[Champion Rework Concept] Pantheon, the Warrior Among Soldiers

Pantheon is in a perplexing spot, at the moment. He's a former Assassin, who is built like a tank/bruiser. He is strong in the early game, but his early Mana costs cripple him, preventing him from truly taking advantage of it. Visually, he is extremely outdated, with a very old model and animations. He's due for an update, and I feel we should be looking at what he can become. I have a few ideas I'd like to share, and I'd like to promote discussion.

So, Pantheon. What is he, thematically? I think this trope is a good place to start. Take a short moment to have a look.

Is Pantheon a Warrior, or a Soldier? There's themes for both in his backstory and visuals. Visually, he looks like a rank & file spartan, easily lost in with army. We've never even seen his face (Which I think is sort of cool, though). In his lore, however, it's said he enjoys when he's outnumbered, and that Rakkoran fighters, while few, can easily take on multiple Demacian or Noxian soldiers in a fight. As for his personality, Pantheon isn't a berserker. He's not like Tryndamere or Olaf, or even Darius. In battle, he keeps a cool head. He can get heated and he revels in combat, but the themes are very different. While you would picture Tryndamere fighting on and on through pain, you would picture Pantheon as evading the pain altogether, a mobile force in a fight that darts from one enemy to the next, kill, after kill, after kill, blocking retaliation with his shield. Mobile. We'll highlight that one.

Again, Rakkoran people favor fighting multiple enemies. In game, this would translate to being a good teamfighter. Lastly, his visuals. Pantheon wears very light armor, with nothing like tassels or decorations to slow him down. This also leans towards a mobile teamfighter. So, if you ask me, Pantheon is best described, in a term used by Rioters, as a 'light fighter'. This would make him similar to champions like Fiora, Yasuo, and Riven. This is a wonderful opportunity. Typically, fighters like this are portrayed as martial artists like Yasuo and Lee Sin, and even Riven has Eastern/Ionian style themes baked into her thematics, despite being from Noxus. Pantheon presents an opportunity to put a unique face on the archetype.

There's one last theme I want to talk about - the Solari. The Solari are considered to be the leaders of the Rakkoran civilization. We can mix this with some of Pantheons old themes and lore. For example, it was said that Pantheon wields magical "relic weapons". I think it's safe to say these weapons could simply be enchanted by the Solari with sun magic. This makes Pantheon not a warrior who gains power from armaments, but wields them to extreme effectiveness, mixing their magical powers with his martial prowess.

So, light, mobile fighter, who excels in teamfights. Probably will want to build either full offense, or build mostly offense with a little defense. I've got a kit to propose.

Passive: Army of One

For each nearby enemy champion and large or epic monster, Pantheon gains 4% increased Attack Speed.

When Pantheon kills an enemy champion, he is immediately granted 7% of his maximum Health and Mana. Assists grant half of this amount. Kills on Large Monsters grant the Mana restore.

A very simple, new passive (Don't freak out about replacing his old one just yet). This passive promotes not only fighting with multiple enemies present, but the Attack Speed synergizes with other parts of his kit. The health/mana return will help him immensely in teamfights. Since his mana costs are really steep (We're working with the same base stats here as live Pantheon, including his very low Mana pool), it'll ensure that, when he's doing what he's supposed to be doing in teamfights, he is rewarded. Also, the mana restore on monster kills will help out his jungling immensely.

Q: Spear Shot - 750 Range - 250 Radius - 45 Mana - 5 Second Cooldown - .5 Second Cast

Pantheon throws his sun-blessed spear at the target location, dealing 60/100/140/180/220(140% AD) physical damage to enemies around the impact area. Enemies caught in the middle of the impact are slowed by 20% for 1 second.

The spear returns to Pantheon when the cooldown is complete, refunding 20 Mana. If Pantheon travels to the spear, he picks it up, refunding 30 Mana and gaining 10% movement speed for 2 seconds.

This is very similar to his current Q, with a few changes. One, the theme of it being magical is added. Yay. Two, he's given some extra utility in a small slow, and potential AoE damage. The AoE will be rarely useful in teamfights, and would mostly give him a little extra waveclear and jungle clear. It has increased range compared to his current Q, but it's a skillshot. Skillshots drastically change playstyles. Pantheon's current lane strategy is very unhealthy - Lob spears at foes, laugh because they can't fight back. This gives you the exact same, if not more, potential, but makes it much more challenging to pull off. For junglers, this would speed up Pantheon's clear, if only a little bit.

And, picking up the spear will help Pantheon both chase and escape.

Next, I'm going to do his E. It's central to how the new W would work.

E: Stance Swap - No Cost - 2 Second Cooldown - .5 Second Cast Time

Pantheon sheaths one of his weapons and switches stances, changing his fighting style.

Phalanx Stance : Pantheon fights with his spear and shield. While Phalanx Stance is active, he can cast Aegis of Zeonia and has Aegis Protection: After attacking or using an ability 4 times, Pantheon gains a shield that blocks the next basic attack from a champion, large monster or minion, or turret. If this buff is fully stacked, Pantheon keeps it upon switching stances. Pantheon begins play in this stance and can cast Aegis of Zeonia before placing a point in** Stance Swap**, but does not gain Aegis Protection.

