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[Champion Concept] Skipper, The Stream Hopper

BowieTheNifty·3/21/2017, 12:01:00 PM·15 votes·1,824 views

So good day every one! BowietheNifty here to bring you another champion concept. Honestly I have been really pouring out the creativity this month. A lot of my projects have been coming to a conclusion as of late. For those who have been paying attention to my latest concepts were probably expecting something involving dark magic. While I did say that was going to be the next champion, I hate to say it but this ain't him. That concept needs a bit more refinement on lore and I need to take some time on it. However this concept here, well I can say this was a self challenge. My goal with this character, was to only give myself one day. Yep unlike my other champions I spent one day on this...fish thing. Lets just say my creativity and excitement got the better of me. Anyways enough waiting, lets get onto the concept.

Skipper, The Stream Hopper

Updates Reduced cool down for Q to 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds from 12/11/10/9/8 seconds - 3/22/2017 Reduced mana cost for Q to 30/35/40/45/50 from 40/45/50/55/60 - 3/22/2017 Reduced damage for Q to 40/75/110/145/180(+70% AP) from 40/90/140/190/240(+65% AP) - 3/22/2017 Increased mana cost for W to 75/85/95/105/115 from 60 - 3/22/2017 Reduced radius for R to 400 from 450 - 3/22/2017 Reduced duration for R to 4/5/6 seconds from 4/6/8 seconds - 3/22/2017 Removed from R immunity to slows/snares/roots when leaving aura for 2 seconds - 3/22/2017 Added for R when aura ends nearby allies gain "Stride's" passive movement speed which is doubled if they damage an enemy champion for 2 seconds - 3/22/2017

Innate passive now grants Skippers bonus 36~70% bonus movement speed upon his abilities effecting champions which decays over 1 second - 4/11/2017 Innate passive's mana restoration changed to 30% of mana spent in last 5 seconds from 50% of mana spent in last 4/6/8/10 seconds - 4/11/2017 Increased AP scaling for Q to 90% AP from 70% AP - 4/11/2017 "Soaked" Debuff's effectiveness changed to 20/30/40/50% reduced dash/leap distance from 50% reduced dash/leaped distance - 4/11/2017 Increased AP scaling for W's heal to 60% AP from 50% AP - 4/11/2017 Heal for W is now over a 2 second duration - 4/11/2017 W's bonus movement speed granted to ally changed to 30%(+5% per 100 AP)(+10% of Skipper's movement speed) for 2.5 seconds from 30/35/40/45/50%(+5% per 100 AP) for 2 seconds - 4/11/2017 Removed Skipper gaining same movement speed as ally from W - 4/11/2017 W's cast range now scales per rank 450/475/500/525/550 from 450 - 4/11/2017 W's cast range can now be further increased based on "Stride" hops up to a max of 600/625/650/675/700 - 4/11/2017 E's mana cost for previous hops per cast increased to 15 from 10 - 4/11/2017 E now increases W's cast range by 50 per hop after the first for a max of 150 increased range - 4/11/2017 R's movement speed to allies changed to bonus movement speed from "Stride" plus 15/20/25% of Skipper's movement speed from bonus movement speed from "Stride" - 4/11/2017 R's bonus movement speed now decays after ally leaves the aura over 2 seconds, but can be refreshed upon damaging an enemy champion - 4/11/2017 Removed R's bonus movement speed being doubled upon damaging an enemy champion - 4/11/2017

Innate passive mana restoration to 30/40/50% of mana spent within last 5 seconds scaling at levels 7/14 from 30% of mana spent within last 5 seconds - 4/11/2017 "Soaked" debuff now reduces enemies dashing/leap distances by 25% instead of 20/30/40/50% - 4/11/2017 **E has been reworked and no longer provides certain effects for W or R ** - 4/11/2017 R's movement speed to allies changed to 20/25/30%(+10% per 100 AP) of Skipper's movement speed instead of being granted the movement speed from "Stride" plus 15/20/25% of Skipper's movement speed - 4/11/2017

Appearance (Firstly I would like to say that I don't take credit for this art. This is mainly here as a reference to give a general idea of his appearance.) Skipper is an tiny aquatic fish like creature, known as an Aquavolo. He could easily be mistaken for a pixi or any sort of nature spirit. His race is really only located in fresh water. These little creatures appear to have wings, but they are mainly fins used for underwater use. However some Aquavolo, including Skipper here have learned to glide through air with the fins. They can't exactly fly with them. These little creatures have scales that glimmer like pearls and are said to change color dependent upon their mood. For self defense they mainly like to run, though they can project water from their mouths if need be. These creatures are actually intelligent able to produce and comprehend any form of language.

