[Champion Concept] Ril'Jek, the Unconquered
Outreach Reviews
So, I'm finally back at this after a short hiatus. And like everyone else (including Riot now, it seems), I've taken it upon myself to make a void champion that isn't just another monster!
...
Okay, maybe not 'make'. Remake. Bringing him all the way back from 2013...
#Ril'Jek, the Unconquered
Role: Vanguard/Juggernaut
Overview
Ril'Jek is a mid/front line bruiser (arguably somewhere between Sion and Darius), intended to be played top lane. With an unmatched mix of crowd control, damage and durability, Ril'Jek typically tries to dominate enemy melee laners, before transitioning into an immovable rock during teamfights. Even if kept down in lane, Ril'Jek will still be useful in this phase as long as he can land his ultimate on an important target. Ril'Jek's greatest weaknesses lie in his lack of stickiness and his short effective range. Ril'Jek can win a fight with most melee champions and can put one off against most others, but since his damage and crowd control are married together, he has trouble keeping his opponents around (or indeed, starting fights at all). His innate sustain is primarily tied to his passive and overusing his shield is taxing on his mana pool, leaving him susceptible to poke and low commitment engages.
Ril'Jek's kit is meant to evoke two main things:
- A size, strength and endurance worthy of the title 'The Unconquered'.
- A budding concern for teammates/allies that is effective more due to Ril'Jek's own strength than its skill at protecting allies.
##Lore
Quick Bio
The dual curse and blessing of knowledge, of the freedom of choice, is rarely known among the low Voidborn. Even the most lucid are primarily beings of hunger and malice, rarely able to exceed the limits of their programming. Despite his monstrous appearance, Ril'Jek is of a different ilk, having developed a will all of its own and a defiance that overcomes even the ravenous instincts intrinsic to all Voidborn. Still ill at ease with its own capacity for emotion, Ril'Jek roams Runeterra, wandering between the outskirts of civilisation, searching for that which can make sense of its place in the world.
Full Lore
The allure of the Void is more than just its literal siren's call. Surely, the unknown holds the potential of fortune, just as surely as it does disaster, says the eternal chancer. Others think themselves incapable of falling for the same mistakes as those made examples. They find an old text or set of journal entries, describing their initial process without any mention of an ultimate fate. And thus, every now and again, some enterprising young mage decides to test their luck, delving into the places where the barrier between the two worlds is at its thinnest.
Death is the most favourable outcome for all but the void itself.
The master was one of the unlucky ones. A sorcerer of some talent, name lost to the sands, driven by some personal demon, he sought out a rift in the Shuriman Desert. Not Icathia. The man thought himself clever for avoiding that cursed city. Instead, his target was a newer tear, near what'd once been an Oasis. In any case, there was little difference between the two. When he surfaced from his time studying it, little remained of the once promising mage, beyond an ill-fitting, paper thin mask of skin.
As one does as a puppet of the void, the master pressed a swarm of lesser Voidborn into his service. Beings so lowly that even a will already shattered might command them. Ril'Jek was one of the first, part of an army a thousand strong, and one of the lucky few to survive their first few sorties. The master was neither a cautious man, nor possessed of a particularly tactical mind. Anyone they encountered was a fair target, most of whom were armed to combat most of the desert's dangers. Quite quickly, the master settled upon simply crushing his foes under the weight of numbers. In his quest to feed the void, the master churned through enough nymphs to fill the deepest chasm.
Not that it mattered. There were always more nymphs.
A time passed. Likely years, though Ril'Jek did not care to count at the time, nor did he have such a defined measurement of time. Though the lion's share ferried back to that first rift, the conquests were bountiful and it began to mature. It grew large enough to menace even the staunchest warrior. Its horn and claws grew sharp enough to pierce the sturdiest armour. Its carapace grew hard enough to turn even the sharpest blade. Most terrifying of all, it developed something that might've resembled intelligence, able to navigate a battlefield by itself, elaborating on the master's orders (which still amounted to little more than 'Charge'). Survival begot survival, as the nymph became a monster in its own right.
And the monster was...discontent.
There was a sort of unifying theme to the sorts of prey it encountered that put it on edge, even between those ran futilely across the sand, prolonging their deaths as long as they could, and that stood and fought to the last. Something it couldn't process, yet there was a sort of longing towards it. Something it could see, yet never have.
Still, it followed orders.
