DURIN VII IN GAME
Ring mechanic: the theme of refusal
Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dàin, but not
from Moria – from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who
called Dàin to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he
said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it,
such as he gave of old. And he asked urgently concerning
hobbits, of what kind they were, and where they dwelt. ‘‘For
Sauron knows,’’ said he, ‘‘that one of these was known to
you on a time.’’
At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer.
And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have
sweetened it if he could. ‘‘As a small token only of your
friendship Sauron asks this,’’ he said: ‘‘that you should find
this thief,’’ such was his word, ‘‘and get from him, willing or
no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but
a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will.
Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old
shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be
yours for ever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still
lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting
friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and things will not seem
so well. Do you refuse?’’
At that his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who
stood by shuddered, but Dàin said: ‘‘I say neither yea nor
nay. I must consider this message and what it means under
its fair cloak.’’
‘‘Consider well, but not too long,’’ said he.
‘‘The time of my thought is my own to spend,’’ answered
Da´in.
‘‘For the present,’’ said he, and rode into the darkness.
Heavy have the hearts of our chieftains been since that
night. We needed not the fell voice of the messenger to warn
us that his words held both menace and deceit; for we knew
already that the power that has re-entered Mordor has not
changed, and ever it betrayed us of old. Twice the messenger
has returned, and has gone unanswered. The third and last
time, so he says, is soon to come, before the ending of the
year.
We decided to link King Dain with the theme of refusal of the ring: King Dain it is the oldest and so possibly the wisest king of the three realm in game. Furthermore,following the events of the book, he also refuses three ring of the dwarves offered by Sauron: this fact makes his character even more "evil resistance".
King Dain Ring Function: King Dain gives up the ring to his grandson, which he's recognized as the true reincarnation of Durin I. He's so the only one who can use it in a proper way, without being corrupted by its evil influence. With the one ring his spirit is further strengthen, awakening totally the original power of his ancestor.
Durin VII (Hannar) is summoned directly near Dain, starting from level 1 and with the following values:
HP: 4500
Melee damage: 400
The new hero of Erebor will be so only a
ring feature, freeing us of the burden of createing a new recruitable hero.
Hannar is simply directly summoned as Durin VII, with all the abilities (very similar) of his ancestor, that are fully awekened thanks to the ring's power. The birth name of Durin VII it won't appear in the game (in case, only in the description of Ring mechanic) leaving a sort of mystery around him (as in the lore).
We discuss multiple times the double choice, because currently it is a unique future of Galadriel. As we have demostrated through the lore, the
refusal is the most canonical, and it would be very good and unique to have only this choice, getting rid of the old system.
Concept and models
(Durin VII initial equipment) (Durin VII legendary equipment)
Level 1:"Durin The Last" (passive): Durin VII is the last King of the Dwarves and the true reincarnation of Durin I. He will lead his folk until the end of the Dwarven race will come. Durin escapes death for a long time after his healthbar is spent.
This ability remains the same, but it is adapted for the new Durin
Level 3: "Master of Defence": the ancient knowledge in stone mastery of the first forefather lives again through his heir: Durin VII use it to make the defences of the Dwarves indestructible. All the allied walls,towers,gates in the selected area (wide) will be significantly strengthen.
I change the ability as only defensive because it fits very well with the dwarves, and also it is not redundant with runes because it affects towers gates and walls. in light of the new siege overhaul I think it could be very useful and cool to have such a power
. Make it also offensive like in the past I'm afraid it could be too much op, considering also the new balance that the 4.5 siege patch will bring
(the old combo master of stone + earthquake was devastating ).
"Reconquest of Khazad Dùm" : Durin VII undertakes a last resolutive journey to reconquer Moria. A group of elite warriors are chosen to accompany him. All the selceted elite battalions in the area will disappeard together with Durin (Arkenguard,Unburnt,Slaughterers or a combination of them). After some time, Durin VII will reappear in the battlefiled at level 5 unlocking the ability "Heritage of the Ancestor" reported below, as well as the abilites from level 7 on. The time of reconquest Moria will depend on how many battallion you send with him:
-1 battallion: 15 minutes.
-2 battallions: 10 minutes
-3 battallions: 5 minutes.
The troops send with Durin will return as Veterans of Khazad Dùm (if it is too much or is in conflict with the travel camp system, it is good also if only Durin VII reappear, imagining that his fellows stayed to Moria to recolonize it). This ability can be used at any level, as for the Pippin/Merry investiture system. However if the player don't fulfill the travel, he/she can have only a weak version of Durin.
N.b: you can level up Durin anyway improving his statistics (HP and melee), but without the travel you cannot have the complete skillset as well as the epic armor. Level 5: "Heritage of the ancestor" (passive): Durin VII complete his path as true heir of Durin I during the travel to Moria. All the memories of his past life are now reemerged, and the great emptiness of Khazad Dùm is filled with new life. Durin VII gets +1000 HP and eventually finds the equipment of his forefather (change of the model from the first to the second showed above):
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"Axe of Durin": Durin the Last gains Aoe damage and knock back thanks to the legendary axe of his forefather.
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"Crown of the seven stars": the legendary crown is now on the head of the last king. All the dwarves heroes near Durin VII are inspired and get +30% armor.
I simply deem this ability a good way to introduce the old equipment of Durin and to quote the travel written in the lore (and in our invented story). Moreover, the travel to khazad-Dum forced the player to recrutite elitè units and to wait until Durin VII come back from his journey, making his escalation to power slower (and so more balanced) and complete.
Level 7: "Word of Silence " : Durin VII speaks a Word of Silence. Enemy units in a wide area become afraid while allies are slowly healed and gain experience twice faster. Enemy buildings within a wide area cannot be used for 20 seconds. Left click to activate.
Practically unchanged, only nerfed a bit
Level 10: "Fire of Aulë's forge" - Durin VII the Last calls the aid of the Maker Mahal. Aulë makes the ground of Middle-earth burst into flames by the fire of his forge. Deals medium damage in a wide area around Durin. The magic fire of Aulë damages the equipment of the enemy unit : survived units get -25% armor and damage.
I like a lot this last ability, and maybe the last King worth the intervention of Aulë, as a last act before the end of the world of the dwarves. I also make it special, relating the fire with weaponry, which is quite logical since it comes from a Forge (not a random forge but THE forge).
Following the evolution of the skillset, the player have a more defensive and funerable hero at the beginning, but he/she will be rewarded at the end with the complete power of Durin.
The palantir images of the abilities can vary, i chosen them because i deem them proper and good in my personal taste. Maybe some of them can be more so to say "general" with respect to mine. You can recognize the depiction of King Dain of Vanilla
. That picture give me the feeling of an "old king", in particular the shadow that cover half of the face of Dain, brings a feeling of "The Last one", something doomed to the end. Moreover, the crown is very similar to the one of the model.
Credits for the model of Durin goes to the Fourth Age mod, that is a archived mod here in MU (DVZ mod). The second model is a fusion of the first one + the armor of Durin the Deathless (i made the collage using GIMP to show how it looks). Since many members are very fond of it, and since it is complete Edain style (no movie inspiration) i decided to keep this unque piece of art. Below you can see the old model of Durin the deathless, if you like to compare the two: