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The Stormwarden - an Epic Turret

Illâoi Evê Siôn·11/30/2015, 9:54:14 PM·5 votes·3,567 views

http://i.imgur.com/BkdEaMV.jpg

The Stormwarden is to the Turrets what Baron Nashor is to the monsters: The epic objective.

It takes up space in the middle lane, where the inner Turret used to stand, and secures a team's dominion over their side of the map; boasting high Health, Resistances, and damage, as well as other features and interactions with both allies and enemies.

**These include: **

  • Slabs
  • Defense Mechanism
  • Watchtowers
  • Achilles Plate

#Slabs

The Stormwarden has 4500 maximum Health: 500 base Health and 4 Slabs which each grant it 1000 bonus Health. These are sectioned off visually in its 'epic' Health Bar. Depending on how many Slabs it has left, the Stormwarden gains in strength, making it a formiddable foe at four Slabs, but comparable to a normal Turret at one.

When the Stormwarden loses a Slab -- when the enemies deal 1000 damage to it -- parts of it fall away, it decreases in size, and loses 1000 maximum Health. The Stormwarden does have up to 5 Health Regen per 5 seconds¹, but since you can decrease its maximum Health, the Health Regen decreases in worth as well.

The Stormwarden attacks minions with single bolt strikes, and champions with a tethered laser. This ensures maximum damage by being able to quickly switch between targets, especially since the first strike of the laser does just as much as a bolt would, but much quicker².

When the Stormwarden loses a Slab, it also grants the enemy team 35 global gold and activates its Defense Mechanism.

¹ : Health Regen per 5 seconds = 1 (+1 per Slab missing)

² : This isn't really a buff. It simply increases reliability, as Turrets sometimes attack champions immediately already, even if they were only in range for a split-second.

http://i.imgur.com/X6t4D7B.jpg

#Defense Mechanism

When the Defense Mechanism sets in, the Stormwarden switches Attack Speed for high Resistences and a single, all-powerful strike that deals true damage in an area around the target. And since champions are tethered, this strike is harder to dodge. Flash or Dash (or goo-ing into a pool of blood) won't do the trick³.

If one does manage to dodge (zing -- Zhonia's) the Stormwarden will simply ignore the target and strike the area around it. This still results in AoE true damage against the enemy team.

The Stormwarden has to channel up this attack over about a half second. Afterwards, it has 50% reduced Attack Speed against champions. This means that after it fires its lazoor, it's good diving for the whole team, but pushing becomes harder.

The Resistances the Stormwarden gains are about 25 bonus Armor and Magic Resistance at all stages of the game. If the next Slab is destroyed while the duration of the first Defense Mechanism isn't over yet, the Armor and Magic Resistance stack for the duration the two overlap. The Stormwarden does gain another all-powerful strike, though.

³ : The Stormwarden gains bonus Range for this attack that should reach just up to the brush near the raptors. If you get into the brush before it fires, it no longer targets you, but rather the brush itself (AoE radius = brush size). If it does fire, the strike can also only reach up to the brush.
Either way, any enemy in that brush will receive tons of damage. item 3078 item 3078 item 3078
It has equal bonus range to the wolf-side.

Alternatively, the shape of the all-powerful strike could be formed like a bigger Dragonfire cone.

http://i.imgur.com/7GStGbJ.png

#Watchtowers: Fox and Wolf

Watchtowers are self-regenerating 'Wards' in the jungle that activate after the 10 minute mark. They can be activated for 90 seconds, but afterwards they go on a 2 minute cooldown. Enemies can deactivate them by attacking them. They both have 8 Health. Melee champions deal 2 damage to them, ranged champions only 1.

Fox' vision extends around half the brush towards the Chickens' camp, but it does not reveal the brush. Wolf's vision extends around the Wolf camp, up to the wall-brush, and the path behind the wolf-camp (towards Blue), but it does not reveal the brush either, nor the top and bottom entrances into the brush.
Enemies still need to be able to sneak around similar to Scuttle Crab's vision fields.

Watchtowers' cooldown is extended by ~2 minutes when the Stormwarden is destroyed.

Fox and Wolf both grant 1 second lingering vision of enemies.

P.s.: The Fox hunts Chickens, the Wolf watches over its brethren. P.p.s: There are large trees at both locations where the Watchtowers would be.
P.p.p.s: Smiting the Wolf could interact with the Wolf-Watchtower in some way, instead of spawning the Forest Spirit.

http://i.imgur.com/aVrw6hM.png

#Achilles Plate

The Stormwarden gains up to 5 Armor and Magic Resistance per nearby allied champion⁴. As such, alongside its Defense Mechanism and innate Resistances, it can get very tanky. Its innate Resistances stack up over time up to 50, just like normal Turrets. So push quickly, and you will secure early rewards.

But the Stormwarden's also has another weakness: its backplating is very weak. When attacked twice, it sabotages the whole Turret for a duration⁵. During this time, the Stormwarden loses its Resistances and deals reduced damage against champions. So if you ace the enemy team, or zone them as a melee champion, you can sabotage the Stormwarden and let your carries peel it down safely.
Beware the Defense Mechanism, though. You can also push forward and proc the Achilles Plating in order to fight under the Stormwarden, if you have to.