Lore

The Aquavolo are a rare race, but they are one that inspired many stories. The little fish people were once a prosperous race inhabiting many rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes. While being harmless in nature the Aquavolo would help out all forms of life with their magic. Mainly this was through helping the injured or inspiring happiness through emotional influence. They say that these magical creatures lived on forever, that they are immortal. For some reason or another it became known to the world that these creatures possessed age reversing properties. This property was said to be en bedded into their scales. Because of this they soon became the target of many hunts. Their population plummeted as their scales were used to concocted many alchemical solutions. Due to this, they are now a legendary creature not seen or known by many. Which is why when you find one, you are supposed to catch it. It would bring anyone a fortune.

Skipper is one of the few remaining Aquavolo. This crafty little creature has been sought by many, yet caught by none. While he enjoys life to his fullest, he knows of his species plight. His kind is of very few, that doesn't stop this fishy creature from doing anything however. He is considered daring as he doesn't hide like the others. This guy prefers to stay on top of the water or even out of the water completely. He has become more adapted to the surface life. He finds it a bit more thrilling to be out of his element. Maybe it is the rush of adrenaline but he loves to be sought after. Many have tempted to catch the little guy, but he is far too quick. He has adapted himself in his strides to hop across water, glide through the air, and even retaliate against pursuers. Yet he would always never truly keep running. He would stick around tempting his hunters with something even more appetizing then a simple pay day. "For those who can catch me will be getting more then just gold. I offer something more! I will serve my captor permanently granting them unending youth and eternal happiness!" He would always shout before spurting water in their faces and rushing off. Whether or not it was true didn't matter. As long as the hunters kept believing it, they would keep giving chase. They would give this one Aquavolo a thrill that would never die.

Roles Primary: Support (Enchanter) Secondary: Mage

Skipper is a high mobile support who relies a lot on roaming. He provides his team mates quick assistance and the ability to kite their opponents much easier. Due to his high mobile nature, he can tend to cross the map much faster then expected. He can appear unexpectedly to aid his fellow lanes. He finds glee in watching his enemies flop around trying to corner him.

Stats HP: 515 (+ 70) HP5: 8 (+ 0.75) Mana: 380 (+ 40) MP5: 10 (+ 0.75) AD: 50 (+ 3) AS: 0.679 (+ 2.7%) AR: 20 (+ 3) MR: 32.1 (+ 1.25) MS: 330 Range: 525 (Ranged)

Abilities Innate - Refreshed Glee Passive: When ever one of Skipper's abilities effects an ally or enemy champion, he will gain 34%(+2% per level) bonus movement speed that decays over 1 seconds. Additionally Skipper restores 30/40/50% of mana spent within the last 5 seconds upon killing or assisting against an enemy champion.

  • In-Depth
  • Movement speed scales per level having a 70% bonus at level 18
  • Movement speed isn't granted if Q hits an ally
  • Movement speed decays rapidly
  • Self mana restoration
  • Restores based on recent mana spent, not total mana
  • Mana restoration only activates on kills or assists against enemy champions
  • Mana restoration increases at levels 7/14

Q - Little Spout Range - 750 Cast / 350 radius Cool Down - 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds Mana Cost - 30/35/40/45/50 Active: Skipper spits out a quick blast of water upward that drops upon a target location. Deals 40/75/110/145/180(+90% AP) magic damage to enemies in an area upon arrival and "Soaks" all enemies for 3 seconds. "Soaked" targets lose 20% of their movement speed and have their dashing/leaping ability's distances reduced by 25%.

  • In-Depth
  • Ground targeted cast
  • Considered a projectile
  • Has 0.4 second cast time
  • Deals damage to multiple targets
  • "Soak" debuff isn't effected by tenacity
  • "Soak" debuff isn't considered a slow, and stacks with other slows
  • Can be cast during "Stride"
  • Cool down starts on cast

W - Rejuvenating Scales Range - 450/475/500/525/550 cast Cool Down - 14 seconds Mana Cost - 75/85/95/105/115 Active: Skipper will leap at a targeted ally champion going to the opposite side of them. Upon passing through the ally, he will heal them for 60/100/140/180/220(+60% AP) over the course of 2 seconds. As well he will grant that ally 30%(+5% per 100 AP)(+10% of Skipper's movement speed) bonus movement speed for 2.5 seconds.

