Kae, The Tempest

I've recently had some fun trying to make class specializations from Dragon Age : Inquisition into LoL champion kits. This my attempt at bringing the Tempest to life in LoL. The hard part for this one is that the Tempest skills don't actually define your playstyle, unlike say the Knight Enchanter. Instead, they merely enhance your other abilities. So how do you replicate this series of self-buffs while also making an interesting champion? Well my solution to this problem was to make all 4 abilities have a secondary activation. The secondary activations are mostly there to make the champion actually good and interesting in the context of LoL.

So how does the kit work? Basically, each basic skill grants a bonus that lasts a couple seconds. While this bonus is active, you can re-activate the ability to use an active skill (cooldown of 0.5 second between uses of the same ability). However, this removes the bonus from the first activation of the spell. His ultimate works in a similar way, except that it debuffs his enemies instead of buffing him. Hopefully, this will create some interesting gameplay and decision making. Note that the skills only go on cooldown after the buff from the first activation is gone. Also, as you'll see, Kae scales off AP. The reason is pretty simple : I feel that AP itemization is a lot more flexible and interesting than AD itemization. However, thanks to his ultimate, a build with 4 high AD items and a void staff would, weirdly enough, be viable. I don't think that's really a problem. There's a trade-off in exchange for a shitload of lifesteal and some splash damage. All right, enough rambling :P

Imortant If you just want to read what the abilities do, then skip the parts that are not in quote boxes. The text that follows each ability is just what I think about the ability and/or very specific information.

Description Kae is a twenty-something human male. He's a bit taller than average, with messy, sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He has an athletic build, but he's nowhere near as muscular as the likes of Garen, Darius or Jarvan. Think Talon or Yasuo. He wears baggy trousers with knee-high boots and a tank top. His most defining features would be the belts full of small vials strapped to his chest and his oversized glass daggers. His walk would be kinda quirky and he never really stands still. He's always looking somewhere, peeking at something or checking out one of his precious vials. His basic attacks have him swing his daggers with an eccentric style. He sounds energetic and almost-but-not-quite crazy. He's very curious about the world and wants to study it. The best way he knows how to study things is to experience them. Kae is a genius, but his intelligence is overshadowed by his curiosity (kinda like how you forget Ziggs is super clever because all he talks about is blowing stuff up).

Lore "You think I'm insane? Have you seen the crossbow-wielding rat that haunts Zaun's sewers? Because I have!" Professor Threus sighed loudly. Once again, he appeared unsatisfied by his student. "I have never questioned your sanity, Kae," the older man answered, "I merely stated that my other pupils have all made considerable progress since last week's evaluation. You, on the other hand, continue to chase theoretical impossibilities." "Impossibilities?" A hearty laughter boomed inside the fume-filled laboratory. "Doc, I can promise you this : one day, I'll prove you I'm not crazy. Until then... Well I guess I can show you how I harnessed the very essence of frost." Threus frowned disapprovingly. "I promise I won't accidentally harm you or anything this time!" The old man nodded in approval. His apprentice grabbed a small vial and, without warning, used his magical talents to shatter the glass. The pale blue liquid contained within the glass prison instantly turned into a swirling vapor. Called by Kae's magic, the unnatural mist started coiling itself around the young man's arm before quickly spreading over his whole body. "It offer amazing protection against all kinds of dangers," the alchemist explained. "But what's even more amazing is that I can command it to do a variety of things!" "Such as?" The professor's cautious tone spoke of his wariness. He had never grown used to his student's explosive demonstrations. Kae simply answered with a wide smile before turning his attention towards a small table. His skin absorbed the frozen mist and in an instant the table was covered in a thick sheet of ice. "I'm still working on more... errr... scientific uses of this." "I see..." Threus took a long pause. "Kae, you are a very bright young man. I have to admit that this was most impressive. The way you combine magic and science is unique and beautiful." "Hey, you didn't bring me here all the way from the slums of Zaun just because of my contagious laughter!" In spite of himself, Threus smiled. "No, indeed I have not. But, Kae, I beg of you, concentrate yourself of more important matters. I fear your current research will yield no results and the academy's patience for you is wearing thin. Some here believe that you are not a true scientist. Prove them wrong!" "I will, sir. You can count on me." A warm smile crept on the old man's lips. "I know, Kae. Have... fun?" With that, the old man left Kae's small laboratory.

They think I'm not a scientist, huh? We'll see..

