Champion Concept: Denma - The Runic Ritualist

ChaosReyn··1 votes·2,364 views

Here you go Nasu...I figured it out...

Lore: An apprentice to Ryze in his earlier days, Denma quickly learned the true dangers of the world, and more importantly of the World Runes. When his master was betrayed by Brand, who was corrupted by their power, Denma was cast out by Ryze, who believed the task of collecting and protecting the world runes a task only he could handle without being corrupted by their power. Denma did not give up. He found a World rune without the help of his former master in a strange land called Ozhirim, and decided the only way to keep it safe was to remain there as its protector. His ritual magic now guards the World Rune, and he resides in this strange land awaiting its discovery by his master...and his master's lost trust.

Role: Zone Based Caster Mage/Support

Base Stats:

HP: 495(+77) HP5: 7.0 (+.7) MP: 395(+60) MP5: 6.2(+.58) AD: 59(+5.6) AS: .46(+.03) AR: 30(+3.2) MR: 33(+1.2) MS: 345 RN: 435

Passive: Ritual Runes - Denma's abilities all require a 1.5s uninterrupted channel to charge his rune and become castable. Denma can only charge one spell at a time normally, and normally, attempting to charge another spell while one is already charged will refund half its mana cost and reset its charged status. Charged runes also grant small benefits to Denma until used. [Spell Scroll] Once every 150/120/90s (upgrades at lv 7/13 and reduced by 1/2 current CDR for a max of 22.5% with 45% CDR, or 20% normally with 40% CDR) Denma can transfer his charged spell (excluding his ultimate) into a scroll to use at a later time. Charged abilities will be encircled by a gold animation sprite, while abilities stored in a scroll will be encircled by a red animation sprite. You can dedicate a stored spell by holding the charged spell's key binding down, or by "activating" your passive then selecting your ability, or by attempting to charge a new spell while already having a charged one while this passive is active. (this will put your currently charged one as the one stored) Cooldown doesn't begin until after the stored spell is used, and Denma does not gain the passive benefits of stored spells.

Q: Quake Rune - while charged, Denma gains 5(+1/100AP) armor. When used, Denma triggers an earthquake in a large area for 5s, slowing enemies in the area by 30/35/40/45/50% and dealing damage over the duration. Damage: 25/50/75/100/125(+20%AP) over 5s {Total 125/250/375/500/625(+120%AP)} Cooldown: 24/22/20/18/16s (after charge expended) || Mana: 75/85/95/105/115

W: Invigoration Rune - while charged, Denma gains 25/50/75/100/125% HP Regen. When used, Denma heals an ally by a percentage of their max HP over 3s. That ally also exudes radiant energy in a 200 unit radius around them for the duration, healing allies nearby for half of their benefit. (Using this on a tank is best, as the healing scales with the initial target's hp, even for the allies within the radius.) Healing: 5/8/12/16/20% target's max hp (+15%AP) over 3s / Half to allies within 200 units of primary target) Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12s || Mana: 55/65/75/85/95

E: Teleportation Rune - while charged, Denma gains 15% movespeed. When used, Denma creates a 200 unit diameter rift at a target location that lasts for 3.5s. Allies that walk into the rift are untargetable for .25s, and are then teleported 425/475/525/575/625 units in the direction they were traveling upon passing into the rift. Enemies are similarly made untargetable for .25s, but are transported 200/250/300/350/400 units in the OPPOSITE direction they were traveling upon making contact with the rift. (This applies to and cancels dashes, as they're still passing into the rift, and will affect blinks/flashes that enter the rift as if the target dashed in the direction of the target's initial position when they blinked/flashed. For example, an ally Caitlyn who nets into the rift would be transported further backwards, securing her escape. The enemy Rengod that leaped into the rift after her would be sent back to the bush from whence he came, and the enemy Ezreal who shifted into it would be sent pretty much back where he came from too.) Cooldown: 15/13/11/9/7s || Mana: 50 all ranks

R: Flash Cast / Annihilation Rune - while charged, Denma can use any of his other basic abilities (this will take priority over stored spells) to cast them immediately, but in an altered state. I'll cover these in a moment. Using Flash Cast consumes this spell's charge and places it on 1/2 its normal cooldown. When used, Denma releases some of the stored power of the World Rune he's protecting, becoming immobilized and immune to cc (though not untargetable) for 1.5s as he gathers pure elemental destruction, after which he crashes to the ground and lets loose a destructive wave in a 750 unit radius (1500 unit diameter...enough to reach both river bushes if standing in the middle of mid lane) that deals massive damage, scaling down the farther enemies are from Denma. Damage: 450/600/750(+85%AP) in center, scaled down to 50% at edge. Cooldown: 200/170/140s (Flast Cast refunds 50%CD) || Mana 125/150/175 (Flash Cast will refund 25/50/75 mana)

[Flash Casting}; Denma's Flash Casted spells are fundamentally the same, but altered greatly by being quickly casted.

