[Champion Idea] Reiya, The Survivor (my take on an AP supportive marksman)

Hey pals, as a short intro into all of this:

I've been playing a lot of Sylas and Pyke recently, which had me thinking about new champions, and (especially in the case of Pyke) about how different niches can blend with different roles. As an adc and support main, I got to thinking about how a supportive marksman might look and shape up to be, while still maintaining the core playstyle of the two different identities. As I got into what kind of basic moves could exist for both these styles, it led me into the kit, and I ended up filling holes in the kit, when this idea of the character came together.

BIG DISCLAIMER: I have not included numbers for the kit as I both know less about the numbers side of the game, and am far more interested in the kit and playstyle of such a champion. THAT BEING SAID feel free to suggest numbers and scaling for her kit, as I think the kit as a hole is or can be balanced. Now lets get into the Champion and Kit, and if I interested you enough, stick around for an entire sort of lore piece I wrote from enjoying the character so much.

**CHAMPION:

Reiya, The Survivor **(tagline a WIP)

Look- Likely coming from some sort of Ionian heritage, Reiya looks most similar to what we would call Asian (think in the manner of Irelia in the cinematic). As a mid-20s aged character, Her style is a mash of the soft steampunk of Zaun, with the ruggedness of a nomadic marksman, while still having subtle yet noticeable accent of void enhanced tech. Her hairstyle would look most similar to something like this , I even like that hair color as a contrast to a maybe more brown-neutral tone of a traveling marksman, while being spiced up by steampunk/chemtech elements from Zaun and the Void. Wrapped around the side of her waist is a sturdy leather belt that houses her three weapons, an enhanced slingshot, a net cannon, and a void-infused assault rifle, and ammo clips of void pellets ( a void essence type of bullet).

Background- "'Survive and Grow', thats what he'd tell me every time i'd lose my cool. I was unprepared when he needed me the most, but i'll never be that again."

While seemingly hot headed, Reiya is a calculated shot who takes the craftiness of the Zaun alleys and mixes it with the dangers of the Void in order to create a skillset that keeps her prepared for anything. Growing up on the muggy streets of Zaun gave her a hands on, front row seat to Chem-Tech 101. Paired with friend, mentor and future lover, Dierro , she learns a thing or two about surviving, and ends up following him on an adventure around the world. By joining up with a creature prevention task force, Reiya gets to experience a whole montage's worth of events that eventually lead her and the team to the coarse, rough, and irritating sands of Shurima. They are brought to the south of these deserts via the tales of targeted attacks by creatures in this area. Dierro himself, falls victim to such an attack, when Reiya and two guards are on lookout, and they chase the creature back to an oddly shaped cave. Reiya watches as the creature drags Dierro's unconscious body into a hole of deep glowing mist. As the thought of calling for backup cross her mind, her and the two guards jump in after him. They find themselves in a reality bending purgatory between Runeterra and the Unknowable Nothingness , filled with creatures, none like any other. Without even taking a moment to breath it in, she immediately unleashes fire on the purple demon that is carrying her love, and in doing so pisses off the demi creatures that inhabit this land. After watching her two guards get slaughtered by these same creatures, she retreats only to see a familiar puff of smoke before finding herself back in familiar territory. Driven by both the words of her now-gone lover, and by the refusal to never feel that fear again, she made many trips back to that purple-ish purgatory and returned with both the knowledge and tools to level the odds. Wielding void infused chem-tech, she vows not only to find the truth to Dierro's end, but also to protect those closest to her.

Kit: plays as a sort of supportive marksman that plays off a carry marksman to enable her own unique gameplay. While also using and scaling off of AP, I hope to preserve the identity of this champion as a support marksman but also try to enable more interesting gameplay. By having magic pen scaling we hope to do what lethality does to preserve pyke as an assassin support, by using magic pen to preserve Reiya as an AP marksman that is supportive and in need of help by nature of its kit.

