The Dota Project - Anti Mage
This week we move from strength heroes to agility heroes. First up on the list is Anti-Mage so that is where we are going to start. The lore for Anti-Mage is as follows:
The monks of Turstarkuri watched the rugged valleys below their mountain monastery as wave after wave of invaders swept through the lower kingdoms. Ascetic and pragmatic, in their remote monastic eyrie they remained aloof from mundane strife, wrapped in meditation that knew no gods or elements of magic. Then came the Legion of the Dead God, crusaders with a sinister mandate to replace all local worship with their Unliving Lord's poisonous nihilosophy. From a landscape that had known nothing but blood and battle for a thousand years, they tore the souls and bones of countless fallen legions and pitched them against Turstarkuri.
The monastery stood scarcely a fortnight against the assault, and the few monks who bothered to surface from their meditations believed the invaders were but demonic visions sent to distract them from meditation. They died where they sat on their silken cushions. Only one youth survived--a pilgrim who had come as an acolyte, seeking wisdom, but had yet to be admitted to the monastery. He watched in horror as the monks to whom he had served tea and nettles were first slaughtered, then raised to join the ranks of the Dead God's priesthood. With nothing but a few of Turstarkuri's prized dogmatic scrolls, he crept away to the comparative safety of other lands, swearing to obliterate not only the Dead God's magic users--but to put an end to magic altogether.
Anti-Mage is a major pain in the ass, and he is banned in many games. Just as the name suggests, AM is resistant or immune to most magical effects and loves to mess with Intelligence-based heroes. Ironically, it takes a very long time for him to be beefy just as it takes 6-7 levels to come online. An Anti Mage that has been able to farm and get all his items is nearly unstoppable. He can take over a game all by his lonesome, just like a wizard can obliterate that pack of annoying kobolds once they get the fireball spell.
Anti Mage - Monk subclass, Way of the Mage Slayer
Anti Mage serves one purpose and one purpose only; to kill those that have mastered the art of the arcane. One of the lines that you’ll hear in-game is "They who live by the wand shall die by my blade”, which sums up what the hero is all about.
Mana Void
I know that mana void is Anti-Mage’s ultimate ability, but it was a real pain to fit it into the subclass. It’s nothing like the ability in the game, but the others are, so don’t fret. Besides, I'm not too fond of this in-game, so it doesn't break my heart that it is found at 3rd level.
At the 3rd level, you can channel the arcane void from magic to deliver slow a creature’s ability to react to attacks. You’ve got to the hit creature to use this ability, but then again, isn’t that usually the case? I have faith in you, so let’s assume you punch the bad guy in the face.
Spending a single point will prevent them from using their reaction until the end of their next turn. Unless you want to be a dirty meta-gaming jerk, your character either needs to know something about the bad guy or have seen them already use their reaction. Players are a greedy lot so that you can use this feature only once per turn.
Counterspell
I don’t know about you, but when I’m playing Lion and my stun bounced back at me is something I love. Ok, I’m lying. You won’t be able to do damage to the bastard that cast a spell at you, but counterspell is nothing to be scoffed at. At the 6th level, you can expend several ki points to neutralize that incoming fireball spell.
Since counterspell is a potent spell, you play a bit of a guessing game. When the bad guy casts a spell within 30 feet, you can use your reaction to expend some of those precious ki points to attempt to counterspell them. Since you’ll be unaware of the spell's power (unless, once again, you’re a dirty meta gamer) you need to make an educated guess on the level of the spell. If you expend several ki points equal to or greater than the spell's level, then the caster is going to be pissed as he watches the spell fizzle out. If the number of ki points is lower, you’ll be the one that’s mad as you lose those ki points and get hit in the face with a fireball.
Mana Break
At the 11th level, you can use your ki to siphon some of the magical energy from a spell caster and turn it into damage to be used against them. Let’s say it’s a wizard trying to kill you. You’ve got to hit them again, but it’s probably getting easier now that you’re a big bad monk. You spend 2 ki points per level and get to strip a spellcaster of a spell slot.
It’s only fair that they get to make a Constitution saving throw, but if they fail, no more spell slot, which means one less fireball that can blast you in the face again. Of course, if they succeed, you lose the expended ki points and watch out for incoming. If that annoying wizard has no remaining spell slots at the level, you attempt to take. You automatically take the highest level spell slot remaining.
Blink Fragment
So you’ve reached 17th level, so you get an ability of greatness. It’s always a pain in the ass when Anti Mage blink away from you right before you land the killing blow, and I’m sure it will just be as annoying to your enemies. When someone casts a spell at you, it’s time to use your reaction to teleport away. You get to blink up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Once you get there, three copies of you appear, which I’m sure will annoy the bad guys even more than the fact you teleported away.
There we have it. Next up, we enter the world of Intelligence heroes, starting with Ancient Apparition.
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