[STR-Neutral] Goliath the Guardian Golem (Ver. B)

[NHP54]

Version B: Version A of this suggestion can be found here.

Foreword: I am looking for genuinely honest feedback about this suggestion. Please provide reasons to why something is good or bad. I designed this hero with the intention of emphasizing a player role that is taken for granted in DotA: supporting. Many players use heroes selfishly, so I feel that DotA needs more heroes to change this troubling fact. Also, keep in mind that numbers can always be changed, so the concept is the main focus.

Changelog:

5/11/10
- Changed Life Force's bonus movement speed from a percentage to a number increase.
- Cut Life Force's sight/speed duration from 10 to 5 seconds.
- Replaced the Synergy section with a Hero Design section.
- Added a tidbit for Rampart Rush about Goliath always attempting to charge the skill's full distance.
- Increased the max range of Rampart Rush to 750.
- Changed Rampart Rush to build up speed at 50 movement speed per 50 distance traveled.

5/9/10
- Rescaled Life Force's cooldown from 30/26/22/18 ---> 36/32/28/24.
- Increased the mana cost of Life Force from 90/100/110/120 ---> 100/110/120/130.
- Increased the duration of Life Force from 9 to 10 seconds.

5/8/10
- Rescaled Sanctuary Stone's base damage reduction a bit.
- Changed Vigilance's "critical" condition to 33%.

Credit to LightburneR
- Removed the HP regen from Vigilance.

5/7/10
- Added slight HP regen to Vigilance.
- Scaled Rampart Rush's damage a bit.

5/6/10
- Tweaked Vigilance to provide bonus damage instead of spell resistance for allies in a pinch.
- Changed numbers around for Vigilance.
- Decreased mana cost of Sanctuary Stone.
- Changed Sanctuary Stone. It now provides spell resistance and has a healing property.
- Increased the cooldown for Sanctuary Stone.
- Rescaled the cooldown of Life Force.
- Removed the silencing effect in Rampart Rush.
- Rescaled the cooldown of Rampart Rush.

Credit to Sgt Failure
- Added -disablehelp to Rampart Rush.

5/4/10
- Goliath (Version B) posted.

Goliath
Guardian Golem

With steel forged for servitude, and a sacred scroll to act as its heart and soul, the Guardian Golem feels nothing but the resolve to fend for others. Given the name Goliath because of its mighty stature, this protector diligently defends those under its watch. As its allies begin facing imminent danger, Goliath delivers bone-breaking tackles to opposing threats while it safeguards comrades with defensive spells. Rest assured that the warring faction to acquire Goliath's services will gain a vigilant vanguard.

Skill Set
Rampart Rush [R] (Versatile Maneuver)



Skill Notes

- The skill is targeted like Windrunner's Powershot.
- The player cannot manually stop Goliath after activating this skill.
- Goliath builds up speed at 50 movement speed per 50 distance traveled, potentially reaching 522 speed.
- Rampart Rush's charge speed is thus linked with Goliath's current movement speed.
- Goliath cannot use items (like Blink Dagger) while charging.
- The spell stops if Goliath is disabled.
- The first ally hero in the path gets carried by Goliath.
- The ally hero being carried off will have its channeling broken.
- The ally hero is purged as Goliath begins to carry it away.
- If a spell was currently in motion toward the ally hero being swooped up (such as Lion's Finger of Death), Goliath will receive the spell effect instead.
- Goliath will go through other allies while lunging forward.
- Allies may use -disablehelp to prevent unwanted pickups from Goliath.
- Goliath always attempts to charge for the full distance.
- Goliath cannot charge past buildings or structures (like Earthshaker's Fissure).
- When Goliath stops (either naturally or from spell effects), the carried ally hero will simply drop at Goliath's current location.
- Goliath may use this skill to cross over ledges (with an ally hero if applicable).
- Goliath will destroy any tree it collides with as it is charging forward.
- Goliath is still vulnerable to attacks and spells while charging, but the shielded ally hero is temporarily invincible during the Rampart Rush's duration.
- If Goliath's movement speed becomes adversely affected during the charge somehow, Goliath will rebuild the speed again for the remaining charge distance.
- Goliath may use items before using this skill, such as activating Black King Bar, to become better protected during the charge.

