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Champion Concept: Malus, The Witch Doctor (UPDATED)

Aethraiel·10/9/2014, 4:20:30 PM·6 votes·2,573 views

This concept, was originally on the forums, and was moved to the boards for me by LuckyGhost91. This is the updated version.

Edit 8/18/15 Malus is reworked! His Q is no longer useless, and most of his abilities have been changed or altered.

Concept Art: Already finished, I have to get it from my brother.

Lore: A normal child, born in the slums of Noxus. At the age of 10, fate betrayed him, as his family was slaughtered by a group of witch doctors, whom sought to harness sacrifices for their king, whom they called "Malus". Malus was not a living being, but a crystal, powered by the souls of the deceased. How the crystal came to be is unknown. The crystal spoke to the mages, promising dark power to the man who proves himself worthy. The child, kidnapped, was tortured, and forced into believing the ways of the doctors. As years passed, the boy's hate for the doctors grew larger and larger, but powerless, he could do nothing but what they asked of him. As he lay in his cell, a small dagger in hand, stolen from one of the doctors, something in his mind began to change, an evil lust for revenge filled his head. As he stood up, the doctors released him from his cell, to begin his work. With a swift motion, the boy cut down one the doctors, but his dagger was of no chance against the doctors evil magic. He was quickly subdued, and brought to Malus for sacrifice. As the boy stared into the crystal, a small grin appeared on his face. Malus began to shine. The crystal shattered, and the pieces impaled into the boy's body. as he rose, the boy was no longer a boy. He became a grown man, with the darkest aura any of the doctors had ever laid eyes on. The boy and Malus were one. As the doctors desperately tried to kill Malus, he struck them down with horrifying magic, much stronger than that of the doctors. The boy's innocence had been lost. He was no longer himself. He was Malus. Filled with lust to further gain power, Malus sought to harness the strongest of souls in all of runeterra.

General Stat Bars: Attack: 1/10 Defense: 5/10 Ability: 8/10 Difficulty: 10/10

Basic Info: Malus's auto attacks are ranged. Malus's has all skillshots, no auto aimed abilities, excepted one self cast.

Passive: Witch Doctor's Curse: Malus's basic attacks and abilities apply curse to a target, that will stack based on the amount of times the target was hit. After a few seconds, the curse will release, dealing damage based on the amount of stacks and the abilities used. Abilities will deal more damage then basic attacks. (Sorry, runnans hurricane won't make this OP!)

Q: Totem Of Death: (AoE Skillshot) Malus conjures an evil voodoo doll at a target location, acting as terrain and blocking movement and skillshots. Up to 3 of these dolls may be summoned, Malus creates a Totem stack once every several seconds up to a maximum of 3. When more than one doll is summoned, a line of energy is made between the two or dolls if they are within moderate distance. These lines will damage and slow enemy champions that walk through them. If three dolls are up, in the middle of the triangle created, Malus gains movement speed, Armor and Magic Resist. The dolls can be attacked and killed, but they reflect a moderate amount of damage and have a good amount of health. (The health of the dolls stacks with Malus's health.)

W: Black Hole: (AoE Skillshot) Malus creates a small black hole at a targeted location for several seconds. After a couple seconds, the hole opens, sucking in a single enemy champion, making them untargetable but suppressed, and dealing magic damage per second before spitting them out. During the duration, Malus can create a second hole with the same effect; when both holes are opened, Malus can walk over one, sinking in and becoming untargetable briefly while teleporting to the second hole (This can only be done within a screens view distance.) This can be done multiple times but only once every few seconds. (Only one enemy champion can be sucked in per hole.)

E: Death's Grip (Straight Line Skillshot) Malus fires a demonic hand in front of him, which will grab the first target it collides with, dealing a small amount of Magic damage and stunning them for 0.5 seconds, afterwards, the hand will throw the target in the direction the cursor is facing; (If Malus does not do this immediately he cannot throw the target.) this will deal bonus damage if the target is thrown against terrain. If this ability throws a minion or monster into an enemy champion, the champion hit will be dealt bonus damage. Malus can throw his Totems Of Death, dealing Magic damage and knocking back enemies is comes in contact with, as well as altering the shape and distance of the energy intersection between multiple totems (If Malus throws the Totem out of range the energy lines will break.)

