Harth Stonebrew is a Melee Support Hero that thrives on the powerful Abilities of other Heroes - whether resetting an ally's cooldown, or preventing an opponent from using one of theirs at key moments - through the theming of a biased card-game referee. He brings unique global-lite utilities through the ability to retarget his Hearthstone. His powerful Basic Abilities and relatively reserved talent tree lend him to being a powerful early-game Hero.
Combat Trait
1
Home is Where the Hearth is
Activate to set the nearby target allied Fort or Keep as the new target of your Hearthstone, after a 3 second channel. 60s CD. Self-cast regardless of cooldown to instantly retarget your Hearthstone to the Hall of Storms.
Regeneration Globes gathered in the lane of your Hearth reduce the Healing Fountain cooldown by 12 seconds.
Primary Abilities
1
Draw (Q)
Reset the cooldown of the last Basic Ability used by the target allied Hero (cannot target Harth). 19s CD.
Cast on a non-catapult ally Minion to summon additional ally minion of that type. 9.5s CD.
6.25 Range. 75 Mana.
2
Discard (W)
The next Ability the target enemy Hero attempts to cast within the next 1.75 seconds is instead put on a 1.75 second cooldown. 12s CD.
Cast on a non-catapult enemy Minion to kill it instantly. 6s CD.
8.2 Range. 55 Mana.
3
No Peeking (E)
Grant the target allied Hero (or yourself) Unrevealable Stealth for 1.25 seconds. 11s CD.
8 Range. 60 Mana.
Heroic Abilities
1
Reshuffle (R1)
Target an allied Hero (or yourself) with only one enemy Hero in vision within 12 units. Reset all Basic Ability cooldowns of both Heroes, granting the ally 200 Mana, and revealing the enemy for 16 seconds. 80s CD.
7.2 Range. 80 Mana.
2
Secret Passages (R2)
Enter a trapdoor hidden beneath you, becoming Invulnerable after 0.5 seconds, and emerging at the target location after 0.5 seconds longer. Can only be used while not in vision of the enemy team. This has no cooldown or Mana cost if cast when nearby your Hearth. 40s CD.
15 Range. 80 Mana.
Tier 1 (Lv. 1) Talents
-> The Perfect Stout (P): The regeneration effects of the Hall of Storms are increased by 15%, and those of the Healing Fountain near your current Hearth are increased by 20%. These benefits also apply to allied Heroes, and their Healing Fountain cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds when you gather a Regeneration Globe in your current Hearth's lane.
-> Deathrattle (P): While you are nearby, Minions explode when killed, dealing 66 damage to nearby enemies.
-> Boldness (AA): While your Health is above 75%, or you haven't taken damage within the last 4 seconds, gain 10% Basic Attack damage per second, up to 50%, until neither condition is met.
Tier 2 (Lv. 4) Talents
-> Close to your Chest (E): No Peeking lasts 1 second longer if the target is already out of enemy vision.
-> Stone Grip (1): Activate to cause your next Basic Attack to strike instantly, knocking the target back 2.6 units. 9s CD.
-> Ale Slosh (AA): Basic Attacks grant 86 Shields. Does not stack.
Tier 3 (Lv. 7) Talents
-> Dwarven Hospitality (E): No Peeking can be cast on an enemy Hero near your Hearth to put them to Sleep for 2 seconds.
-> Hearty Meal (2): Activate to instantly heal the target ally (or yourself) for 185. 5 second cooldown between charge uses. Refill 2 (max) charges by channeling your Hearthstone to completion.
-> Home Defender (P): While nearby your current Hearth, gain 25 Armor, and receive 20% increased Healing from all sources.
Tier 5 (Lv. 13) Talents
-> Lucky Draw (Q): Draw increases the target's Movement Speed by up to 50% over 2.5 seconds.