Life Force [F] (Global-range Heal and Speed Buff)


Skill Notes

- This is basically the opposite version of Clockwerk Goblin's Rocket Flare.
- This effect also affects ally creeps.
- This does not heal siege units or buildings.
- The projectile will travel over trees and cliffs.
- The projectile speed is 1,000.
- The projectile has 450 AoE vision as it travels.
- Temporarily prevents spawning of neutral creeps in revealed area.
- The bonus movement speed can be purged off.

Vigilance [V] (Defensive Passive)



Skill Notes

- Goliath and its allies keep the bonus damage as long as their HP is low enough.

Sanctuary Stone [E] (Protection Spell)



Skill Notes

- The stone is spell immune.
- The stone has 5 Fortified Armor at all levels.
- An AoE visual will be shown around the Sanctuary Stone.
- The spell resistance stacks with other spell-resistance items.
- Enemy heroes have their base damage (from Primary Attributes and Stats) reduced.
- The stone's healing effect will heal the entire AoE for 50% of the HP loss, and the amount is not dispersed, which means multiple units would be healed for the same amount as one unit.
- The stone's healing effect does not affect siege units.
- If a player uses a Refresher effect to bring out another stone, then the first stone will be destroyed.
- The spell automatically stops if the stone is destroyed.
- The stone gives 150 Gold if destroyed by an enemy hero.
- The stone cannot be denied.

Pros & Cons

[+] High tanking capabilities because of HP and armor.
[+] Can heal HP and grant movement speed bursts for various purposes.
[+] Grants bonus armor and spell resistance.
[+] The Sanctuary Stone is very powerful in team fights.

[–] Lacks offensive capabilities.
[–] Low INT rating means a smaller mana pool to work with, which means less spells.
[–] Skills are less effective when Goliath is not with allies.
[–] Item-dependent.

Ideal Items & Allies

Acquiring tank items will allow Goliath to live longer, allowing it to fulfill its role for extended periods.


Getting support items will allow Goliath to serve its team in many beneficial ways.


Shooting for big luxury items will make Goliath a significant threat to any opposing team.


Using Goliath in conjunction with other heroes with support-focused spells would grant a team lots of protection.


Goliath would be a great option for defending heroes who must initiate.


Carries would welcome Goliath's defensive spells with open arms. Carries who are able to survive longer can thus dish out more DPS.

Hero Design

- Though Goliath may not be an offensive powerhouse, its options as a tank/support hero definitely make up for it.
- Goliath's Rampart Rush is handy for initiating, ganking, dragging ally heroes with you for combos, escaping and so forth.
- Life Force is a powerful scouting tool that heals and gives bonus movement speed. The fact that the range is global means there is potential to send help from great distances.
- Vigilance acts as an AoE armor buff, but it also comes with a potentially tide-turning bonus damage buff for those in danger.
- The Sanctuary Stone provides Goliath's team with a huge defensive edge. Improving your team's spell resistance and lowering enemy base damage means the stone acts as a stronghold for the opposing onslaught. The stone also has a special property of healing Goliath and its allies whenever it takes any damage.
- Overall, Goliath fits its hero class well. It may lack the flair of more offensive-oriented heroes, but Goliath would represent a rare role in DotA, which is a hero geared toward the defensive side of things.

[dreamcatcher0]

i dont see any differences with the previous one...

[NHP54]

There are significant differences. For one thing, I simplified a lot of things.

[dreamcatcher0]

oh i see... here's my short review:

theme and model: hmmm... looks pretty nice. 17/20

skill 1 - good... like greater bash + damage... nothing more to add.. 8/10
skill 2 - maybe you should raise the mana cost a little bit. instant heal plus IMS for 80 mana cost? men, higher... please... 8/10
skill 3 - well done... but what is "in a pinch"? 8.5/10
skill 4 - still good... 9/10

overall: still a great hero suggestion... just tweak numbers and it would be great. 50.5/60

[NHP54]

Originally Posted by dreamcatcher0

oh i see... here's my short review:

theme and model: hmmm... looks pretty nice. 17/20

skill 1 - good... like greater bash + damage... nothing more to add.. 8/10
skill 2 - maybe you should raise the mana cost a little bit. instant heal plus IMS for 80 mana cost? men, higher... please... 8/10
skill 3 - well done... but what is "in a pinch"? 8.5/10
skill 4 - still good... 9/10

overall: still a great hero suggestion... just tweak numbers and it would be great. 50.5/60

Skill 1 - How do you feel about the "rescue" effect?
Skill 2 - The mana does scale higher.
Skill 3 - In a pinch refers to Goliath or an ally hero who have their HP dropped to 40% or less.
Skill 4 - Thanks.

