Kerrigan by Rook

2 Votes

Rating Pending

Kerrigan

By:
Last Updated:

GOAL: Kerrigan is one of the original heroes released with the Heroes of the Storm Alpha. It is generally agreed that she has only one viable build and gameplay style which revolves around her W+E combo. While I enjoy playing Kerrigan even with her current "one note" style, the main goal of this rework was to allow for more diverse viable builds and gameplay styles. A secondary goal is to make the character feel more in line with the character seen in SC and SC2.

APPROACH: For simplicity and because I do think the current Kerrigan is fun to play, her basic kit remains unchanged. Instead variety and gameplay options will be achieved through talents. To do this I wanted to make sure there were competitive, compelling choices on each tier. Keep in mind that the values are just estimates and would likely need to be balanced with other heroes in the game. This could include decreasing Kerrigan’s base stats to allow the talents to be fair while still having drastic effects on gameplay style.

Combat Trait

Assimilation

Gain 10% of damage dealt from Basic Attacks and Abilities as Shields for 6 seconds. Shield amount gained doubled against Heroes.

Current maximum: 200 (+100 per level)

Primary Abilities

Leaping Strike (Q)

Mana: 75
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Leap to a target, dealing 50 (+20 per level) damage. If this kills the target, its cooldown is instantly reset. Ability remains the same as the current “ravage.” Name changed to “Leaping Strike” to more accurately describe the ability.

Impaling Blades (W)

Mana: 60
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Deals 110 (+22 per level) damage to enemies within the target area, stunning them for 1 second. No change needed. Important to keep since it is a key part of her current combo play style. From a lore perspective it fits with her “Queen of Blades” title well.

PSIONIC GRASP (E)

Mana: 50
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Pulls enemies within the target area towards you, dealing 50 (+13 per level) damage. Ability effect remains the same. However, the animation is changed to be a psionic or “force” pull to better represent the abilities Kerrigan displays in Starcraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XdU3to6g8A

Heroic Abilities

Maelstrom (R)

Mana: 100
Cooldown: 120 seconds

Deals 50 (+5 per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Lasts for 9 seconds.

PLANETARY INVASION (R)

Mana: 100
Cooldown: 100 seconds

Calls down drop pods (doing damage on impact) and releasing a variety of Zerg units to push a lane and attack enemy units in range.

TALENTS

LEVEL 1
SEASONED MARKSMEN: "For every 6 enemy Minion or Mercenary kills near your Hero, gain 1 Basic Attack damage. Hero Takedowns count as 2 Minion kills." Talent unchanged. Included as a sustained damage option.

CLEAN KILL: "Leaping Strike restores a % of its mana cost based on the targets health after use (Kill=100% mana restored, 10% HP = 90%mana restored, 20% HP = 80% mana restored, etc.)” Moved to level 1 and altered so it is no longer an “all or nothing” talent.

IMPALING SWARM: "Impaling Blades spawns 2 Zerglings at the target location." Talent unchanged. Moved to level 1 to provide an option for improved early game lane presence.

INDUCED ATROPHY:  “Psionic Grasp also slows enemies by 25% for 2 seconds.” New talent! Included to make Psionic Grasp more useful on its own and less reliant on the W+E combo.

PARRYING BLADES: “Periodically reduces the damage received from Hero Basic Attacks by 40%. Stores up to 3 charges." New Talent! A personalized replacement for block, included to provide a defensive option.

LEVEL 4
FURY OF THE SWARM: "Basic Attacks splash for 50% damage around Kerrigan." Talent unchanged.

KINETIC BLAST: “Deals 60 damage and stuns the target for .5 seconds. Does an additional 40 damage over 10 seconds.” New Talent! Personalized replacement for envenom that fits in well with her lore. She can be seen “blasting” Zeratul in one of the Wings of Liberty cinematics (~2:25 minute mark). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgatL2LQKLI

FOCUSED ATTACK: "Every 10 seconds, your next Basic Attack deals 75% additional damage. Basic Attacks reduce this cooldown by 1 second." Talent unchanged. Included as a sustained damage option.

PSIONIC PULSE: “Psionic Grasp leaves a zone on the ground that explodes after 2 seconds dealing 310 (63 + 13 per level) damage (60 second CD).” Altered to make Psionic Grasp more useful on its own and less reliant on the W+E combo.

HUNGERING BLADES: “If Impaling Blades does not strike a Hero, its cool down is reduced by 50%.” New Talent!

LEVEL 7
*My goal was to make level 7 the point at which you could really choose your gameplay style.

UNRELENTING SWARM: “Basic Attacks reduce Ability cool downs by 0.33 seconds and restore 5 mana." New Talent! A personalized replacement for Battle Momentum. Included as an option for a sustained damage build. Allows for use of Abilities more often as well as helps with Kerrigan’s mana problem. However, in selecting this talent the player is forgoing talents that actually improve specific abilities.

