BftC:R Spotlight : Archon

Executor the Archon - Most terrifying hero on the battlefield right now. What I had in mind when I designed him?

Well, the theme was Psi energy - A concept from Starcraft. But I wanted the hero to be Warcraftish, so while browsing though various models, I came upon the model that made me quickly get to work on this guy.

Archon was the name instantly thought of, in Starcraft, Archon is created by merging two High Templars together, they are the high level units, tough and strong. But my Archon, has more of a tactical use than the brute fight force.

The first ability Telekinesis, was in fact made a long time ago. I made it for Warlock, which was originally to go on with Lich model. But the plans changed, Lich model was given to the Destroyer. And Telekinesis came to Archon.

What does Telekinesis do? Well, it's amazing skill. Useful for both offensive and defensive purposes. At first cast, it makes target held off. Protecting it from all sorts of damage, but trapping it. The second cast, would throw the trapped unit towards the new target. The trapped target would be propelled in air, landing in the area of the new target, dealing terrible damage. The trick is, the skill requires at least two targets, You cannot target self or the once targeted unit again for the Trap duration. But the effects of the ability make up for the shortcoming of having more guys around you. (Not to mention, you can toss up allies too, And they won't be hurt!) Plus, you can protect the target by casting it but not choosing to throw it. The target would be protected for the next 5 seconds. Dusring this time, it's still a valid target for allied healing spells!

The next trick in the Archon's sleeve is Chrono Field. The swirling energy vortex that drains Kinetic energies of the area, making everything go slow. But Archon himself is unaffected! Ecen your allied units would go slow inside the Chrono Field, but only Archon is able to maintain his kinetic energy. This is greatly useful in both attack and escape tactics, as this covers fairly good Area of Effect.

Archon's Chrono Field, Eye Candy is what makes it Sweet!



The third skill is truely fearsome about Archon. It's called the Mind Fog. The skill passively boosts the Mana Regeneration of nearby units, but more fearsome is the effect. When Archon is attacked, or hit, The Mind Fog will be released, causing Archon to be hidden inside and restore his health over the time. Additionally, Mind Fog is the vast Psi in physical manifestation form, so all enemies who step into the Fog shall suffer a terrible damage, while they are inside the Fog. Hence, maintaining your distance is the best option when Mind Fog is released.

Archon in the Trademark Mind Fog

The ultimate is the most devastating about Templar - Psi Storm. Various Orbs of Psi Energy whirl around Archon, forming a strange shape... And there beings a Chaos... The orbs emit out the countless Psi projectiles at all nearby enemies... Less the enemies, more the damage it suffers, additionally closer it is to the Archon, more the projectiles fired upon. It is impossible to figure out how much damage is done... But one thing is certain, Even Tauren Chieftain with Fury and Honor activated cannot match Templar's Fury when Psi Storm is on. The vast power makes a lethal combination with Chrono Field, making Archon a truely fearsome force of vast, raw power.

Old Psi Storm screenie, The shape of Orbs has been modified now


Even Mind Fog can go in Combination with Psi Storm

Dragonball Evolution : The Live Action Movie!

Yes, what you hear and read is correct! Dragonball - the live action movie has been released. The movie by 20th Century Fox and screnplay by Ben Ramsey, Directed by James Wong. - The guy who directed Sci-Fi thrillers like Final Destination and breathtaking action movies like Jet Li's The One.

The movie features Justin Chatwin as Goku, Yes, the Guy from the War of the Worlds. And two hotties - Emmy Rossum and Jamie Chung as Bulma and Chi-Chi respectively. Importantly, Master Roshi is played by Yun-Fat Chow - The guy who played Capn' Sao Feng in Pirates of Caribbean 3 : At World's End! Additionally he was in the lead role in Shaolin action movies - Bulletproof Monk and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Hmm... The movie surely promises a lots of action.

One thing's certain though, the Anime/Gaming world and Anime/Game movie producers are happy with a Good Find - Jamie Chung! She's bagged the Red Alert 3 : Uprising's role as Takara. Awesome!
As far as Emmy Rossum goes, she's featuring in a good role after a long time.