[Sgt Failure]

First of all, i would like to state that ultimate is highly uncodeable IIRC, as you can't detect the amount of damage blocked. Then i will give a review:

The first skill seems great, make sure that the ally will not be carried if Disablehelp is on. 600 Distance is abrely nothing, i would higher it, or perhaps scaling it with levels. Hook travels 1000 range, and it deals higher damage. Leap is 840 distance IIRC, so i think maybe either make it 900 at all levels, or 600/700/800/900. Either way, good skill, im unsure about the silence part, and i would like to know if he always charges max range, or to target location.

Second skill is to me good, but even unoriginal as it really is an exact opposite of Rocket Flare. Maybe add some cosmetics, and make it realese a chainheal or something? Anyway, gow would it work with the hero itself? He is a tankish support ganker? To many roles.

Skill 3 is also this a reversed thirst in a way. I don't feel like this synergies with his concept, and can you give me one reason not to focus him down, he is after all without tanking spells. Synergies with ultimate, but the rest?

Ultimate is a good idea, but as i said uncodeable.

[Cyampagn]

I like the concept of a str supporting hero.

First skill is nice, quite balanced, excellent for initiating combat or getting out (with a 15 hp friendly Zeus on yout back) :P

Second skill, im not convinced, i feel you could easily recue allies on a hurry from anywhere around the map...really dont know whats my feeling with this as number seem to be greatly balanced, but maybe it just works too good..overall i like it

I like 3rd skill, but not for these hero...i feel its just too supportive and doesnt offer anything else. I would completely remove it since This+Ulti its just too much spell resistance

Nice ulti, excellent for pushing or 5vs5 fights, but i feel damage reduction should be tweaked a bit down

Overall, as i said before, its interesting the idea of a supportive hero like this (not seen so much suggs like this), but i think 3rd skill and ulti's synergy is too obvious

Greetings!

[invul_nerable]

ok as i promised....i am a critique so dont be mad... you asked for it, i dont cticize others if im not on the mood but since we have an agreement then here is it.....

skill 1- good on saving enemies because of the knock back, nothing much... weak late game because its physical damage... i rank it 6/10

skill 2- global saving skill.... if the ally is far away, a high chance of miss is unto the skill......bad late game. 4/10

skill 3- promotes supportive abilities, gives armor, magic resistance this is great! it fits the role but bit imba because of the magic resistance. 8/10

ulti- very powerful, but not codeable if it is codeable rating would be this "8/10" since its not its 0/10

overall: i see your hero as a good support but some skills does not fit and needs more practicing in order to hit your ally(i hate mirana and pudge). ulti is good, but as the one states above, not codeable, sorry... one of its bad factors is he is item dependant

your overall ranking is 20/40 if the skill is codeable 29/40..... its an interesting hero, but needs to fix some efects and numbers, especially ulti....
on my view the hero is, T-DOWN due to the fact of uncodeability of the ulti

[invul_nerable]

its lagging and now creating a double posts

replace ulti with more like adding his hp or armor, it does not really need for you to always help youre allies....

i can help you on some skills if you want to...

[usless]

Ok review incomming

Skill one - like the unique grabbing of an ally. I would say it may be better suited for an exit skill then an initiator.

Skill two - Maybe buff the amount it heals a little bit. Might be too weak at higher levels.

Skill three - I would say devo + spell redirect to himself after a certain %. Would make better sense as he is a "Protector"

Skill Four - Maybe to make it easier to code you could just turn into the fountain without the huge fireball stream. This would allow heroes to heal in team battles and you could make it an opposite effect for the other team.

That's my $0.02

[Megas]

Hey! I'll let my review here!

