Unique things in custom champs

midnight oil24··2 votes·483 views

One champ concept that was recently put out was Ignis, the Flame Weaver. It's pretty creative. However, it's received criticism for not having a fancy trick like Azir or Kalista. I'm here to suggest that maybe you don't need to have a fancy trick that no one else can do to have a unique champ. I'd like to direct you to one of my champ concepts, Raven Crowe, the Rage of a Dying Universe. He doesn't do anything totally unique. He's a melee brawler, uses something sort of similar to thresh's passive, only giving ad and restoring health instead of giving armor and ap. The most unique he gets is transforming with his ult and having one of his abilities change. Yet even with that, he's a pretty cool champ with his own niche, as a fighter who sticks on a target and can leap to the other side and stun them, and have a fear, to control the tide of battle in his favor, yet he needs to work on building his attack.

What I'm saying is that a champ doesn't need a fancy gimmick that no one else has to be unique. Even in game, there's a whole region filled with champs that use ice weapons, and have slows, but they play incredibly differently. It's the same with brand and Ignis: both are fire-users, sure, but they play completely differently.

All sorts of champs have similar stuff, so unless a champ directly takes a kit from another champ, it would be cool if you guys wouldn't call them ripoffs.

9 Comments

NagaBomb2 votes

I don't know when I read the Ignis champ, she seemed pretty bland. Just a bunch of damaging abilities having to do with fire. I thought the passive for Ignis was interesting about reducing incoming magic damage or something. It was hard to see the connection or mechanics around her play style because the abilities seemed so disconnected, aside from having to do with fire.

midnight oil241 votes

Ignis got reworked, and is a lot better now.

FloRaider421 votes

Designwise it makes sense to create very different champions and set them apart as much as possible to create as much diversity as possible. A idea that Riot seems to follow with recent development (class updates, rework, new champions). Creating a champion that plays and feels very similiar to an existing one makes the choice between those champions boil down to (do i like their appearence more or even worse do they have better stats?) which isn't very good.

Ask yourself this: "Which DLC/Sequels are the better ones?" Those that add more of the same stuff we have seen for hours or those that add new lore, weapons, abilities etc.

Edit: Why the downvotes?

midnight oil241 votes

The champ should do its own thing, but it doesn't need to be given a fancy gimmick and do stuff that no one else does. Jhin has his passive, which is cool, but most of his abilities are from other champs, like how his q is basically pre-rework kat q.

So while, for example, Raven has stuff similar to what guys like thresh or warwick, but the way the work makes him pretty different from other champions, giving him his own theme as a warrior who doesn't give up until either he's dead or his opponent is.

He recycles some themes from older champs, but they fit together to make his unique identity.

FloRaider421 votes

The champ should do its own thing, but it doesn't need to be given a fancy gimmick and do stuff that no one else does.

Nobody ever said that: They should play and feel different

Jhin feels like a artistic murder with setting up those long range kills and semmingly having control of the situation (walks slow, attacks slowly and takes his time for abilities) All his abilities require setup (three shots for passive, low life enemies for Q, enemy champion marked for W, W or other CC needed for E, R being best used on low life enemies) which just adds to his theme as the cold blooded artistic sniper.

All that has been accomplished with pre existing abilities, but they have been combined in a way that makes for a new expirience.

midnight oil241 votes

Yeah, what I was trying to say was that they could use the abilities to do something different. Not only that, but Ignis doesn't even share an ability with Brand.

FloRaider421 votes

As the example of Jhin already shows, it's not about abilities, it's about how they mix together.

Old Ignis did the same thing as Brand namely spread flames, apply CC and burst

The newish version did things a bit differently, but apart from having a passive that somehow reduced the enemies abilities effectiveness and conjuring Threshs cage 2.0, she still felt samey and her abilities where somewhat disconnected (Q and E ideal for safe range harass, but W and R were more melee focused)

The newest version now summons flame animals, which while new and interesting, boiled down to giving abilities animal particles and giving her Mordes R without the need to kill a dragon.

Ultimatly it boils down to the lack of theme: Yorick is a Necromancer -> all his abilities are built around creating an army of ghouls and supporting them Sion is the ultimate Juggernaut -> all his abilities are about being big and tough and charging into battle. Ignis is a Flame Animal sorcress -> all her abilities have animal themes...

she could have AI animals instead of skillshot reskins she could have interaction between the animals (lion eats dove to get bigger etc.) she could have interactions with the jungle creeps etc.

midnight oil241 votes

Her skills actually were fairly different. She had poke, one stun ability, and most stuff was using flame. Sure, it's not the best, but it's not like she was a carbon copy of brand.

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