These feelings crystalised upon the band's first true defeat; the first time they returned to the rift only to recycle the biomass of their own dead. The master ambushed a caravan, protected by a hardened band of mercenaries. Though the caravan's size and encumberance left it unwieldy, the mercenaries were a wall that the swarm could not pierce. Ril'Jek found itself stymied and halted by a pair of swordsmen that forced it on the backfoot. The two danced around it, preventing it from advancing or committing to a strike, lest it expose those weakpoints, where its chitin grew thin for the sake of basic movement. They fought like one mind in two bodies, far more so than the swarm that was near enough literally as such.
Upon returning, the master ranted and raved, cursed and spat. Hurled every insult under the sun towards those warriors, towards the caravan that slipped away, dancing away from his grasp, and especially towards his minions. Ril'Jek listened in silence, as the master singled it out especially, for it was the only one left that could at all be distinguished from its peers. Indeed, Ril'Jek was the last of that original swarm. The only survivor from those early days. Besides it, no voidborn older than a nymph had survived that encounter.
Pickings grew all the more slim, as travellers gave the rift a wider and wider berth. The master grew more reckless, more erratic, demanding the swarm travel further and further out, stretch itself further and further, when food had already become scarce. The nymphs that made up the bulk of the swarm grew weary and weak without a consistent source of biomass to sustain themselves on and, while Ril'Jek itself had become oddly accustomed to the austerity, the swarm as a whole suffered.
Then, in the dead of night, it was the master and his swarm that found itself ambushed.
Those same mercenaries from years ago, along with so many others, had decided to root out the master at the source. Without anyone to attend it, the rift would starve and grow dormant. They tore through the anemic resistance; the master had never bothered with any sort of proper defense and by the time it was known they were under attack, the merce
Even in the seat of his power, the master had no chance.
As that desperate madness of an inevitable defeat took over him, the master raised his hand, channeling so much energy that his skin; that last link to his long lost humanity, began to churn and bubble. He screamed his defiance to his foes and to the world, promising to pry the very fabric of space asunder and slay every single one of them in a single strike. It was a desperate move. Phyrric at best. The violent tearing of the world would likely end the lives of every human here.
His laugh, manic and long since divorced from sanity, echoed into the night, the invaders too far away to stop him before the spell went off.
Then, there was a thud. A soft one, for Ril'Jek had done little more than shove the master over.
"W-What are you d-?"
Then, there was a crack, as Ril'Jek opened its mandibles and crushed the master's skull between them. Frozen in that moment, Ril'Jek tasted its master's powers; the texture of the energy, it's shape and how it would've been used. Eventually, it would refine the knowledge into a technique to move between worlds at will, but for now, such thoughts were far from its mind. No, only a mild satiation, for Ril'Jek had long since accepted that ever present hunger, and a complicated mess of emotions, as it ended perhaps the most important being in its life.
Then it stood. Regardless of how monstrous it might've been, the sombreness in its eyes was unmistakable.
The mercenaries watched warily, uncertain whether to end the monster, or spare their saviour.
Then, one by one they stepped aside, as Ril'Jek wandered off into the desert, alone.
##Stats
Health: 545 – 2330 (545 + 105 per level) Health Regen: 9.5 – 25.65 (9.5 + 0.95 per level) Mana: 300 – 980 (300 + 40 per level) Mana Regen: 7 – 18.9 (7 + 0.7 per level) Melee: 175
Attack Damage: 61 – 146 (61 + 5 per level) Attack Speed: 0.625 + [0% – 51%](+3% per level) Armor: 36 – 95.5 (36 + 3.5 per level) Magic Resistance: 32.1 – 53.4 (30 + 1.25 per level) Movement Speed: 335
##Abilities
[P] Unyielding Fortress
Exoskeletal Bastion: Ril’Jek gains one stack of Chitin for every enemy minion or small monster he killed, and two stacks for large monsters and champion or epic monster takedowns, stacking infinitely. Whenever Ril’Jek gains Chitin, he reduces the cooldown of Strange Aeons by 5 seconds.
Strange Aeons: If Ril’Jek would sustain fatal damage, he enters stasis for 0.5 seconds, then is set to 5% of his maximum health and gains a shield equal to 120 - 630 (+20% Bonus Health), increased by 1% for each point of Chitin he has, for 6 seconds. Ril’Jek gains 40 - 125 (+30% Bonus AD) AD and heals 30% of all physical damage (reduced by 75% against minions) dealt as long this shield holds. Cooldown: 300 - 180 seconds (Based on level).
