Hello Fellows of Modding union
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Since there are a lot of discussions around the mighty Smaug, i decided to present my general (for now very raw) idea of my "ideal Smaug". Take it in the spirit of this thread: discussion and speculation no more than that (at least since MM faction will be near ). Feel free to give your own opinion about anything related to the concept of the future Smaug and what you like/don't like about mine (i repeat in general is a first raw idea without many details):
SMAUG THE GOLDEN : MY PERSONAL CONCEPTFirst of all i want to make a clarification : this whole concept has been made with the spirit of the thread itself. It is not something to present (we are still far from MM) but only to speculate and discuss and, eventually, to take as a source of inspiration for future concepts.
I decided to focus the attention to the three fundamental aspect of the mighty dragon :
- He’s a very powerful weapon
- He’s greedy
- He’s very smart
Possible initial statistic values of the dragon :
- recriutment cost : 5500.
- Initial HP : 12000.
- Population cost: 30 (like other heroes).
- Initial melee attack value: 300.
- Type of melee attack: AOE.
The core of my concept.Initially the Greatest Calamity of Middle Earth will have a weakness against arrows while flying, but with an increasing of the armor at level five. Following the lore and films Smaug has an impenetrable armor, it is practically impossible to fear him with normal weapons. Since this interpretation would be unbalance in game, it is impossible to implementi it as it is. Anyhow, the player must have (at least) more chances to survive against rains of arrows. Therefore i decided for that increasing of armor at level five.
The dragon will have two different animation in flight and on the ground like in 3.8.1 (Drogoth+Summoned dragon).
As for the fire related abilities: i don’t think fireball and fireflies fits very well with a dragon. These type of attack are more related to wizard, which are able to create such particular form of fire attack using magic. In particular we have these two abilities just implemented via Gandalf (Dwarves) and Saruman . I will explain better all the details below in the skill-set.
Smaug skill-set in flight.
Basic attack like fellbeast and eagles.
Rank 1 : "Landing" – as usual.
Rank 1: “Incinerate” – the power is no more at level 10 and so nerfed, it will be something more effective against unit, as a first mass-slayer area of effect ability, like for example is wizard blast for Gandalf and Saruman. The animation of course will remain the same of Drogoth. Personally i think Smaug deserves some more devasting power for the last level.
Rank 3: “Roar of the Beast” – the fearsome roar of the Golden one makes the enemy flee in terror.
Rank 5: “Impenetrable amour (passive)” – quoting Tolkien, “my armor is like tenfold shields”. Smaug permanently gains +50% armour against arrows.
Rank 7: “Wings like an hurricane” – Smaug uses his massive wings to create an air blast that knock back units in a wide radius dealing also medium damage.
Rank 10: “I’m fire, I’m death” – like we seen in the scenes of BOTFA during the attack of Lake Town, Smaug sets fire on the ground while flying, burning everything in a hell of fire. The crucial point of this last ability is the animation. The most fitting to resamble what we have seen in the movie, is the Dragon Strike attack. Supposing the power will be removed of the spellbook of MM of course. Just imagine this beautiful animation given to Smaug:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTynrCcWYS0Smaug skill-set on the groundNow the basic melee attack of Smaug is fire as in 3.8.1.
Rank 1 : “Flying “– as usual.
Rank 1: "Dragon Breath": a fire attack very effective against gates. Smaug’s Firebreath opens Gates and even burns garrisoned units. I simply copied the one presented so far by the team but i make it active and not passive. Same animation of the basic fire attack. Also the flames of Firedrakes from vanilla game are very good but probably is difficut to adapt such animation to a bigger model like the one of Smaug.
Rank 3: “Roar of the Beast” – same as in flight.
Rank 5: “Dragon Sickness (passive)” – The desire of gold and treasures makes Smaug very greedy. He collects resources from fallen enemies and destroyed buildings. I think a similar ability is necessary to capture his greedy character.
Rank 7: “My Claws are Spears” – Smaug uses his legs and claws to smash the enemy units. For 30 seconds he can trample the masses swatting all on his path (just think about the amazing scenes in which he enters into Erebor).
Rank 10: “Hypnotic Gaze” – also this ability is something presented by the ET years ago. I don’t know what exactly means this ability (there’s no description). My interpretation is something related to the evil face of Smaug and his serpentine and powerful voice: the effect of his gaze and voice immobilizes enemy heroes and weaken them. (the particular scene in which his words penetrate the mind of Bilbo that takes off the ring ). This last ability if rewoked well (mine is very raw) could capture his character as evil,smart and speaking dragon.
THE GRAPHICSI have not yet a clear idea about the palantirs of the different powers. Of course the most must be inspired by the hobbit movies in my opinion. I'm quite critic about some horrid things seen in the movies, but not for Smaug which is well succeeded in any aspect. However i will stick to the classic four legs dragons which is more lore-loyal and it avoids animation problem. The model by Aotr is the best example:
I would change only the colors, in favour of a more bright red like this miniature of gw:
But is a matter of personal tastes
Let me know what is your ideal Smaug for Edain 4.0 and what would you change about him