Kae walked towards the eastern wall of his laboratory. To the naked eye, it appeared quite plain. However, to Kae, the hole in it was quite obvious. A simple spell for him, but the illusion had so far kept anyone from discovering his greatest achievement. He opened the box he had hidden there several weeks ago. Inside were several vials containing a silvery smoke. It moved erratically, sometimes standing almost still, other times stirring as quickly and wildly as a tempest. With a thought, Kae shattered one of the vials. The mist inside froze. He had to concentrate for several seconds before the alchemical compound responded to his silent command and gently breezed towards him. It still resisted him from time to time. Kae willed his creation to form a cloud in the air. His laboratory was filled with fumes that lazily hung in the air, moving from one corner to the next in an endless pattern. Inside the cloud, however, the fumes stood still, as if frozen. With a smile, Kae called to the mist. A moment later, it infused him with its amazing power. Suddenly, everything was extremely slow. Or rather, he was so fast that to him, all had come to a stop. He quickly gathered several vials and the unbreakable glass daggers his sister had crafted for him back in Zaun. He caressed their smooth surface lovingly. Once, they had protected a scarred, hungry urchin. Now, they would serve as the tools of a genius.

I guess it's time to experiment

Role Primary : Assassin Secondary : Fighter

Statistics

Health : 560-1980 Health Regeneration : 7.75-20 Mana : 285-945 Mana Regeneration : 6.5-18.75 Range : 125 (Melee) Attack Damage : 53-104 Attack Speed : 0.658 (+0.00%-47%) Armor : 24-82 Magic Resistance : 32.1-53.4 Movement Speed : 340

Abilities

I've decided to give very precise numbers for all of Kae's abilities to give an idea of their effectiveness, partly because I know that the kit can seem exceedingly overpowered without the context numbers provide. I also just really like to put numbers on kits I come up with :P

Passive - Ride the Storm

Kae gains 10%/15%/20%/25%/30%/35% (values at level 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16) bonus attack speed for 3 seconds if he is under the effect of at least two elixirs at the same time. This effect stacks up to 3 times.

Pretty straightforward passive, but it encourages more mindful use of Kae's abilities, especially during the early game when his cooldowns are much longer. A lot of Kae's damage comes from his basic attacks to make sure that the kit replicates the feeling of playing a duel-wielding dagger rogue from DA:I. Note that elixirs refer to Kae's Q, W and E abiltiies, but not his R.

Q - Flask of Fire

Cost : 60/65/70/75/80 mana Cooldown : 12/11/10/9/8 seconds Range : 700 Area of Effect : 300 Width : 60 Missile Speed : 1200 (First Use) Kae drinks an elixir of flames. For the next 3 seconds, his basic attacks deal 15/25/35/45/55 (+35% ability power) (+100% attack damage) magic damage. Kae's basic attacks extend the duration of Flask of Fire by 1 second, to a maximum of 3 bonus seconds. (Second Use) Kae spits out a ball of fire that will explode on contact with an enemy unit, dealing 60/95/130/165/200 (+50% ability power) magic damage. This will remove Flask of Fire's bonus.

When using this ability, Kae's daggers and upper arms are covered in twisting flames. In case it's not obvious, while under the effect of this ability, Kae's basic attacks deal ONLY magic damage. Why? Because I hate playing a champion that scales off AP and MPen but that has to use AAs and have my build path go against that. Also, for reference, the width of the projectile (60) is the same as Mundo's cleavers (Source : http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-42-notes#patch-drmundo) As for the area of effect, Karthus' Lay Waste is 400 (200 radius, 400 diameter) (Source : http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?p=48186195#post48186195)

W - Essence of Winter

Cost : 80 mana Cooldown : 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds Range: 700 Area of Effect: 300 Delay: 0.55 second (FIrst Use) Kae drinks an elixir of ice. For the next 3 seconds, he has 15%/20%/25%/30%/35% damage resistance. (Second Use) Kae chills enemies in the area, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+45% ability power) magic damage and stunning them for 1 second. This will remove Essence of Winter's bonus.

When using this ability, Kae is surrounded by swirling pale blue smoke. Not gonna lie, I really don't like the damage reduction, but I'm trying to stay as faithful to the DA:I skills as I can within the boundaries of LoL AND to create a bonus that you'll wanna keep. Armor and MR feel like they might be too good or too weak. As for a shield, it would make no sense to be able to use the second active if it got depleted so that's another problem. I also thought about making it a slowing aura around Kae, but that's a lot more fighter-ish and just doesn't really fit. For reference, the delay stat means that this is a ground targeted ability that will take effect after a short duration. For example, Cassiopeia's Q has a delay of 0.4 second (Source : http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-421-notes#patch-champions)

E - Living Lightning

Cost : 80/85/90/95/100 mana Cooldown : 22/20/18/16/14 seconds Range: 600 Area of Effect: 300 Width : 80 Missile Speed : 1800 (First Use) Kae drinks an elixir of electricity. For the next 3 seconds, he gains 30%/35%/40%/45%/50% bonus movement speed. While this effect is active, Kae's movement speed cannot be slowed below 350/355/360/365/370. (Second Use) Kae transforms into a bolt of lightning, becoming untargetable, and dashes towards the target location. Upon arrival, the bolt explodes and Kae reappears. Any enemy the bolt passes through or hit by the explosion takes 40/70/100/130/160 (+40% ability power) magic damage. This will remove Living Lightning's bonus.