[Q] Crushing Impact
Ril'Jek opens a portal at target location, slamming his claws down in front of him, then repeating the effect through the portal 0.5 seconds later, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies and knocking them away. Enemies take 50% reduced damage if hit by both strikes
Damage: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+100% Total AD) Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 Mana Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds Range (1st Hit): 125 Range (2nd Hit/Target): 650 AOE Radius: 150 Knockback distance: 200
Notes: Each knockback lasts exactly 0.5 seconds. Has a 0.6 second cast time (overlaps with the delay). Target location is set upon cast and can’t be adjusted. Upon cast, Ril’Jek will turn to face the target location.
[W] Gore
Ril'Jek stabs his horn forward, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit and knocking them down. Enemies behind the target take 50% damage.
If Gore is held, Ril’Jek will remain in place for up to 0.75 seconds, knocking down the first enemy that enters the AOE.
Upon knocking down a dashing or airborne target, Ril’Jek suppresses them and immobilises himself for 1.25 seconds. During this time, Ril’Jek will orientate himself towards the cursor and drag the target so that they remain in front of him, a static distance away. If the target collides with a wall, the effect ends and they take additional damage.
Damage: 10 / 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 (+120% Total AD) Collision Damage: 5 / 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 (+60% Total AD) Cost: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 Mana Cooldown: 4.5 seconds Range: 475 Notes: Gore’s ‘trajectory’ updates gradually. If the target is unable to be suppressed or would break the supression, the effect ends.
[E] Ablative Shell
Ril’jek forms a shell that covers a portion of his body, absorbing damage from that direction for 2.5 seconds and reducing the damage of any enemy non-turret projectile that passes through it.
After the shell is destroyed, a remnant remains for 8 seconds (reducible by cooldown reduction) that prevents the placement of additional shells on top of them.
While Strange Aeons is active, Ril’Jek’s basic attacks and abilities towards a remnant will destroy it.
Shield Health: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+80% Total AD) (+8% Total Health) Projectile Damage Reduction: 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% Cost: 60 Mana Cooldown: 0.5 Seconds Shield Size: 120 Degrees Notes: If Ablative Shell is cast towards a remnant, it will prioritise the nearest available angle. Ablative Shell’s cooldown begins when the shield breaks/expires. Ablative Shell benefits from its own damage reduction.
[R] Way Between Worlds
Ril’Jek opens a portal at target location, then dashes unstoppably a set distance towards it, dealing physical damage to all enemies he passes through and impaling the first enemy champion he collides with, dragging them with him.
Upon touching the portal, Ril’Jek and any champion he impaled vanish into the void. While in the void, Ril’Jek can designate a location and direction within 1000 units as his exit. The exit portal cannot be any further away from the enemy’s fountain than the entrance. If Ril’Jek does not choose an exit location, he will return through the original portal, travelling in the opposite direction.
After 2 seconds, Ril’Jek will charge out of the exit portal, depositing any impaled enemies at his destination and creating a temporary link between the two locations for 5 seconds. Allies may teleport between the two portals as they wish during this time.
Damage: 100 / 175 / 250 (+100% AD) (+12% of Target’s Maximum Health) Cost: 100 Mana Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 Seconds Range (Entrance Portal): 800 Range (Exit Portal): 1000 Range (Dash): 1400 AOE Width (Damage/Impale Radius): 150 Dash Speed: 1200 (+Bonus Movement Speed)
Notes: Has a 0.35 second initial cast time between opening the portal and charging. Ril’Jek will ALWAYS travel the full 1400 distance of his dash, split between before entering and after exiting the void; if the portal is 800 units away, he’ll dash 800 units towards it, then dash 600 units after exiting. If Ril’Jek places the portal 100 units away, he’ll dash 100 units towards it and dash 1300 units after exiting. Any effect that would cleanse crowd control from an impaled champion will deposit the target at the entrance portal upon activation.
Changelog
21/02/18 - Posted! 25/02/18 - Added first part of full bio. Reworked Unyielding Fortress and Ablative Shell. 01/03/18 - Added Outreach review. 03/03/18 - Updated the lore (hopefully making it a bit more appropriate for the latest Void update) and added a short overview.
