| Hero | Background & Trivia | Strategy |
|---|
Lore[]
Herculeon Ingotwrist wasn't exactly the most-beloved person at Ethernight's court, but it's not based on any of his actions, rather, because of his heritage. As the legacy of the love between an former Emperor and a Zwerg, he beared the blood of the Solsworn family, but will never claim the throne because he's tainted in the eyes of the political forces in the Empire.
But Herculeon was not the kind of guy who would succumb to his fate. While not being a pure-blood Zwerg, he still carries their legendary stubborness and willingness to even challenge the Gods if it would make anyone's life better. Instead of fighting an uphill battle at the court, he focused on becoming a champion for the people. Starting his youth as an assistant to the royal Master of the Horse, he built up a respectable amount of muscles from an early age on thanks to the early work and the fact that he honed his martial skills during his free time.
But being a future Master of the Horse was not his final goal. Several times, he proposed to Empress Ramilda Solsworn his desire to become more involved in the armed forces of Ethernight, which was granted after several months. Thus, he became the squire of a Zwerg Knight despite of his age. These would become one of his hardest decades, for while he was respected for his connection to the Solsworn, he was not respected for being an impure Zwerg. But his determination proved to be the stronger force in this struggle and he became a full-fledged court knight on his own. That was roughly the time the disease showed its disastrous face.
The Empress called a large collective of people together, which will become known as the Veterans, and ordered them to search for a cure in the different parts of the untamed, mostly unknown lands beneath Ethernight's walls, only allowed to return empty-handed after two years. Like many Veterans, he split up with the others and travelled with only a small group, their destination being the "Succubus' Maw", a poisonous swamp where will-o'-the-wisps lure foolish adventurers into the many caves inhabitated by dangerous beasts. For two years that seemed like an eternity, his group felled many enemies, met many dangers and lamented the loss of a member who found his wet grave in the swamp. Two years without any results. Exhausted and depressed, they marched back to Ethernight, only to find the Prime Gate crumbled.
This was the first hours after the Empress has been slain, so the invasion was strong, yet concentrated on the Court area. Herculeon's group slayed many a fiendish servant, praying for the safety of Her Highness. When they reached the throne room, though, it was already too late. The corpse was still relatively fresh and some Duskbringer still lurked in the room, riddled by their inability to claim the hallowed, magical throne, which also served as the key to the Forbidden Library where unspeakable spells of insanity and destruction were sealed away.
None of that was of importance for Herculeon in this moment, though, for he only cared about Ramilda's death. That day, a shout reverberated through the entire palace, the entire Court area and the neighboring areas. Some Veterans who were still travelling back would later claim that they also heared the desperate and yet hateful cry of Herculeon, even though that would have been impossible to hear from this distance. The Duskbringer turned around and saw the group of Veterans, noticing Herculeon and his Solsworn heritage instantly. They dashed forward, but the group, knowing that their target was Herculeon, moved back towards the Prime Gate where the group's Grand Magus created protective measures against the evil horde. Said Grand Magus even went so far as to imbue his entire lifeforce into the defense of the Prime Gate, ensuring that even if a magic turret would fall, his lifeforce will regenerate the turret when neither Veterans nor Duskbringer would spill blood in this magic area.
Thus, Herculeon and his decimated group would stand strong until the return of the other Veterans, where now they had access to the Phoenix' Tears. It was now time to push back and bring the fight to the Duskbringer.
- "This might not be our last victory, but let's do everything possible so that it won't be their last, too!" — Herculeon Ingotwrist
Changelog[]
Determination replaced with 
Solsworn Might
- Herculeon's next basic attack within 2 seconds will deal 10 / 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 (+ 10% AD) bonus physical damage and grant him 1 stack (2 if the target was a hero) for 10 seconds, with a maximum of 6.
- Each stack grants Herculeon 6% lifesteal and reduces all damage he takes by 4%.
- 3.5 seconds cooldown
- 25 mana cost
Vortex Swing
- Inner radius reduced from 375 to 350
- Break speed increased from 833-1000 to 1667-1833
Earthshaker
- Now only procs against heroes
- Roaring Lionheart
- Now ends if Herculeon dies
- Lion's Fang
- Damage reduced from 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+ 120% AD) to 20 / 45 / 70 / 95 / 120 (+ 110% AD)
- Initial projectile speed reduced from 1000 to 700
- Mana cost increased from 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 to 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
- Determination
- Maximum health regeneration bonus reduced from 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200% to 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100%
- Healing increased from 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+ 2% of Herculeon's maximum health) to 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+ 2.8% of Herculeon's maximum health)
- Determination reworked
- Passive : Herculeon's health regeneration is increased by up to 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200% as his health decreases.
- Active : Herculeon heals himself for 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 2% of Herculeon's maximum health) over 10 seconds. This is affected by the passive effect.
- 60 mana cost
- 30 seconds cooldown
- Earthshaker
- Is now an on-hit effect rather than an on-attack effect
- Area is now created on the target's postion rather than Herculeon's
- Lion's Fang reworked
- Herculeon throws an hammer at the target location that he retracts upon impact, dealing 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+ 120% AD) physical damage to enemies on its way and stunning them for 1 second.
- If an enemy hero is hit, Herculeon gains 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% movement speed for 3 seconds.
- Range increased from 925 to 1100
- Roaring Lionheart
- Damage per second reduced from 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 50% AD) to 35 / 55 / 75 (+ 30% AD)
- Determination
- Healing is now added to health regeneration instead of being applied separately (no functional change)
- Added
Replaced Abilities[]
Trivia[]
- Herculeon's fun name is Herculeonidas.
- Herculeon was the first hero to be implemented in VotE.
