Ability Concept for Nunu's eventual VGU

It would be cool if he had to roll up the chunk of snow and ice that he throws at enemies with his Ice Blast by walking around. Like, you press E and a snow ball appears in front of him and while you walk around the snowball keeps rolling and keeps getting bigger and bigger until a limit.

You could limit its size through various means.

• Stats: Mana Cost per second, Health, Size
• Terrain: Something similar to Taliyah's worked ground.
• Movement: 1) The Snowball slows him down as it grows bigger until a limit when he's rooted. The slow could be based on stats as well. 2) He can only increase the snowball's size when he walks in a straight line (this also works with Movement 1).

Then, when he's done making it he has a few seconds to throw it. During that time he holds it up over his head. It could still slow him during this time or it could just completely root him (which would make for interesting gameplay with Terrain or Movement 2). But he could also just walk around normally then.

Depending on the snowball's size the Ice Blast is stronger.

It would also be interesting if Nunu rolled up snowballs on his own that then lie around on the map and Willump could pick them up and throw them. Like Nunu detaches from Willump and runs around. If the enemies damage him enough he runs back to Nunu in fear. Willump can also roll up a larger snowball, but only one at a time and it slows him and he can't attack during that time while Nunu can make a bunch of smaller ones around the lane that he can just walk up to and throw. I don't think enemies should be able to destroy Snowballs because in addition to damaging Nunu and Willlump having to walk up to the snowballs anyways (well telegraphed) that would offer too much counterplay. If Riot decided that they should be breakable or that damaging Nunu doesn't work out, snowballs could be destroyed with basic attacks (2 -- 5 Health for ranged, 1 -- 3 Health for melee?) or by standing on them.

Nunu would have to have a pretty good AI, then. Otherwise you would have to control him with an ability which defeats the purpose of the random location counterplay the snowballs would have (which would then lead to the Snowballs having Health so they can be destroyed to ensure counterplay). If you could control Nunu it could be an ability, e.g. : Press E on location -> Nunu hops off and starts rolling a snowball towards that location -> when he's done he comes back to Nunu; if he's damaged by enemies he runs back to Nunu instead and the snowball is destroyed.

For Willump to be able to roll up Snowballs Nunu would have to be away or on cooldown. Or would it be two separate abilities? Or would it be one ability with two separate command options (alt+E and E)? Would he be able to let the snowball lying around? Could it be a passive ability (No, I doubt that. It wouldn't be as fun if he only did it out of combat or after not attacking for a few seconds).

While Nunu is on Willump's back he could have a little extra Health (only a little, Nunu's a kid) like Kled and Scarl. In this case Nunu would be scarl. If his Health was before Willump's Health it would mean Nunu can only hop off to roll snowballs if he still has Health. However, Nunu would also regenerate Health like Scarl which would give Nunu a Malphite passive. If Nunu's Health came after Willump's it would give him a Sion-esque passive. But instead of an Undead-Juggernaut you have a really fast kid with barely and Health who rolls up tiny snowballs and throws them at you. Nunu would switch from Bot to playable character in this case which might be a bit awkward to play. And how would this passive be resolved? Would he live until Willump's Death Timer is over and have to go back to hop back on Willump's back? Could you then play as Nunu all game long if you just don't ever go back to the fountain? Would you eventually be forced to go back? I think the second option (Nunu's Health after Willump's) might be worth exploring, but the first seems like an easier solution and a simpler concept (Nunu is supposed to be a simple champ, too).

Anyways, this snowball concept would turn lane Nunu into a hoarder who hoards up say, max. 3 (?) snowballs near his Marksman that he can pick up and throw at enemies to peel his Marksman if he he needs to. That would make champions like Leona and Zyra effective against him who can constantly engage and force him to trade so he doesn't have time to prepare.

And Jungle Nunu could hoard snowballs in places near the enemy's jungle entrance or river so he has an escape option after counter-jungling. Nunu would roll up snowballs while Willump's killing the Scuttle Crab. But if Nunu's caught Willump loses some of his total Health because Nunu doesn't have the Resistances of Willump (risk-reward?).

I wonder how this would work out in the mid to late game though, because he might not have time to prepare snowballs then. Solo Lanes would be interesting, too.

As a Warden, the slow would have to be high enough to be useful even with a tiny snowball (that wasn't rolled up at all --> double cast for instant throwing) but not so effective that he doesn't care about preparing. Maybe the slow could be satisfying after 1 second of rolling up so it's like Sion's Q during fights (he wouldn't be able to auto-attack then; Blood Boil could increase the rolling speed). Support Nunu would rank up Ice Blast first for more quick-roll or instant cast damage, but Jungle Nunu's fully rolled Snowballs would also deal a lot of damage and have a high snow so he can still gank (does that mean roll-up damage increased with Health and base damage with rank?). Maybe Support Nunu could also increase Blood Boil first.

If Willump is hard-CCed while rolling a snowball beneath 1 stacks it disappears. Above 1 stack it is "finished" and Willump automatically picks it up after the CC ends. He can't increase it anymore. If Nunu is hard-CCed while rolling a snowball it disappears. When the CC ends he runs back to Nunu.

Snowballs with a certain amount of stacks drop chunks randomly nearby when they hit enemy champions or monsters. If Willump rolls a snowball over a chunk the snowball gains a boost in size. If a snowball misses it just disappears. No chunks (no rewards for failure). Snowballs damage and slow the first enemy hit. Only medium-sized ones have AoE damage. It wouldn't have to be a skill shot, though. The roll-up concept already requires enough skill and dedication, so he should be allow to just point and click.

Snowballs with max stacks (like an eternity of rolling) can't be picked up or thrown anymore but become solid-terrain for allies and enemies. Enemies near it are slowed (like a melee ranged, extremely long channel time, slightly larger Trundle W). But Nunu would have the option of rolling up a massive snowball behind an enemy and then using his ult while they are caught. Or he could use it to seal off certain passages to help his teammates escape. While rolling anyone can still move through the snowball though. It's as if Willump had a slightly bigger model. Maybe nearby enemies could be slowed while rolling a massive snowball?

Nunu could only roll up snowballs up to 1 stack (just enough for a decent slow and a chunk to drop). Willump can roll up to 4 stacks but he always has to throw it right away (unless he's CC-ed).

So the stages are

1. Tiny: Instant Cast, decent, but short and decaying slow, low damage. Visually just a small chunk of ice without any snow around it.
2. Small: Short rolling time. Reliable slow. Same damage as 1. Drops 1 chunk. Can be made by Nunu and left lying around.
3. Medium: Longer rolling time. Stronger slow. Increased AoE damage. Drops 2 chunks. Needs to be thrown right away. Can only be made by Willump.
4. Massive: Really long rolling time. AoE slow while rolling. No damage. Can't be thrown. Forms impassable terrain that slows nearby enemies when done. When the impassible is destroyed it drops 1 chunk where it stood. Can only be made by Willump.

Willump has a small cooldown in between throwing snowballs. He either picks them up by walking over them or using an ability. I think I prefer walking over them because he already needs the ability to control Nunu or to start rolling snowballs and cancel rolling them. Stage 1 snowballs disappear after a time or if Nunu makes a 4th one.

This has pretty much been a stream of thought, but I hope I got everything important.