[Dota 2] - Riki - TBD

gatherto

This set is going to focus on Riki's heritage as the last of his line. It will contain some elements of Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and African style.

Most of the items are fairly fleshed out by this point. The daggers are quite refined, the shoulders and arms are pretty refined, and the head is starting to come together. Of course, any feedback on any item is much appreciated.


Here is a picture of the set thus far:



Here are the different elements:

Dagger:




Shoulders:


Wrist:

DotA Fiend

First off I want to say that Riki is my favorite hero and I love some of the ideas you are throwing around. I would say as far as color schemes try and keep it as close to original as possible since the purples and blues associated with Riki are indicators of royalty, but maybe throw in some gray or black. Anyways here's some of the ideas that seem the most unique to me!

-Helmet/Hood/Mask are aching for some sort of armor.
-Shoulders. Riki's model is screaming for cool shoulders.
-Tail spike. Nuff said.
-HORNS! I dislike current Riki horns a lot. Something more aggressive as stated.
-Dagger sheaths & tools that you mentioned (maybe a smoke bomb/grenade?).
-Daggers with one edge shorter and the other longer & serrated (Makes me think of the Mortal Kombat daggers and pain.. lots of pain)
-Curvy blink dagger style daggers that you mentioned.
-Maybe even combine the blink dagger style dagger & serrated style to make it even more unique? (Straight edged items have more of a Bounty Hunter style I feel)

Anyways that's sort my little two cents to maybe give some more direction or new ideas. Also for a title maybe Prince of Shadows? I''ll be watching this thread let's give Riki some love!!!

gatherto

Post 1 (saved to keep track of progress)

So this is going to be my first item submission, though a lot of the dota-specific modelling will be done by Khonsu (the guy who made Void's rift set and Omni's renowned faith set)

We are planning to make a set for Riki. As of now, we are working to pin down a general concept, and would like some feedback on our ideas. Each of the listed ideas already involves an established few item ideas, though these are subject to change. Feel free (and encouraged) to let us know what sounds good to you -- or recommend a theme of your own.

As a note, images (mostly silhouettes) will be added once I can draw them to my satisfaction. Modelling is my strong suit, not so much art.

Idea 1: Revenge of the Scion
Would involve head, weapons, and shoulders
-Head would be an ornate cloth wrap hat, shoulders would be an ornate cloth cloak, daggers would be very angular with precious gem inserts. Cloth would be primarily brown, with design in silver, blue, purple, and gold.
-Item name ideas: Lustrous Edge and Brilliant Edge (daggers), Cloak of the Scion, and Hood of the Scion
-Other ideas for the daggers are a set of daggers with large rounded protrusions (similar to the blink dagger's shape), designed to represent Riki's dead siblings; a set of daggers with sharpened bone blades bound to ornate shafts with leather strips (bone not actually touching the sheath, but suspended by the strips); or katar-style punch-daggers.

Idea 2: Assassin's Toolkit
Would involve weapons, shoulders, and tail (possibly also head)
-Weapons would be solid daggers with a cutback poison channel. Shoulders would be a simple black/ grey/ dark purple cloak with dagger sheaths strung across the chest and assorted pockets for tools. Tail would have a spike on the end and would feature other embellishments yet to be decided. Head would be added if we could figure out a good form (both Khonsu and I tend to prefer items with a distinct profile, a'la bindings of the rift)
-Item name ideas: Vitriolic Shiv (daggers), Assassin's Armory (shoulders), Assassin's Backup Plan (tail)

Idea 3: Hallmarks of the Killer
Would involve weapons, tail, and head (possibly clothing, depending on time and inclination)
-Weapons would be double-prong daggers, with one edge shorter than the other and the long edge halfway serrated. The daggers would, if possible, be connected with a chain. Head and tail would both be slightly deformed to look scary and moderately insane; eg, adding barbs and scarring to the tail, and making the horns more aggressive.
-Item name ideas: None thus far

Idea 4: Transparent Nightmare
-Would involve weapons, tail, and head
The idea here is for Riki's body to become the weapons. His tail, horns, and hands would become bladed. The forward dagger would be a lengthened arm, one side of which would gradually become a blade and which would protrude past the regular arm. The backward dagger would be reminiscent of a praying mantis.
-Item name ideas: Serrated Tail of the Nightmare, Bladed Horns of the Nightmare, Slashing Arms of the Nightmare




Post 2 (also saved to keep track of progress.)

Alright, so Khonsu and I have taken a close look at the poly limits we have to work with, and where, and have decided on a set centered around Riki's heritage. We might revisit the assassin idea if some serious inspiration strikes, but it's looking almost certainly like a royal theme.

With that in mind, our first rough concept drawing is complete. This is supposed to be Riki's front dagger. It is not fully textured, each region instead has the general color it will end up with. The hilt will be patterned with metal, and the pommel and guard will have gems in them.



We are also intending to make at least a back dagger, shoulders, and a head.

The back dagger we're thinking will be a slightly smaller, sort of reversed version of this one. The idea is that the big dagger will be associated with his older brother, and the little dagger his younger. It will have more of a block/stab feel than the slashing that this dagger has.

The head will involve some sort of cloth headpiece with his horns sticking out. We think the horns themselves should be straighter, more aggressive, and a bit taller.

The shoulders we haven't come up with a really good idea for yet.



Some ideas we've had and rejected (maybe someone can offer improvements)

Head:
loose spiral horns (think corkscrew)

Back dagger:
a dagger with a deep notch in the front and a flat back with some discontinuity (Kwan Do style lower blade, hooked back)

Shoulders:
A cloak around his shoulders instead of shoulderpads

Khonsu

So here is what we have produced so far:



This could be one or both of his daggers, we're still trying to fling around some ideas for the other dagger's silhouette. However, we haven't really been able to hammer anything out that is different yet complementary to this one.

Let us know what you think of the shape and color scheme, it's taken a pretty big directional change from the concept that was posted--but that is hopefully for the better. The bottom end of the dagger used to be a purple gem (similar to the small one below the blade) but I changed it to blackish-grey to balance the grey-striped sides of the handle.

Khonsu

This is an updated "dirtier" version of the dagger:

bounchfx

hey that looks cool! I like the shape a lot, it goes really well with the character, and reads really nicely. Definitely a step up from the concept.

Khonsu

Glad you like it! Here's what we have in terms of a severed-arms-slot at the moment:



Would really appreciate some comments to help improve it or suggestions to redo it.

agentfx

looking good! The arm slot, maybe some sort of spiky brass knuckles to almost fill in the area of the sword around the hands. Otherwise looking great. I'd like to see an overall concept, but what you have is pretty decent so far.

Khonsu

For the shoulders we decided to go for a cloth-wrapped neck. Currently the pictures don't do it much justice, still trying to get the rigging right. Here is a collective image of everything we have so far (daggers, bracers, shoulders).

gatherto

Updated original post with the relevant info.

Khonsu

Here's an update on the progress, included is everything so far:



Those are new horns and a crown. Comments and suggestions are welcomed!