Garen, the Might of Demacia [Rebalance Concept]
#GAREN, THE MIGHT OF DEMACIA
##REWORK OVERVIEW Garen has always been in a strange place. He feels like a front-line brawler, but his damage is so low that he barely threatens the front line. As such, he ends up as an easily kite-able character who, though he seems like a front-line fighter, wants to actually run past into the back line.
The goal of this rework is to re-position Garen at the front of the fight as a tanky bruiser who can take on tanks on their own terms. A secondary goal is to preserve the simplicity of Garen's kit, as he is designed to be a beginner-friendly champion.
As always, thoughts and comments are appreciated: more important, however, is actionable input. Tell me what you like, what you don't like. All concepts are works in progress, and your input is valued.
##PASSIVE – PERSEVERANCE No Change
This update aims to be as low-scope as possible, and Perseverance in its current form still functions just fine for this kit.
##Q – DECISIVE STRIKE Garen breaks free from all slows affecting him and gains 35% movement speed for a few seconds. Additionally, his next basic attack within 4.5 seconds will deal additional physical damage equal to 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12% of the target's maximum health and will silence his target for 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds.
Cooldown: 8 seconds.
The shift to % maximum health damage helps Garen in his new shift to the front lines by making him significantly more target-agnostic with his damage. High health targets will end up taking a considerable amount of damage, while lower health targets will only take slightly more damage than on live.
##W – COURAGE No Change
This update aims to be as low-scope as possible, and Courage in its current form still functions just fine for this kit.
##E – Judgement Garen rapidly spins his sword around his body for 3 seconds, dealing 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 (+70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110% AD) physical damage every .5 seconds to enemies within range. Garen ignores unit collision while spinning, but moves 20% slower when traveling through minions.
Enemies damaged by Judgement lose **2% **of their bonus armor each time they take damage. This increases by 2% for each additional instance of damage they take, to a maximum of 42% reduced bonus armor after a full 3 seconds inside Judgement. This debuff lasts for 5 second.
Range: 300 unit area around Garen. Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds (+1 second from live).
Judgement's old design dealt damage, but it didn't make Garen a front-line threat. Now teams are actually strongly penalized for standing inside Garen's spin, encouraging him to tear into the front line to break it apart. It's also much more penalizing for larger armor values, meaning Garen is no longer as encouraged to run into the back line and spin down the squishy champions.
The damage numbers have been lowered slightly and the cooldown raised to prevent Garen's new Q + E from making him too much of a lane bully. His shred is bonus armor based to make it more threatening to tanks, but also to prevent it from overpowering the early game. Finally, due to the slightly lower damage values (20 damage per second at max ranks), minions no longer take reduced damage from the effect.
##R – DEMACIAN JUSTICE
Garen calls upon the might of Demacia to strike an enemy champion, dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+15 / 20 / 25% of target's maximum health) magic damage. The impact leaves a large sigil on the ground for 8 seconds (approximately a 475 radius – the size of Maokai's ultimate). Allies standing within the sigil gain 15 / 25 / 30% tenacity.
##UPDATE: R – DEMACIAN JUSTICE Garen calls upon the might of Demacia to attempt to execute an enemy champion, dealing 150 / 300 / 450 (+26 / 33 / 40% of the target's missing health) magic damage. If Demacian Justice kills the target, Garen and nearby allies are Inspired for 5 seconds, gaining 20% movement speed and armor and magic resistance equal to 30% of the target's armor and magic resistance.
Range: 400 units. **Cooldown: ** 120 / 110 / 80 seconds.
The new update keeps the execute flavor of old Garen, while giving him some serious incentive to use it on a durable opponent if the opportunity presents itself. It loses a little bit of damage but gains a massive amount of utility if used on the right target at the right time.
#A NOTE ABOUT THE POLL If you like or dislike the concept (specifically if you select "Doesn't even feel like Garen"), please let me know WHY. That, more than anything else, will help me iterate and improve my designs, both for this project and any in the future.
