Champion VGU: Cho'Gath, The Great Devourer
Howdy Boards people! This is version 1 of my FULL VGU for Cho'Gath. I hope to gradually flesh this out further over time but as it stands all the current pieces have been through several different iterations. Big thanks to some of the people on the C&C Discord, R/Cho'GathMains, and on Story, Art & Sound for their help and feedback!
#What are the Goals of this Rework?
https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
##For His Kit
** 1:** Cure his condition as a massive statcheck. No more constant sustain and infinite sticking power. Less power put into clicking on people.
I plan to do this by having his ability to trade/resist damage be based on timing and player skill, and gating his effectiveness with more active damage dealing. He should be able to be outplayed, but also be able to outplay beyond landing Q.
2. Allow the player on Cho’Gath to make real decisions.
Currently, once you start a build you’re locked into it. If you start going AP, the cookie cutter AP build will always be the most efficient choice (Ludens+Morello/Mejai), If you want to go bulky you almost always need the same couple items (Righteous Glory/Warmogs). There’s very little ability to adapt your build, nor to adapt how you’re playing since he has so few outplay options available.
3. Emphasize him as a scaling champion. His ability to grow into the biggest champion in the game, but start as a small and vulnerable one, can be pushed so much further.
4. Keep the builds that people love to play viable. The squishy, full AP nuke machine; The full tank peel/pickmaker; The infinitely scaling juggernaut; And potentially make his AP bruiser build a viable choice.
##Visual/Thematic Changes
Live Cho’Gath is a mess. He looks like a giant tank. He hits with pieces of his flesh and by biting people. Yet he deals magic damage, is very squishy without heavy investment, and is overall rather bland visually, just a mess of various shades of red. Dark Star+Battlecast help fix this somewhat, their particles look like Ability Power is more fitting (explosions/missiles/starstuff). But what matters here is his base.
I’ve shifted him to a more… void plasma-y monster. His spells look more magical, being big blasts of void magic/whirling storms of energy/explosions in general. He will still obviously retain his large, brutal appearance, but the look and function of his spells should better communicate what they do, and better support what cho’gath looks like he should be able to do.
##So What is he Now? My current understanding is that voidborn do not age. They are born and are unchanging from birth until their eventual demise. Time only grants them experience and knowledge. There are only two notable exceptions: Cho’Gath and Kha’Zix. Kha’Zix is an adapter. His body changes based on the traits of creatures he intakes. He changes by being a sort of… imitator/shapeshifter. Cho’Gath simply is able to grow. And that is unique amongst the voidborn. He’s a creature who changes over time, who has the capacity for seemingly unlimited growth. So in this kit he’s a devourer. His body constantly generates energy to fuel his growth, and he can consume even the magic around himself. He's truly the void incarnate, pouring out into the world and consuming every living thing to grow.
#Short Lore:
https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
Far beneath the stone that carries the desert, embraced by chains of pure starlight, chaos sleeps. Far beneath the stone that carries the desert, lost in a dream of endless suffering, Cho’Gath awaits The End.
-Translation from a Pre-empire Shuriman tablet.
The gods seldom grace us with their presence. I only knew of their divinity through generations-old stories. It was said that they watched over us from the sky, hidden amongst the stars. Their eternal vigil was supposed to remind us to hope. When we looked up in awe we would remember that our lives are fleeting grains of sand in the endless cosmic desert.
But our hope was twisted into despair the day we watched a god fall. The world shook with his impact. He was battling something inside of himself, a darkness which crept through his body faster than his own light could sear it away. A vile emptiness that sapped his very divinity. As his last light was consumed I felt a deep sense of loss. We all did. But the horror was not over.
The gods body ruptured like a cyst as a monstrous, spindly creature pushed its way into the fading daylight. It was a devil unlike any in the old tales, an unholy abomination that had crept from the underworld to consume the heavens themselves. It keened as its sinuous body hardened and a deep crimson tint crept across its extremities. Its cry continued for what felt like an eternity. None could speak whilst the monster screamed.
It gazed at the world around it. Its eyes weren’t empty. They were filled with hunger… and disgust. We could feel its desire to destroy and despoil. Millions of deaths wouldn’t be enough to sate it, and even if it were the creature would take millions more out of spite. It forced words from within its dripping maw with a voice like crumbling sandstone.
“You are such… Hideous creatures.”
Before it could stand the starlight gleamed. The beast seemed to draw back as a second star descended, emanating grief. We could not make out its form, so bright was the light. As it struck the ground, the world itself seemed to open up around the creature and pull it down. The devil screamed in feral fury as it the Sai snapped it up.
Then we were left in silent darkness. The suns last light had vanished over the horizon. What had been witnessed had been felt around the world. We had witnessed an unspeakable birth. Cho’Gath. Hate that powerful did not simply die. We constructed a temple, as a memorial to the fallen star and a reminder of the darkness the had slipped beneath.