R: Spirits Of Death: (Straight Line Skillshot Or self Cast) Malus passively gains 3 skull spirits that float around him, dealing magic damage per second to champions that are within melee distance. Malus can order thee spirits to do specific actions: (The less spirits he has floating around him, the less passive damage is dealt.) Malus generates a skull spirit every so often, and can hold a maximum of three. Malus cannot spam his skull spirits, as there is a short but existing cooldown between his uses of his spirits. (So he cannot fire 3 spirits in succession, give 3 shields or dash multiple times in rapid succession.)

If casted on an enemy unit or on the ground, Malus's spirit charges in a line, dealing magic damage to all enemies is passes through and applying a stack of Curse. If the spirit hits an ally, the spirit will fly to and attach to an allied champion, unit or turret, blocking a moderate amount of damage. If the spirit hits one of his totems, it will attach to it, increasing the damage and slow of the energy lines. If the spirit flies over one of his black holes, the spirit will be sucked in, and will spit out an energy blast out of the hole, dealing magic damage to all enemy units in the area. The spirit grants a short and small amount vision as it flies.

If casted on himself, Malus's will gain a small shield that blocks a small amount of damage, and his next step will dash him in the targeted direction, dealing a small amount of magic damage and applying a stack of Curse to enemies he passes through.

Champion Breakdown: Malus's kit is designed for a chess game like performance. His job is to strategically place his abilities to aid himself and allies, and attack his opponents. Though his damage capability is high and crowd control great, poor placement of his Q and W will lead to his death as they are needed for escape and defense. Malus has little means of direct damage, and relies on placement of his abilities to deal proper damage. Champions that can close distance quickly or tanks with burst capability spell trouble for Malus, as they can ignore or destroy his ability placement. Champions limited to basic mobility will find Malus hard to defeat, as engaging him will put them right where he wants them to be. Malus is best built with a mix of Heath and high AP items.

Pros: Great pressure Good damage if applied correctly Great crowd control Good Mobility if applied correctly

Cons: Squishy early game Few means of direct damage Reliant on his totems and holes for survival Is worthless at close range Malus needs set up time like Hiemerdinger to be fully effective in teamfights Difficult to use

Quotes:

Moving: "There will be blood" "They will know pain" "Yessss"

Upon using Totem Of Death "Come, Mortal." "Stare into the eyes of death."

Upon using Death's Grip "Your soul is mine" "Fall to me, mortal"

Joke: "It's too dangerous to go alone, take this" Malus pulls out a VooDoo doll, and holds it out in his hand

Taunt: "Join me, pathetic mortal" "Your soul is weak."

Upon taunting Lucian Lucian "It's a shame that I didn't get to her first"

Upon Joking near Thresh Thresh "Is this a game? Let's see who can collect more."

Dance: Malus jumps around in a circle pattern, chanting words in an unknown language

21 Comments

Varanian Ward11/4/2014, 12:32:07 AM2 votes

I'm not too familiar with game mechanics to feel my thoughts would be considered but I have to say Malus seems to have a unique potential. I wouldn't be able to explain why it seems that way things like that just happen for me.

Anyway, His totem as BAD WoLF inc said on the other post the enemy wont have much of an incentive to go near the totem at all; to destroy it, rendering it mostly a useless ability. Sure you might get an opportune shot in with a quick cast and destroy, but there would be no use leaving it up.

A few thoughts I had for it could help or not I'm not entirely sure, but it's worth a try.