I could see her stats being (somewhat) similar to that of Bard in that she would be slightly squishier if not as squishy of that of a normal marksman. I could also see her normal auto attack range being closer to around 550 (that being comparable to ezreal, vayne, jhin, draven) That being said, i'm open to suggestion if something else feels a little more fair once you've read the whole kit.

Her auto attacks would be shot at 550 range using her augmented slingshot from which she fires void pullets that she pulls from a pouch on her waist. I would envision a similar sort of auto attack motion to that of a kindred, in which its a smooth sort of pull back and fire motion.

Passive- Accurate Hunter Each subsequent auto attack against a single unique enemy applies a stack of 'Accurate Hunter'. Auto attacks by ranged allies on the same target proc two stacks of 'Accurate Hunter'. By proccing 5 stacks of 'Accurate Hunter' against one enemy, your auto attack range increases to 600 (from 550) (comparable to that of Ashe). By reaching a max of 10 stacks on one enemy, you receive the buff 'Accurate Hunter' which is a buff lasting 5 seconds (could be something closer to 10 seconds depending on how you see it working with the rest of the kit) that allows your spells to not target or hit minions, and instead only apply to champions and epic monsters. While this buff lasts, your auto's also do more magic damage (based off of percent of additional magic penetration)(relatively low extra amount). Each stack lasts for about 5 seconds before dwindling back down to 0. After the 'Accurate Hunter' buff duration wears off, 'Accurate Hunter' stacks reset to zero.

Note: this passive is very integral in many ways to keeping the goal identity of Reiya. Conceptually, shes a scrappy but intelligent shooter that wields her augmented slingshot with big draven energy. I push for Reiya to be played with teammates by allowing her passive to be seriously expedited by having help. By having a lower 5 stack mark, we allow for Reiya to make use of her passive on her own, while also being able to reach a satisfying but not nearly overwhelming reward. The 10 stack marks servers for slightly more in depth trades, and plays in with other moves in order to creatively and tactically pump out more damage. As said before, I hope to use magic penetration as a tool to keep Reiya in her own lane, as an example I hope to relate buying Liandry's Torment on Reiya to buying Duskblade on Pyke, and keeping them as damaging supports. I also like the idea of magic pen driving a marksman in general. Let me know if you agree or if this is something more idealistic. Lastly this increased damage at 10 stacks is indicative of the void pellets being used as bullets in the augmented slingshot, with the void being a theme for a thirst for power, it made sense to have these void pellets do slightly more damage (the 'slightly more' coming from not wanting to put too much added damage on someone that may be pumping out consistent damage. This passive also plays off of having to fight with your laner or teamfights in a more coordinated sense. As in order to proc the 'Accurate Hunter' buff as much as possible, you have to be focusing the same target, which is another important driving force for stabilizing Reiya as a supportive marksman.

Q- TRANQ-A-TANK darts Instead of the normal void pellets used as bullets in her augmented slingshot, she pulls out the ever-useful TRANQ-A-TANK darts. Reiya's next three auto's don't shoot out like normal point and click autos but instead fire in a straight line (think along the lines of still needing to click on a target in order to auto like you normally would, but instead when you click a linear projectile similar to that of ezreal q would shoot out). This acts differently to just a skillshot in that you'd still need to be in auto range in order for something to be shot out in a straight line. These shot projectiles are 'TRANQ-A-TANK' darts, used by Reiya on plenty of creatures all across Runeterra who didn't need a solution by silver bullet. These three auto/projectiles stop on the first target hit, each dart applying a very small damage over time that scales off of AP, if all three darts hit a single target, the target is put to sleep (yes a similar sleep to that of Zoe's), but not nearly as oppressive as Zoe's as the scaling on the damage for popping the sleep is also very low AP scaling. I could envision this move with medium mana costs (as to not be able to spam it, but also to not have the misuse of it hurt you even more by draining all mana), with mid to low cooldown.