#New Design
https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
(Here's a link to a google doc that has a bunch of the iteration I did) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sGk-ORdISiH1GVQdkwYto-yNwvW-Jv7NzpG5Fm20SjQ/edit?usp=sharing
#The Kit
##Passive: Void Overflow
Cho’Gath has unique physiology amongst the voidborn. His body is constantly creating and leaking void energy. Cho’Gath gains Tainted Mana that gradually covers his Mana bar over (30-15) seconds. When Cho’Gath has full Tainted Mana, he can spend all of it to cast an empowered version of a spell regardless of whether it is on cooldown. The spell goes on its regular cooldown after this cast.
_The charge time scales down with stacks of Feast, by 0.5 seconds per stack, to a minimum of 10 seconds. _ https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
##Innate: After level six, casting an energized spell reduces the cooldown of Cho’Gath’s ultimate by 3.5/7/10.5 seconds.
##Q: Rupture:
Target a location. Cho’Gath charges for 1 second, during which he is able to move freely, before shooting a beam that damages all targets in a line and explodes for heavier damage in an AoE at the target location. Enemies in the AoE are Knocked Airborne.
_Stacks of Feast increase the width of the beam and the size of the AoE up to a limit.. They start somewhat smaller than his live Q, and should be somewhat larger than Live by 8 stacks. _ https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
##Energized: Entire line has Knockup explosions that travel down its length similar to upgraded Viktor laser, but no empowered zone at the end. Enemies recently knocked airborne by Cho’Gath cannot be knocked up by this spell, but take 10/15/20/25/30% more damage.
Stacks of Feast additionally grant 1 flat magic penetration to this empowered spell.
Line Damage: 40/75/110/145/180 (+50% AP) Explosion Damage: 100/155/210/265/320 (+80% AP) Cooldown: 9 seconds
##W: Twisted Carapace:
Passive: Every third basic attack slows the target by 40/50/60/70/80%, deals 30/60/90/120/150 (+70% AP) +2/4/6/8/10% of the target’s Maximum Health as bonus damage (+0.5% per stack of Feast) and cleaves in an area around the target (400 unit radius circle). Bonus damage on the third attack affects structures. Maximum 400 bonus damage vs non-champions.
Active: Cho’Gath fills with void energy, gaining a shield for 90/140/190/240/290 (+40% AP) (+ 50 per stack of Feast) that decays over 5 seconds. While this shield is active he is slowed by 10%, but cannot be displaced. Cho’Gath can reactivate this spell to disperse the shield.
https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
##Energized: Shield no longer decays, Cho’Gath gains 10% movement speed whilst the shield is active.
_Shield Value scales with stacks of Feast. _
Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12 seconds
##E: Consume Magic
Cho’Gath pulls in all the magic from an area, creating a slowly expanding field centered on himself that persists for 1.6-2.5 seconds. Enemies inside this field take_ 20/37/54/71/88 (+15%AP, +5 damage per tick per stack of Feast_) Magic Damage every 0.5 seconds and are Silenced.
https://i.imgur.com/G3fmEjC.png
##Energized: The field bursts out to its full range when cast, dealing 20/40/60/80/100 (+50% AP) magic damage, and bursts back when it ends, slowing all units struck by 40% and dealing the upfront damage again, increased by 10% per second an enemy was silenced.
_Stacks of Feast increase the damage dealt. _
Cooldown: 13/12.5/12/11.5/11 seconds AoE: 350-600 units from the edge of Cho'Gath
##R: Feast
Cho'Gath chomps in an arc in front of him, damaging and slowing all units struck by 80%, dealing 15% (+1% per stack of Feast) (+70% AP) of his target’s Maximum HP in magic damage. If he strikes a champion below 15% (+1% per stack of Feast) (+70% AP) HP, he grabs them in his jaws, suppressing them for 1 second before crushing them. Can scoop up multiple champions at a time.
Crushing a champion grants a stack of feast and rapidly refills Cho'gaths Tainted Mana over 2 seconds.
Cho’Gath gains 80/120/160 bonus HP per stack of Feast and increases in size.
Deals 1000 base damage to large minions and monsters. Can only gain 5 stacks of feast from non champions/epic monsters.
This spell cannot be cast with energy. _Stacks of Feast increase execute threshold by 1% max hp. _ Cooldown: 80 seconds
#Notes:
- The kit was designed to have high scaling values on his spells to allow him to come online lategame but also to miss appreciable power elsewhere in his kit if he chooses to prioritize one spell
- Each basic spell is designed to enable one of his existing playstyles. Mage, Juggernaut, Tank, etc.
- The area Cho'Gath was sealed in during his story would go on to be a part of Icathia!
- Cho'Gath's name roughly translates into "One Birthed From Despair"
- Cho'Gath's unusual birth resulted in him being split from the overriding consciousness of the Watchers. Hence why he feels and thinks differently than many of his bretheren.
- His design took inspiration from tons of places as I went on: Godzilla, Pacific Rim, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Pangolins/Crabs/Beetles, Dragons, and of course his original design. I was careful to avoid Violator.
- I didn't put in bases and mana values this time because it adds a huge amount of information that doesn't offer much to the people looking at it (and isn't even particularly accurate to what something like this may need to have in game since all I can do it eyeball it.)
And that's about it! Thanks for reading!
