Dredgeback, Legend of Bilgewater

Role: AP Tank, AP Jungler

Inspiration: Thematically, Dredgeback was designed to evoke a sense of enigmatic monstrosity. His skillset feels grotesque, gruesome and flat-out gross. His Ravenous Tendril, especially, should evoke a feeling of dread and anxiety to enemy players.

General Design Philosophy: Dredgeback is a tanky initiator with a suite of crowd control and utility abilities. He is best suited for the jungle and provides great peel for his team in addition to his powerful initiations.

Risk Analysis: Low. Dredgeback takes a few creative liberties and introduces a new spin on the existing grab/hook mechanic, but his kit is otherwise an amalgamation of existing skills. The difficulty comes from his appearance, which is slightly monstrous in nature. Originally designed to be a sort of snail or slug monster, the ‘pirate host’ theme came later to help create a more familiar and recognizable character silhouette.

Appearance: A bloated pirate/fisherman humanoid that acts as a “host” for a parasitic creature that lives on his back and even inside him. A swarm of smaller parasites make their home on a crustaceous shell located on his back. When he (the host) dies in battle, the creature flees from him, withers and dies. When using Ravenous Tendril, the man’s hand extends and morphs into a tentacle of sorts. Other abilities are handled similarly, wherein the man’s body has essentially become entangled and morphed by the parasite’s entrenched existence.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/pirate_king_by_warlordwardog-d50oi8p_zpsd78d9b2c.jpg

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/davy_jones_zps30cec9be.jpg

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/zombie_pirates_zps0e6db1b5.jpg The parasitic infection has begun to affect its host's appearance...

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/PZO9227-FlailSnailFight_zps89cf31af.jpg The true form of Dredgeback, overwhelming its victim and soon-to-be host

Lore: Dredgeback is a mysterious scavenger that patrols the shores of Bilgewater, known by most of the locals to be nothing but an old folktale. The fishermen and pirates of Bilgewater have a high level of both fear and respect for the creature, though only a few have had personal encounters with the elusive beast. The legends say that it is a parasitic monster that devours a man’s free will and uses his body as a vessel to walk among the townsfolk undiscovered.

His name is inspired by what the locals of Bilgewater refer to the creature as. Most sightings are reported by fishermen using dredge lines to catch shellfish, which the parasite actually uses as bait. When the fishermen pull up their catch, the creature strikes, conscripting a new host before sinking back into the muddy bays of Bilgewater...

Strengths: Sustainable Jungle clearing, incredibly powerful crowd control and team fight disruption, defensive utility ultimate.

Weaknesses: Low personal damage, unreliable damage from Ultimate, not innately tanky, conceivably slow jungle clears.

Plays Most Like...:

