Warwick, the Blood Hunter Rework

As it stands, Warwick is considered a starter jungler with a very basic and straightforward kit. Since the game’s more recent changes we have found Warwick to have fallen behind in terms of strategic value and identity. I’ve analyzed these changes to his numbers and kit, and found these to be a favorable approach to some fun changes to rehash an endeared (yet dated) champion.

• Visual/graphic details will be in bullets. [Reasoning will be in brackets.]

_** Stat Changes

Health: 592.65 (+98) -> 600 (+92) -[A small boost to his starting healthiness due to other changes below]

Health Regen: 8.39 (+0.8) -> **7.45 (+0.75) ** -[A small decrease in his regen as abilities will be more efficient]

Mana: 240.4 (+30) -> 240.4 (+40) -[A larger set of relevant abilities means more Mana per level]

Mana Regen: 8.105 (+0.6) -> 7.275 (+0.65)
-[Was steadily reliable to where Hunter's Call could always be cast. Slight change, but boost to Regen per level simply because of the expansion of activated skills.]

Melee: 125 -> **150 ** -[A change I find appropriate to bring him more in line with Juggernauts; more below]

Attack Damage 62.43 (+3.375) -> 60.803 (+3.955) -[Same as above, and to take away from his strong base stats and put more strength in his skills]

Attack Speed: 0.679 (+2.88%) -> 0.665 (+2.25%) -[Taking some power away here to definitively emphasize what builds he should consider]

Armor: 25.88 (+3.5) -> 26.35 (+3.2) -[As with Health, a small boost to help his starting clear]

Magic Res: 32.1 (+1.25) -> Unchanged -[Was not necessary to change, very standard Fighter stat]

Move Speed: 345 -> 330 -[Toned down heavily to make up for the mobility and unique zoning offered by his kit]

• Lore remains in-tact. Appears more imposing, larger upper body; longer, stronger legs, more proper hunched appearance. Attire is more appropriate to shredded garments of the alchemist/bounty hunter before his transformation.

_**

Abilities

_** Passive: Eternal Thirst

Warwick’s basic attacks deal [4-18] bonus magic damage and heal him for the same amount, stacking up to 4 times per target and persisting for 5 seconds.

• Building stacks of Eternal Thirst causes his veins to pulse visually with blue magical resonance.

-[Only difference here was a slight magic damage bonus and longer stack duration due to lower base move speed. Still retains about the same dueling power but must now consider if he wants to continue to stick or attempt to fight more than one person later.]

_**

Q: Visceral Strikes

Active: Warwick swipes at his target to the right, knocking them aside, and slightly sliding in the direction of the swipe. Activating again causes Warwick to swipe in the opposite direction. Does not have to activate second swipe. Both swipes deal magic damage and heal Warwick for 40% of the damage dealt. There is a small dodge frame at the beginning of the swipes and a small 0.5 sec cooldown in-between the activation of swipes. Against enemy champions, Visceral Strike’s base damage changes to a percentage of its target’s maximum health if it’s higher than the flat damage.

Range: 350 Cost: 35/45/55/65/75 Mana
Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 (After two swipes) Minimum Magic Damage: 30/60/90/110/150 (+75% AP) Capped at 300 damage to monsters. Magic Damage to Champions: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15% of target's maximum health (+1.5% per 100 AP)

• Visceral Strikes is visually similar to Hungering Strike; Warwick uses his body’s momentum to spin and slash to his right side knocking targets aside, sliding a short distance, and then the same maneuver to the left. There are two brief evade frames at the beginning of the animations similar to Jax’s Dodge.

-[An area I find Warwick to be weak in is his potential to engage against those who have hard CC and/or range. With this change to his Q we've added two skillshots that have a very short range but also serve as a way to gap close AND position. There is both a defensive and offensive mechanic. It will take precision to dodge other abilities or simply engage upon those that have excellent escapes. This change to his Q gives him an effective approach to combat those he is weak against when used together with his other skills. The high damage is noteworthy but the mana cost is also quite high, especially if used constantly. The swipe can miss but is still quite a large area.]