The Achilles Plate has a high cooldown.

Destroying the Stormwarden grants another 115 global gold and enhances your team's Siege Minions, granting them the Ionic Spark passive. They gain some Attack Speed and their every fourth attack then summons a lightning bolt that deals 50% damage to a second non-champion, enemy unit. This can proc against champions to hit a nearby minion.

⁴ : Armor and Magic Resistance per nearby allied champion = 1 (+1 per Slab left)

⁵ : Think a mix between Fiora's and Braum's passive. The sabotage duration increases as the game progresses.

http://i.imgur.com/NV9FbCm.png

#Goals

Overall, destroying the Stormwarden grants:

  • 250 global Gold
  • Sabotages enemy Vision Control
  • Enhances allied Siege Minions

These rewards shouldn't be hidden. You will see when your Siege Minions arc lightning, and you will be thankful for those 35 bonus Gold when saving up for an item in base.

Pushing as objective is rewarded. Pushing as a team is encouraged. Backdooring is, too: If you don't have the right team-comp to siege the Stormwarden, you backdoor and distract the enemies. When they split up -- if you move right -- you could even get both the Turret and the Stormwarden.

Players have to be resourceful to bring this Epic Turret down, and they can't just do it if they have slight lead (though the Stormwarden isn't that tanky. It only gets up to 100 Resistances, has 1 -- 5 HP5, and 4500 Health ...)

http://i.imgur.com/hvVq6vx.jpg

#Items, Gamemode & Co.

Items like Ohmwrecker, Banner of Command, and Zz'Rots would of course become more valuable if Turrets are buffed. Ohmwrecker is invaluable, because it can stop an all-powerful attack by stunning the Stormwarden.
I suggest nerfing a little bit because of that (200 more cost, or a little longer cooldown).

But these items and items like them could also be buffed: They could 'evolve' when you destroy the Stormwarden. A 'boring' example would be that Ohmwrecker gets 150 extra Health. Or that Zz'Rots minions, or enhanced minions also get the Ionic Spark.

Just to make Turrets and pushing more interactive and rewarding -- epic, like how Baron and Dragon were reworked.

Maybe it could also only be a game-mode, and the Stormwarden is even more powerful and they add the Black Market back with anti-tower items ^^ That way Riot could test out how stronger Turrets would feel before they commit to anything.

I don't know. Anywho, thanks for reading :D If you have any suggestions or any thoughts on Turrets, feel free to discuss. They're an essential part of League after all.

And, as always, all numbers in this thread are only suggestions as I have no way to proof their balance.

http://i.imgur.com/ro5CgH3.png

#Leftovers

These are just random thoughts I had, but didn't want to include for various reasons. Maybe you might like some:

  • The Stormwarden could have the shield-system inner Turrets used to have.
  • It could also grant allies Resistances similar to the Legion Aura to better protect them.
  • Items could be implemented that gain stats based on total amount of Turrets destroyed (like +3 Attack Damage per Turret destroyed. +10 for a Stormwarden. Max: +45).
  • Fox and Wolf could attack the first enemy they find with a weak, slowing attack.
  • There could be more, unthemed Watchtowers scattered over the map. Those in your own jungle gain bonuses based on your Stormwarden. Skarner replaces these Watchtowers with Crystal Spires.
  • Stormwarden acts as shop after 15 minutes or so.
  • Trinkets could be nerfed, Watchtowers buffed, Sightstone buffed --> Vision Control is now innate and obvious. When you walk by a Watchtower you activate it. Supports would become Vision Controllers like in the early seasons. Sightstone could increase Ward Cap.
  • A Trinket could be implemented that interacts with Towers/Watchtowers (like gives them a shield or so): Grants players who feel helpless in protecting their turrets a way to do that.
  • The Watchtowers could be replaced with the Stormwarden just having extra vision that reaches over the walls into both jungle sides (his vision isn't completely circular). The range would decrease each time it loses a Slab.

4 Comments

Blitzedlegend12/1/2015, 2:04:54 AM1 votes

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Kusa Ryo12/1/2015, 2:08:22 AM1 votes

"The Stormwarden does have up to 5 Health Regen per 5 seconds¹, but since you can decrease its maximum Health, the Health Regen decreases in worth as well." "Health Regen per 5 seconds = 1 (+1 per Slab missing)" Shouldn't it be that the HP Regen would be 1 (+1 per Slab remaining)? Also, I think that the HP Regen should deactivate, like all other structures, when still being attacked. This would ensure that a naturally pushing minion wave would be able to push. Also, do you mean the Inhibitor tower for mid lane? You added a picture for inhib tower attacking jinx while you mentioned inner tower, which is the second tower. While the Stormwarden is a generally good idea, providing players a decision whether to swiftly push a top\bottom lane or seige a middle lane for an objective, I don't really agree on the Fox and Wolf Watchtowers. The Jungle needs to be that secret place for junglers to roam and surprise careless laners, and it deserves its own privacy. Such an example is early game counter jungling or escaping from enemies. This does not necessarily mean that the Fox and Wolf Watchtowers are not a bad idea. This could be an inspiration to many custom hide-and-seek games, who want to play on maps other than the Crystal Scar. But aside from that, the Watchtowers grant a little bit too much vision and takes away the meaning of warding in the jungle.