Anyway, The movie's antagonist in King Piccolo! James Marsters - a TV star is debuting on the Big screen. Wow, really promises to be great. His assistant of destruction Mai is played by - Eriko Tamura who has starred in many Live-Action series in Japan, most notable of them are Inochi no umi, and in way back - Kurenai.

So, what the heck are we waiting for?

Obviously - Just for movie to on air in India!

I just can't wait, for the eastern legend coming to life...

BftC: Reloaded : Game Systems

There were many systems that I needed to add inside to make the project interesting and unique. As opposed to most of the AoSs out there, it's true that BftC: Reloaded can be looked upon as just another AoS. But, it's got many features that make it a slightly different one.

The first change is the Traditional Gold system. I modified it that you no longer get gold by killing enemy. Instead your hero is paid for the services. The gold gained is proportional to the level of the hero and will gain gold twice the in game day/night cycle. The change was made to keep the Team work rather than each player struggling for Gold.

Secondly, Full Xp control, and Global Sharing of Xp. If no hero is present nearby, the Xp is shared globally. And this allows some-better gameplay mechanincs. Ofc, this is rather new for a AoS type, where Global Xp share is generally disbanded.
(Xp stands for Combat Experience - Heroes gain experience through combat, becoming more powerful)

Third different stuff is the Mob Spawns. This time, a large amount of the forces would come out of the Barracks or unit-training structures. This, makes combat a lot of large-scale, Giving you a experience of commanding a large army instead of small tactical troops. Breaking through the enemy defences adds additional reinforcements to your side, eventually, completely outnumbering the enemy forces. Additions to the forces spawned is fast and quick, and hence, large armies, large battles is the essential part of the game.

The final difference is the revival of a Fallen Hero. When your hero dies in a combat, he doesn't have to stay dead for lot longer, he is revived instantly! At the cost of gold, of cource, but the instant revival adds a great pace to the game. And encourages the players to perform the dangerous feats like chasing and hunting enemy deep in the enemy territory itself.

Plus, I have not forgotten the user-friendly part of it. Most of the skills are user-friendly. Plus a Cooldown UI indicates whether a spell or ability is ready to be used. Additionally, the attribute based abilities would indicate instantly that how much damage they had done by means of Dynamic-Fading-Texts (called as TextTags, in general) Additionally, the abilities that have a chances to succeed will indicate a Success! Texttag if they have an effect - Like Rune Mage's Rune creation and casting the spells depending on Combination.

That's all for now.

Oh yes, Rage Winterchill needs a lot of updates... Probably a complete rework...
Stay tuned guys...
A spotlight on Archon is underway... You'd not want to miss it.

BftC:R Backstage : Royal Guard Story

When Illidan Stormrage called, countless Naga were summoned up from the depths of the Maelstrom. One of them was the Royal Guard - Xel'Nog. Usually different from the other Royal Guards, Xel'Nog was considered of lower rank among them. However, being personal guard of the Lady Darkscale - a powerful commander of Naga Strike force, Xe'lNog maintained his hold and command over the Naga forces.

Soon the time came, and Lady Darkscale was forced to rally under command of Lord Illidan. Xel'Nog, as per her instructions, stayed behind and watched over the territory and undersea temple of Darkscale legacy. Now left alone, and with the only support gone, Other Royal Guards mocked upon the unusual abilities of Xel'Nog, which were far different from their own kin.

Nearly driven mad by the insulting taunts, Xel'Nog once came up on the surface and eased his mind by sitting alone. Days after days, Xel'Nog usually would surface up and sit alone, brooding over what was it that made him suffer all this... However, days became months, and yet, Nothing would come upon him...

Xel'Nog the Royal Guard

One day, when he couldn't stand it at all, he rose up and with one swift motion, knocked out several of the mighty Royal Guards that were insulting his strength, and thereby, questioning upon his status as a proud Royal Guard. Seeing nearly half of the folks fell easily by the power of a single blow, rest fled for their lives and never would return to mock upon him or insult him.

Xel'Nog however, remained alone, faithfully upon his duty, haven't heard about a single word from his beloved mistress. But always believed that she would return, and he would then beg her to release from his long duty, for the slight glimpses of the Surface world had fascinated him and he wanted to explore more of it.