  • In-Depth
  • Single target ally cast
  • Considered a dash
  • Has 0.5 cast time
  • Always dashes to the opposite of the ally from incoming direction
  • Only heals one target if Skipper passes through them
  • Follows targeted ally tell dashes completion
  • Can be cast during "Stride"
  • Cool down starts on cast

E - Stride Range - 1.2 x Movement Speed Cool Down - 26/25/24/23/22 seconds Mana Cost - 50 Passive: As long as Skipper has been moving in the same general direction for 2 seconds or upon entering the river, Skipper will start to hop for his movement commands. These are considered leaps able to go over terrain and have a distance equal to 1.2 times his Movement speed. He is able to cast abilities during these hops without interrupting them. This passive goes on a 3 seconds cool down if Skipper gets his movement impaired, if he makes a sharp turn, or after he passes through an enemy champion.

Active: Skipper will leap a distance in a targeted equal to 1.2 times his movement speed that leaves a magic trail of water in his wake for 2.5 seconds. If an enemy champion attempts to cross the water trail, it will spring forth dealing 50/90/135/185/240 (+50% AP) magic damage and knocking them away a short distance away from Skipper. If the passive portion of "Stride" is active upon cast, he can recast this within 1.5 seconds at double the mana cost. Water automatically springs forth at the end of its duration.

  • In-Depth
  • Two part ability with a passive and active
  • Passive hops can go over terrain and through units
  • Passive can be active during combat
  • Abilities can be cast freely during passive hops
  • Movement impairing effects such as slows,roots,snares,stuns,knock ups put the passive on cool down
  • Leap has instant cast time
  • Water trail spring interrupts enemy champion dashes/leaps
  • Knock back distance is about 150 units
  • Knock back direction is dependent on Skipper, enemies are always knocked away from him
  • Leap distance varies based on movement speed
  • Water trail width is about 225 units, length varies on distance traveled
  • Water trail takes 0.5 seconds before it is able to spring forth and deal damage
  • Once a water trail can only spring forth once
  • Water trail spring lasts 0.5 seconds
  • Enemies can only be damaged by the same water trail only once
  • Can be recast as many times as wanted if passive portion is active
  • Each recast doubles the mana cost (50/100/200 exc)
  • Cool down for active begins after first leap
  • Passive portion can be active while the ability is on cool down

R - Infectious Glee Range - Personal Cast / 400 radius Cool Down - 180/160/140 seconds Mana Cost - 100 Active: Skipper radiates an infectious aura of glee around him for 4/5/6 seconds. Allies who enter the aura will be cleansed of all slows/roots/snares become immune to them while inside. Allies in the aura are also granted 20/25/30%(+10% per 100 AP) of Skipper's movement speed. This movement speed lasts decays over 2 seconds after leaving the aura, but can be refreshed upon damaging an enemy champion.

  • In-Depth
  • Personal cast area of effect cleanse
  • Only cleanses slows/roots/snares
  • Grants immunity to slows/roots/snares
  • Grants bonus movement dependent Skipper's own movement speed
  • Bonus movement speed decays once allies leave the aura
  • Bonus movement speed can only be refreshed after leaving the aura
  • Doesn't cleanse stuns/silence/polymorph/knockups/forced actions or other CC
  • Doesn't grant immunity to stuns/silence/polymorph/knockups/forced actions or other CC
  • Aura follows Skipper granting him the immunities as well, but not the speed bonuses
  • Has a 0.5 second cast time
  • Cool down begins upon cast

Interactions (WIP)

CCOS Reviews Review for Leilani - a New Wave in Bilgewater Review for Ayakashi - The Ronin's Remorse

Alright so this is what I have to good old....young Skipper. I hope you all really enjoyed this concept. This guy was a challenge as I only created him in a day's time. If you have any questions I always appreciate feed back. So comments, concerns or anything really feel free to leave it before. Now I will probably come back to this guy and give a bit of updates. Those interactions will be fun to make. Anyways if you like this concept I have a list of them located below that could always use feedback. I hope you all reading have yourselves a good day. Tell next time.

BowietheNifty's List of Concepts

Next Champion: His name is Maladect. All you need to know.

