Ren

Herald of Dusk

Few creatures could have sensed the dragon's passage. Low to the ground, dark scales absorbing the light, Ren paused at the forest's edge. All seemed as it should be. And yet, the dragon thought, here it was, once again doing the work while its siblings held themselves away from the world. If Solarius was so worried about corruption in this forest, why wasn't it here spreading light all over the place?

As Ren explored deeper into the forest, a wide leaf sat green and vibrant at the base of a tree, to all appearances the picture of verdant health, but something smelled incredibly off. Turning the leaf over, the smell of corruption became nearly overwhelming. Realization hit Ren that perhaps the entire forest was infested.

Mythic Wind Invoker

Spells

● DARKNESS RISING - Active| White | 1 Rage

Affected towers deal (20)% reduced damage and take (90)% increased damage. Casting Darkness Rising again at the affected towers will destroy them immediately. Cooldown: 1s.

● DUSKFALL - Active | Red | 1 Rage

Deals (15)% Dragon HP to nearby buildings. Restores (20)% of dragon’s modified HP and dragon becomes invincible for (1) seconds. Invincible blocks Mage Tower’s supershot rage drain/freeze effect. Duration: 1s. Cooldown: 3s.

● DARKWIND - Active | White | 2 Rage

Destroys all mid-air projectiles and stuns nearby towers for (2) seconds. Affected towers take 50% increased damage. Duration: 2s. Cooldown: 6s.

● GLOOMSHIELD - Active | White | 1 Rage

Dragon gets (60)% damage reduction from towers and immunity to Super Shots. Gains 2 rage when hit by Mage Tower supershots. Duration: 3s. Cooldown: 5s.

● INVOKE: DARKBOLT - Passive | Yellow

Damages towers in the target area for (1500)% of the modified attack power.

Design Intent and Strategy

Ren, Herald of Dusk, has a deceptive array of abilities and requires a high level of skill to fly optimally.

When facing powerful opponents, the Herald of Dusk faces two main limitations: damage output and rage management. Like other invokers, Ren can find its offensive options limited especially while waiting for its breath attack to recharge.

While light on abilities that deal damage, Ren has two abilities that make opposing buildings take more damage from its breath. Using these abilities to their full advantage gives Ren plenty of offense but also requires careful thought. Darkness Rising is a 2-part ability. The first causes affected towers to deal less damage and take double damage from all sources. The other vulnerability causing ability, Darkwind, freezes towers in a large area in front of the dragon and causes them to take an additional 50% damage. Overlapping these vulnerability effects can allow Ren to quickly destroy an opposing base.

The Herald of Dusk gains a surprising amount of power from a key ability: Gloomshield. This shield both prevents a significant amount of incoming damage and turns rage-draining mage tower supershots into a source that provides extra rage. Casting the shield early to prevent damage provides a tempting option, but Ren will perform better if you can wait to cast the shield reactively to mage supershots when they are already in the air.

Using Gloomshield well provides Ren with enough rage to use its other powerful defenses. These include Duskfall, a powerful blast of dark energy that and Light’s Last Vestige, which cloaks the dragon in darkness preventing enemy attacks from landing for a short time.