Auto Attack: Melee range, Dredgeback forcefully flails a tendril-like arm at the target.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_851_btn_zps2b40bd6c.jpg Passive-Provoke: Repeated attacks against Dredgeback provoke him, causing him to spew a paralyzing venom that briefly stuns the attacking target for 1 second. This effect cannot happen to the same target twice for 12 seconds. It takes 4 attacks from a single source to trigger this effect. Damage over time abilities and abilities with multiple hit components (such as Ahri’s Q) only count as one attack. Enemies who have attacked Dredgeback at least once will receive a debuff called “Provoke,” with a visual effect showing how many times they’ve attacked him. If an enemy goes more than 6 seconds without attacking Dredgeback, the debuff is removed. Design Philosophy: Provoke reinforces the philosophy of not attacking the tank during a team fight. This ability punishes enemy players, primarily fast-attacking AD Carries, for doing so. This allows Dredgeback to either be more of a constant damage threat, or conversely increase his ability to crowd control and disrupt team fights. Finally, being able to briefly stun jungle camps slightly aids in his ability to clear in the jungle. Thematically, the ability ties into the concept of provoking a crab, turtle or similar creature that hides in a shell.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_9247_pas_zps5966ab16.jpg Q- Ravenous Tendril (14 sec): Dredgeback launches a tendril as a skillshot that latches onto the first enemy it contacts, tethering them together, dealing magic damage and slowing them by 30% while within range. After 2 seconds, the target is pulled back to Dredgeback, assuming the two are still tethered together by the tendril. If the target breaks the tether, the tendril automatically retracts. Rank-ups increase damage and lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: This is Dredgeback’s most iconic ability, meant to evoke a sense of anxiety from enemy players. It hinders their movement but also provides a glimmer of hope for their escape. While not as immediately terrifying as a Blitzcrank or Amumu hook, the ability overall has greater crowd control potential and really meshes well thematically. Making the ability a skillshot is warranted due to its overall power and ability to control team fights and initiations.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_516_btn_zps67d0df82.jpg W- Corrosive Secretion (12 sec): Dredgeback releases a gel-like substance around himself that quickly expands over 1.5 seconds and lasts for a total of 5 seconds. This gel behaves like a circular version of Kog’maw’s E with a maximum diameter of 750 units, and can also be compared to Creep from the Starcraft universe. Enemies on the gel take periodic but minor magic damage and are slowed by 15%. Dredgeback gains 30/35/40/45/50 bonus movement speed when traveling on the gel. This ability can be cast while moving. Rank-ups increase magic damage and movement speed bonus Design Philosophy: As a Jungler, Dredgeback needs the ability to quickly clear jungle camps. The AoE from this ability aids in that. Additionally, this skill synergizes with Ravenous Tendril, allowing him to stick to enemies once they have been grappled.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_16112_pas_zps611e36e2.jpg E- Parasitic Swarm (7 sec): Passive: Killing enemy units provide nourishment for the parasites living on Dredgeback. Each unit killed grants a small amount of bonus healing (5/10/15/20/25 based on rank). Killing a unite also grants a stacking buff called "Parasitic Swarm", up to a cap of 5. Killing or assisting in Champion deaths award 4 stacks. 1 stack is also awarded passively every 5 seconds, but does not provide healing. Active: Upon reaching 5 stacks, Swarm can be activated. It is a targeted ability that deals magic damage and reduces armor and magic resistance by 10/15/20/25/30 over 4 seconds. Rank-ups increase damage and stat reduction amount, as well as increases bonus healing provided by killing enemy units. Design Philosophy: The passive component of this ability allows Dredgeback to sustain himself during jungle clears, as he is not innately tanky and would otherwise suffer early game. The stacking component allows a player to regulate their own ganking power, providing them a choice about when and where to use the skill. Additionally, stacks are awarded passively to prevent the ability from losing effectiveness towards mid-end game team fighting when a tanky jungler isn’t likely to be seeing much CS. Furthermore, stacks are awarded on Champion assist/death due to the unlikeliness of earning CS mid-team fight.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_10950_pas_zps0b00fd5e.jpg R- Symbiosis (95 sec): Dredgeback places a parasitic barrier on a friendly champion that splits incoming damage evenly between the two targets for up to 2/3/4 seconds. Damage taken by Dredgeback is not inflicted onto its ally. At any time during this or for a few seconds afterward, Dredgeback can cast his Ultimate again to transfer the parasites from his ally to a targeted enemy champion, inflicting true damage equal to the damage dealt to his ally (up to a cap of 200/400/700). Dredgeback can cast this ability on himself but he will take full damage from enemies, as it is not splitting the damage with a second target., and only half the damage inflicted will go towards the true damage dealt by the second cast. Rank-ups decrease cooldown and increase duration that barrier lasts on an ally. Also increases the cap of potential true damage. Design Philosophy: This is a defensive Ultimate with enemy consequences similar to Zilean’s Ultimate. An enemy team can choose to burn through an ally with this buff on them, but risk taking a true damage nuke of considerable power as a result. As a low damage tank, this ability provides a Dredgeback player with the opportunity to contribute to a team fight offensively, with strategic and smart use of their defensive utility. The true damage value is capped to prevent ludicrous true damage nukes. Thematically, the ability ties to the theme of symbiosis quite strongly, as both Dredgeback and his target benefit from it overall, despite both parties suffering damage.

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