_**

W: Dread Howl / Dire Threat

Active: Dread Howl – Warwick howls and fears enemies within radius for 1 second. If Dire Threat is at max stacks, the stacks are consumed and the radius of the howl is increased. In addition, Warwick grants himself bonus attack speed and 1/3 of that bonus to all nearby allies.

Passive: Dire Threat – Killing units in front of enemy champions causes Warwick to gain stacks of Dire Threat. The stacks decay steadily and grant Warwick bonus movement speed, capping at 5 stacks.

Range: 1000 (1600) Cost: 50 Mana Cooldown: 28/26/24/22/20 Attack Speed: 50/60/70/80/90% Move Speed Bonus: 2/4/6/8/10% based on stacks Stack Decay Rate: 1/2/3/4/5 seconds based on rank

• Dread Howl visual effects occur when not using Visceral Strikes, Lacerate, or Lambaste. This is for technical reasons/limitations as it does not stand that Warwick would howl upwards during a fight. Cannot use Dread Howl after the pounce of Lambaste. Warwick howls upward during all normal move cycles including four-legged sprint and rooted status. During non-sprint cycles and stationary Warwick stretches out his arms as a classic werewolf howl. Very brief effect, but if at full stacks of Dire Threat, is pronounced.

-[So Hunter's Call is a good skill, however, it is only an artificial skill as all it does is boost attack speed. There needs to be more direct implementation. We shifted some of his attack speed into the buff. We tack on the brief non-scaling fear to help engaging and denial. The passive Dire Threat further strengthens the skill by forcing Warwick to build stacks in front of the enemy team. In lane (top), this works extremely well for dueling/kiting/chasing. In a laning scenario, having full stacks allows Warwick to have a safer escape option or assist a fellow ganker. It also helps him out by granting that extra movement speed to get in and risk a small trade. In teamfights, these bonuses fully complement his "Get-out-of-the-way-I'm-going-in" ultimate. The fear is not boosted in duration from Dire Threat max stacks as Warwick would be able to engage with impunity and win everytime. The consumption of the stacks, however, does destroy a small amount of his momentum so he must choose how to use it effectively].

_**

E: Bloodscent / Lacerate

Passive: Bloodscent – Warwick gains sight of all nearby enemy champions and large jungle monsters with less than 50% of their maximum health, also alerting them to his presence.

Active: Lacerate – Warwick rushes forward, dealing physical damage, and slowing enemies 80% in the targeted direction for 0.5 seconds. After the strike, Warwick leaps back to his original location. Dread Howl and Smite can be used anytime during Lacerate.

Bloodscent Movement Speed: 10/15/20/25/30% Bloodscent Range: 1500/2300/3100/3900/4700 Cost: 20/25/30/35/40 Mana Lacerate Range: 800 Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 Physical Damage: 25/35/45/55/65 (+55% bonus AD) Capped at 300 damage to monsters.

• Bloodscent simply sends Warwick into his sprint cycle if capable, only effects of salivating occur during Hyena Warwick’s animations. Lacerate is nearly identical to the Hamstring maneuver conceived in previous iterations: Warwick dives forward slashing at blinding speed, slowing everyone in his path, and then leaps back to his original position after a brief pause. Does not count as an evade, he is interruptible during the skill as it is a dash.