Note: This is a fun and unique take on the regular ole auto attack. I wondered how I could change just an auto attack to be a move and this is it. To my knowledge theres nothing all too similar, which is slightly exciting. This move is not oppressive as theres many ways to play around it, like standing behind minions or just having to dodge one dart. This is a move that rewards skill with which it is used. It can also be used in tandem with the 10 stack 'Accurate Hunter' buff that allows for spells to ignore minions. I think this will allow for creative gameplay such as looking for opportunities with your laner to stack up the 'Accurate Hunter' buff in order to look for a sleep.

W- Shooters Stance/Dive (name big WIP) Activating 'Shooters Stance' causes a tiny delay in movement as Reiya takes a knee and pulls out her void-infused 'assault rifle' (for lack of a better word that might fit this universe). Void pellets shot from this rifle while in prone do a smaller bit more damage than normal auto's (giving only slightly more damage based on percentage magic penetration). While in shooters stance not only are you immobile (kneeling in one place), but both Q (TRANQ-A-TANK darts) and E (CREATURE CONTAINMENT CANNON) shoot 25% (I chose this number only because 50% seemed too high) farther in distance, that is both the linear distance of the darts and the net cannon are increased by 25%. In particular for the Q, this is not to get mixed up with auto attack range. 'Shooters Stance' lasts for only a few seconds, and both entering and exiting shooters stance results in a very short movement delay from kneeling and standing up. Additionally when 'Suppressive Fire' (ult) is activated you can activate 'Dive' in order to do a small dash in one direction in order to land in an activated 'Shooters Stance', that would apply it's effects to the ult. This move requires no mana but has a mid-long cooldown.

Note: This move is key to creating pockets of gameplay and playing further on making Reiya unique. This move creates benefits by allowing for increased damage and range on certain spells but also provides weakness in that your movement is restricted. Conceptually it makes sense for Reiya to have to take a knee in order to wield a more powerful weapon and get a steadier shot (the increased range). This also plays off the passive very well in that looking to find 10 stacks of 'Accurate Hunter', then going prone for extra range on spells that won't hit minions is a satisfying payoff, while also trading that you won't be able to move to both further a chase. Theres a lot of ways you can use this to play off the kit to get more or less out of a situation based on your decision making.

E- Creature Containment Cannon Essentially a Net gun, Reiya has found it a lot more useful to handle a creature of greater size if its contained. This skill shot has an interesting hitbox in that when its initially shot out it is similar to that of Grave's Q (End of the line) in which a narrow skill shot is sent out the same distance of that narrow linear length of Graves Q. During that part of the skill shot, the cannon has shot out a ball of net, if it hits you at this stage it merely does a low amount of damage scaling off of AD. After this linear distance it cones out a small distance. If hit at this stage in skill shot (which conceptually would be when the ball of net has opened up), then you will be slowed and also take a low amount of AD damage( this amount is lower than when hit by the ball since you are slowing). The last stage of this skill shot is a sort of reverse cone (I know very confusing, but think of the two cones connecting big side to big side like a diamond shape). At this last stage, this cone is smaller than that of the slow cone, and when hit at this stage, the net stuns enemies for 1 second. This move would have a mid amount of cooldown and small-mid size amount of mana.

Note: While the actual skill shot mechanics of this skill are perhaps much more complicated than they need to be, I think they provide for much more interesting gameplay that has synergies with her kit. For one, the first stage of the skill shot allows for you having to keep mind of your distance from targets when trying to actually lock down and hunt targets. At the same time, since its able to hit minions its a good skill for farming minions. This also makes decision making with 'Shooters Stance' even more important as getting increased distance from 'Shooters Stance' can allow for even more dynamic use of the 'Creature Containment Cannon'. The tradeoff and learning curve for such a skill is good for both new and advanced, it still provides escape by offering a potential slow but by getting the distance right it can turn around for an overall better play. This further pushes the idea of being safe vs going aggressive, which is cornerstone to the identity of Reiya in the first place.

