~C.K. , The King and His Horse (FULL concept re-release with Lore/Artwork!)
Now updated with skill ranges in the skills section
Update: For those who are concerned with reading this full length post, and just want to see a basic run-down of the Champion's skills before making the commitment, or are just tight on time right now, I made a minimalist version which only covers a rough explanation of their 4 major mechanical aspects, and goes over their skills/pictures of skill ranges. That's it. It's a 3-5 minute read, and it can be found here: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/rant/phsgtglO-tldr-basic-rundown-of-ck-the-king-and-his-horse-champion-concept
Hello, and welcome to the (re-)release of ~C.K. , The King and His Horse.
Formerly "~C.K., The Catcher and The Child", this revised release (intended to hopefully balance the Champion to a happy medium of viable, plausible, and practical) is the result of a large amount of support, criticism, helpful commenters, (even more) time investment, and a passion to help push the game in new, exciting directions, allowing players to explore new depths of mechanics, meta-game, and strategies, and overall create diversity in the Rift. I would like to give special thanks to Chubby Platypus, who, of all my commenters and supporters, REALLY went the extra mile in helping me balance this concept, offering a vast array of seemingly endless insight to things that were simply flawed, excessive, and confusing, as well as acknowledge the key aspects that seem to be just right, illustrating to me my own Champion in a way that I myself had not even seen it. If you missed the original post, and want to see where we're coming from (as this is a large change, but not quite an overhaul), the original post can be found here:
The overall purpose of this border-line rework (for a concept that isn't even real, ain't that a hoot?) was quite ambitious, and wide in it's scope. That said, I feel as though I've succeeding in pushing enough paper to work it all out to a prettier, healthier, and smoother feeling design (and believe me when I say I've put some hours into this Champion design, a lot more than any of my others). The goals of this new kit (vs the old one) are as follows:
-To severely cut down on their overall mobility, having had a theoretical seven dashes (NINE before a mechanic was removed in compromise) and feeling a little too overloaded in that regard.
-To convert their remaining mobility into something that felt more purposeful, as while their abilities seemed good on paper individually and in theory, they actually provided little practicality in application to real situations, and offered them no real theme or cohesive game-play, aside from a questionably loaded Q interaction. TL/DR; Less dashes, and dashes that they can use.
-To give Chris options in team-fights, as he is essentially still functioning as the team's AD carry, just providing his own support (which Katie is now recognized as, being a loyal follower/subordinate to Chris, as opposed to a partner), and the tools he had were simply trading off too much utility (which should be provided by Katie, that's why she's there) over the qualities that he actually needs to be relevant in fights, with an ultimate that "ultimate"ly left much to be desired for an ADC.
-To diversify Katie, both in her Lore and her kit, seeking to provide her options besides "go in, grab some people, bring them to Chris (who can hardly follow it up)", and forcing her to decide how she uses her now-limited mobility. Also to expand upon her story more-so than "she's crazy, probably has Schizophrenia, and we don't know why, or where she came from, sorry), ultimately giving Chris and Katie a deeper, more personal backstory, as well as Katie's psychotic personality a more complex nature, reflected in her unique new Passive and E.
-To help support the sink or swim design of the ~C.K. base principal: Win Lane Win Game, Lose Lane Hard Feed. ~C.K. is meant to either snowball or avalanche, and that should be obvious this time around.
Moving on.
NEW! Lore: (Skip if you just want to read their Skills, but know that their kits are directly themed from, and correlated to this story, and that by skipping it you'll be sacrificing the ability to easily understand the purpose of the skills, and visualize their applications)
Meet ~C.K., or as you'll come to call them, Chris and Katie, (Yes, for those who missed the first post, this is in fact a Champion which is represented in-game as two separate Champions, both controlled by the same Summoner), an unlikely duo consisting of a nomadic gunslinger, and a young girl (roughly ~11-12) suffering from delirium. Once a member of a revered headhunting clan, Chris had mastered the art of war alongside Nonah, his partner-turned love interest, as the two would come to be renowned across the lands of Runeterra, laying waste to some of it's most feared predators, and gaining a reputation as savage, ruthless, and even "God-like" Bounty Hunters, sitting high upon their throne in what was viewed as the most powerful guild of Champions to ever walk the lands.
Until a dark day plagued Shurima, and the Void stared into the hot desert, unleashing Rek'sai in one of her World-breaking onslaughts of murder and pestilence (the longest known to date, which had seemingly no end in sight, with the monster appearing insatiable in it's rampage this time). It was on this day that Chris and Nonah stared back at the Void, seeking to secure their place in history, and validate themselves as the true Apex predators, pursuing the wretched harbinger of widespread fear across the hot, unforgiving desert lands for days on end, restless in their attempt to slay the abomination, and put an end to the cloud of terror that hung over the heads of the Shurima Citizens once and for all.
The battle reached the edges of the known deserts, far beyond Rek'sai's vast network of tunnels, where it bordered onto a part of Shurima's outskirts that even the Emperor Azir himself knew nothing of, and where the people (who were few, primitive, and isolated from the modern world) were seemingly unaware that they were even part of the nation, being self-sustained farmers, hunters, priests, and shamans, living in what could hardly be called villages by modern standards of life. Chris and Nonah appeared to have gotten the upper hand on the beast after countless days, cornering her into the furthest breaches of the sands, and looking to end her tyranny once and for all. Without warning, Rek'sai screeched a howling echo, so loud it could have been felt by the deaf, and reared up to retreat, preparing to launch herself into the Void (knowing that Chris and Nonah would easily follow her if she buried herself so far from her tunnel network, having nowhere to go), and return another day in the distant future to avenge her failure, and continue her quest of oblivion. The pair positioned to attempt to finish Rek'sai before she could leap, but in a last ditch effort to escape the humans, the monster first lunged towards a nearby construct (a poorly designed home of a small tribal family in these wastelands), grabbing hold of two small children, and thus deterring Nonah from firing the fatal blow. Rek'sai screamed once more and lunged back, maiming Nonah on the way to her passage to the Void, and in a moment of thought-less instinct, Chris quickly grappled the beast on it's way by, gaining hold of it, and following it into the Void, unintentionally abandoning Nonah in the process, consumed by his haste to end the plague of Rek'sai, and prevent the death of even more helpless souls.
