Can we please discuss the Karthus VU's colors and particles?(Art team, please respond)

IonCannonKarthus·May 22, 2014·15 votes·1,954 views

Link to VU: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/champion-relaunch/karthus-deathsinger

What did we have before?

Q: Skittles, they were red, nice, concise and explosive.

W: Purple wall that shined, had clearly defined edges, matched his color scheme very nicely

E: Defile, a Red/Blue/Purple-ish Rainbow of colors that shimmered and looked absolutely spectacular, once again, clearly defined edges.

R: Red orbital double helix death laser, looked great, was iconic, easy to spot and it was easy to know the EXACT moment when the damage comes through.

What do we have now?

Q: Ghostly Green circle that has a pathetic explosion that looks like the ground farted.

W: Ghostly Green spectral wall that looks like it's a green fire and the edges of it are less defined than Mundo's cleaver.

E: Swirling ghostly green mist that looks like he is inside of a tornado, back the fuck up Janna, Karthus is the real storm mage now.

R: It...Its not iconic. At all. It is lame. Garen got a giant thundersword with his VU. Karthus looks like he's calling on Rasputin for help. Seriously, this ability, needs HEAVY work. It's just the same ghostly green color coming down from the sky and somehow making the champion it hit fart.

Now, my problems with this. It is all the same color. Yes, yes, you can all cry "COLOR SCHEME" but its the EXACT same color and the EXACT same misty effect for ALL of his skills. What problem does this pose? Well for starters, he looks monochromatic as fuck, which is god awful. Gameplay wise, those Q's are going to be FAR harder to see through defile and the wall, it'll be even worse when he is dead. The entire bloody teamfight is going to be a mass of ghostly swirling green mist which is going to confuse the ever loving shit out of people. Throw in Thresh with his ult, lantern, and flay and you have even more nonsensical madness.

Karthus is not a ghost. Karthus is not a necromancer. Karthus is an all powerful lich. Lichs DON'T JUST USE GHOSTS TO DO EVERYTHING! THEY CAN ACCESS ALL FIELDS OF MAGIC. This is why current Karthus particle effects work, he's a lich AKA an UNDEAD WIZARD. So he can do all kinds of shit. But now, you have taken that away from him. Now he's just a shitty necromancer who can't even bring anyone fully back to life but watch as they fart on the ground(Q) build a makeshift volley ball net out of themselves(W) fly around in circles for no reason other than that they can(E) or he calls up his buddy Rasputin for help(R)

Riot, please give him different colors for his abilities. The ghostly green simply does not work for him. Maybe if it was a legendary skin that was ghostly green, that'd be great, but making ALL of his skins have the same horrible decided upon color scheme and misty effect is a terrible decision. Please, if nothing else, give me a traditional Karthus skin that has the old colors, that's all I want, something more than just the same green. Karthus has a rainbow of colors right now, and then you just go and take them away. It's not right. It's horrible.

Also, for those of you who don't get the Rasputin reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocm8QdNR_d8#t=120

Link to my original thread that was on General Discussion but was then moved over to the dead zone, I mean Art Feedback.

19 Comments

AttendrissantMay 22, 20144 votes

I personally think his new colors look better

RetsnomMay 22, 20141 votes

I personally think his new colors look better

I agree. I love that sickly, ectoplasmic-like green of his. I wonder what they might do to his spell animations in his other skins... Pentakill Karthus = Pus Yellow?

Grizzley117May 22, 20144 votes

Probably gonna get raged at but I hated the old defile animation. Yes it was colorful, but it doesn't fit with the dark and dreary Shadow isle theme. I agree that the abilities need to be defined a little to avoid gameplay confusion, but I'm excited to see Karthus become the powerful lich that we desire

IonCannonKarthusMay 22, 20141 votes

Karthus was not originally from the Shadow Isles, he was the lord of the Howling Marsh.

Grizzley117May 22, 20141 votes

not originally, but that was where he became a lich and gained his powers

IonCannonKarthusMay 22, 20141 votes

Not true, he was a lich before Riot changed their lore to make him from the Shadow Isles

Doctor RozzyMay 22, 20142 votes

it has Xerath release written all over it. he needs more color for sure. unlike a champ like Brand, where all the spells are one type of magic(fire) and it makes sense for abilities to share that monochromatic coloring, giving Karthus just one color is confusing and boring. As for his ult animation, it really should have more to it. Perhaps their soul leaves their body if they are killed, or pull a Skyrim and have their soul get sucked into a soul gem.

ThalesMay 22, 20141 votes

I like the new model and such, but I definitely agree it's a little monochrome. Everything is the same green blue, which is visually tedious. He doesn't need to be RAINBOW KARTH (skin idea?), but a bit more variation would be nice.

