Rework concept: Rammus, the Armordillo
TL;DR: I decided to add some sauce to the Armordillo. Make sure you read through if you are interested.
Inspired (yet again) by Stonewall's video, I decided to think up an improvement for one of the most iconic champions of jungle's past. I've always been bemused by the barebones representation of Rammus's character. I feel like his engage is one of the most fun to execute, but it doesn't feel as rewarding as it could. His jungling doesn't feel good either, so that's another weak point we could cover.
Let's move on to the idea:
Passive – Powerball Passive 1: Rammus has bonus AD equal to a small portion of his armor. Passive 2: Rammus gains momentum while moving, gradually increasing his movement speed. After reaching a certain point, Rammus curls into a powerball. The next melee attack while rolling expends the momentum, dealing increased physical damage based on the movement speed, knocking the target back and stunning it afterwards (á la Heca E + weak, single target Ali Q effect). The Rammus's iconic spell could easily become his iconic passive. This would keep the engage power as well as making its main utility independent on mana. It also opens up a window (imo) for a pretty sweet interaction...
Q – Shell Smash (short cooldown) Rammus smashes his body to the ground, dealing physical damage in an area around him. If rolling, Rammus jumps a very short distance in the direction he was moving at at the moment of activation, dealing increased damage, knocking up and then stunning all targets in the impact area (not unlike Ali Q). Note: Using Shell Smash resets the momentum passive. See the interaction? Rammus's ganks could become even more impactful_ if comboed cleverly with his passive. Aside from the obvious use, Shell Smash would also solve Rammus's clearing problems by giving him an easily usable minor AoE._
W – Bastion passive Passive: When damaging an enemy (champion or large monster) with a basic attack or when damaged by an enemy's (ditto as previous bracket) basic attack, Rammus gains a charge of Bastion. At ten stacks, Rammus gains bonus armor and MR and deals magic damage to enemies whenever they use basic attacks against him until he remains out of combat for some time. I was reluctant to changing this ability, but then I realised how uninteractive the ability has been. My iteration might not seem any more interactive, but Rammus actually has to think proactively to activate it now. The reward is now more worthwhile, as it doesn't simply dissipate in the middle of a fight. It should also help Rammus with downing larger monsters.
E – Puncturing Taunt (medium cooldown) When activated, Rammus gains increased attack range and his next basic attack punctures his target, reducing its armor and taunting it. Not actually too much of a change, except Rammus now needs to make it personal. The range on his current taunt wasn't actually that great either, so why not add a mild synergy with his other abilities? [Yes, you can cast and queue up E while rolling, but expect no mass taunt if you finish with Q Slam]
R – Tremors (long cooldown) Remains the same. While not one of the flashiest, Rammus's ultimate is actually fun to use, especially considering the damage it deals to towers. For now, I would leave the ultimate be, as it actually synergized with this kit.
Overall context: In my iteration, Rammus turns into a monstrous ganker, a roamer with fearsome initiation and decent objective control. While his engage is by far not the safest, a successful slam into the enemy team can really reward a reactive team. What he lacks in safety he makes up for with brute force. Focusing him will punish unaware teams, while a skilled counter-reaction can prevent the incoming disaster.
Constructive opinions welcome! As long as you keep it civilised, feel free to criticise or opine as much as you want. Also please remember that downvoting the first post unfortunately downvotes the entire thread: If you don't like my idea, but are interested in tweaking Rammus, please use the poll I attached below. Those who don't want to comment, but would like to voice their opinion can use the poll as well.
Changelog:
- Updated Q's wording for clarity [10/28/2015]