Quickly coming to the realization of what he had done, he temporarily parted with his emotions, and wasting no time, continued battling the gravely wounded Rek'sai, desperate to finish what he had committed to, eventually wrestling his way to her back, where he fired through the back of her head with a hand cannon, the shot exiting out the side of her skewed jaw, causing the enigmatic Void-construct to collapse instantly. A brief silence passed in this moment, avenging the death of unknown millions, and acknowledging the defeat of a creature feared to such extents that even the whisper of her name caused panic. A creature who's name was synonymous with "Horror". A creature who could silence nations in a few brief moments of single-handed mass murder...
.....
...The silence passed, and after searching the nearby wreckage caused by the behemoth's fall, he found the young girl whom Rek'Sai had kidnapped, but despite his efforts, was unable to locate the boy, who had likely already been lost to the Void. Protecting the now-hysteric girl along the way, carrying her each gruesome, hard-fought day, and watching over her every sleepless, hopeless night, Chris continued to attempt to battle out of the Nothingness, unsure if he and the child would ever see the lands of Runeterra again.
Time stands still in the Void, and after what felt like the years turned into decades that it took (slowed ever so much by the hindrance of the child, who was left distant and unresponsive most of the time, lost in hallucinations from glimpsing the Void) to battle his way back from the nightmare they survived, and back to his once-great homeland of Shurima, the world no longer knew his name. Nonah was long gone, and her death paired with Chris' failure to return home had caused everything that the two lover's had accomplished to not even manifested in so much as a fable or story, leaving him as the final remaining echo of a time long-forgotten, and the defender of a shattered world, and anguished child who, despite her newfound hallucinations, and quickness to be startled, had grown to know him over their seemingly-endless time in the Void together.
Feeling indebted to Chris, owing her life to him, and torn with guilt over the loss of his partner, and her younger brother (who was swallowed by the Void), she's embraced the decision to join him, recognizing their mutual lack of place in this new world, and has committed to helping him to the best of her ability (which is often burdened by her psychotic episodes) in all of his endeavors, determined to find new light to shine on this otherwise dark crusade.
Previously unknown to Chris, Katie's family was descended from long-lost cults of the old Shuriman empire, and her mother, an immortal witch of high stature in their village (who moved to the vagrant badlands seeking refuge from The Kindred), had cursed the child, imbuing her with ancient magicks, citing it to be a "blessing". However, after witnessing the Void, Katie has lost the ability to reliably control these magicks, which behave unpredictably around her delirium, responding in correlation to her emotions and outbursts during these episodes.
Seeking to regain his former glory, and for his name to be said alongside the name's of Kings and Heroes once more, Chris has embraced Katie as his accomplice, curious to uncover the true limits of the young girls magick, and is determined to finish what he started in his decision, sacrifices, and now commitment to save her, as she often charges blindly into danger, enemies, and a variety of other bad situations while intoxicated by her delusions, which he has grown to exploit as a strategic tactic to bait unsuspecting enemies into vulnerability, able to pick them off from a distance while they attempt to engage the child. While Katie is aware of her employment as human bait, she is not particularly in control of it, and regardless of his ability to capitalize on the unfortunate condition of the girl, Chris will scold the child after her suicidal charges, having essentially given up everything to protect her, and seeing her continued survival as validation of that decision (regardless of whether he intentionally made it), constantly looking to find new ways to help control or break her free from her episodes.
Unaware that he had failed in fully killing Rek'sai, Chris had taken a wrangled tooth from the beast, which had been blown out of her jaw when he fired through her skull, and given it to Katie as a gesture to help her recall the willpower she demonstrated in surviving the Void, as well as it's most feared spawn, with the hopes of helping control her episodes. Katie (having been wearing a necklace made out of her own baby teeth and charms from her Mother this entire time) now wears Rek'sai's fang as the centerpiece on her lucky necklace, a trophy and sign of their bond, their perseverance in conquering the Never, and their newfound journey on towards the Forever.
https://i.imgur.com/vGDh05u.jpg[/img]
a poem written by Chris, discovered by Katie in their travels, who proceeded to add her own ending to it before returning it to it's original spot for him to find. Chris would come to fall in love with the ending of the poem, and as such adopted their epitaph (title): The King and His Horse.
Katie: "People come," Chris: "And people go," Both: "But a King and His Horse are forever..."
(~C.K.'s lock-in quote)
Quick Champion Description
~C.K. are designed to be played exclusively as a bottom lane duo (and will fail to be played anywhere else without being out-scaled, explained later), allowing a team to entrust a single player the responsibility of winning the 2v1 lane, and freeing another player for other purposes on the map to create a potential player advantage, at the risk of the ~C.K. player falling behind, which would cause a serious team gold/xp deficient for failing to win the gamble. They reward positioning, high game knowledge, caution, proper use of their windows of opportunity, and boast a variety of in-built punishments for failing to do so. The extra player is free to do essentially anything, but the main idea is that they should select an early-impact champion (Morgana, Braum, Lee Sin, Xin Zhao, Bard, Elise, Nidalee, Etc.) and look to start a support item, and immediately rush Mobility Boots. This player would roam between the lanes (primarily mid and top), stopping in each lane to try and apply pressure, soak some xp/support item gold, and create presence on the map. This would give enemy Junglers the added responsibility of tracking a new objective, and cautioning the importance of vision, as they could also meet up with their own Jungler to contest/take objectives, gank with high amounts of threat, and even counter-invade the Jungle with added protection. This is not all without tradeoff's which will be covered in a concluding Pro's and Con's section.