-> Tankard Toss (3): Activate to throw an empty tankard in the target direction, dealing 68 damage to the first enemy hit. The damage increases as it flies, up to 204 damage at maximum range. 7s CD. 12 Range. 17.25 Speed.
-> Dizzying Draft (AA): Basic Attacks Slow the target by 30% for 2.5 seconds.
Tier 6 (Lv. 16) Talents
-> Turn Steal (Q): Draw removes Stuns and Silences from the target allied Hero.
-> Eyes to Yourself (E): No Peeking can be cast on an enemy Hero to greatly reduce their Vision Radius for 1.5 seconds.
-> Rule Breaker (AA): Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes reduce their Armor by 10, up to 30, for 3 seconds.
Storm Tier (Lv. 20) Talents
-> House Rules (R1): Reshuffle has global cast range, and it reveals a 15 radius area around the target allied Hero for 16 seconds.
-> Stonebrew Labyrinth (R2): Increase the range of Secret Passages by 20%, reduce the cooldown by 10 seconds, and gain the effects of No Peeking after emerging.
-> Out of Time (W): If the target enemy Hero doesn't trigger Discard, they are Silenced for 1 second.
Custom Hero Contest review:
So, this Harth Stonebrew moveset introduces a handful of trouble mechanics. Namely Hearthstone shenanigans and Cooldown shenanigans.
Trait
Home if where the Hearth is makes some degree of sense. If any hero was going to do unconventional Hearthing, it would be Stonebrew. As Support Heroes tend to fall slightly on the side of being unconventional, and often with a soak-focus, it wouldn't be unreasonable for Harth to use this mechanic. That said, I think it falls somewhat on the redundant side of things. It's basically a Falstad/Dehaka mount ability with extra steps, and in a weirdly obtuse way. While there are some talents built into the current location of your Hearth, I feel the entire mechanic is a bit dead-in-the-water. The same basic mechanic is used for Gul'dan's rune warp 20, which is a more flexible, more impactful version of the same idea.
Q
Draw is functionally unbalanceable regardless of what cooldown you give it, at least in terms of an 'instant reset'. While perfectly fine for abilities like Frost Bolt, some abilities are designed as 'heavy abilities', with extremely long cooldowns to compensate for their high impact. It's a move that all but guarantees players will use it to reach a critical mass of CC or damage. That said, simply turning it into a "increases the cooldown speed of their last basic ability by 100% for X seconds" is a more viable way to balance it, and while not an exceptionally exciting ability, there will be times when Harth has to pick cleverly who to boost, similar to Malfurion.
As for the minion duplication mechanic, while I'm glad it's not a move that only works in lane, I think duplicating a minion is something that is maybe best as a talent. Though I wonder if it's still a bit too uninteractive.
W
Discard is a very interesting style of disruption. It's not quite a silence, but it's still very much capable of ruining a play. If players are aware it's applied to them (or are aware Harth is nearby), they'll likely keep one of their abilities on standby just in case. However, like how Blinds are often considered more annoying than Stuns due to the lack of feedback, I could see issues with this too. Still, it's an interesting mechanic that would be worth devs experimenting with, if it were still in active development. That only change I'd make is to make it "disable" the ability, rather than put it on cooldown, just so it plays nicely with abilities like Self-Destruct and Fenix's weapon mode that don't use conventional cooldowns.
E
Granting other heroes stealth is a mechanic that has seen play, but almost always as a level 10 or 20 talent. I believe that's mostly because, while generally useless in casual play, the ability to cloak an entire team has the potential to set up for game-winning ambushes. This version, however, only lasts for a very short time, but comes with the upside of being Unrevealable. However, I think giving any hero the ability to be rendered invisible on command just creates situations with little to no counterplay.
R1
Reshuffle has the same problem as Q, and is basically a Global Range Nanoboost if given the same rework suggestion. The 'can only target someone who is (ostensibly) in a one-on-one' is interesting, but would work better in a more traditional MOBA, not one like Heroes. Players already get a bit miffed when an Abathur makes it impossible to have a true 1v1 duel, and this brings that same problem.
