Maybe not this change that we got, but I do agree that some change to fort mechanics was a chance for improvement

We're seeing a lot of commentary from folks unhappy with the change to the fort mechanics (removing the hero prioritization and giving a shield instead). And as a result, some folks want to revert back to the old mechanic.

Now, I don't yet have an opinion on the new mechanic, but I would like the community to at least consider that the old mechanic had some problems too and perhaps there's a better solution than reverting back to it.

Problem 1) It was super unclear how it worked. I'll bet there are still players who didn't know you only get targeted if there are no minions or if you damage an enemy hero. It felt completely random to me before I learned that (and I didn't learn it from the game).

Problem 2) Combining damage and partial armor reduction makes no sense. Those are two different mechanics, why are they combined? And why does the armor reduction happen in two steps instead of all at once?

Problem 3) The focus range is way too far. If I'm fighting a boss or a guardian or whatever, and it starts focusing me, I can back away a little bit and it will switch focus to someone else. Can't do that with forts though. If I don't have an escape ability, then I just have to slowly walk for a long time before I finally get out of range. Meanwhile it's ignoring everybody else. That feels bad, in a way that feels like bad game design, not punishment for a strategic mistake.

Now I wish the devs/janitor would share what they were going for with these changes, because it's not clear. But I think we can agree that what we don't want is a) lack of comeback opportunity and b) mechanics that give defenders the chance to repel a deathball push, if they get there in time. At the moment it appears the new fort mechanics don't accomplish this.

I think there are likely lots of ways to address all of those concerns above. To get conversation started, here's one idea:

Targets (heroes and minions and mercs alike) are chosen at random with each separate fort shot, and with no warning sound. Enemy heroes are all given a -20 (number is negotiable) armor penalty as long as they are within range (i.e. don't need to get hit by the fort shot first).

I feel like this makes it still risky enough that pushers need to be cautious, and gives defenders an opportunity to repel a push. Would this be enough to fix all the problems? Any other ideas?