Flash Quake - Denma deals damage after a .5s delay all at once, to enemies in a much smaller area, and slows enemies affected by 50% for 1/1.5/2s Damage: 75/105/135/165/195(+75%AP) || Cooldown: N/A || Mana: N/A

Flash Invigoration - Denma heals his target for 75% of his usual healing, but does so immediately. He also loses the zone heal. Healing: 3.4/6/9/12/15% targetmaxHP(+15%AP) immediately. Cooldown: N/A || Mana: N/A

Flash Teleportation - Denma creates an unstable rift in a 350 unit diameter at a target area that explodes after 1s, transporting all nearby entities 400/500/600 units away from the epicenter of the explosion. Cooldown: N/A || Mana: N/A

Mana cost N/A because it's paid for by charging the ultimate. Cooldown N/A because the ult takes the cooldown. Normal spells/stored spells are still available immediately after cast.


EDIT: A few notes to add here: I've decided since this guy's going to be hard af to use anyway, that he can move while charging, slowing himself by 15% while doing so and only being interrupted by crowd control effects (and silences).

Updates:

  • Buffed lv1 base hp to 495 from 475 (left HPPL alone)
  • Buffed Base AD to 59 from 52 (left ADPL alone)
  • grammatical corrections
  • Lowered charge timer to 1.5s from 2s.
  • Updated Lore

Thinking this should be enough to make him at least plausibly workable without ruining the concept of a "chess master" sort of champion who relies more on planning and large-area spells than the chaotic spambotting of his old teacher. If I cant get this to work as a ranged champion, my next thought is to buff his base ad and defensive stats, and just make him a melee. If you all think that'd make this work better, feel free to say so.

24 Comments

ChaosReyn1 votes

I know this will be somebody's question: No, you cannot store a flash cast spell, as you cannot store his ultimate, and you can only flash cast while his ultimate is charged. Furthermore, you cannot attempt to charge nor store another spell when his ultimate is charged: it will flash cast your ability.

Mr Voidling1 votes

Almost wanna say I'd build him AD if I was playing him, if he had longer range :P Having to basically cast a Karthus R(3 second channel as opposed to 2.5) before using any ability is pretty harsh... And practically disables any potential combos. Fully disables using all your abilities at once. And it sounds like you can be interrupted? So... vs Ryze and other Q spam champs you'd never be able to fully channel unless you left lane? I like the mechanic, reminds me a bit of Dragon's Dogma and D&D in general, but I don't know how well it'd actually work. Especially late-game. Can you move around while channeling?

ChaosReyn1 votes

I sort of imagined this guy as more of a utility support than a combo mage anyway, which is part of the reason I want to restrict him. I haven't done any of his ability ratios, but in general, ritual magic is supposed to be more potent than normal. Not ironically, Karthus is the best in game example of this ritual casting. Being able to maintain a spectral form after death, and being able to channel a 3s ability to hit everyone on the map are both very potent, ritualistic abilities. and you see the thing's a Karthus can do while dead - its spooky. The scaling on this guy is going to be arguably outrageous, especially moving into late game, due to the fact that he can only cast a couple of spells at once before having to find a safe zone in the fight to charge his next spell. I'd say the burstiest combo you're gonna see out of this guy is probably a quake into a stored rift, immediately channel his ult, use the rift to go in, and drop a huge load of damage...but that's a full burst combo that I want to make really difficult to pull off. His main role should be to support his allies through his magic, not 100/0 someone.

Keep in mind also that as much as ritual magic is potent, it's also lingering. His combos are going to be very slow...but he has more than enough time for the combo described above if he plans it and waits for his team to engage before popping the stored rift for his grand entrance. There are no cooldowns between him charging a spell, so the moment that he casts his E, he can begin the charging of his ult. As for moving while channeling...I've actually not decided. At first I was going to say no. But I'm considering slowing his movespeed while he channels by a significant duration, but letting any form of damage (not just cc) break his concentration. At any rate, regardless of what I decide on, he's in a lot of ways supposed to feel clunky and slightly unfit for combat, because he is unfit for combat - ritual magic in most ideologies that talk of magic takes a safe, prepared space, a load of time, and the proper materials and knowledge to work correctly. Being interrupted and focused, particularly by assassins, should be Denma's worst nightmare.

But defensively, Denma should shine, being able to provide strong healing and utility through his work, and controlling large areas with his Q for favorable fights.

Mr Voidling1 votes

I think his numbers currently are fit for normal play mages/supports and doesn't really get amplified by his channel time. If you bumped up all the numbers by 20-30% then I think that'd help.