While using this ability, electricity runs all over Kae's body. Kae's E is the one I'm the least happy with in terms of choice between keeping the bonus and using the active. Both give more mobility, but the active is obviously much more powerful than the passive bonus. However, once again, I feel bound by my attempt to imitate DA:I's Tempest to have E give such a boring bonus. Why? Well, the lightning flask in Dragon Age speeds you up so much all your enemies are slowed. Of course, in LoL such an effect would be impossible to replicate (in part due to balance reasons), so that's the next best thing, IMO. It only gives MS because I like that Kae has to juggle his elixirs to access his bonus AS.

R - Aether

Cost: 100 mana Cooldown : 140/115/90 seconds Range: 400 Area of Effect: 500 Delay: 0.6 second (Passive) Using an elixir will reduce the cooldown of other elixirs by 1/1.5/2 seconds. (First Use) Kae throws a vial containg the essence of time on the ground. The vial explodes, creating a mist that lasts up to 3 seconds. Enemies inside the mist have their movement speed slowed by 30%/35%/40%. Enemy projectiles that pass through the mist have their projectile speed slowed by 80%. (Second Use) Kae inhales the mist, becoming incredibly fast. Over 1 second, he will land 5/6/7 (+1 per 200 ability power) basic attacks on the enemies in the area covered by the mist before going back to his original position. Each enemy receives the same number of attacks. Enemies closer to the center of the effect are prioritized. Kae needs to be inside the mist to use this ability.

I have several things to say about this ability.

1. Remember how I said that in Dragon Age the lightning flask makes you so fast everyone else is slowed down? This is the effect I was aiming to replicate, mostly with the missile speed reduction. Note that when the projectile leaves the area/when the effect ends, its projectile speed returns to normal.
2. The second use of the skill is supposed to mimic the Tempest's Thousand Cuts ability.
3. Kae is supposed to scale very well with levels and items. This is mostly achieved through his ultimate's passive and actives. I know that with a full build his R's single target damage is downright insane, but well he's kinda supposed to massacre squishies who don't stick with their allies :P
4. When Kae uses the second part of the ability, he does not become impossible to target, à la Fiora while she uses Blade Waltz. He's just very, very hard to target. If he is killed while he is performing the ability, it will stop and be put on cooldown. If he is CC'd, the CC's duration will start ticking while he is performing the animation. Once Kae is finished, if the CC's duration is not finished, he will be CC'd. Ex : Taric's 1.6 second stun lands on Kae, who has been performing Aether's animation for 0.2 second. Once he finishes, he will be stunned for 0.8 second.
5. If the number of basic attacks cannot be evenly split between all targets in the area, targets closer to the center will receive more attacks. Ex : If Kae lands 7 basic attacks and there are 3 enemies, the one closest to the center will be attacked 3 times. In the same vein, if there are 8 enemies and he performs 7 basic attacks, the one who is the farthest from the center will not be attacked.
6. Even if an enemy leaves the area before Kae is finished, it will be attacked. The number of attacks is determined when Kae first casts the spell. This also means that if an enemy dies before receiving the allotted number of attacks, those attacks will be wasted. The reason is simple : The counterplay to the ability is to position smartly, not to use a get out of jail ability. Otherwise, this would make Kae a lot stronger versus immobile champions and weaker versus mobile ones.
7. The passive aspect of the ulti only works with Kae's Q, W and E.

Any suggestions and comments are welcome, whether you just wanna comment on how much you think this is faithful to DA:I's Tempest or if it sounds like a good kit or if you have ideas on how to tweek the abilities. I tried very hard not to make this kit too overpowered, but making a kit with 8 abilities not too strong is very, very difficult XD

Oh and I've decided to enter this concept into CCC, so I have to list a couple of New Year's Resolutions

1. Admit to everyone that I'm not really a prince from the Plague Jungles
2. Start opening my vials instead of breaking them. The bill was crazy high!
3. Brush my hair on tuesdays
4. Prank everyone in one night at the Academy using the Aether
5. Find out what really happened to Lyria
6. Bump into Ezreal
7. Convince Orianna to let me open up the Ball. What's IN there? 7.7. Prove to everyone that 7 is a lucky number!