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Class Reworks and Champion Fantasies: Who fulfills your fantasy through gameplay?

Jerry Temporary·5/11/2017, 4:36:14 PM·3 votes·913 views

At this point, it is common knowledge that class reworks recieve a very mixed reception here on the boards. Often times this is a result of changing a champion's identity and the player fantasy they fulfull. However, I'm not a big fan of complaining, so with this discussion I want to hear about your favorite champions and how they fit your fantasy and why the do it so well. It is important for our friends at Rito know what they do well if we want them to do more of it with future reworks.

For example: Alistar is my favorite champion because he does an excellent job of fulfilling my fantasy of being a nigh on indestructible tank who uses his abilities to serve his team and call shots, just as his noble (albiet fairly outdated) backstory as a leader suggests. He does this well with his signature W Q combo that can make plays for your team, and gimp any careless opponents play. His passive roar and aoe heal makes me feel like I can inspire my teammates as well as making myself feel more tenacious. Alistar's ult is the icing on the cake as it makes Alistar among the most tanky champions in the game, allowing me to wade deep into a fight to put myself between my team and the danger. Alistar's E rework was great because it reinforced his identity as a playmaker and leader and relegated his role as a heal bot to second fiddle. While his animations, lore, and maybe voicework could use a little modernization, I think Alistar is a prime example of a champion who has a clear identity that has only gotten better at fulfilling a fantasy with age.

Edit: you can look at other games for characters to do this well. It is important to learn from other's success.

11 Comments

KoKoboto5/11/2017, 7:17:53 PM3 votes

For reworks and my favourite champions Quinn: No Talon: Yes really good, I feel his ultimate should be damage in parts rather than getting hit by one blade just so it feels nicer gameplay wise. Zyra: More plants are awesome but I feel Zyra and the player should be in full control of the plants.

In general Janna: Gameplay wise I just play her as Moses with full AP which feels amazing. I guess with the new lore and how her presence in the world seems directly related to how many people believe in her, the people who have faith in my build often means a win for us. My win rate with a full AP Janna support is really high, I have no idea why. Rito never went into detail about what her gameplay identity is but it's pretty obvious it's disengage support and I think she has great disengage so, its great. Tahm Kench: The River King is an amazing champion with unique strengths as a support that make sense for a demon. His unique gameplay works as a support and make him feel like a demon, something unnatural. He isn't just a support but also a threat, you disrespect the demon and you can find yourself getting eaten.

Shahamut5/11/2017, 5:06:10 PM2 votes

I have 2:

Yasuo: I have personally always loved the wind. I wanted to study weather at one point for the sole purpose of storm chasing. In the fantasy realm, it always carried with it an affinity for speed subtle power as well as the potential for horrifying displays of wrath. I also have always loved eastern culture, Japan in particular. So, when a wind powered katana wielding warrior emerged, I was sold.

Skarner is, in my mind a ferocious hunter/protector, but is also an old/wise sage. Ancient, lost magic and power and untold knowledge is super cool. The fact he is a scorpion is icing. Don't mess with the old people, ya don't know what they know.

Variks the Loyal5/11/2017, 5:49:27 PM2 votes

Skarner

As much as people disparage his current state of being, I love and always have loved Skarner, and I do think he fits his fantasy very well. Skarner to me is 'inevitability' personified. 75% of the time, if you run from Skarner, he will close the gap and reach you. Riot said one of the main goals of Skarner is to feel like an unstoppable predator that chases you endlessly and drags you to hell. A super-persistent predator. And like it or not, the spires actually fit into his lore a little bit; he's claiming lifestones for himself, and his enemies take them away from him. If you get on top of an enemy as Skarner, you rip them to shreds, but part of the fantasy is in running them down, similar to other Juggernauts like Volibear and Udyr. It's also worth noting that his lonely, melancholy VO fits super well with real-life scorpions, who are extremely shy creatures that just want to dig underground and stay there.

Renekton

The visuals and VO of Renekton work perfectly with his combo oriented playstyle. While Renekton is a savage, mad, rampaging beast of an Ascended being, there is a measure of disciplined skill below the gnashing crocodile teeth and massive crescent axe. This suits his lore, in which he was described as a natural fighter that used the discipline of the Shuriman military to temper his brutality. That sense of skill is still present in his playstyle, because as the player you execute very precise and fast combos, using Tiamat and his ultimate to animation cancel. To onlookers or those unfamilar with Renekton, he looks and sounds like an enraged monster hellbent on just cutting through anything that's close to him. His E is also very appropriate for a crocodile-Ascended; everyone knows of the iconic Death Roll that crocodiles use to rip their prey to shreds.