The expressions "Brief" and "Briefly" are used extensively in this Champion's kit. These times will always refer to 0.5 seconds.
Mechanics
Formerly their passive, the 4 major mechanical changes that surround the Champion(s)' in-game workings are now displayed as a mouse-over tool-tip, shown on their Unique HUD design, and disabled from being a pesky bother if the "Display Mouse-over Tool tips" setting is turned off, as it is quite a lot of text.
Note that these sections are over-explained for clarity, the in-game tool-tip will be much shorter
I. Leveling & Laning
In order to prevent the abuse of using them in other roles, all experience ~C.K. gain is penalized as though it is being shared with another player before being calculated, further penalized with allies nearby. They should always be the same level as the other player's in the bottom lane, no more, no less, and will be out-scaled if played in another role.
In order to encourage and reward correctly using the Champion(s), as well as to compensate for the gold difference that the enemy support will generate for their ADC, ~C.K. gain 30g/minute while isolated from teammates, and receive an additional 50-100g for unassisted kills, with Katie claiming the "assist" on their team's behalf (not reflected in stats). These passives are solely designed as a laning phase crutch, and will end at 15:00 into the game, or once a certain gold threshold is reached (currently 500g to match a support item).
II. Controls
Chris and Katie each have their own separate abilities, controls, and cooldowns (aside from a joint R cooldown, casting either Champion's R puts both on cooldown immediately), and are moved/pathed/controlled separately. This will be reflected in a manageable, non-cluttered HUD, which is entirely unique to them.
(HUD example being added soon)
Controls are designed to be as intuitive as possible to the current muscle memory of the player, in an attempt to not leave you feeling like you're playing a different game by locking the Champion. As basic as it gets:
Chris is controlled using your standard key-binds, so by default he'll use Q,W,E,R,F,D,B, move with Right-Click, and access items with 1,2,3,5,6,7 and trinket with 4.
Katie is controlled with keybindings that mirror Chris', but with the use of a buffer-key (Shift by default, but re-assignable), and these mirrors are not able to be changed (i.e. if you use 1 instead of Q, Katie automatically uses Shift+1, no matter what).
If Chris wishes to use the Attack-Move functionality, he will have to use the A key (by default), as Shift+Right-Click is reserved for Katie's movement, and Katie is unable to auto attack entirely (furthermore, Katie actually deals no damage whatsoever in her entire kit), as this would prevent a team from having 6 sources of auto attacks into a team with only 5, and as Chris and Katie share stats they would essentially be 100% crit from level one, able to hit with the same speed/damage twice as often, not to mention cause a huge complication in controls.
Recalling centers around the Champion which cast it (buffer-key vs no buffer-key), with the other ceasing all actions and beginning a path towards them, meeting up in Xayah-Rakkan format upon contact. If for some reason, they are unable to reach the other in time, the channel remains at 0 seconds until they arrive, at which point they proceed to complete the recall after a brief delay. Damaging or interrupting either of them will stop the recall. The Summoner Spell Teleport will function in a similar fashion, only interrupted if one of the duo is CC'd, and unable to be canceled (as per it's own rules).
They share Summoner Spells as well; Chris uses them by default, and Katie uses them with the buffer-key. Simple as that. The Summoner Spell Heal is 35% less effective if one casts it while outside of it's range from the other.
III. The Tether
While in the Void, Katie bound herself to Chris by a soul-linked Tether (which her magicks created in a regressive response to her emotions turning desperate, afraid, and alone, seeing him as her caretaker), preventing them from leaving a fixed distance of one another. She builds trust with him as the game progresses, and the range they may move from each other scales accordingly (with level, not game time). At level 1 this range is roughly the size of Kindred's Ultimate zone, scaling up to about the size of Ryze's rank 1 Ultimate cast range at Level 18.
Attempting to path Chris and Katie outside of the Tether from each other will prioritize the one who more recently input the movement command, and upon reaching the edge (small buffer zone to allow smoothness) will designate them as the "leader", forcing the "follower" to stop all actions, dragging them in the same direction until they can once again move freely without violating the Tether. Attempting to path Chris or Katie out of the Tether while the other is stunned will instead automatically implement a "Wait for me!" Debuff on them, causing a stun equal in duration to the remaining time of the other Champion's stun, after which point the movement command that caused this to occur will continue automatically, prioritizing that player as the leader. Attempting to path Chris or Katie out of the Tether while the other is slowed will reduce their movement speed to match the slowed Champion's speed, until it ends or until such a time that they're moving without violating the Tether.
due to the possibility of being displaced/forcing Chris or Katie across terrain from the other, in such a way that the Tether prevents them from pathing back to each other, they must take Q at level 1 (as Katie's Q is a cost-less, targeted dash). This in-built punishment is an extreme case, and will almost never occur without intentionally causing it, barring the occasional 200 IQ Alistar play, and is an INTENDED punishment for drastically mis-positioning on the Champion. They may still recall and Teleport during this time, with the channels lasting for at least their standard cast time, plus any additional time it will take until Katie's Q is once again off cooldown, and it will be automatically placed on cooldown once again upon arriving when this mechanic is used. Attempting to path outside of the Tether while across terrain will knock the Champion who attempted the movement back inwards a short distance, briefly stunning them, and will not drag the other whatsoever, even if room exists.
Attempting to Flash outside of the Tether will instead place the caster at the Tether limit (minus the small buffer zone), and will not interrupt the other. Flashing to the edge in this manor will also not cause a stun on the caster, even if the other is stunned, provided they don't further input a command to continue that direction.
The duo's passive Tether range (blue at lvl 1, red at lvl 18) https://i.imgur.com/nkpndH2.png[/img]
spell interactions:
While Chris or Katie is inside of Ryze's Ultimate zone, the other must be within a range of them such that if the zone were centered on them, they would now be in range, otherwise they will both be left behind.
