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@IronStylus - On Irelia's Eventual VU

ManDudeMcDudeman·7/15/2014, 4:37:23 AM·4 votes·16,249 views

http://puu.sh/acBis/8db2f74634.jpg

Dunno if you're the Rioter for this, because I have a few non-VU questions as well, but whatever.

Irelia's model is starting to show its age. It's definitely not as bad as Taric, Mordekaiser, or the rest of what remains of the Pizza Feet crew, but you can definitely see the difference between her and a more recent champion. Especially her hair. It's like she has an octopus living on her skull.

So basically, I have a few questions about Irelia's VU when it eventually becomes pertinent to start working on it (if you're not already), namely;

  • Morello's mentioned his desire to rework Irelia's kit several times in the past to help get her away from her "ball of stats" nature, as well as stating that Irelia's core theme may be changed as a result. Does this impact her VU-wise? Would a new kind of Irelia require a new kind of visual theme than what is present already? Would Morello's kit rework get in the way of a potential VU, or even coincide with one? What are the chances of pushing both reworks out at once, making Irelia a full champion relaunch? I won't ask for specifics on her kit rework from you, since it's not your department - mainly just how it relates to her visual style and the possibility of that changing.

  • What do YOU think Irelia's theme is or should be, visually or in-game? Does the way you envision her match with the way she's portrayed now?

  • Do you have any plans for Ionia at large, in terms of visual theming and cohesion? Most of the Ionian champions vary widely in terms of looks, from bright pastel ninjas like Akali and Kennen, to heavily-armored warriors like Irelia and Zed (he's wearing light armor, but he has quite a lot of it on).

  • Relating to my last question, what kind of relations would you like Irelia to have with other League champions, namely other Ionians or enemy Noxians? I would imagine she wouldn't think too highly of Yasuo or Darius, for example.

  • Are there any Irelia skins on the pipeline for once a VU is done? I know you guys are wont to make skins for champions who are on the pipeline for VUs, since it's more work for no reason, on an inferior rig and model, no less. What are some skin options you could explore with Irelia, and have done any concepting for them already?

  • Lastly, and I'm leaving this at the bottom because it's not Irelia-related, but how much will Shen change were he to receive a VU? He's portrayed as a tank in-game, yet visually, he's the exact opposite of a tank. How would you go about bringing Shen's tank identity forward, without overpowering his ninja identity, and vice-versa?

I've attached an Irelia picture for some eye candy. Seriously; why isn't this her splash art over in the States? I know you guys don't like using the Chinese art for champions on other servers, but come ON. That art is friggin' gorgeous.

Edit: And I seem to be unable to add attachments. Sigh.

21 Comments

RiotIronStylus7/16/2014, 6:31:55 AM5 votes

I feel you on the Octopus head..

  • Morello's mentioned his desire to rework Irelia's kit several times in the past to help get her away from her "ball of stats" nature, as well as stating that Irelia's core theme may be changed as a result. Does this impact her VU-wise? Would a new kind of Irelia require a new kind of visual theme than what is present already? Would Morello's kit rework get in the way of a potential VU, or even coincide with one? What are the chances of pushing both reworks out at once, making Irelia a full champion relaunch? I won't ask for specifics on her kit rework from you, since it's not your department - mainly just how it relates to her visual style and the possibility of that changing.

I think that we'd end up making the two coincide. As she currently stands she would fall under the VGU (Visual & Gameplay Update), which pretty much means "full relaunch", but we don't use that term any more. Chances are we'd approach her as that sorta chunk. Similar to previous VGU's. Now.. that COULD change, but my bet is that we'd save the two (or three, depending on theme changes) to be, as you've said, a relaunch.

  • What do YOU think Irelia's theme is or should be, visually or in-game? Does the way you envision her match with the way she's portrayed now?

I think she's a bit dopey, but honestly I love the idea of Irellia. Unobtanium blade wielding telekinetic ionian genera? Fucking sweet. Let's make her legit! Maybe I'm boring but I'd just like to see that solidified. I have a concept floating around (which may or may not be the final, who knows) which takes some aesthetics from Karma and Yasuo and merges them in order to get Irelia, a young, fiery, headstrong Ionian military commander. Not sure if what I've got on paper will stay, but it's where we'll start.

  • Do you have any plans for Ionia at large, in terms of visual theming and cohesion? Most of the Ionian champions vary widely in terms of looks, from bright pastel ninjas like Akali and Kennen, to heavily-armored warriors like Irelia and Zed (he's wearing light armor, but he has quite a lot of it on).

