I have started using Protector contract more recently and found it extremely good till 10 min mark as the barrier is pretty decent. I think it would be really nice if the contracts could be upgraded into T3 items which provide more build diversity. I have an idea for protector contract upgrade
Cost:2200-2500 gold
Active:Provides 150 health barrier to nearby allies. Has 3 maximum charges, each charge has a cooldown of 4 seconds, charges recharge over 15 seconds.
Passive:500 health+25 armor and shield
It makes roams more tanky with hp and defense increase. The barrier isnt too op considering that ardan base barrier is 240 something. This item needs 45 seconds to recharge fully and will be drained in long fights so it won’t be up too often. It will be a perfect fit for captains like ardan and phinn who don’t rely too much on cooldowns and can benefit with more tankiness and teamwide protection.
If someone thinks this is a bad idea feel free to discuss
While I think the Item itself is a nice idea, I don’t think the game is in need of more items right now, and also I think that would spoil the purpose of the contracts. They’re meant to be something to pick up early and sell later, having them like that gives the game more versatility (do I need a dragonblood contract on flicker, or should I buy a light shield to get my fountain earlier?)
There used to be only one contract IGC and it build into stormguard banner.
I and many with me would love to see contracts being upgradable so we don’t waste the slot half the game or are forced to sell a useful item because it lacks scaling…
More items might be good in a way,it becomes boring building the same thing over and over every match. DE, SSW introduced some freshness in both Wp and cp paths, why not add defense/utility items for roamers.
There’s always variants in roam builds. Fountain and War Treads are the only must in almost every match, and then you decide if you need Crucible, Contraption/SS 2000, AP, Nullwave Gauntlet, or if you want to add An Echo or CW, or a little WP or CP; AS or TB work nicely on some caps, so does SC, and Frostburn or Shiversteel can help with additional CC, and going against things like Krul and Baptiste you may want a PS or SF to apply mortal wounds. Or extra defence in the form of Aegis, MJ or SH, and then in certain cases there are other things that fit (like SG on Lance).
So basically I rarely take the same build twice in a row, even when I’m playin the same hero.
And like I said; they add versatility this way. your choice becomes “Do I want more power early, or do I want to hit midgame spikes earlier? How long can I keep the contract, when do I sell it?”
If they were upgradeable, the’d get nerfed too, because something that useful in the early game that still has late game scaling would be too OP.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever played League of Legends, but if you have, think of them like starting items there. They’re not upgradeable, but people still buy them because they’re just that little bit better than the upgradeable T1 items, and will give you that early game advantage which can help you snowball
What I would like to see tho, while we’re on the topic of contracts, is mebbe a contract ideal for laners and junglers, something that provides a little more WP or CP than a weapon blade or a crystal bit (or maybe has some attack speed/cooldown as well) but again isn’t upgradeable. Something to really distinguish early game threats like Samuel (for which you would buy said contract) from late game heroes like Celeste (on which you’d just go straight for the T3 items)
Too OP like aftershock and stormcrown which both scale…
yeah well obviously they’d have to be adjusted to fit early stats; but they wouldn’t necessarily be OP