The Reforging of Mordekaiser
It's been a while since I last posted a thread on our favorite Metal man, but this one has been in the works for a while now. I initially intended to share this on my Birthday but I simply didn't manage to find the certain something about Mordekaiser's new design that really drove home the theme of this hulking Metal Menace that Riot could be proud of having in their champion roster.
But I'm digressing. This is my personal reimagining of Mordekaiser, a ground up reforging of him as a character, of his aesthetic and his kit. It tries to be the perfect rework that aims to find a new strategic niche for him in League's champion ecosystem while making him more unique to fit Riot's core design philosophy when it comes to champion VGU's.
I divided this thread in three passages:
- Mordekaiser's Visuals and Theme
- Morde's reworked kit
- Visual and Mechanic input on the suggested changes and finally
- Conclusion
So, without further ado, let's get into the reforged Mordekaiser!
https://i.imgur.com/JsFkWEW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/V66p4aT.jpg
Current Mordekaiser is a disgusting blob of polygons. He's neither distinctly designed to fit into League's art style, nor does he have anything really unique that makes him stand out from all the other armoured Overlords in gaming and film.
My redesign tries to fix this by removing most of Mordekaiser's cliche visual queues and some of the goofyness of his design. Mordekaiser currently looks weird, he's overly spiky in an attempt at making him appear "Evil" while also having extremely wonky proportions.
My Mordekaiser is different. I removed most of his random spikes in favor of a sleeker, more subtle design that uses more arched, jagged edges rather than outright slapping "Spikes of Evil" unto literally every piece of Armour he wears.
Instead this overall design could be best described as "Subtly Malevolent" I decided to change Mordekaiser's armour design to be more realistic in a way that there aren't any spikes that might get in the way but instead focused on a incorporating THREE major design elements into his look.
#A) Him being a Necromancer/Wielder of the Dark Arts Mordekaiser isn't simply some big ol' Warlord with heavy armour. No, he's an Overlord, a Villain of Might and Magic. He's a Death Knight that uses vile sorceries and his own physical prowess to completely decimate the opposition to emerge victorious.
This is reflected in the design. Mordekaiser's armour design incorporates monstrous imagery into his armour as seen on the plating on his joints resembling tormented faces and bizarre skulls without being over the top. He has a very ornate design with arched plating that makes him appear more sophisticated, more sleek, as opposed to the overly burly designs of Darius and Garen.
His Sorcerous potential is also shown by his mantle; Having chosen to give him a design that looks very mage-like while still portraying him as extremely resilient; A Warlock of sorts. He has a Veil of Chain Mail draped over his back and shoulders while also having two sashes cascade from his front, joined by a voluminous cape on his back.
And most importantly; The gaping maw of his spellcasting glove, the literal gauntlet of his power, weaving the fabric of life and death to serve him!
In sum, I decided to make Mordekaiser's design give important hints at his magic potential by making him look similar to a sorceror in terms of how his armour is shaped.
#B) A feeling of Royalty! Mordekaiser is THE Murder Emperor. The Monarch of Misery The Duke of Destruction The Marquis of Malevolence
He is a Conqueror and he ruled with a literal iron fist. This is also reflected in his new look by making him carry himself high and wearing very ornate armour, and of course a very royal looking cape. It has FOUR layers, emerging from the distinguishing, massive Shoulder piece that forms the literal backbone of his new design.
Mordekaiser should look top heavy, a King marching into battle as he looks down on everything. All just pawns in his eternal game of conquest.
But what really drives home the message of his sinister royalty: The Iron Crown
Mordekaiser's iconic horns have been repurposed into a metallic crown, a true display of his superiority and position as an Emperor. It forms a jagged crown resting on his grim visor to serve as a reminder that he IS destined to rule, to subjugate, to conquer.
And finally #C) Nightfall Mordekaiser's signature weapon is Nightfall, his ensorcelled mace. His Scepter of Suffering.
Nightfall in my design merges Morde's strength of Dark Sorceries and physical might by changing his weapon to resemble both a destructive tool of war and a mage's scepter. It looks heavy and brutal in its jagged design but is still kept in the signature style of stylized monstrous visages.
And most importantly, its jaws can unhinge to form a flail! But more to that later!
