I'm looking for exceptionally original ideas for a spell to be submitted at the current WC3Campaigns spell making session, which you will locate here:
http://www.wc3campaigns.net/showthread.php?t=99270

There are rules, however, most notably:

Theme:
Aimed Spells ~
The theme of this contest is to make a spell that requires aiming to hit its mark! That means no target-unit abilities. Some examples of aimed spells from standard WC3 are Breath of Fire, Shockwave, Carrion Swarm, Flame Strike, Blizzard, and so forth. It can hit a single target, it can hit allies, it can hit enemies, it can hit anything! Notice that this leaves it open to the participant to decide just how the aiming takes place since the only requirement is that it be aimed somehow.

Keep in mind an idea consisting solely of adding shiny 'special' effects to some existing spell won't be of much use. Mere details of a spell concept, such as some interesting effect without further details of its implementation could be worthy instead.

PotM arrow from DotA except it travels a little slower and has immolation.

Actually I'm pretty sure that Draco had some really interesting ideas for a hero that he wanted in SDF. The problem there is that Zulkhas and I are not capable of creating the spells, needs more Mashax.

*Insert post from Draconizard here*

Except for the fact that a running enemy target won't want to follow the path of a burning arrow (as it will be taking DoT), I don't see how it's any different from a shockwave whose missile speed was subtly adjusted. Or explain me how.

Make it a heat seeking arrow.

How about a mana bomb, toss it at an area, and the bomb combusts all the mana to units within the aoe, dealing damage.

Is the spell for any type of map in particular? Certain spells would be good in some maps but not in others. :X

I think he just needs to create a simple map to demonstrate an elaborate skill. Similar to that Disco Stu map which won a competition a while back.

You could do a spell that is aoe, hits the enemies and/or allies, and sends out chain lightnings that do more damage as they hit more enemies (which would be really good in a large army, close combat map).

Or..you could try a spell like shockwave that winds and bends, so it does a sort of zigzag, and maybe sends out smaller, weaker versions of itself when it hits enemies/allies.

Or..a spell like earthquake that slows enemies/allies in the area and hits random enemies/allies in the area with impale-like spikes that either just deal damage or stun or both.

Thats all I've got for now. If I think of anything else, I'll post again.

Though not clearly stated, it would be preferable if the aiming took some kind of skill, such as PotM arrow which for its range, speed and effect is likely to be more effective under proper hands. That's why it would be better not to have any random effect at all.

If you want the see the current submissions:

http://www.wc3campaigns.net/showthread.php?t=99271

Anitarf's Spirit Helix is a nice example of why you don't have to simply throw the spell at your enemies, since the way it bends can make a difference between being hit once, twice or not being hit at all by the spell. Even BeastMaster's Wild Axes are less sophisticated.

Mute Mist

The animation would be similar to SA's cloud in DotA. The AOE should be large, probably around 600 radius.

The spell consists of two abilities:

One is the original cloud(c) that silences anyone that has entered the cloud after the duration of the cloud.

The second is a target spell(t) that can only be targetted somewhere in the cloud. The closer enemies are to this spot(t) after the first cloud(c)'s duration is up, the more additional silencing takes place. IE, a unit within 200 range of the targetted spot(t) may take an additional 3 seconds of silence.

Whether or not people are silenced outside the cloud from this effect is up to you.

The idea is that you have to anticipate the location of the enemy after the duration of the cloud. Because of this, the duration should be long enough for people to move around inside the cloud but not long enough for them to completely escape the cloud.



sleepy so tell me if anything needs to be clarified

I'm not sure whether the required effort is worth it, or if it won't take in the end any kind of guessing skill.

Anyway I was thinking of a rope skill, which would you let stretch a rope tight, tied on both ends to two nails, one fixed near your hero and the other on the target spot. Then you would be able to grab the rope, letting you quickly move, as if the rope could magically pull you, without interrupting your attacks/spells. If the rope breaks (the rope would consist of hundreds of small destructible sections), the hero would gain momentum and acceleration in the direction of the end at which his rope is still attached to. This would be similar to an horizontal bungee, allowing him to move at decent speeds. Think of the movies where characters intentionally cut one end of a sailboat's rope, allowing him/her to gain height and possibly swing accross the ship.

Ok maybe it could be too difficult to implement...

Grappling hook-type spell sounds very nice.

spheresword wrote:Grappling hook-type spell sounds very nice.

Way too vague and Pudge already has this in DotA.

Gravity Orb (bad name, but couldn't think of anything else)

Animation - Small orb (Enigma's black hole model would work) that moves in a targetted direction

Basically, the orb deals immolation damage to nearby enemies, and pulls them in towards the orb.

As the orb moves farther and farther, the orb moves faster and enemies get pulled in more strongly towards the orb.

I don't know whether or not balance is being taken into account for this contest, but it should be channeling if it is.

A pretty complicated idea, don't know if it'd be worth the efforts or if it is even possible to do.