Stats Concepts - Energy: Fortitude//Stamina/Mana/Fury

As a disclaimer: I am not suggesting these stats as a solution to any current problems in League, or as a suggestion for imminent improvement. I do suggest them in the hopes that they might be implemented someday, but right now, there're only a concept I want to share.

Also, I'm just lobbing these two different systems (Fortitude vs. the Rest) together because I based them on the same concept. So please do regard them separately.
One system alone might increase complexity by a little. Both of them together would increase it immensely.

#Energy and Fortitude

Energy is an interactive factor that limits the value and use of other stats and champion abilities similar to the current Mana system.

Energy limits more aspects than Mana and thus makes the game more complicated (---> it reduces clarity), but it also makes the game more balanceable, and allows for a deeper classification of roles and playstyles (--> increases diversity and player decisions).

For example, Armor now has a small, nondescript bar before its value:

This is the Fortitude bar (name pending). It can be increased with an undecided stat system and regenerates either percentage-wise or with another stat (though that would be even more complicated). It regenerates more slowly in combat.

When you take damage, the bar decreases:

As long as the bar lasts, your Armor still applies and damage is decreased following the current system.
However, as soon as it reaches 0 your Armor 'breaks' (the Shield on the HUD cracks and only the base Armor is shown) and Fortitude does not regenerate for a few seconds. Now, only your base Armor is applied during damage reduction.
(OR only base Armor + a percentage of bonus Armor; the goal is that Armor is reduced). This means that the more Fortitude you have, the longer you can apply bonus Armor.

It also means Armor can be a more leisurely stat. Damage items intended for carries can have it more easily (Zhonia's Hourglass). But for carries it will not last forever. If the enemies can whittle down their Fortitude, they will become extremely squishy targets.

The Armor growth stat now counts as bonus Armor. A minimum base Armor would be given. The amount of Fortitude damage decreases is based on the raw amount of physical damage dealt. There are minimum and maximum values, though (e.g. basic attacks reduce Fortitude by at least 10 and at most 10% of maximum Fortitude). This is to ensure Tanks can whittle down Carries' Fortitude as well, and that Armor doesn't affect Fortitude reduction (which would cause the two to be self-multiplying in value).

Armor and Magic Resistance do not share Fortitude bars, but they do share the stat. So if you are up against 5 ADs and you invest into a high amount of Fortitude, you will be wasting 50% of the stat on Magic Resistance you do not need. I believe this is just healthier for the game, as if Tanks stacked only Fortitude and Armor (and Fortitude only applied to Armor) they could shut down physical damage.

And to clarify: Physical damage reduces Armor's Fortitude bar, magic damage reduces MR's Fortitude bar. There could, of course, be UNIQUE effects that only increase one of the two or so.

tl;dr - Fortitude : It makes Armor an interactive stat that can now be bought by anyone, but only be utilitized to its highest efficiency by those that invest into being tanky.

Also, it promotes strategic play around how much Fortitude you have at the moment, poke, burst (more on that later), et cetera, et cetera, all interact with it. But the main goal is above. The investment thingy.

#Stamina and Mana

Stamina functions almost exactly like Mana does now, but on a more radical scale similar to the current Energy. It's a mix of the two. Stamina regenerates extremely quickly. Maximum Stamina and Stamina regeneration can both be increased with items or by other means. Abilities consume Stamina. If you don't have enough Stamina, you cannot use an ability.

Overall, it is a somewhat boring stat that limits the amount of abilities you can toss out in quick succession or in longer fights. Stamina regenerates evenly in and out of combat, but each time you use an ability the regeneration pauses for a bit before it commences. This stacks up to two times.

This seems like a buff for Mages and a lot of other champions at first, but ...

I say at least, because Mana is not be a base stat, and Ability Power would no longer be a thing.

Most champions would have high Stamina costs in the early game. Enough so that they can cast one or two abilities before having to wait a spell to cast the next one.

This not only inhibits Mage combos if they wish to poke at the same time (--> you might not be able to use opportunities if you don't have the Stamina to cast spells), but it also creates bubbles of opportunity Assassins and Junglers can use to advance on their opponent. So Mages would not innately be buffed, their play pattern would be changed to that of a strategists.

And secondly, since Ability is no longer a thing Mages' abilities (and a lot of others', too) would scale with Mana, meaning that Mages' poke (and I intend poke only) would not be as powerful in the laning phase.

If you are thinking of our ninjas and their poke now, Stamina would not be as drastic as that. It is the middle ground between Energy and Mana, and there are those regeneration pauses after casting. So no thousand shurikens and dashes for all champions.

