Infodump Tres

Michael shakes his head, the abilities of Riki would be good if the plot progressed how it did in the story, wiping out an army of fifty thousand didn't seem all that big a deal if he could blink around, become invulnerable, and stay invisible...

He tears his eyes away from Riki and moves on to the next Hero... Shadow Shaman. This was actually one of Michael's most-played heroes, primarily due to how effective his abilities were in most situations... His first was called 'Ether Shock', which blasts multiple enemies with orange electricity. His second ability was one of the most well known magical spells probably ever... Hex, temporarily turning a target into a chicken... Michael, again, wasn't sure how it would function in real life, as turning someone into a chicken should make them very vulnerable to damage... Yet, in the game the transformed person retained their health pool...

Shaking his head, he looks to Shadow Shaman's third ability, Shackle. This allows Shadow Shadow to bind a target with ephemeral electrical threads, holding them in place as long as he channels the spell. Very effective, especially in the game, as long stuns were sometimes game-winning on their own. The only real downside to it was its short-range and the fact you needed to channel it, making it easy for enemies to attack you in the meantime.

His last ability was called Serpent Ward, summoning many ephemeral snakes that deal massive damage to any they attack... While they might be stationary, the flame darts they fire are more than effective against most things... Or at least, that's what Michael could infer from how it functioned in the game.

Next on the list was Slark... Though, Michael wasn't really sure how to approach it... The main reason for this was Slark's third ability called 'Essence Shift', which allowed him to both temporarily, and permanently steal Agility from his enemies... Each time you hit someone with Essence Shift allows you to temporarily steal the enemies Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, converting the ... But, if you kill someone who's under this effect, you steal 1 Agility from them... Permenantly!

If used right, this could make Michael incredibly powerful, incredibly quickly... Though, it isn't exactly guaranteed that Slark's ability would work like this, as in the game, you needed to kill other heroes to get the bonus... Obviously, there weren't any other heroes in The Familiar of Zero, so...

Aside from that, Slark also had two other incredibly powerful abilities... His first, which is Dark Pact, which deals damage in an Aoe after a delay that also harms Slark... But, it also purges any disables... Meaning, if Slark was stunned, silenced, rooted, the Dark Pact would remove it. This might actually be able to remove curses as well, depending on how powerful the purge is in real life...

Slark's second ability called 'Pounce' isn't worth really talking about, simply letting Slark pounce on a target and keep imprison them next to him for a couple seconds... Bt his ultimate was truly broken...

Shadow Dance had two components, a passive part, and an active part... Passively, Slark regenerates a percentage of his health and gains movement speed bonuses when unseen... The active, combo's with this by shrouding Slark in a cloud of shadows that follows him, enabling his ultimate's passive abilities even when in combat.

If Michael combined Slark's abilities with Riki, he'd quickly become the best assassin ANYWHERE... Permanent invisibility would allow Shadow Dance's passive to activate, plus Essence Shift stealing Agility would make Cloak and Dagger's percentage Agility damage stupidly strong.

Obviously, though, these combo's were for the future... These abilities would only be good if he had a good foundation... If he wasn't quick enough, unable to attack, or other vital aspects of combat, he'd simply just die.

Anyway, putting that aside for now, next on the list was Troll Warlord, a Hero who basically just throws axes... The abilities involved... Throwing more axes... The abilities that actually interested Michael though were Troll Warlord's passive and ultimate.

The passive called Fervor increased Troll's attack speed the more he attacks a single target... That's it, strong but simple. His ultimate though, Battle Trance, sends him into a berserk state that massively increases attack speed, movement speed, and grants life steal for the duration... Though, it also forces you to attack any enemies in the vicinity... Additionally, you can't take fatal damage during this state, essentially making you unstoppable until the trance ends...

This was akin to a 'panic button', which Michael wasn't adverse to, especially since just the thought of entering combat right now made his hairs stand on end... Having something that forced his hand would be useful in acclimating to this new... Bloody lifestyle.

The last hero on the list is Tusk, a generally 'average' Hero in the game, but potentially very useful in Michael's current situation. His first ability is called Ice Shards, a spell that deals damage to enemies it passes through before creating a large ice wall at the end of its range, potentially blocking the victim from escape... For Michael who possessed the Gandalfr runes, this would stop any mages from running away while he tried to get into melee range...

The second ability is called Snowball, allowing Tusk to summon a huge ball of snow that envelopes him and rolls towards a target, stunning them once it hits and putting Tusk in melee range to follow up.

Next and third ability is called Tag Team, it slows any nearby enemies while also providing Tusk with bonus damage for the duration... How bonus damage would actually function in real life though, Michael was not really sure... Would it increase the strength of the attacks? Somehow alter where it hit? Would hitting someone's foot with bonus damage cause their head to explode?... Confusing.