I'd bump up his damage numbers if he is supposed to be impactful with his spells. Fiddle R will deal 650+(90% AP) in 2 seconds at rank 3 opposed to his R of 750+(75% AP) which is scaled down with distance. At 500 standard AP this is a difference of 1,100(Fiddle) vs 1,125... And Fiddle R would still have 1,650 damage left to deal over 3 more seconds. Or without any AP the difference would be 1,625 vs 750. Full Q R combo vs 1 Fiddle R at 500 AP:

Denma Q+R = 1,375+(975) = 2,350 Fiddle R = 1,625(1,125) = 2,750

Fiddle E = 365 x 3 = 1,095 vs 2 targets(on each target). Fiddle R+E = 3,845

0 AP full tank, Fiddle R+Ex3+Q combo = 2,945 1,000 AP, Denma Q+R combo = 3,325

ChaosReyn1 votes

Personally, I have to first off lead this by saying I love how you always compare people to fiddlesticks. No sarcasm, he's so underrated, and I love to see people appreciate him.

I'm still playing with the numbers...the thing I noted immediately when putting the numbers in was that flash casted quake dealing its full damage was stronger than his normal ult in most cases, so I scaled it down with extreme prejudice. Possibly a mistake.

He only has two damaging abilities (as his flash cast uses his ult slot) so I probably could stand to buff his overall damage a bit. I always like starting lower than starting too high, as it always feels better to buff a concept than it does to nerf it, from a personal standpoint. But the reason I don't want to give him a ridiculous amount of damage is because his heal is based off of max hp instead of a flat ratio and that his utility is probably one of the strongest indirect disengage/engage tools of any current champion so far, with the exception of maybe Ryze...but his is an ultimate. (To me, the difference between a direct and an indirect tool is that people can choose whether or not to use it...Janna ult is a direct disengage because the enemies will be sent flying away from your teammate, and nobody gets a say in that once you press the button, while thresh lantern is an indirect disengage, as NOBODY clicks the lantern and wastes their summoner(s) when they had a clear way out. >.>)

While I'm on the subject of the heal though, I still feel like it could probably be tuned up a bit more as well...Still playing with the numbers, but at least the actual concept is falling into place.

Mr Voidling1 votes

Yeah, if you bumped up the heal then the damage numbers would probably be fairly decent staying where they're at. Even at 5,000 hp you're only healing for 650+(75 at 500 AP) damage over 3 seconds and half to allies nearby. Soraka does 500 with the same stats and it's instant and on a low cd(costs health but she can recover that with Q). 200 units is barely higher than melee attack range for other units to get healed, so right now it is essentially a 2-3 person heal in most scenarios. I would recommend buffing it up to reach 20% max health over 3 seconds. As it is still a rather long time until all the healing kicks in, and a typical ADC would only get healed for around 400 health end-game but a tank would heal for 1,000 health over 3 seconds(500 to nearby allies). You could also buff the ratio a bit, since right now it is 5% per second, which is pretty low, around 7.5%(1/2 increase) would be better and let your AP effect lower max-health targets a little bit better. So 8/11/14/17/20% target's max life (+25% AP) is my suggestion. End-game 2,000 health ADC = 525 heal. 5,000 health Tank = 1,125 heal. Or 843 instant heal to your tank as opposed to the previous 543(basically 1 Soraka heal).

I don't think Flash-casting Q being stronger than R is necessarily a bad thing... It then uses up 2 cooldowns(or 1.5?). And casting Q and then R will deal more damage than just a flash Q anyway, so it makes it more situational I guess? Either "2" abilities for instant damage or 2 abilities for more damage/zone control.

Definitely better to need buffs than nerfs, I 100% agree with you there.

nasu0101 votes

Ooooook so this is nice, kind of a pain until you get your put charged imo but it's cool I like the e it's funny reggae leaps from Bush gets sent further into bush, (would be nice if it worked on lux it, man I hate that) but he lacks damage and has no heavy cc which I think as a support is crucial these days, his qs range is still a missing factor but I get idea it's about 500 units radius, since it's like tanks ult,

Now my main concern is your delima about not having a zone to place him in, am gonna stop you right there cuz am way ahead of you how about he be from ........ Wait for it ...... Ozhirim

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/h0rEKgAj-ozhirim-new-zone-in-runeterra

It's a zone i created at the start of my gallery and as a spring board for new champion concepts the only thing is that you d have to read the lore of the other champions i made from there to see the land scape and ecological evolve

ChaosReyn1 votes

I was considering making his ult CC people...but then it'd just be a Neeko ult that trades mobility for more AoE, and that's just not fun.

And yeah, Quake is going to cover roughly the same area as a Trundle zone on its normal cast - it's no joke. When flash casted, it'll condense that entire zone into an area about the size of Taliyah's E, and pop all at once.

