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Anoura the Bulbous Toad - Champ Concept

Sniff My Fist·3/6/2015, 12:22:43 AM·5 votes·982 views

Foreward

I originally designed this champion and posted it to the League of Legends forums last August, but those forums are dead now. I posted this on the /r/LolChampConcepts subreddit and wanted to add it here too.

Also note this concept came to fruition before the new Summoner's Rift and before Kalista's announcement and release. My idea of hopping as a means of walking and a giant toad were not influenced by Kalista or the new jungle Gromp. Originally Anourab was a male but have since changed the champion name to be Anoura and female (maybe I've been influenced by Rek'Sai).

General Background:

Anura is the order (kingdom, phylum, etc.) of frogs and toads. That being said, Anoura is a giant toad and is designed to play and feel like a giant tanky toad. As a hobby programmer, I always think "what if" when it comes to game play mechanics and that is the driving force of this champion design. The lore of Anoura is left open to be written (as well as ability names). I'll list each ability then go into more detail about how each works and why they were designed to be that way. Note, I won't include base stats because those are subject to be changed for balancing purposes. The main concepts here are the abilities of Anoura and the toolset she would provide as a champion in the League of Legends.

Auto Attack: Melee

Abilities:

Passive - Bounding Leap:

PASSIVE: Anoura can not walk. Rather, Anoura gains stacks of Bounding Leap over time and can consume these stacks to leap up to 200 units per stack. She can hold up to 3 stacks.

Q - Tidal Splash (cooldown - 12ish):

ACTIVE: Anoura creates a small wave that spins clockwise around her. Any enemies in the wave take (X) magic damage and are slightly knocked back in the direction of the wave.

W - Heavy Impact

TOGGLE: Each time Anoura leaps, she deals (X) magic damage in a small area around her landing position. This damage is increased by 110% for each additional stack of Bounding Leap used (100% / 210% / 331% normal damage).

E - Reforestation (cooldown - 20ish):

ACTIVE: Anoura can summon a small tuft of grass in the target location which lasts for 3 minutes or until replaced. Grass cannot be grown inside other grass.

Max patches of grass:
Levels 1-2 = 1 patch
Levels 3-4 = 2 patches
Level 5 = 3 patches

R - Snack Snatch (cooldown - 70ish):

ACTIVE: Anoura spits her tongue. The first enemy champion hit is pulled into her belly. Anoura can hold a champion in her belly for up to 1 second. Anoura can spit the champion out in any direction. If no location is specified and the 1 second elapses, the enemy is dropped at Anoura's location. All physical damage (except from turrets) delt to Anoura is transferred to the champion in her belly.

Extended Reasoning:

Passive - Bounding Leap:

A toad wouldn't be a toad if it didn't hop. Anoura gains 1 stack of Bounding Leap after she would have been able to travel 200 units. Meaning with a movement speed of 325, she will gain a stack of Bunding leap every .61 seconds. Anoura gains stacks faster with faster movement speed. The time for her to move from start position to the end of the leap is a fixed .25 seconds.

Timings for walking should be unaffected by this passive. It just means Anoura moves all at once, rather than slowly over time. With this note, pathing is performed exactly the same. She is NOT able to jump over walls by using multiple stacks, unless she is jumping around the edge of a wall (U shaped pathing). See Image

Q - Tidal Splash:

Without this ability, Anoura would be almost literally a point and click champion. Without this ability the rest of her kit felt unique but bland. She now has a little bit of CC and just enough complexity to the move that allows better players strongly utilize once they've mastered it.

Key Points:

  • With the right positioning, you can push enemies away or towards the rest of your team.
  • If there is a large cluster of enemies, this ability can be used to split them apart (see image1 attached).

Image1: The outward directions enemies would be pushed by this ability

W - Heavy Impact

This is key component to Anoura. Without being able to offensively fling her weight on each hop, she just wouldn't feel like the fat old lady toad she is meant to be.

Key Points:

  • She is able to jump using 3 stacks all at once to engage the enemy.
  • She can use this ability for quick dodging of skill shots using a single stack.
  • While stunned or snared, she continues to gain stacks passively and can immediately catch back up or jump away.
  • She is immobile if she doesn't have any stacks. Meaning, she is susceptible to easy harass

E - Reforestation

Adding dynamic patches of grass to the game can change the play drastically.

Key Points:

  • Grass can be summoned to block line of sight.
  • You can make a trail of patches, leaping from one to another, just like a real frog.
  • Enemies can utilize existing patches of grass.
  • Makes the ward game much more intense.

R - Snack Snatch:

No frog/toad would be complete without shooting out its tongue to catch prey. This is a very powerful CC move that could easily change a team fight (or start one). Therefore, its cooldown is a bit longer and it is a skillshot. Anoura cannot move while she has an enemy champion in her belly.

I've thought of and considered a special unique trait for Anoura and Zyra. Kha'zix and Rengar have little easter egg abilities when fighting each other, as does Zilean and Volibear. My idea starts to build lore around Anoura. The basic idea is as follows: Anoura and Zyra are enemies as they come from the same forest and have had some sort of conflict in the past (mainly Anoura eating/smashing her plants). For this reason if a Zyra and Anoura are on opposite teams they get a slight bonus if they kill or assist a kill on the other. If Anoura kills or assists in a kill against Zyra, she gets an immediate stack of Bounding Leap (usual charge time ~ .6 seconds). If Zyra kills or assists against Anoura, she gets an immediate stack of Rampant Growth (seed, usual charge time ~ 6 seconds).

I don't know if that is too much of a bonus that is offered. I know many of the other bonuses are usual just changes in taunts or cosmetics. What are your thoughts on this? I think it makes a nice little rivalry for the two.

10 Comments

Hungry Dumpster3/6/2015, 12:27:23 AM2 votes

I really like the idea of adding patches of brush. I think it would at least be an interesting game mechanic worth exploring as either an ability, item, summoner spell, etc.

The hopping as a basic means of movement is interesting as well. I wonder how it would feel?

Godhri3/6/2015, 1:50:00 AM1 votes

Love this concept. My only question is... is there any real benefit to leveling up the ultimate besides a reduced CD? I feel like the ultimate should have some sort of benefit besides reduced CD. Like perhaps the enemy in the belly will share 30%/40%/50% of the damage taken by Anoura during the skill. Other than that, great concept.

Dayvigilante3/6/2015, 6:26:28 PM1 votes

I like the thought put into the hopping as a movement mechanic, but it seems strictly as a downside to the player. Having pauses between movement means you're incredibly easy to hit with skillshots, and also easy to chase because of it.

GaleWinUnleashed3/6/2015, 6:33:52 PM1 votes

My immediate impression is that to make use of all 3 charges of Bounding Leap, she'll have to first sit still for a not-insignificant amount of time. This leads me to expect her to be a jungler that is heavily reliant on insufficient ward coverage by the enemy. If the river bushes are warded, her ganks would be very lackluster, as she essentially just approaches at normal walk speed.

I feel like she needs an additional method of gaining Bounding Leap charges, in order to give her an opportunity to increase her mobility without first sitting still. Perhaps landing inside of brush grants her another charge? Or alternatively, leaping out of brush? This would give her interesting opportunities to set up escape routes for herself by creating new brush areas in strategic places.