No brainer items are mostly overpowered.

[Ali Radicali]

Originally Posted by linkyaw

I like them all. But I don't like how RoB is in both Cenarius' Horn and Arcane Ring.

Here is the catch, while I feel that it fits thematically better in Arcane Ring, the function is better suited in Cenarius' Horn (since iirc dominated creeps have no mana regen(at least the centaur doesn't)). Hhmmm conundrum.

Well if I must decide, I'd say keep Arcane Ring's recipe the same as now.

Why not do both? RoB would have 3 upgrades, which isn't too much. Perseverence has four derivatives, not to mention it can be disassembled for even more different items.

Originally Posted by gh0un

I like all of them except the cenarius horn.
The cenarius horn looks painfully overpowered if you ask me.
Each and every supporter would get it.
No brainer items are mostly overpowered.

I don't agree. Nearly all the stats are auras, which don't stack with identical auras. This way, getting more than one of this item is potentially a waste of resources. 1500 for +2 to all stats and dominate alone is not a good deal.

[Torchic Maniac]

The changes seems reasonable enough.
HoD and Satanic need buffs badly and HoD's new change of role could make it more powerful and geared towards what it is supposed to do. Horn of Cenarius and the Arcane Ring changes are OK too.

[gh0un]

Originally Posted by Ali Radicali

I don't agree. Nearly all the stats are auras, which don't stack with identical auras. This way, getting more than one of this item is potentially a waste of resources. 1500 for +2 to all stats and dominate alone is not a good deal.

Sorry i shouldve been a little clearer.
I didnt mean that every supporter in the team would get it.
One supporter would get it, each and everytime.
It has all the good early game auras and dominate on top of that.
Who wouldnt want this item? Thats not really an argument though, after further consideration.

All of them look pretty reasonable and would bring fresh wind into the early game.

Definitely T-Up

[Corest]

nice suggestions, I like it, except the nerf on Arcane Ring's mana gain, even though its cost was lowered...

I really like what you did to satanic and HoD!

[drogirant]

Very nice thinking there, I like all the ideas.t-up

[DLG|Master]

Attention-catcher: lol What is Energy Burst? It is the active ability of Dagon. Why is it named Energy Burst instead of Replenish? Also, big NO to RoB for Arcane Ring. You lost a lot of things like aura (devotion/brilliance) and damage.

[darkhunter]

I like the buff on Satanic and HotD, 4 attacks of pure lifesteal is better than 10 attacks of slight gain lifesteal because of disables while HotD is now a perfect jungle item and also for survivability and dominance.

What i didn't like was The horn because horns are supposed to have an active skill, passives don't fit a useable horn. Aghanims is an exception.

I like the arcane ring buff too. Since ring does give mana regen early on, it will be profitable for everyone to buy, very " worth buying" instead of raw mana. But this might increase Tiny's destructiveness.

So far i think these changes are "Okay" because we can also focus on other remakes instead of unecessary ones. But i like the buffs so T-up.

[Ali Radicali]

Originally Posted by DLG.Master

Attention-catcher: lol What is Energy Burst? It is the active ability of Dagon. Why is it named Energy Burst instead of Replenish?

My bad, was meant to be Replenish.

Originally Posted by DLG.Master

Also, big NO to RoB for Arcane Ring. You lost a lot of things like aura (devotion/brilliance) and damage.

The mana aura becomes Replenish. Replenish = 110 mana / 30 sec = 3.666 mana / sec. Replenish is like a super-improved brilliance aura. The damage from RoB is just an incentive to get the item, so I wouldn't really worry about its loss. The armor aura could be incorporated into AC, but I feel it's fine like this. The bearer still gets 3 armor, and the active >>> Devotion Aura.

Originally Posted by darkhunter

What i didn't like was The horn because horns are supposed to have an active skill, passives don't fit a useable horn. Aghanims is an exception.

Huh? HoC does have an active: Convert. Furthermore, why do horns need an active? Since when is Aghanim's Scepter a horn?

In ladder Warcraft, every aura-giving item except Khadgar's Pipe of Insight was a musical instrument. From a flavour perspective, it makes sense because music can affect a large number of allied units.

[ResQ]

Well I agree that RoB is kinda underused. I like the remakes.

t-up

[megboklek]

Dude, you're my hero. These are second to none. T-Up on all.

I'd really love to see the separation of lifesteal and MoM, but perhaps that day will never come...

[Ali Radicali]

Originally Posted by megboklek

I'd really love to see the separation of lifesteal and MoM, but perhaps that day will never come...