None of the Lords he prayed to would heed his prayers. Till the day, when the ominious news arrived that Lady Darkscale had been undone. All the legacy would belong to Lord Illidan now, and had appointed another as the watcher over the Sunken Darkscale Temple.

Heavy on heart, the blow fell. Xel'Nog's honor, position and status of a proud Royal Guard of the Darkscale dynasty was taken away in an instant. With his life, that held no meaning anymore, he exiled himself from the depths of the endless sea, and came over the surface world. When he arose, he found the small little island, on which the battle was about to break in. His heart broken, the only thing stood before him was one last hope... By offering his services to either of the sides and leading them to victory by his own deadly skill, perhalps he could regain his lost honor, and his pride...

He raised his Trydent and swam gracefully towards the isle...

...towards the Battle for the Conquest which was about to begin...

BftC: Reloaded Brainstorm : Destroyer

Ever since I have announced that Rage Winterchill is going to be the next Hero in the INT catagory, I am all overworked for thinking a suitable skillset.

First skill that was 100% certain, and that had been showcased before - The Awakened Form.
The transformation that Drains MP over time, but grants bonus, deadlier effects on the other Spells, (Exception of Ultimate - Neverending Winter ;) ) The added ability with Awakened Form is that it absorbs a portion of damage, and on the higher levels it can take about half of the damage away.

The Chain of Fate is an innate spell, mainly for harassment. It's initial cast deals less damage but marks the target with a Buff. Additional casts will gradually increase the damage, by adding an amount of INT attribute. Finally, making it a huge annoying harassment ability. Additional features can include casting on Allied unit where it can be Sacrified to gain Mana.

The Second skill - Black Rose - could be an AoE target spell, channeling, which would grow stronger over time. The spell would addup damage over time and when stopped or finished casting, inflict the damage over target AoE. This ability will have a reasonable AoE and could make a nice creeping spell. However, while awakened form, the damage begins right when the Destroyer starts casting it, instead of accumulating it and inflicting later and will go on amplified over time, making it progressively stronger over time, that makes difficult even to the STR heroes to stand and fight in it's effects. Sadly, it's easy to avoid, as opponents can simply get out of the AoE.

The third skill, as suggested by Zack at TheHelper.NET community, should be a Freezing Armor, the signature theme of the Liches of Northrend. The Armor that freezes the external of the Destroyer's body, blocking the damage considerably, however, over the time Armor will melt away and unleash the Freezing Aura which would slow down the nearby enemies, More the Armor melts and loosens, more the freezing aura released and slower the nearby enemies become.
I am not sure about the Awakened Version of this ability, though. Let us hope that Zack saves the day again. ;)

That's all for now... Stay tuned.

BftC:R Backstage : Archon story

Telekinesis - one of the wonders of Psi, had originated a long time ago, some say it was Titans who were the original creators, or some say, it's an innate inner power that every living organism has. But, for truth, non had ever been able able to unravel the mystery.

Executor (True name unknown), was one of the Voidwalkers of such unknown origins had mastery over Telekinesis for too long. However, wicked and twisted by nature, he enjoyed through others pain. Making them suffer as he laughed at their demise. He went so far in the Telekinesis and plunged himself into the domain of true power - 'Psi'.

Mind Control was the only thing he didn't learn, cause he did not want to. He long knew the pain and suffering that be brought to his unfortunate victims and he feared it. Yes! Executor feared pain, he lived to inflict it upon others, but wanted always to be away from it, so that the voices of doom would never echo upon his mind again. That was the chief reason why he never peeped inside the minds of others. But he would thoroughly enjoy the sad demise of his victims, being crushed cruely by his maddening Psi abilities.

Executor the Archon - Unstable Raw but Massive Power


Driven by his will alone, to torture the victims, so much that would finally plead him to grant them death, Executor joined the massive army of Burning Legion. Kil'jaeden, quickly realizing the potential true warrior of Legion, quickly accepted him as one of the upper highs. Driven under the rule of the other mighty Lord - Archimonde, Executor came upon the world of Azeroth, and hence, there began the legend of an Extremely wicked and twisted beast, who enjoy nothing but pain of others.