#Summing up! Chain Mail Veil! Conqueror's Mantle Massive shoulder pads that form a distinctive silhouette *Nightfall Jagged Iron Crown Wispy Beacons of tormented souls flickering on his pauldrons
All serving as a means of making Mordekaiser look unique!
#A Kit to rule them all!
Passive: Iron Man
Siphon of Destruction: After 15/10/5 spellcasts (at levels 1/6/11), Mordekaiser’s next spell heals him for 0.2 AP + 0.2 AD + 10% of his bonus health, for each enemy champion struck. If the value exceeds his maximum health, he instead shields himself for the excess value. The shield decays for 4% of its strength per second.
Heavy Boots of Lead: Mordekaiser cannot be slowed, nor gain any form of Movement speed buffs that exceed the value of his base and boots. Homestart being the only excpetion. The % of the slow is instead applied as % Bonus or negative ad calculated off his BASE Attack damage.
Q: Mace of Spades Cast range: 450
After a brief delay, Mordekaiser swings Nightfall in an Arch in front of him, dealing additional damage to units struck by the mace’s head. If Mordekaiser hits a champion unit with the outer part, Nightfall assumes the form of a Flail, increasing his attack range by 200 and dealing additional on hit damage for the next 3/3/4/4/5 attacks.
Damage; 75/125/175/225/275+0.6AP +0.6 AD The outer portion deals 33% increased damage up to 365+0.8AP+0.8 AD Passive damage on hit; 10/20/30/40/50+0.2AP +120% AD
W: Harvester of Sorrow Cast range: 1000
Mordekaiser conjures a raging Metal storm around himself and an allied unit of his choosing. The shroud deals continuous magic damage in its AOE and upon reactivation drains the afflicted area for a burst of damage, healing Mordekaiser for all the damage dealt to champions and monsters by this effect.
Maximum damage (5 seconds): 350+0.75 AP +0.5 AD Reactivation damage: 100+0.3AP +0.2 AD
E: Cemetary Gates Cast range: 550
Mordekaiser hurls a necromantic projectile in a line, damaging everything it passes through for reduced damage (Minimum of 33%). Upon reaching its maximum distance or an enemy champion, an arch of metallic spikes erupt from the ground, entombing the afflicted unit. Champions may pass through the wall but have their magic resistance and movement speed reduced by 25% and 50% respectively.
Javelin damage: 100/135/190/245/290 +0.6 AP +0.3 AD
R: Master of Puppets
Cast range: 400
Mordekaiser reaches out in a line, grabbing hold of the first enemy champion struck as he begins siphoning the enemy’s lifeforce. The affected unit is unable to use movement effects but may cast Spells and Auto attack normally. Over the course of 2 seconds Mordekaiser drains the enemy’s champion’s health, healing himself for the same amount until the end of the channel. If he is allowed to do so without dying, Moredkaiser discards his enemy and conjures a spectral thrall with their essence.
Health siphoned: 20/25/30% + 1.5% per 100Ap + 1.5% per 100 ToAD
The Summoned spectral image gains the amount of HP Morde siphoned from his target as health, as well as 50% of Morde’s bonus health. Its attacks deal 75/125/175 +0.3 AP +0.3 AD damage
Upon losing half its health the unstable essence erupts in witchfire, gaining attack and movement speed and a lingering AoE damage mantle for half its AA damage that slows surrounding enemies.
#The Context
Passive: Iron Man
Mordekaiser's new kit tries to truly deliver on his core theme of this vile presence on the Battlefield. A conquering Juggernaut that you can see from miles away and if not sufficiently prepared, WILL destroy you!
His passive serves to do just that; Heavy Boots of Lead serving as Mordekaiser's main enabler as a slowly approaching threat. It allows him to survive in modern League of Legends where a teamfight's shaped by stray AoE slows being flung around left right and center. And still, it makes him affected by Movement speed in a way that still leaves quite an impact on him!
By having his Attack damage changed by a portion of his base AD, Mordekaiser's damage can be impaired by heavy slows while speedups make him hurt more. As so many champions have their base stats kept low in order to favor strong mechanics, Mordekaiser would still retain his LOW MS of 325, maybe even kept lower to truly make sure he can deliver on this fantasy!