  • Relating to my last question, what kind of relations would you like Irelia to have with other League champions, namely other Ionians or enemy Noxians? I would imagine she wouldn't think too highly of Yasuo or Darius, for example.

I'm not sure about Ionia in general, but we'd probably end up visiting her corner or it when we address her specifically.

  • Are there any Irelia skins on the pipeline for once a VU is done? I know you guys are wont to make skins for champions who are on the pipeline for VUs, since it's more work for no reason, on an inferior rig and model, no less. What are some skin options you could explore with Irelia, and have done any concepting for them already?

There's at least one that comes to mind that's concepted but I'm not sure it's really dependent on her VU. She's not in terrible art shape, she's just unhealthy for the game.. or so I hear.. She might get a skin before a VGU

  • Lastly, and I'm leaving this at the bottom because it's not Irelia-related, but how much will Shen change were he to receive a VU? He's portrayed as a tank in-game, yet visually, he's the exact opposite of a tank. How would you go about bringing Shen's tank identity forward, without overpowering his ninja identity, and vice-versa?

http://i.imgur.com/90s8ulv.jpg

I've attached an Irelia picture for some eye candy. Seriously; why isn't this her splash art over in the States? I know you guys don't like using the Chinese art for champions on other servers, but come ON. That art is friggin' gorgeous.

Edit: And I seem to be unable to add attachments. Sigh.

Witch of Orleans7/17/2014, 11:15:54 AM2 votes

I can't wait for Irelia to be ruined on both fronts, aesthetically and from a gameplay perspective.

Because that's what you're in for when you're leaving such things to IronStylus and Morello, respectively.

Edit: Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that I can't wait for them to ruin her lore as well by having some hack poorly rewrite it.

SlashStriker7/16/2014, 2:04:52 PM1 votes

what bothers me about irelia is 2.5 seconds stun which is about 4 basic attacks for free while the stunned wont be able to do anything about it i see this is her escape option but she is using it offensively instead defensively he true damage doesnt scale and its a bit too much early lets say i am master yi where i dont heal using wuju style irelia not only does alot true damage early on but also heals twice as much i think the damage that irelia does should be similar to wuju style that is able to scale late game and i kinda dont understand that irelia gets 15 true damage per rank while wuju style gets 5 true damage per rank the flat difference is 3 times i think her Q needs some buffs

about shen personally i was disappointed when he was released as a tank instead being hyper assassin but thats my personal opinion i think shen fans must decide what they what shen to be but i think if he is suppose to be a tank he must have Tank Armor or something that symbolizes his tankyness right now he looks like he is wearing Cloth Armor instead Heavy Chainmail

Saint Tyrone 7/17/2014, 1:29:37 AM1 votes

Nah, Sion goes first. http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/fancreations/emeGJGYk-sion-rework

loltruth7/17/2014, 9:01:45 PM1 votes

I think Irelia is fine where she is although I'd love to see her ult mana cost scale up. Her ult costs 100 mana which chews up ~1/4 of her mana pool at lvl 6. I'd really like it to scale up like 80/100/120.

The Inspectre7/21/2014, 10:22:28 AM1 votes

From what I understand, any Gameplay updates for Irelia are really far off, and since the Gameplay and Visual updates would likely coincide, is there any chance of a texture update in the meantime?

ManDudeMcDudeman7/16/2014, 5:22:21 AM1 votes

I really wanna bump this, but I don't wanna do it without adding something to the thread...

Whatever. I don't even know if bumping works on these forums...

Thales7/21/2014, 2:40:24 PM1 votes

Would she still be a revenant?

2dsystem7/16/2014, 8:13:46 AM1 votes

Personally, I like her identity as a low health fighter, someone who thrives at that between 25-60% hp. I would like to see her w scale with her own missing health, that is if she keeps her sustain and true damage.

I like the idea of her e stunning targets with more health than her, but for some reason the skill as a whole just seems a little boring, a click to target melee range stun. As for her ult, I could do with something else. I really only find it useful for a little bit of healing in a fight, wave clear, and sheen procs, sheen procs being the most valuable to me out of those three. I dont think its a good thing to have an ultimate that only feels useful when you have a specific item, but maybe other people like the way her ult is.

I dont really feel strongly one way or another about her passive or q. I would like to see them stay, but just the same, if they were traded for something else, i dont think id be too broken up about it. Her built in tenacity is, imo, a core part of her identity, so I would like to see it stay in some part of her kit.

Also, a visual update would be really cool to see :D