That seems implausible, since the Lifesteal Orb actually works as a balancing agent. Brood, Anti Mage and Fuzzy would be OP with MoM. So would Diffusal Blade and Maelstrom.

[megboklek]

Originally Posted by Ali Radicali

That seems implausible, since the Lifesteal Orb actually works as a balancing agent. Brood, Anti Mage and Fuzzy would be OP with MoM. So would Diffusal Blade and Maelstrom.

Yeah, that's why.

[darkhunter]

Originally Posted by Ali Radicali

Huh? HoC does have an active: Convert. Furthermore, why do horns need an active? Since when is Aghanim's Scepter a horn?

No, i didn't say aghanims was a horn, i didn't see the active of the horn sorry. Anyway i meant to say since aghanim's is a sceptre it is suppossed to be active and useable but in this case it doesn't.

Meaning gears are the only things that are allowed to have all passives.

[Ali Radicali]

Originally Posted by darkhunter

Meaning gears are the only things that are allowed to have all passives.

What do you mean? Plenty of recipe items have only passive stuff.


Some ideas I've been tossing around:

Hood of Defiance

+ Planeswalker's Cloak - 400
+ Ring of Regeneration - 350
+ Ring of Regeneration - 350

= Hood of Defiance - 1100

+ 20% Magic Resistance
+ 5 hp per second

Most people really hate how you lose the armor from Helmet of Iron Will in Hood of Defiance. Since helmet gives only regeneration in the completed item, I decided to simply remove it entirely and nerf Hood's stats.
The item now gives significantly less final stats, but since it's very cheap it becomes affordable for a lot more heroes. It's a really useful item during laning, but it does cost you an item slot.

Khadgar's Pipe of Insight
(can be upgraded once by buying the recipe again)

+ Hood of Defiance - 1100
+ Nathrezim Buckler - 803
+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight recipe - 1100

= Khadgar's Pipe of Insight (level 1) - 3003
+ 5 hp per second
+ 25% magic resistance
+ 5 armor
Barrier - active

+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight - 3003
+ Khadgar's Pipe of Insight recipe - 1100

= Khadgar's Pipe of Insight (level 2) - 4103
+ 8 hp per second
+ 30% magic resistance
+ 5 armor
Barrier - active

Now Nathrezim Buckler has two upgrades again. Cheap, upgradable Pipe means it's easier for a support hero to get this for the team. The final item is more expensive than the current Pipe, but the buildup is easier and has more immediate benefits. The completed item gives 2 hp/sec less than the current Pipe, but 5 armor more, but it also costs 450 gold more.

[thekodobeast]

I'm split on the HotD / Horn change. I can see how this would make a LOT more sense (auras + summons is obviously good synergy) but I think it has the potential to make converted units too common in games. Each team would practically require a Horn.

Arcane Ring change is pretty good but the build-up might be too strong.

The Satanic change is good. No objections to making it easier to use without magic immunity.

[Ali Radicali]

Originally Posted by thekodobeast

I'm split on the HotD / Horn change. I can see how this would make a LOT more sense (auras + summons is obviously good synergy) but I think it has the potential to make converted units too common in games. Each team would practically require a Horn.

I consider Neutral Creeps vastly underused design space. Of the 100 heroes, only very few interact with them in any way except autoattacking them for gold. I really wouldn't mind seeing more centaurs and furbolgs in action.

Originally Posted by thekodobeast

Arcane Ring change is pretty good but the build-up might be too strong.

Again, something I'm not particularly worried about. AR has been underused for ages now. Also, this item is particularly easy to balance by adjusting the numbers on Replenish, so in case it turns out imbalanced, it's an easy thing to fix.

[darkhunter]

Originally Posted by Ali Radicali

What do you mean? Plenty of recipe items have only passive stuff.


Some ideas I've been tossing around:

Most people really hate how you lose the armor from Helmet of Iron Will in Hood of Defiance. Since helmet gives only regeneration in the completed item, I decided to simply remove it entirely and nerf Hood's stats.
The item now gives significantly less final stats, but since it's very cheap it becomes affordable for a lot more heroes. It's a really useful item during laning, but it does cost you an item slot.

Now Nathrezim Buckler has two upgrades again. Cheap, upgradable Pipe means it's easier for a support hero to get this for the team. The final item is more expensive than the current Pipe, but the buildup is easier and has more immediate benefits. The completed item gives 2 hp/sec less than the current Pipe, but 5 armor more, but it also costs 450 gold more.

GEARS are supposed to be the only thing with ALL PASSIVES because you wear it