Mordekaiser; A Gameplay Update
This post will make Mordekaiser more like how he was before the changes (yes, the random ghost dragon will go too, this thing is not balance able). Mordekaiser was not only very fun to play before, but he had a very clear identity as a late game melee metal mage with absurd wave clear; so this is the premise my ideas will be based around. Also the pre-change Mordekaiser only needed very small changes to be in a good spot for the game, and the direction Riot went with was the wrong one (and they are realizing now that is was the wrong one), the only thing they did was upset Mordekaiser players (for good reason too).
Core elements:
- Have Mordekaiser as a late game hyper metal mage with his ghost ultimate.
- Have him more "standard" so no weird EXP mechanics, ghost dragons, or multiplication damage Q
- Have him with very clear weaknesses, like CC prevents him from stacking his shield which makes him die
- Damage = damage and squishy... no damage = tanky, but low damage output; no super tanky and insane damage (his shield will still make him artificially tanky as long as he can upkeep it) [Note; since he is melee he gets temporary defensive abilities, but the point is tank is for tank and ability power is for damage; cannot go tank AND deal a bunch of damage]
These are roughly the main points I will base my concept kit off of; any further questions or concerns then please let me know in the comments and more than likely I will reply to them. Remember nothing here is set in stone!
Basic Attack Range: 175 units Movement: 335 units per second
Iron Man (Passive): Mordekaiser's abilities grant him a shield based on 40% of their damage dealt, 20% against minions, up to a maximum of 20% base health (+10%bonus Health)(+100%AP), the shield decays at a rate of 3% of Mordekaiser's maximum health per second.
Siphon of Destruction grants a minimum of 40% of the shield value if it hits an enemy champion.
Additionally, Spell Vamp and similar effects are always applied in full when dealing damage against enemy champions.
Mace of Spades (Q): Cooldown: 7/5.5/4/2.5/1 second(s); Cost: 20/40/60/80/100 Health; Range: 850 units Mordekaiser throws down his mace to the target location to deal 80/90/100/110/120(+35%AP)(+50%Bonus AD) magic damage to struck enemies and heal himself for 10/15/20/25/30(+15%AP) for every enemy champion struck.
If an enemy is isolated then Mace of Spades deals 120/140/160/180/200(+65%AP)(+80%Bonus AD) magic damage.
Creeping Death (W): Cooldown: 16/14/12/10/8 seconds; Cost: 40/50/60/70/80 Health; Range: 1000 units Mordekaiser magnetizes himself and an ally champion causing metal shrapnel to orbit around the units for the next 5 seconds to deal 30/45/60/75/90(+20%AP) magic damage per second to nearby enemies and granting them 5(+5%AP) bonus armor and magic resist, this bonus doubles when the orbiting metal are touching each other.
Creeping Death can be self-cast.
Siphon of Destruction (E): Cooldown: 6/5.75/5.5/5.25/5 seconds; Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Health; Range: 700 units; Cone: 45 degrees Mordekaiser saps life from the area in the target direction dealing 60/90/120/150/180(+65%AP) magic damage to all enemies struck and capping their movement speed equal to Mordekaiser's current movement speed for the next 2 seconds while stopping dashes one time.
Children of the Grave (R): Cooldown: 130/110/90 seconds; Range: 1200 units; Ghost Tether: 1200 units Passive: Enemy minions that Mordekaiser executes turn into ghost minions for 8/10/12 seconds that act like friendly minions before dying out or being killed. Ghost minions take 50% increased damage against non-turret damage and grant 5 gold if killed by an enemy champion.
Active: Mordekaiser marks a target enemy champion with the child of the grave for the next 10 seconds causing his basic attacks and abilities to deal 6/7/8%(+1% per 33AP) of the target's maximum health as bonus magic damage on-hit to the target and heal himself for the bonus damage dealt. If the target champion dies by any means while still having the child of the grave active on it, then it becomes a ghost copying its attributes for the next 45/60/75 seconds allowing Mordekaiser to control the ghost with holding down the Alt key and Right Clicks.
Mordekaiser gains bonus statistics based on the ghost's statistics: Gain 25% of the target's bonus health Gain 30% of the target's ability power Gain 30% of the target's bonus attack damage converted into ability power
Quick Rundown:
I made it for Mordekaiser has no mobility whatsoever, and he gets tankier by building Ability Power, this is good since it means Mordekaiser will be squishy; but to survive he must be aggressive and using (and of course landing) his abilities on the enemy, and he can easily die if you CC him so he cannot get damage off to build up his shield.
Something I did to make Mordekaiser not frustrating to play against and manage-able in the early game is increase his health costs and then allowed them to heal from champions. What this does is make his wave clearing a little more risky to it in terms of getting him low since abilities deal more self-damage, but not punish him too heavily for wanting to get in the face of the enemy team to scrap with them.
For an immobile mage to get damage off without giving him mobility or significant crowd control (still has none), I decided to give him an unique utility to his Siphon of Destruction (E) that whenever it strikes enemies their movement speed is capped at Mordekaiser's current movement speed for 2 seconds; so this should help him be in a mobile world while being completely immobile himself.
Final point, Children of the Grave! Essentially his active does the same thing, but now the damage is % max health and heal when his basic attacks and abilities deal damage rather than having the damage directly on the spell, other than this the ultimate is the same. This allows for a range buff on the active since it no longer has direct damage and offers better counter play when against Mordekaiser. I have a new passive for it, of course I said ghost Dragon would be removed with my ideas since it cannot be balanced and has no counter play to it (and it is insanely random and irrelevant to him and his kit), but allowing Mordekaiser to siege really well to go with his wave clear is fine and makes sense; so I made it so that enemy minions that Mordekaiser executes grant ghost minons for a short time (obviously he cannot control them) that act like his own minions emphasizing his push and siege strengths without making him overpowered and have a mechanic that is easy to balance (plus make his ultimate useful even if he cannot get champion ghosts in a game).