R2
Secret Passage is basically another instant relocate ability. Though I like to imagine that if Harth is seen using it by the enemy, he's interrupted, and maybe unable to move as he tries to hide it again.
Overall, I think most of these abilities aren't compatible with the gameplay of Heroes. Perhaps for another MOBA, they'd work. The idea of making Harth be this hero who doesn't really have access to tools of his own, but can buff allies is a fine one for the general flavor of Harth, so keep iterating on it. I hope you put together something great.
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So, this Harth Stonebrew moveset introduces a handful of trouble mechanics. Namely Hearthstone shenanigans and Cooldown shenanigans.
Trait
Home if where the Hearth is makes some degree of sense. If any hero was going to do unconventional Hearthing, it would be Stonebrew. As Support Heroes tend to fall slightly on the side of being unconventional, and often with a soak-focus, it wouldn't be unreasonable for Harth to use this mechanic. That said, I think it falls somewhat on the redundant side of things. It's basically a Falstad/Dehaka mount ability with extra steps, and in a weirdly obtuse way. While there are some talents built into the current location of your Hearth, I feel the entire mechanic is a bit dead-in-the-water. The same basic mechanic is used for Gul'dan's rune warp 20, which is a more flexible, more impactful version of the same idea.
Q
Draw is functionally unbalanceable regardless of what cooldown you give it, at least in terms of an 'instant reset'. While perfectly fine for abilities like Frost Bolt, some abilities are designed as 'heavy abilities', with extremely long cooldowns to compensate for their high impact. It's a move that all but guarantees players will use it to reach a critical mass of CC or damage. That said, simply turning it into a "increases the cooldown speed of their last basic ability by 100% for X seconds" is a more viable way to balance it, and while not an exceptionally exciting ability, there will be times when Harth has to pick cleverly who to boost, similar to Malfurion.
As for the minion duplication mechanic, while I'm glad it's not a move that only works in lane, I think duplicating a minion is something that is maybe best as a talent. Though I wonder if it's still a bit too uninteractive.
W
Discard is a very interesting style of disruption. It's not quite a silence, but it's still very much capable of ruining a play. If players are aware it's applied to them (or are aware Harth is nearby), they'll likely keep one of their abilities on standby just in case. However, like how Blinds are often considered more annoying than Stuns due to the lack of feedback, I could see issues with this too. Still, it's an interesting mechanic that would be worth devs experimenting with, if it were still in active development. That only change I'd make is to make it "disable" the ability, rather than put it on cooldown, just so it plays nicely with abilities like Self-Destruct and Fenix's weapon mode that don't use conventional cooldowns.
E
Granting other heroes stealth is a mechanic that has seen play, but almost always as a level 10 or 20 talent. I believe that's mostly because, while generally useless in casual play, the ability to cloak an entire team has the potential to set up for game-winning ambushes. This version, however, only lasts for a very short time, but comes with the upside of being Unrevealable. However, I think giving any hero the ability to be rendered invisible on command just creates situations with little to no counterplay.
R1
Reshuffle has the same problem as Q, and is basically a Global Range Nanoboost if given the same rework suggestion. The 'can only target someone who is (ostensibly) in a one-on-one' is interesting, but would work better in a more traditional MOBA, not one like Heroes. Players already get a bit miffed when an Abathur makes it impossible to have a true 1v1 duel, and this brings that same problem.
R2
Secret Passage is basically another instant relocate ability. Though I like to imagine that if Harth is seen using it by the enemy, he's interrupted, and maybe unable to move as he tries to hide it again.
Overall, I think most of these abilities aren't compatible with the gameplay of Heroes. Perhaps for another MOBA, they'd work. The idea of making Harth be this hero who doesn't really have access to tools of his own, but can buff allies is a fine one for the general flavor of Harth, so keep iterating on it. I hope you put together something great.