  1. instead of having it deal return damage when attacked make it an aoe ability that scales up in dmg over a repeating timed period. never reaching a constant max but always returning to it's lowest and scaling up again over say 10 seconds and then returning to it's start. E.G. (over the course of each 10 second period) it does 15/35/55/75/95 + 40% of ability power. dealing dmg every 2 seconds and after 10 seconds it starts again. however due to the constant scaling dmg the explosion dmg on second cast would probably have to be scrapped. Not to mention such a constant danger would probably need a hefty CD

  2. the above idea makes his totem a very effective ability at choke points in the jungle and for in lane cc due to it's aoe, and also brings in the added incentive to destroy the totem due to it's constant and very dangerous presence. not to mention a deterrent to anybody who's thinking of stealing Nashor's buff from you

  3. if Malus becomes an actual candidate in riots eyes He could have a passive for his q where as any time Malus destroys an enemy Malus' totem, Totem of Death's CD is reduced by half. Or any time Totem of Death reaches a renewed timer stage it's CD is reduced by 2/4/6/8/10 seconds leaving the incentive for Malus to also leave his totem up. but the CD would have to be like 50 or 60 seconds due to the above suggested CDR passive

In the end your opponents have three choices:

  1. waste a few (or more) precious seconds destroying the totem
  2. Retreat from the area and or bait you to leave your totem behind
  3. (if you cast in in front of them when they are on the run) to either die or waste their summoner spells to get away giving you and your team a minor advantage in any immediate team fight afterwards

to sum it up Totem of death would be a very dangerous presence due to it being permanent and constantly refreshing it's timer and scaling up again. therefore needing to be taken care of, providing an advantage whatever the enemy team decides. Whether they run, send in the tank to dispose of it, or let their ranged waste a few seconds (possibly deciding the fate of the team fight) in picking it off from a distance.

TheButler224/6/2015, 12:23:57 AM2 votes

Great champion concept, especially the totem, which in my opinion is what makes Malus's kit so unique. Reading this gave me a cool idea: What if using death's grip to throw an enemy into the totem stuns them or has some other effect? This would create incentive for enemies to destroy it (and thus take damage) since they would want to ensure they do not get stunned and/or will not have their skill shots blocked by it. This would fix the problem of enemies not having incentive to attack it. BTW I laughed out loud when i saw the Lucian Taunt XD

Lamoter10/30/2014, 10:28:42 PM1 votes

i hope this champ gets with the others because you surely put a lot of time into it and it seems f*****g amazing

Spooky Spooker11/3/2014, 9:59:51 PM1 votes

Definitely need to rework his Q. Maybe like a weak tibbers or something. A moving voodoo doll? I don't know. but I bet some people agree with me.

BAD W0LF Inc11/5/2014, 2:44:54 AM1 votes

Right now Malus is looking good, but his E seems to become a "one-in-all" ability, very much like Thresh's Q when he first came out. Considering how Rito changed Thresh's Q so it no longer had the passive, they might be trying to avoid that sort of thing. I like both the passive & active, but you might want to move the passive to his R, since I think Roit is moving more towards passive/active ultis. Just some food for thought

Flay and Pray10/9/2014, 4:48:11 PM1 votes

You should work on making it organized, and not a wall of text.

Flay and Pray10/9/2014, 5:14:41 PM1 votes

Looks much better now, when I have more time I'll write some suggestions.

novac37218/25/2015, 4:29:07 AM1 votes

Ok, just read the rework... I like some of it, but i feel like the 3 totems makes him feel like gangplank. :/

  1. what if, in the area created by the totem, Malus steals a % of Armor and Magic resist of enemy champions within? or at least gains a %, without reducing enemy stats.

  2. Maybe allow Malus to ''bind'' with his totems, draining their HP while regaining some of his own? kinda like capturing an alter in dominion. of course he can destroy his own totems with this.