Heartseeker Stance: Pantheon fights with his spear and short sword. While Heartseeker Stance is active his melee range is reduced to 130, he gains Hamstring/Decapitate, and has Certain Death, causing his basic attacks to critically strike enemies below 15% health.

This gives Pantheon his old passives, but limits the power by not giving them to him at the same time. While **Aegis Protection **can cross over into Heartseeker Stance (And would have the sound effect of a parry instead of a block), he still needs to stack it to full before switching. With his two new W's, it will steamline his combo and allow him to single out foes in teamfights.

For reference, Pantheon's attack range is 150. Heartseeker Stance reduces it, since he's fighting with a spear and short sword, instead of a spear and shield. Visually,** Stance Swap **could be a lot cooler than implied. If Pantheon uses a sort of hammerspace to keep his weapons, then imagine the sword/shield glowing gold, like the sun, before vanishing, and the new weapon appearing in his hand at the same time.

Now, his W is two abilities, and changes depending on his stance.

W: Aegis of Zeonia - 900 Range - 50 Mana - 13/12/11/10/9 Second Cooldown

This ability is active while Pantheon is in Phalanx Stance. Pantheon leaps at the target and hits them with his family’s shield, stunning them for 1 second and dealing 20/25/30/35/40(60% AD) physical damage. This ability adds two stacks to** Aegis Protection**.

Aegis of Zeonia has three range thresholds. At max range (601-900), Pantheon takes .75 seconds to reach the target, but stuns them for an extra .25 seconds. At medium range (301-600), Pantheon takes .25 seconds to reach the target and stuns normally. At minimum range (0-300), Pantheon stuns the target instantly.

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W: Hamstring/Decapitate - 375 Range - 20 Mana - 13/12/11/10/9 Second Cooldown

This ability is active while Pantheon is in Heartseeker Stance. Upon the first cast, Pantheon rushes his sword through the target champion’s legs, dealing 40/60/80/100/120(100% AD) physical damage and slowing them by 90% for 1 second. The slow decays rapidly, down to 10%.

While the target is slowed, Pantheon can cast the ability a second time to cast Decapitate. Pantheon attempts to finish off the wounded target, dealing 30/60/120/180/240(220% AD) physical damage that ignores 50% of the target’s bonus armor. **Decapitate **applies on hit effects to and can critically strike targets below 15% health. Pantheon must still be in range of the target to use Decapitate. If this ability kills the target, Pantheon is filled with vigor, causing Army of One to restore 10% of his missing health and mana, instead of 7%.

You should know his combo, now. Open with Spear Shot, to deal initial damage and slow, and follow with Aegis of Zeonia. While the target is stunned, use Stance Swap to switch to Heartseeker Stance, and use Hamstring, before instantly casting** Decapitate**. If the target isn't dead, then use Spear Shot again.

This allows him to single out a squishy foe in teamfights for a kill. Once the target is dead, he's rejuvenated by his passive, and can work on other enemies with** Army of One** accelerated basic attacks and Spear Shot. He would, in theory, switch back to Phalanx Stance to stack** Aegis Protection** again, and use the combo again.

R:** Grand Skyfall **- 5500 Range - 125 Mana - 150/135/120 Second Cooldown

Pantheon gathers energy within his enchanted armor for 1.5/1.25/1 second(s). If uninterrupted, Pantheon will vault to the target location, crashing to the ground. Enemies in the center will take 400/700/1000 (100% AP) magic damage. Enemies on the outer ring will take 50% less damage. 700 Radius.

If he’s in Phalanx Stance, Pantheon takes .75 seconds to recover after landing, gains full Aegis Protection and has +20/25/30 Armor and Magic Resistance for 5 seconds. If he’s in_ Heartseeker Stance_, he recovers after 1 second and gains 15/17/20% movement speed increasing to 20/25/30% when moving towards enemy champions after recovering. Pantheon always needs to recover after landing, but will only gain the passive benefits when an enemy champion is struck by Grand Skyfall.

If the channel is canceled, Grand Skyfall is put on a 10 second cooldown.

Lastly, his ultimate. It's very important to note that this is NOT a part of his dueling pattern. It's high range, and the fact that it's a teleport, add more utility to Pantheon than damage. This kit is built to be able to duel, and indeed be able to teamfight, without using his ult. However, using his ult to gank or initiate/enter a teamfight from a long distance, does add power and potential.

The increased stats after landing rewards Pantheon for using Grand Skyfall aggressively, and not using it to run away. It also rewards him for starting in Phalanx Stance, which is the optimal way to begin his combo. The channel time is lower, compared to live, to heighten it's value in teamfights, and to ensure enemies don't simply run away from it's radius. Yes, they still can, but it's more difficult and a good Pantheon can use the shorter cast time to either bottleneck enemies, or prevent them from escaping.

TL:DR: Pantheon needs an update, and this is mine. Even if you don't read OR like my suggested kit, please, do suggest your ideas for how Pantheon can be brought into the modern era!