10 Comments

gemini3333/21/2017, 11:20:52 PM4 votes

I like that this concept is coherent and fairly balanced, but I think that his power budget and playstyle leaves something to be desired. You've done a good job emphasizing Skipper's role as a roaming support, but his lack of hard CC makes it difficult for any enemy to take him seriously. He feels more like a mobile heal/cleanse bot than someone who can go out there and get stuff done, which is a design philosophy Riot is trying to leave behind for many of their supports. I'd suggest giving Skipper some hard CC to make his roaming feel more impactful.

Skipper's **(W) Rejuvenating Scales **is fine, and just needs a higher mana cost (or scaling mana cost, but whatever). Riot has noted how anti-fun healing feels and has done a lot to gate its effectiveness design-wise, and put the power into support items instead (ex. the passive +10% heal/shield power). The heal Skipper has right now is actually stronger numbers-wise than any other single-target heal a support has in their kit, but costs less than any of them. (IIRC, Nami's heal costs 70 mana at rank 1, ramping up to a whopping 130 at rank 5).

(E) Stride is a balanced ability, but it lacks a strong functional purpose in the design. On one hand, it strengthens both his mechanic/thematic identity of a roaming champion, but it feels redundant in Skipper's kit design-wise (he already has a dash in his W). I understand that the 2 abilities serve different purposes overall, but it just seems somewhat extraneous to have Skipper's mobility take up another spot on his kit.

Skipper's ultimate is pretty good, though the range and duration could probably be lowered slightly (ex. 4/5/6 seconds). To be honest, it has really specific effects, and I think it could use something else to make it feel more impactful. The immunities lasting after leaving the aura should be removed though, as it would give allies a stronger incentive to play around the aura during fights. It would also encourage Skipper to focus on his positioning more so that it encompasses as many people as possible.

Raxistaicho4/10/2017, 9:43:46 PM2 votes

Hmm, review time.

Passive - I'm not fond of this for three reasons. Firstly, caster supports usually don't have as much in the way of mana problems as ap mids since they can pick up more mana regen in general, secondly, the passive is pure win-more and doesn't really do anything for Skipper unless he's already in a good position, and thirdly, mana passives have historically been a balancing issue for Riot. See Lissandra and Veigar.

Q - A 4-second stackable slow that wrecks some champion kits completely (it makes champions like Malphite completely useless, for example) that isn't particularly hard to land. Nami's Q has a longer delay and is around the same size as this. Just leaving it as a slow is enough, though you could have other abilities interact with the "soaked" mark.

W - That's actually very mediocre range for an ally-targeted dash. The speedup is potentially useful for certain champions, but not generally for Skipper himself.

E - He hops around! This lets him... do things! Okay, but seriously speaking, this is Kassadin's ult lite, which is already an extreme amount of power, except that the rest of his kit doesn't actually let him do much with that power.

R - Potentially decent in certain comps, such as engage comps, mostly useless in in other situations.

Two major problems, his kit is 3/4 mobility with a random poke ability that has at least decent range thrown into it. Skipper sounds conceptually very similar to Rakan from a gameplay perspective (Not accusing you of stealing the idea, I fully suspect you were already planning and finishing Skipper's kit when Rakan was announced), in that both run around quickly, but Rakan actually does things when he rams into allies and enemies. Skipper just moves around not doing much aside from healing one ally occasionally and throwing around poke.

I can't see much reason to pick him, as his only use is MAYBE helping engage comps, but that's about it. He doesn't poke very well (aside from the Soak debuff being ridiculous), he himself can't engage, he can't disengage, and he has almost non-existent peel. And the big problem now is that Rakan was a huge jerk and basically stole Skipper's gameplay style, so I'm not even sure how you can salvage Skipper anymore. If you tried making him not a support, then there's a good chance he'd be stepping on Fizz's toes instead of Rakan's.

Sorry I couldn't give you a better review :(

Could you please do me a favor and review Leilani sometime?

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/HEjZvV6I-champion-concept-leilani-a-new-wave-in-bilgewater

LeifTheExplorer3/30/2017, 10:42:53 PM1 votes

I like this concept. A very slippery hard to kill champion who is balanced by the fact that he really doesn't do damage. I also love the effect of reducing the effects of mobility spells on enemies. I'd love to see that in-game!

What I'd build on him: item 2301 item 3504 item 3158 item 3070 item 3070 item 3070 It's perfect!

showcase254/26/2017, 3:58:52 PM1 votes

As promised, here is my review:

Appearance & Lore

First off, I think Skipper is hideous and terrifying… and I mean that complimentarily. Just something about those beady eyes and slits for nostrils just creeps me out. And I can’t tell if he’s smiling, or that’s just his neutral face, were either case is disturbing. Also cool note with their skin tone/color changing with their mood. I like his personality about being brazen about capture, using his history to define an aspect of his character… all while keeping him entertained. Now that’s funny. I would lastly think he would fit well in the new Vastaya location, particularly with all these strange creatures running around it.