If Chris or Katie takes Tahm Kench's Abyssal Voyage, the other must be close enough such that if the one who DID take the Voyage were casting the ability THEMSELVES, that the other would NOW be close enough to take it.
All spells should interact in this type of fashion. Any questions feel free to ask and I'll provide the intended interaction.
IV. Health
While Chris and Katie have 2 separate Champion Models (and hitboxes), and each reflect a health bar indicator over their head, they actually share a single health bar (the one on their HUD), and damaging either will immediately be shown on both (and to clarify further, they do share the same stats). They still experience CC and vision separately (i.e. stunning one doesn't affect the other, and having vision of one grants no indication of the other if the enemy would not otherwise have vision of them).
Chris' abilities use Mana, and Katie's abilities are cost-less (also, deal no damage). Only Chris reflects the Mana bar, so enemies who only have vision of Katie will have to think carefully before engaging the harmless child based on her health bar alone.
Heals that are cast by allies onto Chris or Katie are instead converted into a permanent shield, only blocking damage received from their hitbox, until the shielded member enters at least 50% of the cast range of the original healing spell of the other, at which point the remainder will be converted into permanent health, not benefiting from items and runes a 2nd time.
Shields only protect the receiver (including Barrier), meaning that if Katie has a shield, ~C.K. will still die if Chris is damaged in a way that brings his health to 0, with Katie's shield going to waste.
If Chris and Katie are both harmed by the same instance of damage (i.e. both hit by Zigg's ult), the combined total damage they take is reduced by 25% (whole number, before resistances and calculations), which is equal to 50% MORE damage than if only one of them had been hit (100dmg + 100dmg = 200dmg, -25% flat (50dmg) = 150dmg taken, compared to the original 100). Heals that affect both members (Soraka ult, Senna Q, Redemption, etc.) are 35% less effective, and are granted as a single, larger "combined" heal, instead of 2 separated events (to prevent double-benefiting from runes/items).
With THAT out of the way, let's move on to the fun part!
Without further ado, I present:
*~C.K. , The King and His Horse - *
if you want to read their skills in the most sensible order, go as follows (P for passive, k for Katie, c for Chris):
cP, kP, cQ, kQ, kW, cE, cW, cR, kE, kR
Chris, The King
Passive - Risky Bait
Chris keeps a hidden line attached to Katie's ankle, designed to help him save her life when delusions cause her to run off. Some of his abilities interact with this line. Katie has caught on to it, and will also take advantage of it.
Clotheslined: If an enemy walks between Chris and Katie (Or Chris/Kaite walk around them), they are tripped by the Line, interrupting any actions (stopping channels, dashes, etc), with a 60-30 second per-target cooldown, scaling down with level. Enemies not performing any actions are not affected in any way, but are not marked by the per-target cooldown.
Q - Right There!
Chris fires a shot from one of his guns, leaving a lazer-like trail behind it, which lingers for 2 seconds. The ability always travels the maximum distance, but only damages the first enemy Champion that it contacts, dealing reduced damage if it struck a minion or monster first. Deals reduced damage to lane minions until max rank.
If the trail intersects Katie's trail left by her Q, it stops proceeding, the trails both disappear, and the intersection zone briefly shows a small area before quickly pushing enemies inside of it to its edge, dealing damage again.
W - Over and Out/I said MOVE!
Chris empowers ~C.K's next auto attack (Katie may benefit from this during Chris' E activate), guaranteeing a critical strike, and recoiling themselves away from the direction they fired a moderate distance (imagine Vayne's E in reverse, as a crit with no stun potential).
attempting to recoil outside of the Tether will instead knock Chris back inwards a short, fixed distance upon reaching the edge, briefly stunning him.
If Chris performed the attack, then after recoiling, he will have 3 seconds to re-cast the ability, which will cause him to pause briefly, revealing his hidden line on Katie, then pulling her a fixed distance (scaling with the Tether) in his direction, but not allowing her to be pulled past him. Chris can pull Katie even if she's under the influence of CC, but it will not end the CC (unless she's airborne, or in the midst of being displaced, in which case it will pull her from it).
E - Unseen Threat
Passive: Chris deals bonus damage while attacking Champions that Katie is in close proximity to, or recently affected with one of her abilities. If he successfully kills an enemy Champion with an attack or skill enhanced by this ability, he gains a permanent stack of "Threat".
Active: Chris throws one of his guns to Katie (brief animation for him to throw it, and for her to catch it, which are off-set in timing) allowing her to borrow it for 10 seconds before snagging it back by a hidden line on it (which will cause an animation that essentially briefly stuns them both simultaneously). During this time, auto attacking with the standard right click or Attack-Move function will prioritize whichever one of them is closer to the target, and they will perform the auto attack, but leaving the other unable to auto attack until their attack speed would allow it (essentially, they share the auto attack cooldown during this time, it just allows Katie to defend herself for a small window). This ability works on a charge system, having 2 Charges at all ranks, which ONLY refresh upon returning to base.
R - Bang-Bang!
