I think Stormcrown is currently in a stable state.
It does what it does well, which is farming - minions and jungle monsters/bosses.
They nerfed the damage to turrets and heroes because of how it can push lanes fast if the player that has it gets ahead. Plus, it’ll be quite devastating if worked in tandem with Ghostwing’s buff.
The whole idea of ‘true damage dealing items’, to begin with, is to enable ‘Captain’ heroes to ‘help’ control minion waves and farm jungle monsters.
The flaw of true damage item(s) before this was that it enabled too much.
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Here’s a bit of a history lesson on True Damage Items, starting with when it became prominent in the game.
During the 1.XX series period…
In 1.5, Contraption was introduced with the following details:
“This is the perfect item for tactical map control. It allows you to maintain vision control without taking up a precious item slots for mere consumables. It also upgrades Stormguard in a new direction: splash damage. This allows you to push lanes very hard and combined with the new minion power, create serious threat in the lane.”
—SurpriseBirthday
Recipe: Stormguard + Chronograph + 650 gold (2600 total)
3.0 energy recharge
30% cooldown acceleration
Active: Target yourself to place a scout trap. Target the ground farther away to fire a flare. Holds 3 charges max. 25 sec per charge.
Passive: Stormguard (2.5m splash damage)
This important bit here is the ‘passive.’ It where I think the idea that the true damage was meant as a way to push lanes reliably was cemented.
In 1.8, a Stormguard Banner tweak was made that had an unforeseen consequence…
“Stormguard is now substantially cheaper and more specialized as a counter-jungling and objective-killing item. Because objectives are getting tankier also, Stormguard will be a notable boost to your team’s objective control power.” —CaptainNeato
100 Health removed; health regen up from 12 to 16.
Price reduced from 1150 to 950. (Warhorn and Contraption total price not reduced.)
Passive: When attacking non-heroes, basic attacks deal +3% of target’s max health per second as true damage; it’s 5x against lane minions & jungle camps.
With Contraption: Stormguard gains 2.5m AOE.
With Warhorn: Stormguard has +30% vs. jungle bosses, Kraken and structures).
This lead to the ‘bum rush the turret’ strategy that was super stressful for the devs when coming up with a hotfix :v
It also, to me at least, cements the idea that ‘true damage’ becoming also aimed at dealing with jungle monsters and objectives.
Though I think the objective part ultimately backfired and wouldn’t be balanced till several patches into the future.
In 1.9, we see where the nerfs to ‘true damage’ start to show.
“Stormguard was a bit too effective against turrets before the hotfix. Just a teensy weensy bit. However, being able to damage turrets with Stormguard Banner creates interesting strategic options.” —CaptainNeato
Can damage turrets again.
No target can take more than one Stormguard Banner’s worth of damage per second, even if multiple players with Stormguard Banner are hitting it.
Ignore the first part of the second quote, that’s just an aftermath of the Hot Fix for 1.8.
The second bit is important as it meant that ‘true damage’ items are no longer feasible as an item a team takes multiples of to clear waves.
This is a reasonable decision considering that we were still just 3v3 at that time and Contraption still has its AoE passive that enables AoE true damage.
In 1.11, the first attempts of changing the true damage being dealt to deal different amounts to different targets began.
“This change focuses the benefits on the only person on the team actually earning Ironguard gold. This item now exclusively empowers the roamer with strong objective clear and a tad of hero damage that is never overwhelming, but always noticeable.” — SurpriseBirthday
Price down by 150 gold.
New Passive:
Basic attacks deal 20 additional true damage per second to non-heroes.
+1 damage for every 25 gold earned from Ironguard.
25% of this damage applies toward heroes.
Damage caps at 150.
Needless to say, it worked for curbing the abuse; for a while at least.
In 1.16, Stormguard Banner received a very important but overlooked change. It seems to have never been brought up ever since then.
This item was able to store up to 1.3 seconds worth of damage when you first hit someone, because basic attacks have a base cooldown of 1.3 seconds. —Zekent
Damage storage now capped at 1 second.
Not entirely sure if this was carried forward or not across the patches.
Then we come to update 1.19, where we get Stormcrown as well as a couple of changes related to true damage.
Stormguard Banner has been reworked to be a strong pickup for heroes who have weak wave/jungle clear abilities and for teams who intend to prioritize objective control over constantly battling the enemy team. However, this does come with the caveat that you will be giving up a significant amount of combat power.
Passive: After using an ability, your next 3 basic attacks in the next 6 seconds deal 75 bonus true damage to non-heroes or 20 to heroes. Can only be refreshed once every 6 seconds.
+2.5 Energy Recharge
+150 Energy
Energy Battery (300) + Recipe (800) = 1100
Here’s the OG Stormcrown:
An upgraded version of the new Stormguard Banner. Deals significant but not overwhelming damage to heroes, but it’s fantastic for quickly taking down objectives.
Passive: After using an ability, your next 4 basic attacks in the next 6 seconds deal 140 bonus true damage to non-heroes or 35 to heroes. Can only be refreshed once every 6 seconds.