  3. that dark hole suppression is a bit too strong, since he can suppress 2 champs a once. I like the idea of the holes pulling things in though. here's an idea:

Q: Totem Of Death: (AoE Skillshot)

  • grants vision in a very small area around itself. +totems will dissapear after an amount of time, or if Malus moves to far away. +bind with totems for health drain (cannot cast while bound, moving breaks the bind/regen) (see point 1 for Iluminati insight)

W: Black Hole: (AoE Skillshot) (stores up to 2 before cooldown) Malus creates a small black hole at a targeted location for several seconds, dealing damage over time. After a couple seconds, the hole opens, sucking in a single totem, or enemy champion dealing magic damage. when both holes are opened, sucked in champions will be spit out the other hole. Malus can also walk over one, sinking in and becoming untargetable briefly while teleporting to the second hole. (Malus cannot use the teleportation ability if he does not have vision of the exit)

R: +shield granted is a black shield like morgana's (with small AP scaling)

Reasoning: the dark hole makes him feel like kassadin, this rework helps it work with the rest of his kit more, while forcing more resources if used to chase (having to cast a totem aswell) the drain ability would make getting Q more useful than just tank stats, since he can use it as a self heal. and he can use the tank stats and heal to, well, not die, while allies come to help him. but if he stays too long, he loses the triangle and therefor the tank stats. side note: Malus could hide a totem over a wall, set up a hole, and basically pull a totem out of nowhere with a second hole. seems like it allows for some fun mind tricks.

Edit: can we rename black hole? i thought Malus was a witch doctor, not a space wizard.

FFA Mama12/22/2017, 11:01:14 PM1 votes

Wow. First saw this now. Why is this champ not even in the game yet? and the Concept art never came up? item 3187

Shovel Senpai 4/21/2015, 11:20:00 PM1 votes

Just one thing on Malus is that the ult might need little bit of fixing due to the fact that "Champions that damage Malus during this time become cursed. After several seconds, cursed Champions are dealt equal Magic damage they dealt to Malus" So thats pretty much saying I could be the most fed Katrina I burst you down and then get all my magic damage that i dealt to you dealt back to me? Just need a little fixing on that ult.

novac37217/11/2015, 6:53:52 AM1 votes

What if:

Q: Totem Of Death: (Skillshot) Malus conjures an evil voodoo doll at a target location, acting as terrain and blocking movement and skillshots (including piercing skillshots like Ahri's Q), and marking enemies in an area with Witch Doctor's curse. attacking the doll will generate stacks, at (value to be determined) stacks, the doll breaks. if an enemy breaks it they receive gold. Malus can cast this ability again to detonate the doll dealing damage equal the the number of stacks x (%AP).

Malus can cast Death's Grip on the totem to throw it, and, if he does, enemies in an area around the doll are slowed (this breaks the doll, preventing detonation).

i feel like there was no real reason to attack the doll. its only use was as a bomb or to block a skill shot. i feel like this makes it more dangerous, because malus can turn it into a nuke, but allows counterplay to make it more useless. and the ability to use it as a slow just helps make it more versatile, making a chase easier, but limiting damage output, as doing so puts both those abilities on cooldown. thoughts?

Edit: if this change was made, would tossing someone into the doll generate a stack? since this Grip is a skill shot, but you could say the champion makes contact, not the skillshot. something to discuss i guess.

Edit 2: yeah, not gonna lie, I am stealing ideas from BAD WoLF Inc a little.

Aethraiel8/18/2015, 11:23:10 PM1 votes

Sadly, for those who are reading this, I gave up on this long ago. It didn't get anywhere, and never got seen by anyone who could make use of this, which is sad because I even had concept art made too. I may rework it one day, but my doubts are high as far as it actually getting somewhere. Cause let's be honest, how many fan made champions ACTUALLY turned into a real one? Edit: making this comment inspired me to rework it for some reason. Funny how fate does that, eh?

PrimalLyon4/2/2015, 8:09:29 PM

Hey Vyle Reaper, I really love your concept of Malus and I would I like to work with you and help make new concepts or improve existing ones , I'm a bit new so I would need to be taught a little.

Thanks,

51405526_DEL1/13/2015, 3:05:17 AM

I think this is a great concept but I think it needs opportunity for Unique Passives to be applied to his abilities + concept art could be like Singed + Zilean