Chris briefly winds up his favorite gun, a powerful revolver named "Mammoth", before he proceeds to rapidly fire 3 shots in quick succession (~0.35 seconds apart), moving in the direction that the mouse was in when they were fired (thus, each shot is able to be targeted in a different spot, provided proper timing), behaving as skillshots that only damage the first Champion or Epic Monster they hit. Chris fires an additional shot for each stack of "Threat", up to a hard limit of 10 shots, with excess stacks being converted to bonus damage on the shots. Chris can not move or cast other abilities during his ultimate, and is unable to cancel it, except in the case that a bullet hits Katie, which will cause him to cease fire immediately. (This skill originally had an additional effect of "At max rank, with a minimum of 10 stacks of Threat, Chris' bullets begin to execute enemy Champions under 10% health", but this seemed like overkill, and as such was removed)
Chris range of all skills https://i.imgur.com/A7GEw0M.png[/img]
Katie, His Horse
as a reminder, none of Katie's abilities deal any damage, and she can not auto attack (apart Chris' E - Unseen Threat)
Passive - Delirium
Katie periodically suffers from uncontrollable outbursts. If an enemy Champion that she was not recently in combat with enters a short range of Chris, or if an enemy within the Tether who was previously not seen comes into vision, Katie will briefly stop to announce a VFX and perform a quick animation, before dashing at that target, landing on the side of the enemy Champion which puts her between them and Chris' location, at which point she will pause, experiencing a shudder from a nightmarish delusion, leaving Katie "Delirious" for 1 second (stunned, but damage or interacting with Chris via a skill will cause her to regain control of herself). This passive will only trigger once every 90-45 seconds (going down based on level), with a per-target cooldown of 120 seconds. Delirium will not trigger while Katie is channeling Recall, Teleport, during either her or Chris' Ultimate, during the brief cast of any of her E variants, is stunned, or under 25% health, but will trigger during her Q (will redirect her mid-dash, still leaving a trail if she was not dragging a target), and W (continues the parry-channel, not ticking down during her travel time).
I'm Helping!
Katie produces the equivalent gold value of 1 assist any time Chris kills an enemy Champion unassisted (not reflected in stats). She also generates 30g/minute while they are isolated from nearby allies (this gold is generated passively over the course of the minute, not actively in one lump sum at the end of each minute). Both parts of this passive end at 15:00, or once 500g has been claimed. Katie also saps experience from Chris to keep up in level, causing their XP gains to be penalized as though they're sharing with another player at all times, and this persists throughout the entire game.
note that "I'm Helping!" is a part of their four unique, revised mechanics (found on their HUD), and is not technically a passive, I've just chose to include it here under Katie's passive for the sake of re-iterating why it exists, being designed to help ~C.K. get through laning with only one person's income, essentially providing the equivalent of a support gold-income item, but only if they can reap the rewards within a set time frame.
Q - Here I Go!/Keep Up!
Katie dashes in a target direction (this is a fast dash, quicker than their other mobility spells, comparable to Rakkan's "W - Grand Entrance" Speed), pausing briefly at the end and leaving a trail behind her, which lingers for 3 seconds, slowing enemies that she passes through, or who pass through the trail afterwards. If she attempts to pass through the trail left by Chris' Q, she stops upon intercepting it, and grabs a hold of Chris' line around her ankle.
She may recast her Q for the next 3 seconds, and upon doing so will briefly pause, pulling the line with magick-enhanced strength, yanking Chris a fixed distance in her direction (scaling with the Tether), but not allowing her to pull him past her. Katie can pull Chris even if he's under the influence of CC, but it will not the CC (unless he's airborne, or in the midst of being displaced, in which case it will pull him from it).
attempting to Q out of the Tether will instead knock Katie back inwards a short, fixed distance upon reaching the edge, briefly stunning her.
Katie's Q ranges https://i.imgur.com/Ssq6HhL.png[/img]
W - Wait!
Katie has a personal episode which triggers her magicks, causing her to channel for 1 second(s), during which time she will parry any damage she receives, marking enemies she successfully parries for 4 seconds.
If Katie casts her Q while enemies are marked, they are forcibly dragged an equal distance in that direction. Katie can not control this, and all marked enemies will be dragged, whether or not she wants them to (and regardless of any distance they've moved in the 4 seconds). Enemies who contact terrain on their journey are immediately released from the effect and freed. If Katie attempts to Q outside of the Tether, all enemies who she was controlling are released upon her knock back. Katie's Q will not leave a trail if it pulls any marked Champions.
E - Hysteric Arcanist
After her encounter with the Void, Katie's magicks are equally reliable in power, but are less reliable in dependability, shifting with her delirium. Katie gains one of 3 different Arcane magicks at random, changing each time this spell is off cooldown, but unknown to Katie which one it will be until 3 seconds before the cooldown refreshes. It will also signal to the enemy which one Katie currently possesses after receiving it, in an indicator next to her health bar. She may re-gain the same variant more than once in a row, but will never receive the same variant more than 3 times in a row.
The skills are:
Go AWAY! - Katie flails, pushing herself back a short distance (~100 units) and pushing enemies in a cone away from her (think Annie cone size/shape)
Oh, no you don't! - Katie curls up, pulling nearby enemies inward towards her a fixed distance, followed by a .25 second slow.
Coming Through! - Katie winds up briefly before charging in a target direction, and will grab the first enemy Champion she contacts along the way (if any), dragging them with her (behind her, relevant to the direction she's charging) until she reaches the end of the dash. This dash can not pass terrain, and contacting terrain will immediately end the charge, and free the enemy Champion (if she was dragging one). As always, attempting to leave the Tether during with this skill will cause Katie to be knocked a short, fixed distance inward upon reaching it's edge, and briefly stun her. (This skill originally had an additional effect of "Katie is Unstoppable during this dash, unable to be interrupted", but this seemed like overkill, and as such was removed)
if Katie fails to connect with any enemy Champions upon casting one of her Hysteric Arcanist variants, she is left Delirious for 1 second.
Katie's 3 E ranges https://i.imgur.com/1UsnZZD.png[/img]
R - NO!
