martyr tweaks

[Empyrean]

(Largely in response to martyr-related comments in an older thread)

Each of martyr's skills has great concepts, but he's one of those that only ever get played one way.
As he is, there is little variation in the way people build him. Putting more than a couple points into streak and polarize just isn't worthwhile. Atm he's a devoted pk'er with fairly significant siege and troop support abilities (between thunderstrike and stormspire).
In the linked thread Perhaps made a number of suggestions that got me pretty excited for this char's future, mostly involving combos between his skills, for instance streaking through a polarized unit to spread a diminished polarize effect among the mobs. Self-synergies like these could help his weakness in the aoe department and increase the value of alternate builds. Hopefully we'd end up with a dynamic, subtle, and incredibly fun hero to play..
I guess I'm hoping for something to justify a non-ion surge build without replacing any of his skills o.o
I would love to see ppl running around with, say, a polarize/thunderstrike focused martyr who doesn't have to run from every massive push.

And assuming ppl agree that his innate could be more useful, somewhere someone mentioned a talent to increase the maximum capacity of his charge, in addition to or replacing his voltaic stride talent. This, or a small increase based on level or even a tiny int modifier would do the job quite well.

comments plz

[Dekar]

Make polarize castable on himself to damage stuff around him and also charging his streak with every polarize bolt instead of dealing damage to himself.

Polarize is already a great skill though. I dont know what problem people have with either rendering enemies completly unable to do anything while they wait way off the combat (or thunderstriked ) or dealing massive amounts of damage to them with polarize and banish.

He is the demoman of EotA.

Hell, if you are alone, you drop a spire, polarize the enemy and make him either retreat or die. And when he retreats to his base, you just thunderstrike the towers which are rendered useless then and kill him.

[Lanthis]

He's too much and not enough. Thunderstrike is imba good at lvl 6. Like one of the best skills in the game, hands down.

Polarize is really unthreatening to a hero, especially if they have dispels.

He's too slow to really take advantage of Ion unless he's chasing a tank, since he's not ranged.

I'd like to see thunderstrike toned down, I'd like to see his jolt talent have additional levels OR have polarize jump when it's host dies until the duration expires.
I'd like to see his innate modified so that while he has a charge, his mana regen is increased by 0.3*charge %. So if he's charged up 100, his mana regen will be at +30%.

[CryptLord1234]

He's pretty good as is. Solo, maybe not, although he can romp low- and middle-HP heroes with Ion Surge. Use that, Polarize, Streak in, then start smacking them for 2-300 damage a hit, given a single stat item (Orb of Skill). At least make enemy hero back off, if not killing them

As for working with the rest of the team, he can be very good, 'cause Ion Surge banishes. . .

Quietus: Ion Surge + the nuke = WTFPWN
Putrid Eidolon: Ensnare + Polarize + Ion Surge
Emberwraith: Not too hard to predict where he'll be running, so drop a Pyroclasm there, then use Flare.
Defiler: While the DoTs don't do anything, Wandering Plague will hit fairly hard.
Neph: Bunch of abilities affected by banish, he's got slow and drain life.

Granted, Plight and Rue really don't get too much from that, although Plight can assist FL in keeping the enemy up close, and Rue can make FL chase faster, so they're not too bad.

And we won't talk about the combos available when AP is on. DW or TC with FL? Not fun at all. Double damage Vengeance, Holy Strike, Degenerate, etc etc.

[Reaper]

I never get ion surge

[CryptLord1234]

Really? It's a nice hero-killing skill, IMO.

[Dark_Nemesis]

I never get ion surge

WHAT?!

Do you go mass siege/support then? I really can't think of any other playstyle.

Martyr needs some work though, Innate could be added with another spell and, as some have said, he could use some more independent-focused potential.