-[Bloodscent is a primary component to Warwick's identity. When he's in the game and you're low, you know he's coming. Right now he's not as intimidating as he could be. He can come in and flash ult but that doesn't mean he will do much, especially if your team is competent in keeping him off. Essentially, there is not much reason to max Bloodscent early; perhaps an exception would be Magewick. We've retained Bloodscent's range but toned down the movement speed. In part, this was necessary for the shift of the movement speed in his kit and because of our changes to bring him more along the lines of a Juggernaut/Skirmish Fighter. He hits harder, has longer reach, but he needs to build that ferocity up. The active Lacerate is an attempt to give him a counter-jungling and distance option. It has very small damage with a brief slow but allows him some unique combos when combined with Smite and Dread Howl / Dire Threat. The scaling is meant to diversify his build and where his damage lies. The E is interruptible and can hinder Warwick if he uses it incorrectly. (Looking at you, Condemn.) So it's very diverse, but if you miss the skillshot they will run out of your reach. You also cannot escape with the skill. You always return to your original position.]

_**

R: Lambaste

Active: Warwick briefly slows himself before gaining large movespeed and tenacity. For 3 seconds, Warwick is able to leap a short distance to suppress a target for 1.5 seconds and dealing magic damage 5 times in 0.3 second intervals. Warwick heals himself for 25% of the damage dealt, and each damage strike applies on-hit effects.

Cost: 100/125/150 Mana Cooldown: 120/100/80 Self-Slow: Ramp up slow to 15% for 1 sec. (Applied after self-slow, duration 4 seconds) Tenacity: 25% Bonus Move Speed: Ramp up speed to 40% after 1.5 sec Range: 500 Ground-targeted radius for Leap/Suppression: 200 Magic Damage per Hit: 25/45/65 (+45 bonus AP%/+15% bonus AD)

• Warwick clenches at the ground for the slow cycle of the animation and a distinct taunt/audio effect is heard. He then gains speed and gains blur/distortion effects. In the suppression state, Warwick mauls and slashes the opponent similar to Infinite Duress.

-[Here, we are. The suppression. This defines Warwick as it is his strongest skill currently. It's why people find pre-6 Warwick lacking. However, we find great weaknesses in how it is capable of being used and how much he must rely on it. Yes, you can be a great Warwick and provide excellent siege options and win a game through attrition. You can be a great Warwick and bust out all the lifesteal and hybrid damage you have to offer. BUT. You're still out an ultimate once you use it, and then you only have Q and W to mash while hoping it goes well. The previous changes we have covered have remedied the pre-6 game. This change makes Warwick's ultimate what it should have been without over-doing it. Brief self-slow for counter-play's sake, but then, Boom. Extra tenacity and a big f----ing wolf running at you. And then a big wolf LEAPING at you. So essentially we have given Warwick some solid engage options: farm up Dire Threat on minions amidst teamfight, activate Lambaste, Q->Q some tanks out the way, Dread Howl with max stacks, Leap and suppress, continue to Q->Q and chase down stragglers with Bloodscent/Lacerate. He still won't be as fast as Rammus but at least he has things he can actually DO now with the soft CC on his kit. All these abilities can be mistimed but that is how the Warwick engage should go down successfully. In addition, Lambaste serves as a last chance getaway if you use it to jump over a wall. :p]

_**

Art Concept

http://i.imgur.com/KyV5Uco.jpg)

I took an example of his in-game Feral Warwick model and tweaked what I thought appropriate. I suppose his normal cycle could include a hunched, gorilla-like gait, but he should still seem larger than he is. I think crouched brush animations like Kha could serve him well. I feel as though more references to his Werewolf demeanor should be included in his voicework. There is plenty of Werewolf media to reference.

Overall, this is an attempt to buff him as a harder-hitting draintank that requires attack speed and engage knowledge, or a more skill-spamming bruisery AP Magewick (which some favor; because of my appreciation of his character, I sought to flesh out something that worked for Magewick). I think all these changes serve to emphasize a skirmish-type fighter with strong teamfight skill but also strong 1v1 skill if used correctly. He does have his weaknesses which I have implemented in the lack of frequent hard crowd control and lower late game tanky stats.

Please leave some feedback! I'd love to hear what changes you think might be viable as I will continue to update the art for this post as often as I can.