Some fancy visuals for killing with ult would be good. With SGU and PFE, kills produce a distinctive animation. Could something similar perhaps be implemented for Requiem? It's one of inherently more epic spells in the game, and I think this would really boost the feel.

st94413May 22, 20141 votes

One thing people like about him is he is CALM in any situations even when facing death. One thing i Felt like the new karthus clearly lost his pure evil characteristicswith out red and visible souls. He now gets insane when dead, that made him lost his evilness.

More varieties ( my idea would be mix other solid colors in while the green theme fades out)
Concentrate the spell visuals with thinner ad solid colors, that would make all his spells including requiem look more powerful.
Make Requiem Karthus's icon by giving the pure evil red
Defile should look "slow and painful "(the original with souls surrounding him then expands out is much more logical and reasonable with that circle)
In my opinion don't ever give Karthus feet, either make him float straight like a spirit or just cover it up. He,is one of the rare champions that dont have visible foot. ( He is not a zombie, right?) At least it would look nice when his legs are hollowed and make his robe float.

I bet more people would be happy about that, and more people would play Karthus

ErberorMay 23, 20141 votes

Why can't he have feet? Because he didn't before?

OktagonnMay 22, 20142 votes

Ok Riot I want you guys to know that I am extremely satisfied with the new particle effects and animations, ecstatic even. A lot of people are going to hate on these new particles, and the majority of their reasoning is dead wrong. Karthus's old particle effects looked so ridiculous and all this stuff about the effects being iconic and "better" is a load of crap, you all do great work and I wholeheartedly put my trust in you guys. Don't worry about people complaining, I've seen people react ridiculously over the smallest changes. The game itself is free and if you want to change something you have every right to do so and the idea that people don't like what you've done really upsets me, these people are just really petulant and ungrateful. Keep up the good work.

Lady LuckMay 22, 20141 votes

I think the biggest issue some people have (or at least, it's my issue) is that the readability is diminished given all his skills are the exact same color. There's hardly a difference in shade. And Karthus is a champion whose skills overlap on each other frequently. When action's going on it may be hard to notice he placed his wall over his defile. Or when he's dead it may be difficult to notice who he's throwing his Q at.

At first I liked the new particles. And then I thought about them in the context of a game.

hunnyflashMay 22, 20142 votes

oh my god that scene is perfect. Why didn't I remember it. I actually like the ghostly green a lot, and the uniformity looks more modern and menacing, but I also really miss that evil red.

I do not miss the smorgasbord of color and design that Karthus used to be, but I definitely will miss the definition of his spells. In the demo video I didn't even know what was happening lol

I hope Riot can come to some compromise.

EszkebounnMay 22, 20141 votes

English is not my native languaje, hope i can make myself clear.

Q = Explosions need to be smaller more acording to it's hitbox, and no color, just a rift on the ground.

W = Should be like a dark smoke.

E = Green/blueish color and souls moving around.

R = Inverse. A pilar of white light apears below the targets and goes up while the cannel lasts, then a lightning sound explosion and if it kills the target the pilar of light stays a bit longer while a soul goes up.

WorstVayneMarsMay 22, 20141 votes

When I saw the video I was excited but as Karthus cycled through his abilities the bland color scheme took away from that initial excitement. When I saw his new ult it did not look as powerful as the old one. Riot, please consider changing up the abilities, especially their color scheme. I personally like how Defile looks but the other 3 need some more love

Desecrate ChurchMay 22, 20141 votes

What his abilities really need is to look mor like this

Q - A portal to the afterlife is ripped open in the groud and a swarm of souls escape it / A tombstone rises from the ground and soon after a skeleton emerges slashing or biting as it rises. Then both skeleton and tombstone crumble into pieces (instead of a friking explosion, like wtf?!)

W: A bunch of skeleton-upper bodies reaching out of the ground and grabbing/slashing at enemies passing through (instead of some spirit building I mean hello? Incorporal summoning is cool and all, but . . . a wall? that is painful? o.ô i dont get de joke . . .

E: This one actually is quite okay, although the whole thing would look a lot more awesome with spectral bodies (ghosts) or maybe even skeletons (i prefer the ghosts) swarminng around karthus (instead of coloring the ground around him, srsly, doesnt make him appear dangerus at all. . .)

R: The only ability I find awesome-looking now. Just. . . how about making the beam erupt from his eyes and mouth, rising into the sky? I would like that extra. . . . |_ The only way to really make this anymore awesome, is by having karthus errupt ghosts/ souls shaped like himself which will travel over the map (in great speed) and crash into enemy champions.

making him appear like a Lich and no a friggin standard Mage with some kick ass Ultimate

tehblacksaiyanMay 22, 20141 votes

change Karthus s colors of his abilites only have 1 of his abilities be ghostly green or he will look bad

Desecrate ChurchMay 23, 20141 votes

I think the color on his skills is awesome, and shouldn't be changed. They give him more of a ghost - death flair which is the last thing they should take from him. BUT they should reshape the abilities to have like ghostly faces and stuff in the animation . .. now that i would accept instead of necromancy inspired spells.