The Void's magic in Rek'sai's tooth haunts Katie, interacting with her own magicks and giving her terrors. Katie screams out, briefly unable to act, and causing a "No-Combat Zone" to expand outward from her Champion during this animation, which persists for 3/4/5 seconds, marking all enemy Champions caught in the initial wave and breaking Katie free of enemy affliction (any CC which didn't prevent her from casting the spell, harmful debuffs, as well as delayed chain-effects, such as LeBlanc's E, Morgana's R, Kled's Q, etc). Damage can not occur inside the zone, and spells may not be cast from within it, including Katie's. Projectiles and dashes which enter the zone from outside do continue to proceed into it, with their damage still negated, but their utility persisting (for example Morgana's Q still offers CC, and Senna's Q still provides it's heal). CC'ing Katie will end the zone, but not until after she has regained control of herself. If Chris enters the zone, pulls Katie's hidden line, or throws her his gun via his E, Katie will regain focus, coming back into touch with reality from her nightmares and ending the zone immediately (or after receiving the gun in the case of Chris' E). If the zone times out naturally, Katie experiences a brief delay as she frantically looks to find Chris again. This delay does not occur if the zone is interrupted via enemy CC, or by interacting with Chris.
Katie's R Zone size https://i.imgur.com/gVsKKyh.png[/img]
Gameplay
Now that we're all on the same page, lets go over the gameplay:
~C.K. is a gamble lock in (like Draven, or Vayne), with the team essentially "entrusting" (though in solo que, it's not much of a choice) the single player to win the 2v1 lane alone, or with minimal help, as they are deprived passive gold and lose even more experience in the presence of allies. ~C.K. should always look to use Katie as the initiation tool, and think of her as a short-ranged "melee" (though she can't auto attack, she functions in roughly the same range) caster support, and serves Chris a functionality very similar to Rakan or Thresh. Katie's playstyle is intentionally designed to make the player actively use her, and unlike their previous design, does not advent the player the option of just putting her off in the backline behind Chris to AFK for a minute if they find managing her to be too difficult (which are the reasons behind the severely shortened Tether range, especially early game, and Katie's new passive, which can be seen as a double-edged sword, along with a lot of her kit). Furthermore, with Katie's W - Wait! having it's re-cast dash mechanic removed (now linked to her Q), Katie will have to think much more carefully before engaging with her Q, because while she might feel like Rakan in the aspect of how she approaches fights, she now has no reliable way out if the fight goes south (even with "Coming Through!", since using it as an escape will likely contact no enemy Champions, thus leaving her Delirious for 1.5 seconds), and to put another hole in the sinking ship; Chris can not simply abandon Katie how AD Carries abandon their supports, and his safely line on her can quickly turn into an anchor around his wrist, killing him in the process as he has no emergency way of completely removing her from a bad situation.
While Katie may feel like a liability while behind, the intelligent ~C.K. player can find incredible opportunities with her kit, which provides a constantly shifting array of tools, leaving enemies with less time to process her plays (as she knows her next E variation 3 seconds before it comes up, and thus 3 seconds before the enemy team can see which one she received), made even harder by her sporadic passive charges, which, while they may seem random, or "unpredictable", behave within a strict, pre-set mannerism, and mastering awareness of when Katie is going to charge in (as well as when she can't!) will be what separates the good from the great on this Champion.
Chris revolves around following up on Katie, and attempting to fight without her in the front-line will cause him a hefty decline in DPS (E - Unseen Threat). Knowing how to bait enemies with Katie without letting her caught is where Chris' decision making is really put to the test, and a calculated series of decisions can turn what appeared to be a desperate engage, into swift success. For those having difficulty imagining their kit in action, here's a couple examples of play-making with the tag-team:
Scenario 1:
Katie is hugging the metaphoric "line of scrimmage" in the laning phase, with Chris safely farming from behind her. They are against a Caitlyn-Morgana, with the Morgana positioning a moderate distance back from Katie, standing safely in her minion wave, and Caitlyn using her range to farm out of Katie's zone of potential initiation. Chris moves up to secure a cannon (seemingly), but instead triggers his W-Over and Out, and auto attacks the Morgana for the guaranteed crit, safely disengaging himself and poking her HP. As he continues walking away from what seemed like a free harass, Katie uses R-NO!/Flash in quick succession to get on top of the Morgana during the initial burst of her zone, allowing her to mark Morgana. Chris then pulls Katie's line with his W-I Said MOVE!, breaking her zone and pulling her away from Morgana's point-blank range, freeing her to use her Q-Here I Go! to continue towards Chris, pulling Morgana further from Caitlyn, and allowing Katie to continue to path behind Chris, who is free to DPS Morgana with increased damage from E-Unseen Threat (as Katie recently affected her with a spell) and his Q. If Morgana had been ~70% hp or less going into the fight, a healthy ~C.K. could easily secure this kill, at the very least chunking her HP down enough to force her out of lane by the time Caitlyn reaches the fight.
If Morgana's Black Shield was down prior to the engage, Katie could have instead Flashed behind her, then used her E (provided she had Coming Through! or Go AWAY!) to push Morgana towards Chris, before continuing the rest of the sequence. Even if Morgana managed to find great timing and catch her with a Dark Binding during the cast animation of Katie's R-NO!, the Ultimate still marks Morgana for 4 seconds, and Katie will still have time after the CC ends to proceed with her Q-Here I Go!.
If Katie could have managed to mark Morgana with her W-Wait! instead of her R-NO! (which would be particularly easy in this match-up, as standing in Morgana's Pool will provide Katie a huge window of time to cast it, with any successful damage parried leading to a marking), Chris could instead cast the Flash (if need be) to get in range for the guarenteed Crit+Disengage, proceeding to pull Katie's line , followed by Katie dragging Morgana with her Q. This accomplishes the same play using the same abilities, but without using Katie's Ultimate, which (with Katie likely behind him or out of the way) leaves Chris free to unload his R-Bang-Bang! on Morgana, which will also receive increased damage from his E-Unseen Threat, leaving Morgana too far from Caitlyn to receive help, and too low on HP to likely survive.
