This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/dota2 by /u/119995904304202 on 2024-04-09 15:37:55.

Introduction

Roran & Myron, the Spiritbound shaman brothers, are controlled by one player, similarly to Lone Druid or Meepo, but they spawn, die, and revive together. Roran is an agile, melee core wielding a short blade, and Myron is a ranged support wielding a staff.

  • I will refer to Roran the melee core as Core, and Myron the ranged support as Support, so you can read this post more easily
  • Support’s attack damage capped at 50 (useful to harass, pull, and apply Weaken, but not meant to scale)
  • Support has no items (apart from Wards/Consumables), has the same stats as Core (HP, Mana, MS, AS, Armor, Resistance)
  • If one dies, so does the other

Please ignore the placeholder numbers that I used, they’re just conceptual to give you an idea.

Q - Ability 1: Quick Pass

  • Core throws his weapon to Support, who throws it back after 1 second. Core can move between throws to ensure the return hit lands
  • Each strike applies an auto-attack + 25/50/75/100. The return throw stuns for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds

NOTE: The purpose is for Core to cross behind the enemy and press Q, which causes a projectile to go back and forth between the two heroes, damaging and stunning

W - Ability 2 (Core Version): Spirit Lunge

  • Core dashes ~400 range in the targeted direction. Enemies he dashes through are slowed for 1/2/3/4 seconds (does not deal damage without shard). 16/12/8/4 second cooldown

NOTE: Short-range mobility spell, mainly used to set up Q - Quick Pass, or for additional chase or disengage

W - Ability 2 (Support Version): Summon

  • Support channels 2-4 seconds (based on their distance from one another) to teleport Core to a targeted location up to 600/700/800/900 range of himself. Both Support and Core channel the ability, so disabling either hero interrupts the ability. Upon teleporting, there is a burst of 50/100/150/200 damage around Core

NOTE: If you are in lane, the cast-time will be around 2 seconds. If you are across the map, it will take around 4 seconds. In lane, it can be used to reposition Core in order to initiate, to save, or to bring him closer to Support for assistance (let’s say Support gets jumped while pulling/warding/getting rune). The minimum of 2 seconds adds counterplay, so you can dodge the AOE burst around the teleport or to interrupt the teleport. The other main use is for long-range teleporting, which takes longer to cast. It can be used to split-push with Core, but watch out for disables that can interrupt the teleport, or it can be used to gank. Think NP teleport, but you need to walk Support over to the other lane to do it.

E - Ability 3 - Passive: Weaken

  • Support’s attacks place a stacking weaken debuff, up to 5 stacks
  • Each stack apples a 6% movement speed slow, up to 30% (at level 4)
  • Core’s attacks deal 20 more damage per stack, up to 100 (at level 4)

NOTE: This is the main carry and harass ability. In lane, Support can hit the enemy to accumulate stacks, and then Core jumps in, to deal more damage to the weakened enemy. During the ultimate, Core can apply the stacks himself

R - Ultimate ability: Ritual

  • Support chants a channeling ritual to create a field with 800/1000/1200 range around himself. Lasts up to 10 seconds, can be interrupted
  • The field applies a 100% Fading slow for the first 2 seconds (helps set up Q and W upon cast)
  • Core and Support recover 5% HP per second while in the field, healing up to 50% of their HP
  • Core’s hits apply weaken for the duration (since Support is channeling and can’t hit)

Aghanim’s Shard: W - Spirit Lunge applies an auto-attack on enemies hit. Additionally, Dashing through Support makes Support take . Good for farming, and landing additional hits for more damage/modifier procs on enemies

Aghanim’s Scepter: Ritual can be cast on Core, with a 600 cast range. Support possesses Core, so that the field follows him and the ability can no longer be interrupted

Gameplay & Reasoning

Essentially, this position 1/2 hero goes around auto-attacking enemies with both Core and Support, while one weakens the enemy and the other deals the damage. Core’s Q and W give him utility and bonus damage to stay on top of enemies, and Support helps out by weakening the enemy and repositioning Core when needed. In team-fights or high-ground pushes, Support creates a zone for Core to fight more efficiently, but it can be interrupted by jumping/disabling Support. Since BKB can’t be used on Support to make it uninterruptible, Scepter does that for you, while you can still buy BKB on Core so that he can stay on top of enemies.

Conceptual Balance

Roran and Myron are very fun to play, and playing against them isn’t too frustrating, as killing either one will cause them both to die. Additionally, Support is not a threat by himself as he deals negligible damage, so unlike Meepo/Arc, you can not just swap one out before he dies and hammer the enemy with the other unit. His main strength is his solid laning, while still scaling well with Aghs and his Q and W that scale with attack damage, but you can still counter him at every stage of the game reasonably, as long as his numbers are balanced properly.

Additionally, since Support has no defensive abilities/mobility, nor the ability to carry save items, the player must keep him well positioned, and try to protect him with Core. However, this might be too much of a crutch if the enemies have backline initiation such as Specter, Axe, Riki, etc. This is where the Scepter comes in, which gives you a save. This still isn’t foolproof as Support can still be silenced or stunned to prevent him from casting it in the first place, and even if he lands it, it’s not impossible to kill Core.