[coramoor2]

martyr is really quite powerful. i wish i had saved a replay of a martyr absolutely devastating my team. yes, most of what he does can be dispelled, but the same is true with defiler. and like defiler, most of his cooldowns are shorter than most dispels, so its not much of an issue. I wish polarize had a talent that would let it jump to a nearby enemy when its current target died, would make it more useful on creeps. it is already one of the strongest spells to remove heroes from pushes, as it can do extreme damage to a single target in a crowd, killing heroes in one cast should they just ignore it. try maxing it and talenting it some time, its really quite hilarious on heroes stuck in a crowd. for more hilarity, get a blink stick, streak to the hero to block them in by having the army attack you, and then blink out once polarize has killed them. i do wish streak was more than just a travel spell, perhaps have it do something more than just a stun side-effect? i dunno what, maybe some damage modified by int or a talent that gives a chance to leave behind a polarize on each unit you bounce from. thunderstrike is useful at lvl 1 as a silence, and beyond that as a great support skill.i think his innate is the weakest of his abilities, i'd like to see it charge up from regular attacks as well as movement, so you dont have to be constantly back behind your troops patrolling to recharge it.

[aegir ravenking]

It is ok Coramoor, I still got it.

Not that great of a game though, 3 people left early, maybe midway we lost another making it even, but Mattius's(spelling may be wrong, he was the Martyr) Bane comp didn't cast anything. Anyway myself and Coramoor go for the siphon/backfire combo. We are paired with a not-to-awful Swashy, Neph, and an emberwairth. Against a Plight, Defiler, and SB(comped to Soulstrike).

Anyway, by the time self and Coramoor got to teaming middle Mattius had 2 droppers, I had forgotten how short the range on Siphon Glyph is. Coramoor had already attracted the 3 remaining opponents but with the evil combo we were able to push them back to there base, just not destroy it. Mattius kept porting everywhere saving bases and raping our Neph god knows how many times. He keep returning every time our push just about reached there base, forcing us to port or die.

Not saying I am much of a runeknight player, but I can't believe how much this guy hurt. And he only had 3 items when I got DCed. Against my and Coramoors loaded inventories. Granted I know I was messing around a bit, and I got alot of my stuff from the comps dropping them. But Mattius could take me from full health(with one level 2 or 3 shell) to about 10% health in less then 20 seconds. Sure that was with alot of spawns around for Polarize, and he would have to run or die at that point.

Ok, too long at this point, watch if you like.

[Dekar]

Here, this is how you play a real Martyr: Polarize, Thunderstrike and Stormspire max, 1 point in the other skills.
Polarize talent max.

Game was an inhouse.

LastReplay.w3g

(299.64 KiB) Downloaded 511 times

[useport80]

i've played martyr a few times and he seems really fun to play. i just die a lot with him hehe. granted im not pro with martyr, but i've never maxed polarize.

at the start i get lvl1 polarize, then thunderstrike, then ionsurge or streak. just to get all the available tools. then i focus on maxing thunderstrike, ionsurge, and stormpike wherever possible. i dont think i've ever maxed out polarize even on long games.

[Dark_Nemesis]

Polarize maxed.

Thunderstrike maxed.

One into ult (later on)

One into streak (maybe)

Rest into Ethereal (usually 1-3)

Heavy agility gear for insane AS. The Blink Totem is exceptional, a must have whenever possible. Skill orb, and int robe or agil helm if I'm dying too often. If I've got the cash, may grab the agil gloves.

Q: does the evasion from armor stack with that of thunderstrike? And if not, do you guys think it's still worth it? I actually see the evasion armor quite a bit on FM and wondered.

[Dekar]

Thunderstrike does not give evasion, so yes, it stacks.

[Dark_Nemesis]

I didn't say it gave evasion. I asked if it stacked.

Thunderstrike gives a chance for enemies to miss while attacking. But thank you.

[Reaper]

Well Dark, "Stacking" is a term used to describe to identical abilities adding on top of each other.

Since evasion is not the same as enemy miss chance, they can't 'stack', although they will work together in the way you mean.