Executor's physical appearance matched with a Voidwalker, but inside, he was a living vessel of the tremendous Psi energy, a swirling, unstable vortex of raw power, that would consume anything and simply break it down, as he broke the wills of survival and living of countless victims. While Archimonde sought the Power of the Nodra'ssil, Executor marched upon the Maelstrom - for that was all he needed - the unstable vortex of raw power, much like is own.

Not to mention that he did not get the power to claim as his own, He was stopped by the fury of endless Sea itself. For many days he brooded upon overcoming the thick cover of the substance called Water, but all his efforts were fruitless, as he was seeing such a thing for the very first time in his long, twisted lifetime.

Maddened, and disappointed, Executor came back to the land, intending to unite back with the Legion, only to find the Legion defeated and the Lord Archimonde undone... Now left behind as the Legion's army fled back to the Twisting Nether, Executor hid hemself in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity till he could rise up again. Only a slightest spark, of Weapons clashing, or the Wands and Mystic Staves swinging and Jets of energies or Rain of Arrows flying acrosee the battlefields, anywhere and anytime... And Executor would appear back, ready to offer his services, to any side cause it does not matter long as he enjoys bringing others to Pain and Doom.

Maybe that is why,
that exactly is why...
He is there... in Battle for the Conquest.

TheHelper.NET community demands a Release!

After about a month of [WIP] tag at Project's thread, my three days absence took a heavy toll o the Project's thread. Furious members and supporters have demanded a release!

The community was kept well up-to-date with the latest screenshots and changelogs, however, anyone would want to play it rather than just keep looking at the screenshots!

Let's hope that I finish a good portion of it and can bring project to a stable state from which it can be launched. I look forward to grab support from Major communities like HiveWorkshop or Wc3Campaigns.NET.

I do not intend to release this map in a hurry. I shall take my time, think over, make it a stable one and only then, I can launch an initial release, which, I believe must be kept well updated.

BftC:R Backstage : Rune Mage Story

Positive and Negative, both sides co-exist and yet, untouched by each other. The very balance of the nature and hence of the universe is the balance between Light and Darkness and effectively Positive and Negatives. Some call it the Creator, some call it the Science of Existance...

The young mage of Wood Elf community was fascinated by the strange law of Co-existance of the Positives and Negatives. Runecrafter by profession, Samus was the youngest offspring in the honoured Flamecaster bloodline. Giving up the position of the Shadow Advisor of Wood Elf community, young Samus set off for distant travels, to make contact with outter worlds, something that was stricktly forbidden and unforgivable within the Wood Elf community.

The Rune Mage - Most Versatile Hero


During the travels, Samus watched the other life-forms and studied their lifestream and flow of the energies, to his surprise, he found many other species were gifted with the knowledge of using the mystical energies that Wood Elf called the Essence of Life. He aqquired many techniques and being a swift learner, mastered them in no time.

Samus, now grown into a strong and powerful Mage, did not forget his original quest - to unravel the mystery of Co-existance, But over the years having perfected his Runecrafting skills, he masterfully could craft the runes, capturing the very essence of Positivity and Negativity, isolated from the rest. The isolated Runes, which gave him immese knowledge of the ways of life and mystical energies.

But the time came, when is peaceful studies came to halt. The Burning Legion had returned and the currption widespread across the lands. Samus could not allow the demons to run wildly and was forced to take arms against them. Being an expert Runecrafter and Masterful Mage, he drove them back out of the sanctuary that he had built himself. He thus, invented how to combine the Runic essence of Positives and Negatives and form extraordinary, powerful magic currents that took different effects when exposed to the nature via different methods. He had long studied all forms of Magic used by all kinds of Magi he had seen during his travels. He had learned Conjuration from Wizards of Dalaran, Binding Magics from the Night Elves and he learned Repulsion and Rejections from the Undead commanders of armies of Walking dead by sheer power of observations. Within no time, Samus found out the various effects on the Runic combinations when used via these methods and techniques, and again, wasted no time in mastering them.

While the Aftermath, Samus took great efforts to rebuild his Santuary and buried himself to the mastery of newfound techniques. Ways and mysteries of universe, life and Co-existance now lay open in from of him. With his dream fulfilled he seeks perfection, and hence, He has emerged from his shell and fights in the Battle for the Conquest.