Merrill, The Bard of Dreams

Merrill, The Bard of Dreams

Combat role: Support Tags: Support, Mage, Ranged

APPEARANCE http://imgur.com/tXmr9gM

BASE STATS *- not doing this until I properly learn Riot’s new base stat system - *

ABILITIES

• The Sandman (innate): All of Merrill's harmful spells render people more and more fatigued - Merrill’s damaging basic abilities apply stacks of fatigue, reducing attack speed by 7% (+1% AP) per stack. The slowing effect will last 3s, while the stack will linger on the target for 7s. Stacks up to three times.

• Lick (Q): Merrill lashes out his tongue at an enemy champion and channels harmful magic through it that, combined with the harmful toxins secreted from his tongue, will damage and slow the target. Merrill may also use his tongue to pull minions and monsters back to him, damaging them if an enemy. In addition, if Merril lands a killing blow on an enemy minion this way, he will eat the minion and share the bounty with a nearby allied champion. - Merrill lashes out his tongue, dealing 65/95/125/155/185 (+40% AP) magic damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for 1s. This ability may target allied minions and enemy minions/monsters, dealing 60/80/10/120/140 (+ 40% AP) magic damage and pulling them to Merrill if an enemy. If this ability lands the killing blow on an enemy minion, the closest allied champion within 800 units gains the gold bounty as well. Mana Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Cooldown: 10/9.25/8.5/7.75/7s Cast Range: 575 units

• Medley (W): Passively, Merrill’s attacks will occasionally surge with magic, dealing magic damage and fatiguing the target. On activation, Merrill fires an ethereal wave from his lute, dealing damage and knocking targets back - Passive - Every third basic attack Merrill performs is dealt in magic damage instead of physical, deals 12/14/16/18/20% of your AP in additional magic damage and applies one stack of fatigue. Active - Merrill fires a wave ahead of him, dealing 70/110/150/190/230 (+50% AP) damage to enemy champions hit and knocking them back slightly. The damage type of this spell is equivalent to the latest primary damage source that Merrill has dealt Mana Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8s Cone Range: 500 units/ 45-degrees (NOTE: if the last source of damage Merril has dealt was from a regular basic attack, this ability active will do physical damage. if the last source of damage was from an ability or W-enhanced basic attack, this ability active would deal magic damage.)

• Ballad/Etherbolt (E): When cast on an ally, Merrill will begin channeling rejuvenating energy onto an ally in the form of a song, healing and inspiring the target. When cast on an enemy, Merrill fires a bolt of magic that will damage the target and other enemies around him, the lingering energy chewing away at the initial target’s armor. - On ally target - Channels over 3s, healing 25/35/45/55/65 (+15% AP) health per second from the target and granting it 10/17/24/31/38 (+4% AP) bonus AD for the duration. Merrill himself cannot use other abilities while channeling and moves 50% slower. This spell may be cancelled by pressing the spell again or if interrupted by an enemy. On enemy target - Deals 80/110/140/170/200 (+55% AP) magic damage to a target and reduces armor by 15% for 3s. 50% of the damage dealt will splash onto nearby enemies Mana cost: 75/85/95/105/115 Cooldown: 15/13.5/12/10.5/9s Cast Range: 450 units for ally targeting, 625 for enemy targeting (NOTE: utilizes a special range indicator)

• Mass Slumber (R): Merrill inflicts a curse onto all fatigued enemies within a certain range, causing a ring of magic to appear around them that will prevent many forms of mobility. Any targets that remain within their ring after a certain period will take damage and will fall asleep - Inflicts a curse on all enemies with 3 stacks of Fatigue applied to them, causing a ring with a 300-unit radius to appear around their current location that prevents the use of dashes, jumps or blinks (NOTE: Flash is immune to this effect). if they remain within the ring for 1s, they will be stunned for 2s and will take 200/325/400 (+50% AP) magic damage, consuming all stacks of Fatigue on them. Mana cost: 100 Cooldown: 130/110/90 AoE range: 1000 units, may only be cast if at least one enemy within AoE range has 3 stacks of Fatigue on them.