Rengar

Rengar, to me, has always been the 'bruiser' of the Assassins. While he's meant to function like an Assassin, he's played almost similarly to a Diver, sticking into a fight instead of retreating after bursting a target. His new Battle Roar especially makes him feel like a savage fighter that's invigorated by the mere thrill of combat, using that thrill alone to sustain himself. The Bonetooth Necklace also feels very unique, since it requires you to hunt down and kill every individual member of the enemy team, no matter how weak or strong they are. Maybe it's just me, but the ultimate doesn't feel like a mere zoning tool; using it to flank when a teamfight breaks out or to sneak up upon an unlucky squishy alone in a side lane feels fantastic, like you're stalking the beast that got too bold and strayed too far from it's herd.

HalcyonDweller5/11/2017, 6:24:52 PM1 votes

Xerath Xerath does such a good job of fulfilling the artillery mage fantasy.

Most of his abilities have delay / anticipation with a heavy hitting animation at the end. This is so goddamn satisfying to hit, while also giving opponents time to predict and react (usually - I'm not counting when he is hiding in the fog of war or lands a pick with his stun).

Plus the concept of channeling all of the sparking arcane energy within his body into bursts of energy that shoot out from him is really cool.

The way he gives up mobility to charge his Q or cast his ult really ices the cake because it's like hes using all his energy for that now instead of moving.

Volibear Boss5/12/2017, 2:26:54 AM1 votes

Volibear Fulfills my fantasy of a very tanky champions, who can yet 1v1 most other champions, also he is a badass bear who doesnt give a fuck and flash flips in teamfights.

Ralanr5/11/2017, 4:42:05 PM1 votes

Sion fufills his fantasy of being this undead war machine with the slow and telegraphed Q and the large amounts of AoE on all of his abilities which strengthen the image of him constantly fighting multiple targets at once.

Basically Sion doesn't really target you (beyond his E), he targets the area you stand in and doesn't really need to worry about missing. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but it's how I like to see it.

His VO is just icing on the cake.

http://i.imgur.com/6f38ydA.png

I have similar feelings about Warwick and Galio, but I mainly wanted to talk about Sion.

Really when it comes to gameplay fantasies, full VGU's are much better than class updates.

Forhonor3215/12/2017, 5:57:13 PM1 votes

Kled

Now while I don't play him as often as I should, I really do feel like he fulfills the fantasy of this crazed- hallucinating mounted, soldier/general/admiral/etc that constantly wants to advance and almost never feel like you should surrender and retreat. When he's mounted, you charge at opponents and lead your allies (or in most cases yourself) into a glorious charge against the enemy. When unmounted, you still feel like you want to go in with nothing but your blade and gun to try and kill the enemy and continue the assault. He's hands down my favorite when it comes to theme. Bonus points for his VO and excessive swearing.

Other honorable mentions:

Shyvana

Shyvana, at least to me, does bring a good feeling of being this half-being who can transform into a pretty terrifying dragon, mostly due to her dragon form but that's about it. When you activate your ult and fly in as a dragon, I feel powerful, scary, ferocious, everything a dragon needs to feel like. I breath fireballs, I claw at everything in front of me, it just feels cool and statisfying. But outside of those few things it kind of falls flat. Her new passive I don't really like too much, even though it plays on her lore and theme of being this half-breed abomination to all dragons and She really does the part of being a dragon fairly well, while the other half just is a little lacking for me.

RekSai

Rek'Sai pretty much fills in the role of a land shark. She doesn't have any actual spoken dialogue, you have sonar vision while burrowed, you make tunnels to bypass wall/travel, and knock people up like a great white when hunting for food. Pretty accurate to what land sharks are but isn't as strong as Kled's theme.

OurLestrade5/11/2017, 5:46:59 PM1 votes

Yet to get my manly "Noxian Sergeant support who's in complete control of bot and will make his ADC strong the hard way rather than being a whip boy shield/heal dispenser" fantasy down, but the closest there is so far is Taric. He can stand on his own in fights, and when I play him I feel less like I'm prancing around for my lane partner to do the work and more like I'm fighting alongside them as an equal.

Azureee5/11/2017, 5:57:34 PM1 votes

The OLD PRE-REWORK Leblanc fit the fantasy off a mobile bursty feared leader, she was so cool and I loved juking/deceiving with the old passive and doing AoE damage with distortion. She was in ur face and was feared ingame, as the leader of the black rose should be. Now she plays like a le epic memer xD and isn't what I signed up for.

Camille is a badass mobile fighter, has an awesome backstory and fits everything I had wanted in a champion. Love to play her so much.

Rumble with the Super Galaxy Skin is like a pacific rim hero coming to save the team with his weapons, over the topness and exaggerated voice lines, he is gr8!