Cosmetic/Concept = The Golem cannot fit better in a tank role...

Skill 1 - If there allies in the path, what will happen with them ? You will take with u the nearest allied unit and let then at the end of the path ? If yes, it is awesome the synergy with channeling and initiators heroes!

Skill 2 - It's a cure thing... Global... i don't think that it fits with a tank hero... Maybe something like gathering iron around and boosting his armor... etc... It's my opinion... It's your call to keep it!

Skill 3 - Finnaly protection aura with a twist! Many games use in a pinch! =D

Ultimate - The best synergy with the rest... But isn't 2100 to much ? 2 laguna blades won't end this thing O.O

[NHP54]

I have made some drastic changes due to the original Sanctuary Stone being impossible to code.

[Labyrinth Suite]

Hero - Good History, fitting concept. Everything OK.

Rampart Rush- Uh... As much as I liked the concept as saving people using charge, I think this will be more used as a initiation, for instance, I already see people charging through someone low HP, accidentally bringing them into the enemy team, but as Sgt already mentioned, Disablehelp should solve it. I don't know why you added the silence tho. As a fleeing skill, it will definetly be useful(mainly saving from death a person with Ignite+Poison Nova+Double Maledict).

Rampart Rush- I like it! It have a low mana cost early game and allow you to help and babysit a little everyone in the game, the bonus speed also make it a good for fleeing skill for a ally who suffered a gank. I really like when someone add a support skill that requires brain to use, most DotA support skills are one-click-aim skills, having some strategic requirement really makes it more interesting.
Something that bugs me is the revealing part, that's one of the best use of Rocket Flare, so it should stay only with RF. Lower the cooldown a bit, so it won't be the end of the world if you miss one, it will also make you more focused in a team battle, as someone spamming heal need to be taken down.

Vigilance- Although I liked the old vigilance as well, I think this one is also good, remembers me of Sven Toughness Aura. The effect other than the +armor is pretty "eh", the +ATK is pretty weak and it giving half damage to creeps is a bit lame too, you see, when anything(hero or creep) is lower than 40% HP, it will probably going to flee rather than attack (Unless you are a creep, which would mean you have only 200<~ HP and not really going to live any longer).


Sanctuary Stone- I like this one as I liked the old one, even with different effects, it is still the same on the core. Is the damage reducement like Howl of Terror or it reduce the whole damage?

Overall- Very good for a support/tank hero. Rampart Rush and Life Force certainly attracts my attention, as it makes supporting need skill and toughts as well. Sanctuary Stone simply fits for the hero, as it helps his Support and Tank role. Vigilance needs something like it had back on version A, IMO, it would be better as a "You're low HP but you may survive with this" rather than "You're low HP, you're now a mini huskar, go go". I'd say to lower his agility gain but raise the intelligence gain as he doesn't need melee attacks to be effective, as for armor, he already have Vigilance that solves that problem.

TL;DR:
°Remove Silence from Rampart.
°Lower the CD of Life Force + Remove the sight bonus.
°Make vigilance more defensive/survival based, if you need offensivity add it to ulti or rampart.
° Lower AGI gain, raise INT gain.

[NHP54]

Please keep in mind that the "tank" I am going for is the one who draws fire from opponents because they have to, not necessarily because Goliath has the most HP.

[usless]

I like the changes to the ultamate. Should help with the coding quite a bit.

Overall I would problably play this hero a few times, and placing the stone in the woods would ruin days, esp on a nutral camp :P

[Megas]

The new ultimate is much better now... But I still think that the second skill, could fit better with the other skills.

[Serafell]

I think that this hero needs other skills which will attract enemy team to him. Right now the only harmful skill of this hero is ultimate, which is spawning immobile rock that will be instantly focused, and destroyed (especially in mid-late game), or enemies will simply leave the AoE, and waste the 160 sec long cooldown - only good team lineup, or offensive situation would give any chance to make use of Goliath`s skills.
Verdict:
T-null for now:
This hero needs a few buffs - he is good at tanking, and supporting, but you need to give his enemies a reason to remain under effect of his spells. (like noobs)

[-IDenkaiI-]

Hi, here's my short review:

1. Nice BGS, about model, rly i dunno what to say, we have alrdy the Dirge's flesh golem in the game, if u find another model with the same idea, this would be great, but at last, its fine, acceptable.

