r/heroesofthestorm

I've always thought it was dumb that my favorite Blizzard game only had one map. So I decided to imagine and create my own. I chose my favorite WoW zone, Stranglethorn Vale, as the battleground. Instead of Horde vs Alliance, for this map it's Booty Bay against the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

Here is an Imgur link to a fully detailed and colored map, along with a wire-frame map for easier viewing.

Here is a Google Drive link to the detailed and colored map in all its glory (3840x2160).

The Map: Stranglethorn Vale

This map is a vertically symmetric, three lane map that pits Booty Bay (left side) against the Bloodsail Bucaneers (right side). Between top and mid there a large jungle with two troll mercenary camps and two naga mercenary camps, along with four objective spawn points. There are also two mud pits that behave like the mud pits in Alterac Pass. Between mid and bottom lane there is a thinner jungle with two boss camps and one objective spawn point in the middle of the Gurubashi Arena.

The Objective: Recruit Swords for Hire with Coins

Heroes will have to fight for chests that contain coins, and then turn in those coins to summon swords for hire to march down their lanes.

Each chest spawns with 3000 base health and contains five* coins. The first two coins are dropped when the chest reaches 67% and 33%, with the final three coins dropping when the chest is destroyed. The first chest spawns at the 3:00 minute mark, with each new chest spawning 1:30-2:00 minutes after the previous chest is destroyed. The timer pauses while swords for hire are on the lanes.

The chests spawn position is in batches of three. Two will spawn in the northern jungle, one on the red side and one on the blue side, and the third will spawn in the center of the Gurubashi arena. For the first three chests in a game, the first two will always spawn in the northern jungle with the third spawning in the Gurubashi arena. Afterwards, the ordering will be random except for a rule that two chests can not spawn in the same place or same side of the northern jungle twice in a row.

*Chests that spawn in the Gurubashi arena after the first batch of three have two extra coins, compounding each time. These extra coins drop evenly as the chest is destroyed. Only three coins still drop when the chest is completely destroyed.

The coins that fall out of the chests are picked up by the first hero to walk over them. All coins are dropped on death and can be picked up by any other hero. Coins are immediately turned in when a hero carrying them enters their hall of storms, unless their team already has swords for hire on their lanes. If a hero has extra coins after completing a turn in, the extra coins will stay with that hero, and can only be turned in after all their swords for hire are dead.

The first turn in a team completes requires eight coins, with each turn in requiring two more. However, more swords for hire will be summoned on each subsequent turn in.  

Turn In Number	Coins Required	Swords Hired for each Lane
1	8	1 Ogre, 1 Goblin Zepplin, 4 Swordsmen, 4 Archers
2	10	1 Ogre, 1 Goblin Zepplin, 6 Swordsmen, 6 Archers
3	12	1 Ogre, 2 Goblin Zepplins, 6 Swordsmen, 6 Archers
4	14	1 Ogre, 2 Goblin Zepplins, 8 Swordsmen, 8 Archers
5	16	2 Ogres, 2 Goblin Zepplins, 8 Swordsmen, 8 Archers
 
This pattern will continue if a single team completes the turn in more than 5 times in a single game.

Each sword for hire has the following stats:  

Sword for Hire	Base Health	Base Attack Damage	Base Attack Speed	Base Attack Range	Abilities
Ogre	3800	150	0.67	1.5	Smash: After a delay, deal 350 damage and stun enemies for 2 seconds in a small circle in front of the ogre. 10 second cooldown.
Goblin Zepplin	1200	120	0.5	10.0	Summon Sapper: While attacking, summon a goblin sapper. 15 second cooldown.
Goblin Sapper	800	60	1.0	4.0	Kamikaze: Sprint towards a structure and explode, killing the sapper and dealing 400 damage.
Swordsman	1000	25	0.67	0.9
Archer	660	50	0.67	5.0
 

The Mercenary Camps

There are three mercenary camps for each side of the map. The trolls have three warriors and one shaman; they march down top lane. The naga have three frost witches; they march down mid lane. The sea giant is a boss camp; it marches down bot lane. Mercenary camps do not despawn while swords for hire are summoned.

Each mercenary has the following stats:  

Mercenary	Base Health	Base Attack Damage	Base Attack Speed	Base Attack Range	Abilities
Troll Warrior	3000	60	0.8	1.25
Troll Shaman	1500	50	0.8	8.0	Summon Healing Totem: Summon a healing totem with one health that lasts 20 seconds and heals nearby minions and mercenaries for 250 health every second. 30 second cooldown.
Naga Frost Witch	1800	60	1.0	8.0	Frost Arrows: Auto attacks slow enemies by 20% for one second. & Forked Lightning: Deal 200 damage to enemies in a cone in front of the naga. 15 second cooldown.
Sea Giant	12000	300	1.0	2.0	Wave Surge: After a short delay, deal 450 damage and knock back enemies in a circle around the sea giant. 10 second cooldown.
 

Engagement Bait

Thanks for reading and viewing my custom map.

• I'm no game designer but I did try to make the map in a way that is both thematic to the jungle and fun to play. Do you see any problem points with how I created it if this map was real?

• Who is your main hero that you play the most often, and would they fare well on this map?

• Which hero do you think would be the most overpowered on this map?

• If you're familiar with Stranglethorn Vale in World of Warcraft, what's your favorite detail on the colored map I created?

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