Mana is similar to Stamina in that the stats' value and exchange are identical. An ability that costs 60 Stamina will cost 60 Mana. This eases out some balancing problems. The differences between the two are that Mana regenerates extremely slowly in combat, and increased based on missing Mana when you haven't received any damage for the last X seconds (including DOTs).

So if you have Mana in lane (you bought a Mana Crystal or so) you have a spell of 3 empowered abilities maybe, that deal heightened damage or have a stronger shield. The strategic problem is that Mana is consumed first before Stamina. Only if your Mana is empty or empties itself with a spell will your Stamina be tapped. So your first three spells are empowered. Then you have to wait for your Mana to regenerate, or play passively for a while.

If your Mana reaches 0, similarly to Armor, it 'breaks' and only starts to regenerate again if you have not received any damage for the last 5 seconds, When it does start to regenerate, you cannot tap it for a few seconds. This goes on until your stamina is full. For example: Mana breaks --> I play passively --> 5 seconds pass -> I use stamina --> ~2 seconds pass in which I cannot use Mana --> another 2 seconds pass in which I have to wait for my stamina to fill up again --> NOW I can use Mana again.

Mana can empower abilities in all sorts of ways, limited only by creativity. One of the two I will promote here is the consumption-based scaling, where Mana-cost increases with and abilities deal bonus damage based on maximum Mana, if they used Mana to be cast. This encourages Mages to be strategic if they want their bonus damage.

The other scaling is just a plain 'percentage of maximum Mana scaling' that can even be tapped when you are using Stamina. This is for things like Bard's shrines, or Zyra's plants, things that should still be strong even if you are using Stamina or cannot be clearly applied to any one Mana expenditure (--> This shrine is stronger than this one, because I used Mana. But it's only stronger by 40 heal, so take it first. Oh, and there is no visual difference between the two. I'll just keep pinging it so you know. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.)

But keep in mind, Mana will often only be used as a buffer for roles like Marksmen and co., so their stamina doesn't deplete as quickly and their abilities are more reliable. They don't want or need scalings that increase based on Mana consumed, but since they invest into the stats on accident, they might want another type of scaling.

There could also be spells that can only consume stamina (--> escape abilities).

---

Ability Power could actually exist alongside Mana, but it defeats the purpose of investing into it for power instead of only sustain. The two would conflict each other, I think. Who knows ... Alternatively, I suggest UNIQUE passives could be added that increase magic-spell damage dealt by a percentage or so.
I doubt playing Katarina with Mana would feel right. Maybe she would have to be given AD-scalings or somehow scale with Stamina.

And lastly, I imagine the visuals to be like our current visuals. You have your Health up top and your recourse bar below. It's yellow at first for Stamina and then it's blue for Mana. There could be a small pause between the two to mind the gap. Mana could be grey-ish while 'broken'.

#Fury

Fury would not replace Stamina on Renekton, Shyvanna, and Tryndamere, nor would it exclude Mana. These three champions would have three recourse bars at once.

The thematic concept of Mana would be that these three's rage is so strong, it stains magic and boils Mana, thus increasing their physical strength (--> Mana is an AD-stat here).

Kit changes would have to be made, but the overall concept is this: Fury is gained in-combat and can stack up to (e.g.) 100. When the Fury bar is full, the Fury 'locks in' for a duration. During this time the champion gains bonus effects; one of which is that they no longer have Stamina costs (--> the stamina bar disappears completely for the duration and is full when the duration ends), the other that the Mana of the champion begins to be boiled instead (--> Mana essentially increases the Fury cap of the champion).

Based on the champion, this causes different effects:

• When locked-in, Shyvanna gains increased resistances (or restores Fortitude? :D). For the duration, she can consume Mana similarly to Mages to enhance her abilities (--> she converts it to fire). Her ultimate would no longer be Fury-reliant. It would lock her in instantly. Oh: Fury champions cannot consume Mana if not locked-in.

• When locked in, Tryndamere gains bonuses to increase his basic attacks' damage output (Attack Speed/Crit chance). He continues to boil his Mana to gain bonus effects, but can only consume it with his heal. His heal no longer consumes Fury. And so Mana isn't mandatory, it now scales with Health.

• Renekton works just like he does now. He can 'lock-in' twice (50/50) and when he does, his next spell consumes Fury to gain bonus effects. His abilities also consume Mana to gain slightly weaker bonus effects. Mana isn't mandatory on him, it's just a nice addition.

tl;dr - Fury: Fury makes these guys into magical Berserkers. Mana is no longer redundant on anyone.

Welp, that's all. Sorry for the mountains of text. Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think.