+30% Cooldown Speed
+5 Energy Recharge
+200 Energy
+150 Health
Stormguard Banner (1100) + Chronograph (800) + Recipe (300) = 2200
I think this is also where Contraption started to fall off in popularity since it loss its wave clear power.
No longer building out of Stormguard Banner, Contraption now charges a bit faster and offers a bit more defensive power.
Cooldown up from 3 to 5 seconds (18s per charge)
+350 Health
+35% Cooldown Speed
+3 Energy Recharge
Health Regen removed
Stormguard passive removed
New Recipe: Flare Gun (600) + Chronograph (800) + Recipe (700) = 2100
It was fun while it lasted. I loved stacking it with Warhorn and dishing out true damage like nobody’s business. Also makes stealing jungle camps with two monsters much quicker.
In 1.20, they buffed the true damage items because they were weak.
Stormguard Banner is returning to its DPS incarnation for simplicity and consistency of damage for roamers.
Passive: Basic attacks deal 25-75 (level 1-12) bonus true damage per second to non-heroes, 20% to heroes
Recipe price down from 800 to 550 (Total price down from 1100 to 850)
New Stats:
200 Health
Stormcrown now not only packs more consistent damage due to the Banner change, but it also has superior stats that roamers love. —Zekent
Passive: Basic attacks deal 50-150 (level 1-12) bonus true damage per second to non-heroes, 20% to heroes
New Stats
30% Cooldown Speed
4 Energy Recharge
200 Health
In 1.22, they buffed Stormguard Banner’s and Stormcrown’s true damage again.
Just a bit more damage for Stormguard Banner. —Zekent
Damage up from 25-75 to 30-80
A small amount of power for Stormcrown will make it a more worthwhile choice for roamers. —Zekent
Damage up from 50-150 to 60-160
These changes backfired a little bit because of:
These Stormguard Banner and Stormcrown changes were locked prior to the North America Summer Live Championships and the introduction of the “Tension-Crown” build. We’ll keep an eye on it, and if any changes are necessary, we’ll adjust in Update 1.23.
Essentially, Tension Bow which has received tweaks too, combined with the above items to create a rather strong strategy. Didn’t have much impact though.
These items will go untouched for a while.
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During the 2.XX series period…
In 2.4, Stormcrown and Stormguard Banner gets nerfed.
Stormcrown changes
Damage to heroes down from 20% to 15%
Damage to non-heroes from 60-160 to 40-140
Stormguard Banner changes
Damage to heroes down from 20% to 15%
Damage to non-heroes from 30-80 to 20-70
Then in 2.9, these two items get tweaked again.
Stormcrown changes:
Cooldown speed decreased from 30% to 20%
Stormguard: Basic attacks deal 40-140 bonus true damage over 1.2s. 20% effectiveness against heroes
Damage to heroes increased from 20% to 25%
Max health increased from 200 to 300
Stormguard Banner changes:
Stormguard: Basic attacks deal 20-70 bonus true damage over 1.2s. 20% effectiveness against heroes
Damage to heroes increased from 20% to 25%
Max health increased from 200 to 250
The statements in the changes sound contradictory to me. From the next following changes, these ones were experimental and probably a failed experiment.
In 2.12, they decided to revert the changes to Stormcrown and Stormguard Banner.
"Stormcrown’s damage over time has been removed. Instead, it will function as it did in the past once more. In addition, while its damage and turret-taking potential is slightly lower than before, the item is also much cheaper.” — Nivmett
Passive changed to:
Stormguard: Basic attacks deal bonus true damage per second. Lowered effectiveness against heroes and structures. (Does not stack with other Stormguard.)
Damage to non-heroes increased from 40-140 to 50-160
Cost decreased from 2200 to 2000
Sell price reduced from 1100 to 1000
“We decided to revert Stormguard Banner to its old form and make it much cheaper. We have weakened its power and tower-taking potential, but now junglers who want to clear faster or need the help can start with this item at Level 1. It’s a great option on a lot of crystal junglers in 5V5.” —Nivmett
Passive changed to:
Stormguard: Basic attacks deal bonus true damage per second. Lowered effectiveness against heroes and structures. (Does not stack with other Stormguard.)
Damage to non-heroes reduced from 20-70 to 10-60
Damage to heroes reduced from 25% to 15%
Cost decreased from 850 to 600 (Can now be taken at Level 1 for jungling.)
Sell price reduced from 425 to 300
I think this where the purpose of true damage items was solidfy - farming minions and jungler monsters & bosses.
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In the 3.XX series period… (current).
In 3.2, Stormcrown was nerfed with no explanation.
Base damage
50-160 → 40-130
Damage to heroes and structures
25% → 20%
In 3.3, Stormcrown and Stormguard Banner’s true damage percentage (against heroes & structures) was lowered to where they sit today.
Stormcrown changes:
Hero/Structure Damage
20% → 10%
Stormguard Banner changes:
Hero/Structure Damage
15% → 10%
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And that’s it for the history of ‘true damage items’ in Vainglory for now!
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I think true damage is only every good when a target has lots of armour and shield stats, but low on health.
100% piercing effect, be it for armour or shield; I think is better as they can scale with items and apply item effects.