Hero: Blade (Eric Brooks)

The Problem: Blade has been underpowered since release, only recently getting the meaningful buffs to make him somewhat solid. For many players, Season 5.5 Blade was when he started to feel very good to play- only to be taken from him in Season 6. Blade’s power level has consistently been worrying, due to the absurd amount of potentially powerful things he has in his kit. Lifesteal, Reduced Healing & A big health pool are all very strong things on paper, and giving them all to one character allows for many different ways to play, which is absurdly strong. Yet, Blade’s power level has been so carefully watched that he’s consistently been one of the worst dps ingame.

The Solution: Players don’t want to ruin Blade’s character. So, It’d be best to keep his multiple playstyles usable and viable- so we shouldn’t take anything away from him. As Season 5.5 Blade was praised for being somewhat decent, we should bring that Blade back, while not invalidating the good buffs he actually received in Season 6. The first step would be addressing the accommodation nerfs he received in Season 5.5 to test if they’d be too strong.

1.	⁠Daywalker Dash (Sword): Apply Slow effect for 1.5s. Increase, Daywalker Dash damage per hit from 8 to 15. Reduced healing amount increased from 8% to 10% per hit.

2.	⁠Daywalker Dash (Gun): Remove slow effect. Apply Grounded for 1.5s instead. Damage stays the same.

3.	⁠Hunters Shotgun: Increase projectile speed. Reduce shotgun spread so it stays more consistent. Slight damage increase within 5m of enemy.

4.	⁠Thousand Fold Slash: Apply Slow by 50% If hit by Thousand Fold Slash. Increase reduced healing amount from 40% to 60%.

5.	⁠Bloodline Awakening: Increase Lifesteal percentage from 65% to 85%.

The Valuation: Daywalker Dash (Sword) - I decided to add slow effect back. This allows his dash to pair perfectly with the speed boost he gets from Bloodline Awakening. His damage was increased due to his overall damage being very lackluster. The healing reduction buff was needed, as Blade’s old reduced healing percentage used to be 40%. As of now, his reduced healing is pretty unnoticeable.

Daywalker Dash (Gun) - The damage increase to his gundash made it very strong at getting picks and kills that usually weren’t possible, that decision was amazing and should stay. The grounded effect would be more useful than a slow, as the slow is practically useless. And more to my point, Blade is supposed to have a wide variety of playstyles- an anti dive ability is a very good thing to fit that more.

Hunters Shotgun: Many Blade players will tell you, this is one of the weirder things to hit. With the pellets being very slow and spread not helping at all, especially with the range nerfs he received. Buffing these would allow for more consistency and better gameplay. It’s a shotgun and should he stronger up close. But at the same time, should not be a more viable option than his sword.

Thousand Fold Slash: One of the biggest gripes Blade players have with this character, the Ultimate. Every character ingame can walk out of the ultimate with minimal effort, so getting kills was practically impossible unless you solo ult- which leads people to think you’re being toxic. The reduced healing on his ultimate is supposed to be used to counter healing, right? His ultimate cannot even kill through support ultimates, which defeats the entire purpose. A slow effect and more reduced healing solves this issue easily.

Bloodline Awakening: One of Blade’s biggest problems is his survivability, which is insane to say for a lifesteal hero. Despite having lifesteal, when he attempts to attack with his sword, he often gets blown up easily. Once you apply your reduced healing you practically have a few seconds to put your block up and retreat with your dash or you’re dead. In addition, Blade is generally not good seperated from his team, meaning he loses 1v1s very easily, which doesn’t make since for a 350hp hero with lifesteal. Increasing the lifesteal would solve this problem.

That’s it for how I’d fix Blade!

Shark Tank Pitch - Blade