Honestly, his ult is by far his most powerful zoning tool, but it's also his most reliable form of "cc" in flash casting his E, resulting in a huge displacement that can disengage almost any fight by dropping it in front of the warring frontlines to blink each back into their respective backlines. He's got a lot of versatility in his kit, if you get creative...but your creativity is equally limited by having to plan your plays a little in advance. This guy is one of those "chess master" supports.

nasu0101 votes

Yeah I'd play this bot Lane but the lack of harass means I'd have to go up close and personal, i don't really have a problem with it since he has the armor scaleing on His q but as the hguy who came up with xerath support its not really my style, he could be viable top side though since he has the aoe q, he can charge while this is active right? If so then yeah tops good just need to be tricky with the portals. Would still have to build item 3373 item 3109 item 3025 u item 1011 item 3194

SKT T1 DRACOS1 votes

Mate I scanned over this, but this champ sounds OP

ChaosReyn1 votes

At the moment, probably so. But there will be clear drawbacks in having to charge his spells along the battlefield. Imagine having to treat every cast like you were about to launch a Fiddlesticks ult. He's gonna be slow, clunky, vulnerable even...but really strong defensively.

ChaosReyn1 votes

At least...that's how it goes in my head.

ChaosReyn1 votes

Updates:

  • Lowered spell charge channel to 2s from 2.5
  • Currently playing around with numbers for scaling
  • Ultimate till almost certainly be nerfed...but then again, it's a WORLD RUNE...so maybe not. >.>
ChaosReyn1 votes

UPDATES:

  • Buffed Invigoration Rune to 5/8/12/16/20% target's max hp from 5/7/9/11/13%
  • This also buffed Flash Invigoration to 3.4/6/9/12/15% from whatever weird percentages I had earlier
  • Buffed AP ratio on ultimate to 95%AP from 75%AP.
  • Buffed the ratio for Flash Quake to 75% from 60%
SKT T1 DRACOS1 votes

So is this Champ gonna actually come out?

ChaosReyn1 votes

The chances of Riot actually taking an idea from the boards and copy/pasting it are slim. Especially with no lore...though as much as Riot loves surprising people, if they were to take this, add their own lore, and copy/paste it, I would certainly not complain. xD

SKT T1 DRACOS1 votes

bro give this guy/she to Taliyah cause this guys is earth elementist right?

ChaosReyn1 votes

Not really. The concept itself is in being able to impact a large area, and it just so happens that one of the easiest methods of conveying that is to have him cause earthquakes. He uses ritual runes - he's not necessarily limited to just earth element - and he can warp a variety of things over time. The idea is to make this guy have to choose how he impacts a fight ahead of time, to a large degree, and not just be another support that spams their abilities until they die or win the fight.

The Discord for this board brought up an interesting point that supports are supposed to adapt quickly to a situation, and that Denma pretty much is the opposite of that in the regard that he's very open and useless if he brings the wrong spell(s) to a fight. That's a large part of why this guy would be pretty hard to balance overall: each of his spells are going to be really impactful, but he's probably only going to get a max of two off per fight, as long as enemies are quick to get after him and keep him from charging up a 3rd.

It was pretty interesting to hear that form of feedback...but I'm still keeping the design as is, because screw making something "meta" enough for the game. Ingenuity doesn't come from fitting a mold.

SKT T1 DRACOS1 votes

i think ryze will be good then. He once "Apprenticed" Brand so i guess that will be pretty good.

nasu0101 votes

ohh yeah i remember this ha so you finally finished it. that's good so now hes like the watcher of Ozhirim? Ok well lets see if over time he'll become changed by the power of the star or if hes going to build a bond with the natives

ChaosReyn1 votes

I wouldn't quite say finished. This is a difficult concept to balance. having this "ritual" type champion who doesn't have full, immediate access to his spells is a pretty strange concept already as it's not really anything that fits the current meta. Besides that, it's also not really in the flavor of most people who'd play him as a support, since as the discord pointed out, supports are generally supposed to be able to quickly adapt to the situation. At this point, I'd almost want to gear him towards being a top laner anyway. With the updated lore, being The Hermit sort of fits him better aesthetically anyway. Though that's gonna make a lot of people who want mages out of top lane really angry, he's almost like an AP Trundle at this point, especially if I end up making him melee (my next step if I cant seem to make him work as a ranged champion)

nasu0101 votes

yeah i can get that especially getting his portal to work properly far less for the flash casting one would have to really watch how they use spells which is not a big deal but i thought he was a mid lane champ? your focusing too much on league logic's conceptually this is fine thus the reason i said "finished" but if you still want to tweak it its your choice but making him melee would be kinda back treading for a unique champion as this one. so in all honestly am against making this a melee cuz in the same way an adc or Zed would save their attacks and spells Syndra andLeblanc would save their abilities for that exact moment i see nothing but a + here for doing this.

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