Scenario 2:
Same setup as Scenario 1, but initiated by being caught, as opposed to proactive. Katie gets a little careless in her pathing and finds herself caught by a Dark Binding, with Caitlyn immediately moving up to put a trap under her. Chris begins pathing towards Katie upon her getting caught. Katie gets chain-CC'd by the trap and Morgana enters range, chaining her Ultimate, but as Chris approaches, and Morgana is now in close proximity (having to be to cast Soul Shackles), Katie uses her R-NO! (which Morgana's Q and Caitlyn's Trap do not prevent her from doing), breaking free of Morgana's Shackles, and of her root. Chris applies the good ol' W-Over and Out routine to Morgana, proceeding to immediately pull Katie's line, and Katie rinse-and-repeats the Q-Here I Go! follow up. That's all she wrote.
Mechanic Ex. - The Dragon Steal:
Useful for any cross wall quick kill secure, Epic Monster steal, or any such application; Chris throws a Q across the wall, Katie dashes into it with her Q, then re-casts to pull Chris across, who is now free to use his W to attempt to secure the target, pushing himself back across the wall in the process, and allowing him to pull Katie back with him.
I could continue, but it would add to an otherwise text-wall post. Please feel free to comment any ideas you might have, as I'm interested to see if there's anything I haven't thought of.
Build Paths, Stats, and Runes
~C.K. demand a large variety of stats to be effective, as they share a stat pool and are still limited to 6 items. I'll go over my general consensus:
Stat Priority
Attack Damage < Critical Strike < Tenacity < Armor < Movement Speed < Attack Speed < Ability Power
Chris needs AD, period. His W is a guaranteed Critical strike, his passive granted by Unseen Threat amplifies his current damage, his Q is moderately high in cooldown and thus can be justified having a fairly healthy ratio, and his Ultimate... Well you've seen that shit.
Critical strike is next in line, as it just makes sense in this equation.
Tenacity is crucial and may even be put above Critical Strike. ~C.K. is highly susceptible to CC due to their Tether and shared Healthbar, and with limited tools to move each other in the event one of them is locked down, getting caught one bad time leading into a chain of stuns can quickly be the Coup De Grace to their rampage. Simply put; Tenacity is Crucial to staying alive.
Armor is arguable, but Katie is going to effectively be your tank, so buying some form of damage reduction from auto attacks isn't a bad investment, if nothing else starting a Doran's shield.
Movement Speed is important on every Champion, but any extra forms of it (or bursts of it) they can incorporate into their kit will be highly beneficial to the mobile dynamic duo.
Attack Speed is important for Chris as my mental image of his auto attack animation is something sluggish, meant to be a more impactful hard-hitter with his shots than a rapidfire machine. Nonetheless some bonus Attack Speed will help clean up that sure-to-be wretched animation.
Ability Power is last, and only needs to be grabbed when convenient, though Katie's few scaling's do ramp off of it (Her Q slow increases, and her W parry time and R duration increase slightly from it as well).
Itemization
Typically start Doran's shield. Triforce is pretty much Core, as it grants Phage passive to stick to targets, Bonus damage on hit after Casting (which could be triggered by Katie then benefited by Chris, or increase his already guaranteed bonus damage from his W alongside his E passive, leading to a nasty chunk of health missing), as well as Attack speed, Health, Mana, and just about every other stat they need. Viable items thereafter include:
Essence Reaver, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Infinity Edge, Blade of the Ruined King, Mercurial Scimitar (as being able to avoid lockdown is crucial, in addition to the advent of more AD and some tank stats for Katie), and if you wanna be a little outside the box: Iceborn Gauntlet. Merc Treads are pretty ideal for them.
Runes
This is where things get (even more) finicky. I feel like several runes would be viable on them, with key choices being Dark Harvest (for Chris' habit of taking hearty chunks of HP at once, and able to benefit his Ultimate), Unsealed Spellbook (Katie is already a walking slot-machine of spells, adding more chaos to the mix could spell a difficult to predict and track opponent for the enemy), Fleet Footwork (if you're not confident in your early laning mechanics yet), Arcane Comet (if you wish to abuse Katie's harass potential), Aftershock (if you really wanna play the "I'm playing Katie more than Chris in lane, he's just the incidental damage-dealer" game, and want a more survivable support feel), Lethal Tempo (as Chris primarily deals in quick trades involving limited, powerful auto attacks, it may be advantageous to be able to get a couple more of them off in that short window), and of course the obvious Electrocute if you're just trying to keep it simple.
Trade-offs, Pros, and Cons:
The main inspiration behind this concept is to push and test the mechanical limits of players to new levels, as well as free a player away from the standard 5-role meta which every team has become a slave to, leaving room for dynamic options from the side of the team willing to put their eggs in the ~C.K. basket. However if those eggs crack under pressure, the team will be left with few options, desperately attempting to scramble some kind of omelette out of the runny mess of a lane, as their team will be at an overall XP disadvantage. They'll have a lot of decisions to make along the way, both helped and hindered by a vast array of trade-offs, which we will now break down (feel free to add anything to this list, I'm not perfect :P):
Pros+:
-Free a player on their team to be of use in another position that the enemy team does not have a player designated to. -Technically hold 8 abilities (7 if you count the shared R cooldown, 9 if you add the re-cast they each have to this, and 11 if you consider Katie's E-Hysteric Arcanist to be 3 abilities, furthered to 12 if you consider the Passive/Active components of Chris' E-Unseen Threat as 2 separate skills). -High Mobility (though mostly targeted/situational) -An Ultimate that scales with being ahead (an ADC's dream, if nothing else this skill should exist in the game. Can I get a "montage-worthy"?) -Unmatched playmaking (and outplay) potential. -Ability to self-generate extra gold. -Ability to peel for each other to some degree. -A resource-less Katie leaving them with options in tight spots. -Hard to predict due to a large number of potential interactions in their kit(s). -Will take time to adjust to being released, leaving the majority of auto-filled supports likely being grateful they have a chance to pick a carry Champion and create influence elsewhere on the map.
