Varian Wrynn

World of Warcraft

Forged with Jeff Reynolds and Kristen Ashton

Introduction

Of all the Heroes we’ve tackled thus far, none have been so beautifully tragic as Varian Wrynn. As a child, his home was destroyed by the invading orc forces during the First War. He watched his father die at the hands of the assassin Garona Halforcen. He became close friends with Arthas Menethil only to eventually see him transform into one of the greatest enemies Azeroth had ever seen. He held his dying wife in his arms after a rogue rock hit her in the head during a riot spurred on by Onyxia. He then had to hunt the dread dragon down after she took the only thing of value he had left in the world - his son Anduin.

Alongside countless betrayals from both Horde and Alliance forces, Varian could have easily gone the way of ruthless dictator dead set on ridding the world of all that he saw as evil. But he didn’t. In his heart of hearts, Varian proved to be one of the only true Heroes of Azeroth. Noble from birth, even his more human bouts of anger and rage and frustration did not blind him to his purpose to realize a world where his son would be safe from the suffering he had endured his entire life.

Jeff’s Choices

Role: Warrior

Trait: “For the Alliance”

"I am the King of Stormwind and no one, not the naga, nor the Scourge, nor the fiery lords of the Burning Legion will keep me from my people!"

Varian the King of Stormwind,  like most characters in the World of Warcraft, has a rough and challenging past- but one thing is true, during the years of his “true rule” he would stop at nothing to protect his people and the Alliance. In Heroes of the Storm I imagine that he would be a beefy warrior that uses his abilities to punish the enemy team with large amounts of damage. This trait “For the Alliance” is a passive ability that allows the friendly team to keep pushing forward- even after Varian’s Death. When he dies on the battlefield he will cry out “FOR THE ALLIANCE!” which will inspire, or heal the player on the friendly team that has the lowest amount of health for a small amount. This trait can be talented into later in the game to give damage increases, larger amounts of heal, and other abilities.

Mount: Armored Alliance Griffin

Q: “Furry of Lo'Gosh” Ghost Wolf

"You must have me confused with the other Varian. He's not here anymore."

A true gladiator in combat Varian “Ghost wolf” is not someone we would want to come up against in battle. When the player uses this ability Varian screams out and does one large damage dealing strike from the ground up with his sword. This strike in a major damaging dealing ability and can be talented into later in the game to have chance to “crit” or deal more damage with a critical hit at random.

W: “Die by the Sword”

This ability is similar to the “Die by the Sword” ability for Arms Warriors in World of Warcraft. When it is activated it allows Varian to gain a “parry” buff. This allows him a chance to “parry” incoming attacks- both ranged and melee. This buff only lasts for a short amount of time and will give the warrior more survivability on the battlefield.

E: “Crescendo”

Varian takes two large steps forward and leaps into the air. While in the air he swings his legendary blade Shalamayne above his head with two hands- plunging it into the ground in front of him. If this ability hit an enemy hero they are stunned for a short amount of time and take damage.

Heroic #1: “Severance”

Varian takes his legendary blade Shalamayne, a blade that was once 2 separate blades forged together by Onyxia herself, and rips them apart. The shear amount of strength to do this causes his Ghost Wolf shoulder armour to fall off. When this happens it causes Varian to go into a battle fury, and gives Varian a huge increase to attack speed and damage.

Heroic #2: “For Azeroth!’

This is a Passive Heroic that increases the healing of his trait from one friendly target to the entire friendly team. If Varian dies in battle he will inspire/heal all of his team for a small amount of health.

Special Skin: Fel Infused… As if all of the fel infused pieces of his body were put back together again- forming a jigsaw puzzle fel Verian.  Shalamayne would have a green fel infused gem at the hilt.

Kristen’s Choices

Role

        Warrior - Bruiser

Trait

You Only Live Once

Varian seems to always keep going. Crashed sailing ship? Glorious return. Crashed airship? Explosive emergence. Playing to Varian’s sheer will to keep on keeping on, his trait allows him to rez ¾ times faster after death and at a random spawn point on his team’s half of the map.

Mount

        Epic Stormwind Horse

Q

Whirlwind

Moving from one enemy to the next in a circular pattern, Varian slashes his way in a specific direction across the battlefield, dealing damage to all targets he hits and giving himself a more favorable position.

W

Heroic Leap

Using his undeniable incredible leg strength, Varian launches himself up and over a short distance to the other side of an enemy unit, dealing a critical strike and stunning them briefly.

E

        Face Death

Mounted or on foot, Varian stands still and holds his sword forward, letting loose a scream for all those around him to hear. Filled with inspiration, nearby Heroes and friendly units receive a speed and damage buff for the duration of the pose or until the ability expires.

R1

To Preserve Peace

As he wrote to Anduin, in order to pursue peace, one must be willing to fight to obtain it. Having planned for this battle, Varian has brought with him waves of troops that he can command for a short period of time - one squad for each map lane. These squads will be auto programmed to push the lane they’re in unless instructed by Varian to attack something else. Initially, this is a timed event but the level 20 talent makes it so that the squads keep fighting until the last member is down.

R2

It Takes Two

No stranger to split personalities, Varian finds himself under such duress that he splits into his two separate selves - Varian and Lo’Gosh. Only Lo’Gosh is controllable by the player. Varian stays behind Lo’Gosh and passively gives buffs to nearby teammates. He is easily killable. Lo’Gosh is a beast on the field, hearkening back to his gladiatorial days. A monster of combat, Lo’Gosh has increased health regeneration, increased damage and increased speed.

Skin

        Wol-Varian

Instead of two swords, he’ll have claws. Color variations include his 90’s blue and yellow costume, his black leather and his leather jacket, white undershirt and blue jeans with boots.