Narin, Dain's Messenger news

Greetings, Companions of Edain!

Today we want to introduce a new Dwarven hero who will fill up the ranks of the Iron Hills. Many players have been asking for them to get a fifth hero for some time now. Particularly in the English community, several concepts came up for discussion basend on a various passages from The Hobbit book. We were very impressed with this approach and the amount of constructive discussion. What caught our eye especially was a concept by LordDainIronfoot concerning the messenger of Dain. This hero is not named in the books - indeed, the greatest problem with designing heroes for the Iron Hills is that Tolkien offers us very few named characters for them, which is the whole reason they had fewer heroes than the other Dwarven realms so far. Narin, however, is still based on the lore and is meant to be the leader of Dain's ambassador party sent to talk to Bard.

Therefore, we discussed and developed a new hero on that basis. He fits very well into the Iron Hills strategy of tanking and defending and puts an entirely new spin on it.

Narin's primary role is that of a supporter, who strategically moves between stationary troops on the battlefield to deliver orders from the king in the form of powerful bonuses. Just like Sharku, Narin is permanently mounted, in this case on a ram. We have found it very interesting to develop a hero who is not primarily focused on fighting, and who grants a maximum bonus depending on his position on the battlefield.
Also, it was very important to us that his design represents his status as an ambassador of the Lord of the Iron Hills. The role of a diplomat, whose weapon is the word, and not the sword, in contrast to the Hobbit movies. This is clearly reflected in his more refined garments and the pack of scrolls on his back. Other elements like the shoulder plates and the red cloak still mark him as a Dwarf of the Iron Hills.

- Lvl 1: Dain's Messenger (passive) – Nearby Heroes, Heroic Units and Elite Units get +25% armor and gain experience 50% faster.
The effect persists for 30 seconds after Narin has left. The ability can be activated to temporarily give Narin +35% speed.

This ability makes Narin's positioning very important. At the same time, it allows him to move quickly between individual battle positions and thus to support the troops of the Iron Hills at the front.


- Lvl 3: Combat Command - All Ram Riders in the target area gain +35% damage and armor for 30 seconds, but have their movement speed halved. If Narin is within the target area, the bonus also effects him.

It seemed fitting that a ram rider hero has the opportunity to interact with the Ram Riders. This ability emphasizes the unique strengths of the Iron Hills, focussing on holding your ground at the expense of speed. The player also gets to make a decision whether Narin should stand and fight with his riders, or move on.


- Lvl 6: Truce - Narin negotiates a truce. The selected enemy hero or monster can not attack or be attacked for 30 seconds. Abilities cast while affected by Truce take twice as long to reload.

A powerful skill that can take an enemy hero out of the game for some time. Used cleverly, this can decide a battle.


- Lvl 10: Alliance - Narin sends out a raven to offer support to an allied hero. The selected hero does not suffer any damage for 10 seconds. The ability can be cast over the entire battlefield.

While Dain Ironfoot is designed to support his foot soldiers, Narin is much better at supporting heroes and saving them from certain death even at long range.


We believe that Narin will expand the ranks of the Iron Hill heroes excellently and we are pleased to have developed a concept whose origins and ideas came from our community.


Your Edain Team