Srikal, the Evolved

Thoughts on creating the hero:
Dota already has tons of large damage ulties, we don't need more of those.
Dota doesn't have enough tanky ranged supports (jakiro is the only one I can think of).
I didn't want to just make skills that scale with the primary attribute, since that is already common among recent changes (skywrath mage, centaur, drow).



Concept is some kind of a toxic plant / combination of venomancer and treant protector.

Hero name: Srikal, the Evolved

Affiliation: Dire
Primary Attribute: Int
Str: 21 + 2.4
Agi: 12 + 1.0
Int: 26 + 3.0
Movement speed: 290
Base armor: 1
Base damage: 39 - 47
Attack range: 500
Base attack time: 1.7
Attack animation: .4 / .6
Casting animation: .6 / .2
Missile speed: 1000
Sight range: 1800 / 800


Skill #1: "Toxic Haze"

Srikal begins channeling, filling an area with toxins that further harm enemies that take damage. Enemies in the area are silenced and damage dealt to them is amplified.

Manacost: 150 / 160 / 170 / 180
Cooldown: 60
Casting range: 500
Duration: 7
AOE: 210 / 290 / 370 / 450
Damage amplification: 15%, applied as a 2nd instance of magical damage as the unit takes damage

This spell is channeling, and the effect will end as soon as Srikal is interrupted.
By itself, toxic haze does not do any damage, it only amplifies damage that is dealt in other ways.


Skill #2: "Touch of Srikal"

Srikal strikes an enemy, injecting it with a toxin. Both Srikal's and the target enemy's attack speeds are dramatically slowed.

Manacost: 120
Cooldown: 30
Casting range: 500
Duration: 8
Attack speed slow (for Srikal and enemy): 60% / 70% / 80% / 90%

Cannot be casted on ancients or Roshan.
This cannot be casted on magic immune targets, but becoming magic immune will not dispel the effect. Manta style and diffusal blade will dispel the effect.


Skill #3: "Poisoned Weapons"

Applies a poison to target ally's weapons, causing it's auto attacks to slow the target's movement speed and deal minor damage over time.

Manacost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Cooldown: 25 / 20 / 15 / 10
Casting range: 300
Duration of buff for allies: 30
Duration of debuff when an enemy is hit: 2
Movement slow: 35%
DPS: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20
Damage type: magical

Hitting an already poisoned enemy will refresh the duration of the debuff (but the effects don't stack).
The debuff goes through magic immunity, but the buff to allies does not.


Ultimate: "Saturate Land"

Srikal poisons the ground at target area, destroying trees in the area, giving him sight, dealing damage to enemies, and increasing allied movement speed.

Manacost: 20
Cooldown: 35 / 30 / 25
Casting range: 450
AOE: 500 / 600 / 700
Movement speed increase: 10%
DPS: .5 / 1 / 1.5 percent of max HP
Maximum areas saturated: 4 / 5 / 6
Damage type: HP removal

Aghanim's Scepter upgrade: Srikal has true sight of a 250 AOE at the center of each area of saturated land.
Infested areas have a visual effect, making it clear to allies and enemies that they are saturated.
If the maximum number of saturated areas is exceeded, the oldest one stops being saturated.
This does not affect ancients, buildings, or Roshan.

Srikal is meant to be played as a hard support (the 5 role), ideally supporting a safe lane farmer. He doesn't need many items to be effective, as his natural mana pool is very large for his non-spammable skills. He doesn't deal much damage by himself, and relies on his allies to do so for him. He mainly provides utility to his team, and in that way is comparable to wisp and chen.

How a teamfight should go: use tough of srikal on their primary damage dealer, use saturate land where the fight is taking place, and catch as many enemies as possible in toxic haze. Poisoned weapons should be casted on allies before the fight starts.

I understand that his ultimate doesn't do much. I tried to design the hero around not relying on his ultimate in fights, as toxic haze is the spell people should really be scared of (comparable to tombstone, since you just can't fight in that area). I believe toxic haze is balanced because it is unlikely to catch all 5 enemies, and if it does not, one of them can cancel it. It can also be canceled with bashes and items such as hex from inside the haze.

ahhh another poison! I love poison heros =D
Now the question is, does his first spell, toxic haze, do damage to creeps? Because I could see that as a potential problem for a carry that is trying to farm.

Love the work gone into it.

Describe him a bit, what should he look like?
Are his spells blocked by bkb? Does he have an aga. scepter upgrade?? let us know!

Great work so far!

Toxic haze does amplify damage done to creeps, but I don't think it should be spammed in lane. I designed it as a spell that would mainly be useful in ganks and teamfights, kind of like disruptor's ultimate.

Toxic haze does not affect magic immune units.
Touch of Srikal is not dispelled by becoming magic immune, but cannot be cast on magic immune units.
The slow from poisoned weapons goes through magic immunity.
The damage type of saturate land is HP removal, so it damages magic immune units.

Buying aghs gives him true sight in a 250 AOE at the center of each area of saturated land. I think it'd be mostly useful for counterwarding, since 250 is pretty small. I doubt aghs would be a common item on him, since he is a hard support.