PSIONIC REACH: "Increases the range of Psionic Grasp by 20%." Renamed version of “Sweeping Grasp” to fit with the new psionic animation, but the effect remains unchanged. Since the extra reach is so important for reliably landing the W+E combo, the talent has been moved to level 7 to place it against more competitive, gameplay style defining talents.

COMMITTED ASSAULT: “Increases the damage and cool down of Leaping Strike based on the distance from target (100% max).” New Talent! A risk vs reward talent that increases the players ability to land killing blows with Leaping Strike making it easier to take advantage of the Ability’s cool down reset feature. However, failure to land the killing blow will result in an increased cool down.

ADAPT AND SURVIVE: “Leaping Strike can be used to jump to allies healing both Kerrigan and her target for 10% of their max health. Cool down is reduced by 50% when used in this manner.” Altered version of adaptation. Included as a survival option. Healing added to make it more competitive with other talents on the tier.

SYNERGISTIC BLADES: "Impaling Blades deals 20% more damage for each target hit." New Talent!

LEVEL 10
MAELSTROM(R): "Deals 150 (55 + 5 per level) damage per second to nearby enemies. Lasts for 9 seconds." Remains unchanged as it is viable in game and represents the character lore well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-eJezQV1cY

PLANETARY INVASION(R): "Calls down drop pods with a variety of Zerg units to push a lane and attack enemy units in range." New Ultimate! This ultimate would function similar to Raynor’s. You would cast it in a direction at which point the drop pods would crash down (doing initial damage) and the units released would move in the direction in which the ability was cast. Zerg units would attack enemy units within the zone but would not chase out of it. Lore-wise, the goal is to capture the feel of heart of the swarm intro video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4

LEVEL 13
LAUNCH: “Increases the range of Leaping Strike by 25%. If committed assault was selected, increases the damage and cool down of Leaping Strike to 125% max." Altered version of Eviscerate.

FORWARD MOMENTUM: "After Leaping Strike, movement speed is increased by 20% for 2 seconds." New Talent! Included as a flexible, though limited mobility option since Sprint is no longer available. Could pair equally well with Adapt and Survive(for escape) and Committed Assault(for chase).

ACTIVE ASSIMILATION(D):  Activate Trait to gain 2.5% of nearby enemies’ max health as shields every second for 3 seconds. Shields stack and last for 6 seconds (60 second CD)." New Talent!

BARBED AND DANGEROUS:  After casting Impaling Blades, the blades remain on the battlefield for 3 seconds, slowing Move Speed (30% for 3 seconds) and dealing 58 (20 + 2 per level) damage per second to enemies that touch them. New Talent! Included as a defensive option to help with escape now the Sprint is no longer available.

DOUBLE STRIKE: “When your Basic Abilities damage an enemy, your next Basic Attack hits for 50% extra damage.” Talent unchanged.

LEVEL 16
BLADE TORRENT: “Impaling Blades radius increased by 30%.” Talent unchanged.

REVERSE POLARITY  "For 2 seconds, you can reactive Psionic Grasp for a push effect (instead of its normal pull effect). The push effect does no damage." New Talent! One of the more creative (and maybe least practical talents). Included because I thought it would just be fun to use! It could be used defensively to help Kerrigan escape (again with Sprint no longer an option). It could be used to help protect allies. Or it could be used to isolate prey, pulling in your target and moments later pushing away those who are coming to help him.

CHARGED STRIKE: "Leaping Strike deals Deals 210 (58 + 8 per level) damage to nearby enemies." New Talent!

AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE: "Assimilation Shields earned from Basic Attacks and Abilities increased by 125%." Increased from 100% to 125% to give it a more noticeable effect and make it more competitive with other talent choices on this tier.

PSIONIC OVERLOAD: “After 3 seconds target enemy, explodes for 15% of their max health as damage to themselves and all nearby enemies.” New Talent! Personalized replacement for Blood for Blood. Kerrigan can be “overloading” Mengsk the Heart of the Swarm Ending Cinematic ( ~2:48 minute mark) . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kScAk4L7Y3Q

LEVEL 20

OMEGASTORM: “Maelstrom size increased by 25% Amount of Assimilation Shields generated by Maelstrom increased by 100%”. Talent unchanged

PLANETARY CONQUEST: Improved version of Planetary Invasion. Details would need to be determined.

PERMANENT ASSIMILATION:  “Assimilation shields no longer expire with time. Current maximum: 2200 (300 + 100 per level)” New Talent!

NEXUS BLADES: “Basic attacks deal 20% more damage and slow the target for 1 second.” Talent unchanged

BOLT OF THE STORM:  “Activate to teleport to a nearby location.” Talent unchanged.

Quick Comment

You need to log in before commenting.

[-] Collapse All Comments

Sort Comments By

[-]

(2) |

So basicly change almost nothing... Instead of "rework" it should be called "tweaking".

Loading Comments...

Load More Comments

Thanks for your feedback.

Kerrigan by Rook

Kerrigan

Kerrigan

Rework Concept

Combat Trait

Primary Abilities

Heroic Abilities

TALENTS

Quick Comment

Heroes of the Storm