Annabelle, the Forsaken Bride

Role: AP Support, AP Mage

Inspiration: One day I was playing Evelyn and realized that her title was, “The Widowmaker,” though her lore had no explanation as to why. Annabelle’s story and kit are both a direct result of what Evelyn’s title means and how she managed to get it.

General Design Philosophy: Annabelle is an incredibly story-driven champion who came about almost entirely due to the storytelling opportunity she presents. In battle, her primary damage ability functions as a cross between Olaf’s Undertow and Morgana’s Tormented Soil. Her Ultimate functions similarly to Mordekaiser’s Ultimate, though relies more heavily on a disincentivizing tool for hard engages.

Risk Analysis: Very High. This champion’s existence stems almost entirely from her strong lore and the relevant theming of her kit. That said, her kit and theme likely encroach on Morgana’s space a little too much. This is especially true now that Morgana has a “Ghost Bride” skin, which came out over a year after this concept was first designed and is admittedly almost identical to the look and feel I had planned on using for Annabelle.

Appearance: A slender, obviously once-gorgeous woman donning a ragged, decrepit wedding dress. Cuts, tears and stains riddle her ensemble, as she clutches a bouquet of white roses in her hands. It’s clear she is inconsolably sad.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/tumblr_n80hkwiAkV1ruwh0ho1_500_zpsaa676601.jpg

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/tumblr_ndrksjv2T61rkkx3po1_1280_zpsf65dbc3e.jpg

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/tumblr_n80h4z1vpl1ruwh0ho1_500_zps933b93e8.jpg

Lore: Annabelle was once a beautiful young mage who fell in love with a handsome Demacian soldier. It wasn’t long before the soldier proposed, and the two were to be married soon after. Evelynn, however, thought this soldier was hers to have and to hold, despite his repeated refusals to be with her. On their wedding day, Evelynn, in a fit of jealousy, murdered the soldier at the altar, right before Annabelle’s eyes. Standing over the still-warm corpse of Annabelle’s fiance, Evelynn claimed that no one could have him if she couldn’t. With an evil smirk on her face, Evelynn made a cowardice escape. This is how Evelynn got the title, “the Widowmaker.”

Depraved and deranged from her loss, Annabelle immediately began scouring all of Valoran in search of Evelynn, never even bothering to take off her bride’s dress. After months of searching, she discovered that Evelynn had joined the League. Wanting nothing more than retribution for her fiance's death, Annabelle too joined the League, swearing to any that would listen that she would not stop until she could confront Evelynn on the Fields of Justice...

Strengths: Powerful utility and crowd control including a very long snare, an Ultimate that discourages enemies from killing Annabelle (especially in duels), passive ability to kite enemies

Weaknesses: Incredibly long cooldowns, reliant on utility over damage, skillshot dependent, Ultimate can be timed out and rendered mostly useless.

Plays Most Like...:

Auto Attack: Annabelle launches a wicked bolt of dark energy from her fingers, damaging enemies at long range.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_17489_btn_zpsbee512ce.jpg Passive- Cold Feet: Champions who attack Annabelle are afflicted with her infectious aura of sadness, slowing their movement speed by 10% for 1.5 seconds. Design Philosophy: With long cooldowns and abilities tied mostly to utility and crowd control, Annabelle will likely quite often need to kite and flee enemies while her abilities recharge. A passive slow is an effective and consistent way to achieve this, and also makes great thematic sense.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_8276_pas_zpsad0c659c.jpg Q- From the Grave (8 sec): After a short delay, Annabelle summons a series of defiled hands to erupt from the ground at a target location, damaging and snaring the first enemy they reach for up to 3.5 seconds. If the target or one of their allies auto attacks the defiled hands, the duration of the snare is lowered by 1 second. If a Champion ability or turret hit affects the snare, its duration is lowered by 1.5 seconds. The damage component of this ability happens upon first contact with the hands. Rank-ups lower cooldown and increase damage. Design Philosophy: Thematically, this ability is designed to create a sense of dread and anxiety for a caught player. Mechanically, the ability creates great counterplay and teamwork opportunities, as well as opportunities for the Annabelle player to outsmart or bait an enemy. For example, if a snared champion wastes an ability on the defiled hands, they aren’t using that ability on Annabelle or her allies. However, fast reaction time from teammates can greatly reduce the snare’s duration. Visually, attacking the hands will cause one of them to detach and shrivel back into the ground.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_13034_btn_zps6d7e8f01.jpg W- Solemn Toll/Moment of Silence (16 seconds): An ominous church bell materializes and chimes above Annabelle, granting her 20/35/50/70/100 MR for 4 seconds and providing her with an aura that gives nearby allies half that amount. In addition, any enemies caught in the bell’s aura upon cast become silenced for one second. Design Philosophy: Once again, an incredibly strong thematic ability centered around a church bell and sharing in a ‘moment of silence’ for Annabell’s deceased fiance. Mechanically this is a very simple spell to help offset the complicated game play patterns of her Q and W. As a mage who might often find herself in melee range in order to pick up her bouquet, having an MR steroid ensures that she survives long enough to toss her bouquet again.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_17496_pas_zpsae01643d.jpg E- Deadly Bouquet (14 sec): Annabelle tosses her bouquet at a target location, creating a dark aura of energy around it once it lands. The bouquet also grants a very small amount of vision. This corrupted area deals magic damage over time. The bouquet lasts up to 10 seconds, or until Annabelle retrieves it on the battlefield. The bouquet will automatically despawn if Annabelle travels further than 1500 units away from it. Picking up the bouquet lowers its cooldown to 2 seconds (similar to Olaf's Undertow). Multiple patches of the corrupted energy can exist at the same time, assuming the bouquet is picked up and re-cast. Once the bouquet has been picked up, the pool remains for 3 seconds at the bouquet's former resting spot. This ability has an initial mana cost, and proceeds to drain a small amount of mana for every second the bouquet is on the battlefield. The ability can be cast again to turn off the bouquet’s damage over time effect and its associated mana cost, but the bouquet remains at its location until picked up or at the end of the ability’s effect. Rank-ups lower cooldown and increase damage. Design Philosophy: This is an intentionally complex spell with emphasis on a mastery of positioning, resource management and area denial skills. Once mastered, this ability provides consistent and powerful magic damage in a large area. Once again, Annabelle’s abilities tie heavily into her theme, as no one would likely want to catch a forsaken bride’s bouquet.

http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_17568_pas_zps7210294f.jpg R- ‘Til Death (60 sec): Annabelle targets an enemy champion with a terrible curse, binding their souls together as one. This effect deals 200/400/600 (+40% AP) magic damage over 8 seconds. If Annabelle dies while this ability is active, the target immediately suffers 300/600/900 (+60% AP) magic damage, abolishing the debuff in the process. Rank-ups increases the damage done and lowers cooldown. Design Philosophy: The final thematic topper to the wedding cake of death. This ability is intended to act as a massive deterrent against hard engages or all-in’s against Annabelle, covering her incredibly high cooldowns and low damage. An ability of this nature, combined with the rest of her kit, makes Annabelle an incredibly effective support, quite often able to turn ganks into one-for-one kills.

If you liked this Champion, you can find over 70 more of my original concepts HERE!