R- Suppressive Fire Reiya whips out her void-infused 'assault rifle' (again placeholder term maybe), and unloads a clip spraying bullets back and forth in a mid-long ranger cone, with each bullet moving in sort of a wave/sprinkler sort of way. Bullets hit and end on the first target reached (minion or enemy champ or ally champ). Allied champions hit by bullets receive the 2 second (3 second could work too) buff 'Friendly Fire" which gives a short burst of increased movement speed on hit and increased attack speed for the duration of the buff. Buff duration stacks with every bullet that ally is hit by. Enemy targets hit by bullets take a base amount of damage per bullet that scales with AP. Unless in 'Shooters Stance', Reiya can move while firing 'Suppressive Fire' but is at least 50% slowed in movement. While total number of bullets fired scales with leveling of the ult, the speed with which 'Suppressive Fire' is flailed back and forth scales with attack speed. This move would have a high mana cost.

Note: This move really plays into Reiya conceptually as a supportive shooter, the idea itself of suppressive fire being this defensive way to use guns in a combat setting really clicked well together. Then you have to think how does this defensive/offensive idea of suppressive fire in combat play into how she would actually do suppressive fire in a game context. The idea of having bullets hit your own allies is by definition "friendly fire", so seeing how it can actually provide a friendly tool but also be realistic was interesting. I thought of things like bullets against enemies causing them to apply the blind debuff thats currently in the game, but that seems a bit too oppressive. Instead giving friendly parties a buff, and still doing damage to those enemies that may be hit made sense. Further more theres ways to look for more advantageous windows of 'Suppressive Fire' for example making sure to stack up 10 stacks of 'Accurate Hunter" so that your ult doesn't hit minions in a teamfight. That becomes actually a small mechanic because you'd likely be able to reach 10 stacks in a teamfight no matter what, but it still becomes important in situations where you are zoned out of being run down by a bruiser or tank. As stated before, this also appropriately plays off of 'Shooters Stance/Dive' as you can only dive during 'Suppressive Fire' in order to get just a slightly better angle or dodge just that one skill shot when you're trying to get a good 'Suppressive Fire' off, this is paired well with the following immobility from 'Shooters Stance' that would then lock you in. Making this a small quality of life mechanic that can make or break a situation (for example diving into 'Shooters Stance' while firing off 'Suppressive Fire' will immobilize you for at least a small amount of time as you'd have to reactive 'Shooters Stance' in order to stance up from kneeling.

Criticism I have with Reiya myself- One thing for sure that would need to be focused on for this kit is clarity behind the range you're operating at when it comes to different skills and having different buffs. The change in range effects a lot of things and shows up at many points, while it may seem somewhat chaotic, its a lot more controlled than you think. SO while I believe its definitely doable, it would be very important to make sure clarity on all these ranges are differentiated, which could be as simple as having something on Reiya glow etc. A Second criticism I could see would be that she's overly complicated in terms of mechanics. And while I could probably agree that dumbing down some aspects wouldn't change her overall complexity and uniqueness all that much, I still think there are some specific things that embody the idea of a hot headed, but calculated, marksman thats supportive. Perhaps a Third criticism could be that she's not supportive enough, and that you could just play her somewhere else, and while I hoped to bring her in as a supportive character I wouldn't be all too upset with having her occupy a "supportive marksman" role over a marksman thats a support. But I am also very open into finding ways for her to play on that more. Another criticism could probably be that Lore wise shes all over the place, but I think thats exactly what this kind of character could be. A direct result of the loose but interconnected world of Runeterra, hardcore but also has heart to the core. Obviously it could still use some cleaning up and probably an overall just better link between major stages in her life, but from what I just wrote at 5 am on a Monday morning, i'm already a big fan of her. People could also say she has aspects that are too similar to other champions, but I think those are things that could get touched up in professional lore writing of this character. Also I don't know if it's just because i've been typing her name over and over again for the past few hours but I love that name particularly for this champion, and particularly with how it fits in this universe. Okay i'm going to stop circle jerking myself and end this segment with this: Probably the most important part about how this champion would realistically play out would be the numbers on EVERYTHING, but I trust that more to you all and to the professionals to run numbers that keep her moves in check with how her overall gameplay should work out, and have her own base stats and etc match that of an ap supportive marksman. I think pushing magic pen in a similar fashion to pushing lethatlity on pyke is an interesting idea, but if thats too complicated feel free to let me know. I see a build including frostfang, into nashors tooth, into magic pen, but thats just me.

