Kane, the Shieldguard

Background


When I first joined King Daedric, his soldiers fled from me as if I carried the sickness. Only one guard seemed at ease around my unusual nature, Kane For over 15 years, the steely haired warrior has been my closest and most trusted companion. We each owe our lives to the other, many times over. Saved from certain death in battles with brigands, rebellious tribes and dangerous creatures from remote parts of the world. Kane is intellectually sharp and a sound tactician. His list of faults is short, far outweighed by his exemplary measure, but if pressed to speak on his greatest weakness, I would confess an ease at which he becomes flustered and impatient. Such headstrong inclinations make him prone to attack problems with brute force, even when a more delicate solution is called for. Faults and shortcomings aside, Kane is the benchmark of a solider and friend, to which I measure all others. I value my second-in-command’s advice more than any other. No discussion of Kane would be complete without mention that there is no record, written or oral, of the shieldguard ever withdrawing from combat first. He is valiant and heroic to a fault. While he values his life greatly, I’ve seen him risk it firsthand, without second thought, to protect those under his charge. Bound by the seven virtues of his title, King’s Champion, Kane lives by a strict code of conduct, offering mercy to his most fearsome enemies and aid to any who openly request it. After, his wife and adolescent son were taken in a storm of fire and ash, Kane turned away from women. For seventeen years he has been without serious relationship. Though if my eyes serve me, I would swear the shieldguard has developed a fondness for Maeve. A bond forged over the five-year duration of their friendship as fellow soldiers, no doubt. How deeply he cares for her, I dare not guess… One thing I know for certain, his dedication to duty would never allow him to openly express his feelings.

Base Stats
One of the two default heroes you start with, Kane begins the adventure at level 1, with 3 unassigned base stat point accrued at level 1.

Skills
Kane's skills control the battlefield and protect his companions. None of his skills scale his basic attacks (with the exception of his B2 on command aura, which scale everyone's damage output). He begins the game with access to: dash, stone wall, and first aid. Kane is good at keeping mobs angry at him and mitigating/recovering the damage they do. As explained in combat mechanics, melee heroes generate extra aggro when in melee with the enemy.

Kane's Skills

Playstyle
Kane is a tank and a skill user. He will generally needs to use skills to both survive and to maintain aggro, as such he is highly dependent on being able to constantly use skills, favoring a high mana recovery. As a plate wearer and with skills that can improve it further, Kane can achieve some of the highest armor in the game; making him very good at mitigating physical damage, and allowing him to maximize the damage from thorns. Kane is best when played aggressive and even early game is good at his role of main tank.

Potentially, Kane can become a good enough caster that he takes on a pure healing role. Kane's damaging skills do air, physical, and true damage; though the physical damage from his skill is large enough that even the highest armor targets won't mitigate all of it. Therefore stacking armor penetration and magic penetration will have diminished returns. Kane is unique in that he has only 1 of 2 sources of taunt, which forces a mob to attack it's taunter; this makes him exceptional at maintaining aggro on targets that are either constantly dropping aggro or taking significant damage from a source other than Kane himself. Early game before he has access to a replenishing mana pool and thorns, maintaining aggro and dealing damage can be difficult on Kane and using a two handed weapon can help him do both.

Stats to chase
As a tank and skill user Kane is pulled in more than one direction for his stats. Maximizing his skills effect and ability to use is important but having him able to mitigate and recover damage is also important. Since, his basic attack is somewhat negligeble Might is mostly undesirable, along with Speed which increases attack speed and give some cool down at higher scores. Getting high health, armor, resistances, skill effect, mana recovery and cool down are all very desirable and Kane probably more than anyone is defined by the enchants on his gear. While Kane is very good at maintaining control of the battlefield, he doesn't have the best direct repositioning of the enemy in the game and maximizing effects such as thorns will require help from a teammate or vigilance on positioning him.In only the most specific of situations does Kane actually have very good damage output.