Stats

I noted that he really has low hp and growth, as well as a higher than normal MP and MP5. Also, he has a growth per level on magic resist, which most ranged characters do not have. They normally keep to a base of 30 +0 per level. Not sure if im just sticking too much to the script, but that’s just how Rito does it, even for hybrid champs. Good base movement speed and decent auto attack range.

Abilities

  • Passive

On spell effect speed buff, now perfect is that to much with his slippery ‘you can’t catch me’ persona, while enforcing he has to do something to activate it. With the secondary mana regain/regen part, a simple Talm Kench like grey bar can be used to visually show how much could be regen upon kill. And to be clear, this is a instant gain of his mana back? If so, I would describe the skill as “Additionally skipper instantly restores 30/40/50% […]” – or replace instantly with the duration of time he gains the percentage back. And lastly, nice take have the passive effect only on recently used mana, as a way to design the player to using mana (and subsequently their spells) to trick and evade the opponent – to their death.

  • Q: Little Spout

Great to have an ability come and have some relation directly to his lore. I see that he is a secondary mage role, and the sky-high scaling with this ability can accommodate that, even with the modest base damage. With the addition of slowing the enemy and reducing dashing distance (which this effect should have its own short name akin to grounding – which i will coin as “Burdened”) really makes him impossible to catch, particularly late game with 70% decaying ms buff. You can somewhat combat this by slightly reducing his attack range to 500 or reducing the cast range a bit from 750 to 600, which is still reasonable and effective. I see that you tried to compensate with a cast time of .4 seconds, but I would need to ensure that during the cast time, Skipper has movement interrupted.

  • W: Rejuvenating Scales

So along with movement speed control and battlefield positing domains, here is a heal to fully round out his support role. It’s a strong heal, which is balanced by his static and high cooldown. It also gives him the speed transfer to allies, which combos well with his passive, making him a great coordinated skirmish partner were he allows easy escape for him and the carry (versus lane bully skirmishers like Leona who will dive at a reasonable fight with little way to get back out).

Also if it follows teleports, is there a range limit such as casting it on a lane partner to dash all the way back to base on a perfectly time recall casting? If not, be prepared for shenanigans. If so, I would dash either a) to the point through and opposite the where the ally is b) follow only dashes and not teleport skills, resorting to point a if they are teleporting or c) follow both but only up to a maximum teleporting radius – which has its own set of issues.

  • E: Stride

For the passive, I say its balanced. But very strong by (at the end game) granting him +90% .movement speed. A concern here would be how jerky the champ might feel with all the constant instant speed ramping combined with a smooth decay. Other than that no complaints on the design or effects for the passive. Just that I am losing confidence that outside of other super mobile champs, he will not be caught on the rift

The active is very unique and has depth, particularly gaining more utility if the passive component is active, which is only hindered by a short activation delay or sharp routing, so it should always be active. I do have a question regarding it springing up again, because it seems like it always pops up at the end spells duration, and not at the time of second cast based on the current wording. This lost of control seems like a possible balancing act for his top tier escape ability.

  • R: Infectious Glee

And just when you thought you had a chance… he ults.

Well, I do like the ult, and I feel like the slightly higher cooldown and very modest radius makes up for its power. I also like the fact that the speed buff refreshes on damage, which turns his ability to focus on escapes to then shift to being inescapable while chasing enemies. I would personally like this to be a ground targeted ability versus following him with an aura to simply make the champion a bit more difficult to play, but that’s from a feeling like he will be annoying to play against, while being fun to play as and with. As for a slight change, I would put the cleanse effect on cast for more balancing if it was to follow him, or keep it a constant immunity buff if its ground targeted.

Summary

He will go great with mobility infused carries (Ez and Lucian, etc) and I can just feel my blood boil already while failing to gank him and his carry as a jungler because his too slick and slippery. He makes for a great support, and can even turn into an opportunity maker by providing speed and minor crowd control and has maybe one of the best 5 man brush gank ults I can consider. All of this, within a days’ time of creation and I feel you did well on both the theme and kit cohesion in regards to concept creation. Outside of his nightmare fuel appearance, great job man.

And Maladect… interesting…