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RECOMMENDED ITEMS Starting

• Ancient Coin
• Health Potion
• Stealth Ward
• Sweeping Lens (Trinket)

Core

• Ruby Sightstone
• Sorcerer’s Shoes
• Talisman of Ascension
• Ardent Censer

Offensive

• Void Staff
• Twin Shadows
• Morellonomicon

Defensive

• Locket of the Iron Solari
• Mikael’s Crucible
• Zhonya’s Hourglass
• Randuin’s Omen

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TIPS

Playing as

• Be wary when using Lick to help an ally farm. Using it too often will leave you without mana very quickly.
• Merrill excels in teamfights where enemies are grouped close together. Try catching out enemies in enclosed spaces like the jungle.
• While Mass Slumber’s casting requirements may seem steep at first, keep in mind that Fatigue stacks last upwards of 10 seconds, even if the slow effect they provide is much shorter. Don’t feel the need to stack up Fatigue as fast as possible.

Playing Against

• Medley can be somewhat tricky to itemize against. Be sure to keep track of the last instance of damage Merrill dealt.
• While direct dashes and blinks are unusable during Mass Slumber, movement speed boosts are still perfectly valid.
• Ballad’s channel can be interrupted by many things, not only cancelling the heal, but also cancelling the damage boost it grants the ally. Whether Merrill is a priority target in the long term or not, be sure to save something for that specific moment.

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QUOTES Selection

• Sounds like you’re playing my kind of song.

Attacking

• Strike with subtlety.
• Loud and clear!
• My favorite serenade.
• Break up the monotony.
• I’ll be writing a ballad for this one.
• The spice of life
• No more mister nice guy… er, frog
• I will treasure this moment for all to hear.
• Let us put them down!
• Their days will darken.
• Sleep now… Your time is up.
• The cradle will rock.
• The sandman cometh.

Movement

• Don’t you start jumping to conclusions, now.
• This ambience is simply divine.
• This land… So different… And yet, familiar.
• Whatever you say, Partener.
• This quiet won’t last long… I can tell.
• These are tales for the ages
• Stay awake, my friend. We still have work to do.
• I’ll follow your lead.
• Let’s not be too hasty, here.
• I could write about this place forever.
• Music to my ears.
• From now until the end of time.
• Everything will be fine!

Jokes

• Ribbit Oh! Excuse me!
• Hmph No, i’m not a yordle!
• Hnng Must… ignore… flies…
• Well! I swear, the conversations I hear...
• What? Never seen a frog in a suit before?

Taunts

• You’re making me fall asleep.
• Nope… No one worth writing about around here!
• Don’t underestimate this frog!
• I won’t even bother with you.
• You aren’t worth remembering.

- Dance coming soon... Once I figure out something cool/fun -

LORE I woke up with a haze. I had no idea where I was, although something about it felt… familiar. Thankfully, I remembered who I was and what my life had been before this moment. A being of near god-like powers trapped in a world of hatred and despair. I remembered a war that ravaged the landscapes I had grown to love. There was nothing I could do to save it. I remember descending into a cave, where I sat down alongside my writings and started chanting some kind of incantation. I had shielded myself and my life’s work from the terrors above and put myself into a deep slumber. When I finally gathered myself, I looked around me. I was glad to see that my spell had lasted. All of my books and scrolls, as well as my precious lute, sat in the same places as I had initially left them, in perfect condition. While everything within the barrier I had put up was fine, the cave around me was… not so much. Everything was disfigured, with glints of light peeking through cracks in the walls somehow. The entrance was caved in.

It took me a while to adjust to the sunlight. As it turned out, the cavern I had found for myself eroded away, my barrier the only thing keeping it fully intact. At the time, I had no words to describe the forest I had found myself in, although looking back, I think I have found those words: Beautiful, luscious and wild. I still go back there from time to time, basking in it’s majesty. Back then, however, I had other things in mind: Looking for sentient life.

After a week or so of travel, living off of fruit I had found in the jungle, I somehow managed to cross through a mountainous landscape and stumble into city full of intelligent beings. They were a strange bunch, about a foot shorter than I, which is no small feat, and with the males covered in fur and the women’s skin tinted various cold, cool colors. Yordles, they had called themselves.
I greatly enjoyed my time spent with the Yordles. They were a warm, fun-loving and welcoming bunch, kind enough to fill me in on the world I awoke to. According to what they told me, I had slept for over two hundred years, which is an odd feeling, as it felt like mere hours to me. Either way, I felt so at home with the Yordles that I have set up a permanent homestead in their capital of Bandle City. While I tend to spend more time travelling than I do at home, it’s always nice to have a place to come back to and finish up any new writings in full comfort.

Ever since then, I have been travelling about this new Runeterra, writing stories and ballads about the great men and women I have encountered on my journeys and helping them when I could, as well as publishing my old works of aeons past for people to read and experience.

Many people ask if I miss the old days. While I will say that there were some things in the past I will always remember with a smile on my face, I do think that the world has changed for the better. Take that however you wish.