Cons-:
-Extremely mechanically demanding. -Hard to find relevance from behind. -Can be outscaled easily if the enemy team opts to leave their ADC alone to force a farm-lane, and matches the roaming support. -Can't be played in any other lane. -Managing Katie and Chris in teamfights will be a daunting task. -Either one of them being locked down is difficult to recover from. -Heavily punished for not respecting the Tether. -Able to be displaced across terrain from each other. -An ADC who really doesn't have a lot of damage if behind, relying on an Ultimate scaling with Kills, and two skills (W/E) scaling on having a relevant amount of AD to amplify. -The lack of a support who is able to harass in-lane. -The lack of being able to split or abandon each other. -Are potentially separated by intelligent enemy zoning, pushing them to opposite ends of the Tether (which essentially renders them useless). -Being unaware or losing track of Katie's passive can lead to detrimental consequences. -A panic-button Ultimate that only saves the support, unable to be used as a tool for protecting the ADC. -The need for a variety of stats to be effective, leading to a confused build path and rune setup. -The "shared healthbar" mechanic. -The attention span required to be useful. -A large amount of in-built "Brief" delays, which are essentially just 0.5 stuns they impose on themselves. -A support who constantly renders herself "Delirious", leading to windows of opportunity for enemies if ~C.K. didn't properly set up. -Joins Bard, Tahm Kench, Kalista, and a variety of other Champions in the "grieving tool" aspect. -Will take time to adjust to being released, likely leaving the majority of support mains angered at the fact that they're expected to perform a different job, refusing to conform and further hurting their team by continuing to go bot lane.
Artwork!
Now, I'm not Picaso, or Van Gough, or even your 8th grade art teacher, and I'd never claim to be. That said I went through a frustrating amount of lead, eraser, paper, and mountains of shavings to try and produce some kind of concept for you guys, and I have to say they've evolved quite a bit. Katie was always easier for me to draw (I don't know why?) and finally almost looks like I'd imagine, though I'm having a harder time with Chris. I was going to wait till I had a perfect splash to post this, but as that is proving a daunting task I decided to go ahead and release it early, and I'll come back to update the post with my splash when it's completed. Until then, here's a few drawings to satisfy your curiosities:
Katie, once "The Dreamer", this is her first complete picture I ever drew, and my God she's changed a lot since then!
https://i.imgur.com/zFZRh2c.jpg[/img]
The next rendition of Katie when she was "The Dreamer". Cleaner, but still not what she turned out to be.
https://i.imgur.com/B2AP1wi.jpg[/img]
Various pictures of Chris through conception.
https://i.imgur.com/SeijWcf.jpg[/img] https://i.imgur.com/JH0GETx.jpg[/img]
Various singled out pictures of Katie.
https://i.imgur.com/zJ2YFSC.jpg[/img] https://i.imgur.com/nzsgs3i.jpg[/img]
The first Splash art attempt, which include the poses I'll eventually use, just without the addition of scenery (which will likely mostly be blackened or darkened out from Katie). Chris is throwing Katie his Gun in an attempt to break her concentration, as she's being consumed by nightmare's from the Void.
https://i.imgur.com/dZiMcYl.jpg[/img]
A better attempt at the final splash art concept. This is likely a picture that I'll finish, though I plan to draw a better, more complete final one. The weaponry I have settled on is what is indicated in this artwork. Katie's staff will feature a heart, but will be worn on her back, alongside some other features; and Chris will hold a rifle in one hand which will be his primary auto-attacking gun, and hold a snub-nosed pistol (will be changed to reflect this in the last picture I draw) in his off-hand, which he throws to Katie with his E. Mammoth will be on his waist. He has little bells on his necklace, and will feature a variety of other visible little additives and tools, and Katie wears her lucky necklace, made of her baby teeth, charms given to her by her Mother, and the took of Rek'sai. They sport matching cloaks with their initials on them.
https://i.imgur.com/KjQuKsC.jpg[/img]
Personalities
Katie does the talking. Chris has lines, but they're more impactful, being far and few between. Katie acknowledges that Chris doesn't like to talk a lot, and even introduces both of them herself.
Katie: That's Chris!.... And Katie!..... He doesn't like introductions..... Chris: ....Hmph
They've grown close during the time spent in the Void, which despite being decades did not affect their age once free from it. Katie understands Chris on a deep level, and frequently finishes sentences or thoughts he has a hard time completing himself (or simply says whats on his mind). Much like Xayah and Rakan (without the lover aspect), the quotes they have should include things both silly and light-heartedly humorous, as well as serious, bordering emotional. Chris has given up everything in an instinctual attempt to save the Child's life, whether or not he would have wanted to, and as such will get angry at her when she gets lost in her thoughts or delusions and runs off into danger, feeling as though it would have been for nothing if she died, and will scold her upon doing so (as such the shared healthbar concept is taken further into account). The bond that Katie's emotions triggered her Magicks into creating upon entering the Void, which Tethers her to Chris, has never seemed to falter, and as such they are bound deeper than blood (think of it like Kalista's Oathsworn). This Duo features a strange and unlikely pairing, but nonetheless they are here, have embraced the new Runeterra, left behind what they knew, and will continue the pursuit to regain the glory that Chris' name once held.
Again, I'll stop here to save some face (and space!). I worked very hard on this concept with the goal of helping Riot see that players would like to have some level of influence in the game they play, and will attempt to continue to encourage them to take the occasional player submitted design (or perhaps host some sort of contest-like event in which the highest voted idea will, given the best of their realistic ability for the sake of balance, be used to the best extent they can provide, attempting to preserve it's theme/origin/kit to a reasonable degree, and perhaps consulting the player on quotes, personality traits, artwork, etc.), as they have done so in the past to my understanding.
I look forward to hearing from any of you who managed to read this Colossal post (Thank you SO much for your time, it really means a lot), and will continue to update it with anything that crosses my mind, as well as answer all comments to the best of my ability, which I will continue to check at the very least once a day, typically in the evening.
~CGS