2. 1st skill is gud, i like it, the numbers and scales are balanced, and it would be a bit hard to perform, i mean, doing a good supportive move carrying the allied hero. I dunno why Goliat must take the damage from enemy spells that are no cast on him, the descript says that the ally becomes invincible, but not invulnerable, so it could be targeted by spells normally (is just that i understood, if im wrong, dont care about this part of the comment).

3. skill 2: numbers should be tweaked, IMO u got a cheap Hands of god-like spell for 120 mana at lvl 4 and it can be semi-spameable with 18 secs cd and 9 duration, i think that cd would be always 30 secs, and 10 secs duration in all lvls, or simply: re-scale mana values increasing mana cost just a bit.

4.skill 3. too many hp regen skills, i recommend to u just change it for another tanky skill (the goliat's role is tank -___________________________-! ). Basically, the skill concept its good, but no for a tank hero, take out the armor gain and put it into the ulti (sure, always balancing values and manacosts).

5.skill 4. Immediately i tell u that, if this spells is uncodeable or it's too much hard to code, remake it. Apart from this argument, IMO i think that the AOE should be 450, and if u add armor to this skill, the manacosts: 150/175/200.

After all, its a nice hero idea, i wont give a vote now cuz i know that u can do some changes on it. GL and keep up the good work.

[Eidolith]

I love the model, and the role works really well. Comparing to your other suggestion of the Guardian Golem, this one is much more simple and "noob" friendly, which is pretty good.

Skill 1 has no complaints, after all it works well with a Str hero and the knockback is alright.
Skill 2 can be powerful, but it has a decent cooldown and it makes him a unique healer, supporter, and potentially end-game hero.
This is supported by skill 3, which is a regen aura added with defense and a last ditch effect. My recommendation would be to rid of the regen, simply because it is too powerful due to having a healing skill and probably lot of health. I love the last ditch effect, making is extremely effective to push lanes, and complements heroes such as Huskar. Might want to decrease the amount of bonus damage though, as +50 at 40% hp can be a controversy.
The ultimate skill makes you the tank. Extremely powerful considering it hurts enemy DPS and makes spellcasters weaker. Really good for a gank or a final hard push.

Overall - Hero looks good. Incredible strength makes him a late game when given the right items. I would T-up and play it just because of skill 3 and 4, especially.

[LightburneR]

I think Rampart Rush would be a great initiation spell (much like Labyrinth Suite said) but would also be great for saving. The knockback and damage would be helpful during ganks. Overall, very nice skill.

Life Force's heal makes him a good laner and a great assest to the team. Not much else to add except that the +ms effect helps (once again) in ganks.

Vigilance has too many effects for an aura (to me, at least). +Armor, +Regen, +Damage. (when having "low" life) I think removing the +Regen effect and buffing up the armor abit would be more helpful considering the minor regen bonus is almost negligible later, while the armor would be great late game. (In addition to the fact that it is unlikely you'd want to level this skill up early-mid unless you want to Rambo through the whole game)

Sanctury Stone has a great effect, but once again, too many effects on a single spell. I like the spell resistance part and the "Gravekeeper's Cloak" (old one) bit on the stone. I personally don't.... really like (ok, its just a feeling that it seems out of place or something) but yea, +Armor has a similar effect, -IAS has a similar effect. All in all, its done in some form or another in many heros. (Lich's Frost Armor, RK's Warcry, CM's Crystal Nova and so on) Also add in that you already have a +Armor spell, the -DMG aura would be pretty much overkill.

Overall, a hero who can gank, can support well in teamfights. I like the hero.

Skills: 9/10 (Some spells have too many effects, otherwise, nicely done)

Role: 10/10 (Solid role in teamfights, Can Gank, Can Support, Can Lane, Can Push, Item Independant. Role = Support)

Personal Preference: 7/10 (I feel that the hero is somewhat like Warlock, except more defensive in teamfights and more offensive in lanes. I also see a slight similarity to LOA. [Frostmorune's MS/IAS boost, Death Coil's Heal, Apathic Shield's Debuff] However, they are different (I know) and this is just my personal preference)