Mordekaiser IS Iron man, and should be encouraged to duke it out in the midst of the enemy team. Siphon of Destruction is his old passive, but made fairer and less hit or miss early game. Currently Mordekaiser just brick walls lanes...or he doesn't.
Iron Man is extremely binary and ditching it for more windowed power will bring him in line in terms of langing prowess while still keeping him a durable damage carry in later stages of the game!
In terms of visual style, Iron Man's shield would cause Mordekaiser would emit a vile glow, an aura of dread, depicted as his wispy Witchfire glowing more intently whenever his passive is ready. The shield would still look similar to the current one as a barrier of indomitable will manifested as a dark cyan colour
Q: Mace of Spades Mordekaiser is supposed to be somewhat of a carry champion and Mace of Spades enables him to contribute to the fight in meaningful ways even if not directly in melee range. Mordekaiser already plays a lot like a mage, and this change enables him to dish out damage from a moderate range (his AA range being a whole 400) when successfully hitting the first, devastating strike.
This is Morde's bread and butter damaging tool in later stages of the game where he's supposed to contribute to his team's damage output
Visually speaking, Mordekaiser's going to lash out with Nigthfall, a heavy AoE Swing like the Sauron uses in the LoTR opening! The cool part though, is Nightfall's jaw unhinging if he strikes a champion, revealing the chain attaching the mace's head to its handle as Mordekaiser does his best Witch king impression and swings around a massive flail!
W: Harvester of Sorrow Every Morde main I asked, myself included, loves the current W except its ally requirement. So I decided to keep this spell functionally the same, keeping some of ol' Morde in tact!
This would still be his iconic "Metal Storm", a malignant aura of metal shards circling him, yet more numerous and violent than the current wispy W effects! The reactivation drain would have him emit a shockwave as he sheds his metal mantle, impaling everything caught in the blast radius and siphoning their health
E: Cemetary gates Mordekaiser NEEDS CC in order to have some base line utility for his team. This spell enables him to force enemies to fight him, or have them punished for trying to flee.
You can avoid the MR shred and slow entirely by staying in the conjured cage but doing so might put you at risk from getting struck by Mace of Spades' outer perimeter.
Mordekaiser would conjure a metallic projectile, a Javelin formed of darkened metal and gleaming with sorcerous power as he hurls it in a line. The conjured cage would be a metal spikes erupting from the ground, held together by wailing souls that lash out at anything brave, or foolish enough to try passing through them!
R: Master of Puppets Old Children of the grave was problematic. It relied heavily on two things. A) Morde actually KILLING the enemy
and B) How strong the enemy was, or who you actually got to kill. An adc clone could make or break a game, and depending how fed they were they were either overbearing or useless.
This ultimate tries to remedy that, making Mordekaiser reach out to grab a hold of an enemy champion as he drains their HP, retaining CotG's survivability while also giving Mordekaiser some more much needed utility. The CC works similarly to a root or a skarner ultimate without the strong CC component.
It being a skillshot allows it to have more power put into and creates a very interesting scenario where Mordekaiser grabs a hold of the enemy champion. The other 8 players can now either try collapsing on Mordekaiser and killing him as he literally stands still trying to choke the life out of that poor soul, or have his team protect him while he does so.
The stats are based on Morde's own, making it scale as time goes on and not behave in such a weird way depending on who you got to clone!
The thrall is arguably less powerful but keeps Mordekaiser's necromantic theme in tact.
This is Mordekaiser's high moment. His entire form would pulse with malicious intent as he'd take two steps forward, marching menancingly as he grabs a hold of an enemy champion, lifting them up as he siphons their soul, having this constant drain of their life force as it pools into his gauntlet's maw!
Phew, this might be one of my longest threads to date, I TRIED keeping it short and reserved a lot if it to just get answered in the comments. I tried creating a version of Mordekaiser that has a strategic niche in League of Legends and would feel rewarding and satisfying to play while giving enemies more ways to play around him.
In terms of visuals I tried recreating League's somewhat exaggerated art style while going for a design that would look unique and make Mordekaiser instantly recognizable by his silhouette alone!
Anyhow, i think I talked enough, I'd love to hear your own thoughts on this!
-Malicious Metal