THATS IT WE DONE HERE, YOU CAN STOP, UNLESS YOU LIKE REIYA TOO, THEN KEEP READING FOR A CINEMATIC IDEA THAT I IMAGINED SHOWING HER BACKSTORY

How I'd imagine a Cinematic Backstory to Reiya

Starts with a shot of the running feet of two young adults, you can pick up that that one is male and one is female. Then you see the faces of these two individuals as they are running through the alleys of Zaun, and then are stopped when they are cornered in the alley by these two Zaun thugs. We see a shot of our two protagonists: Dierro, male, age 24, a fit, wide-shouldered, dark skin lad, with dreads tied back in a pony tail, who seems confident in a rough spot; and Reiya, female, age 18, more scrawny at this time, and with messy hair that covers just the side of her face (looks as described in the beginning) except that she would be wearing clothes more local to Zaun, who seems more frustrated to be in such a situation than her mentor. Reiya cocks back an upgraded version of just a rubber slingshot (not the slingshot she ends up using on the rift) and releases to hear the thud of a stone on the forehead of one of the thugs dumb looking faces. Before the thug can charge in a lust of rage, we see Dierro raise a hand as if to pause all action. He smiles at the feisty Reiya, who seems like she is ready to bruise a few knuckles, and says "New Recipe, lets hope it works" as he throws down an oddly patched orb that immediately expands into a cloud of smoke. Shot changes to Dierro pulling Reiya out of the end of the cloud and around a corner as he proceeds to laugh while trying to catch his breathe. She is not nearly as amused as she ask, "Why?? Why are we running from losers like those??". Dierro pulls out a small gold emblem attached to a black thread that hangs around his neck, "It means 'Survive and Grow' that first part is crucial the second", he says as he chuckles and tucks away the necklace, with a more serious face he slides in, "Which is why im leaving this waste bucket of a city". "Leaving?", asked Reiya as if that had never crossed her mind before. "This place isn't safe Reiya, if you don't get killed by one of those meat heads, its the mutant rats! or the air we're breathing itself!", Dierro pauses, as if he didn't want the answer to what he was about to ask, "Don't you want to see clear skies Reiya? Come with me! Theres more to the world than suped up toys and smoke bombs". "Like what?", asked a wonder-filled Reiya. Cut to stand still montage of Dierro and Reiya joining a traveling Creature Control Squad, where they handle crazy creatures across Runeterra (At this time Reiya is in the outfit that she'd actually be wearing in the game) One stand still would include snoozing a big creature with the TRANQ-A-TANQ darts and another stand still of her saving Dierro by catching something with the Creature Containment Cannon. Cuts to their current time where they are driven to Shurima in order to investigate seemingly targeted missing people in the south of the shuriman sands. While on lookout with a crew of two guards, Reiya is first to respond when Dierro is targeted by some creature and is being taken away. The three of them chase the creature back through a very strangle looking cave with all sorts of tunnels dug through. Reiya watches as the creature drags Dierro's unconscious body into a hole of deep glowing mist. As the thought of calling for backup cross her mind, her and the two guards jump in after him. They find themselves in a reality bending purgatory between Runeterra and the Unknowable Nothingness , filled with creatures, none like any other. Without even taking a moment to breath it in, she immediately unleashes fire on the purple demon that is carrying her love, and in doing so pisses off the demi creatures that inhabit this land. After watching her two guards get slaughtered by these same creatures, she retreats only to see a familiar puff of smoke before finding herself back in familiar territory. Driven by both the words of her now-gone lover, and by the refusal to never feel that fear again, she made many trips back to that purple-ish purgatory and returned with both the knowledge and tools to level the odds. Wielding void infused chem-tech, she vows not only to find the truth to Dierro's end, but also to protect those closest to her.

Okay now I go cry as I realize I invested wayyy too much time into this for only 2 people to see it. Love you two peeps tho <3