Zale, the Ocean's Vanguard (Champion Concept)
Hello friends, community members, and fellow creators! Welcome to the first of five posts featuring my ideas for a group of five new Champions who I call the Elementalists. As you might infer from their name they each are affiliated with a particular natural element. Hailing from all areas of Runeterra, the Elementalists join forces to battle an ancient evil, making friends and enemies along their path. As you follow the story of the Elementalists you will see familiar faces in unfamiliar lights. I am proud to present my first Elementalist, Zale, the Ocean's Vanguard
As his epithet might suggest, Zale is the tank of the group and is the Water Elementalist. What this doesn't tell you is that he uses a shield as his primary weapon and his Elemental Familiar, Kara, takes the form of a spirit turtle, typically formed from ocean mist and seaweed. I designed him with a toplane role in mind, although he could potentially be played jungle or support. I geared him towards mitigating the damage his team takes directly, and less about crowd control. I apologize for not having numbers at the moment, but keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Please feel free to make any comments you wish, but keep them constructive and courteous.
Passive: Stronger Together: Zale rallies allies to him. Each nearby ally gains a portion of Zale’s Armor and Magic Resistance and Zale gains the same amount that he gives.
Explanation: When Zale is around everyone get’s tankier. Simple as that. No bells or whistles. Does mean that in a teamfight he is going to be around a lot longer than the opponents might think.
Q: Hydro-Ball/Aqua-Spear: Zale channels the water stored in his shield into a compressed ball before sending it towards a target location at a slow speed. If this ball is damaged by Zale it will explode dealing damage and knocking up enemies in the area. AoE is decreased as the ball travels. He can then recast the ability to throw a spear of water in a straight line, dealing damage and passing through all enemies.
Explanation: Zale’s bread and butter ability. While not the core of his kit, it is the most versatile ability he has. The opponents cannot stop either part of this ability without a Yasuo
or Braum
making this is a great zoning tool. If they don’t respect it, Zale can use it for CC and to combo into his E. It’s also his main wave control and farming ability.
W: Reflect: Zale holds his shield in front him, barricading its front with a wall of water. Enemy projectiles that hit it have their damage mitigated, are returned in the direction they came from a set distance, dealing the remaining damage to Zale’s enemies without the effects of the original.
Explanation: Zale’s core ability. Think Braum’s E:Unbreakable covering a smaller area and bouncing Lucian’s
ult back at him. This ability does cover a smaller area, so don’t go saying it’s just a more powerful Braum E. This is the ability that I am working on tweaking because there are ways that I can see this being overpowered regardless.
E: Tidal Rush: Zale targets an ally and dashes to them before pushing them along with him. This ability will push both Zale and the ally over walls, knocking enemies aside along their path. This does not cancel the effects of Reflect. If Zale holds this ability he will instead stop moving and charge a long dash, knocking enemies aside and carrying the first one caught in the middle of his hitbox with him. If this is cast during Reflect, Zale gains Reflect wherever he is facing for the duration of the charge before losing the effect after the dash.
Explanation: I hate watching an ally die from a well-aimed Xerath
ult (or anything similar) and not being able to do anything about it. This ability allows for engage on your own, being essentially invincible, engaging with an ally, or getting an ally out of harms way. I realize that this is an ability that can be used as a troll, but it’s not the only one and I am willing to take that risk.
R: Kara’s Fortitude: Zale calls on his elemental familiar, Kara, to protect his friends. He mitigates a percentage of the damage his allies take before Armor and MR calculations and takes that same damage on himself.
Explanation: More full team damage mitigation. Remember, a tank is not doing his job unless he’s taking damage. This is my solution to balance out the fact that he won’t be taking damage very much through his Passive and W, so now the enemies can actually feel like they’re hurting him, but his carries will live to wipe the map.
Bio: Zale Raide was born into a family of shipguards in Bilgewater. At 14 he was the youngest person to ever join the force and at 17 he was the youngest to gain a nickname. Other shipguards called him The Ocean’s Vanguard. He never lost a ship to pirates and if his ships were blown off course, he could always guide them back to harbor. Most extraordinary was his ability to control the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tides, so that the ships he was traveling with could leave at any time. He was only ever seen wearing a shield on either his right or left arm, as he could fashion any weapon he desired out of the ocean mist, but he normally only used his shield anyway. During a trade stop in Demacia he was informed that they were taking on three passengers – a travelling storyteller, her bodyguard and her bodyguard’s trained wolf – until their next stop in the Freljord. Ordinarily, Zale remained apart from the few passengers that came aboard his ships, however, Briar, the bodyguard convinced Zale to come out of his shell. Zale did find strange both the fact that they were both his age and that Briar was teaching Anelyse how to fight. They did nothing of note besides that and the three soon became fast friends. Five days before they would reach their destination Zale sensed an inordinate amount of ships traveling towards them from behind them. Two days later the ships came into view over the horizon. By noon the three trading ships were surrounded by Noxian warships. The leader of the Noxians introduced himself as General Darius and demanded that the captain surrender Zale to him, or face destruction. The captain looked to Zale. He trusted Zale to make the right call to protect his ships. Zale responded to Darius, insulting his tacticians and refusing to comply. In response Darius ordered his ships to fire on the trading fleet. Zale caused the ocean to erupt around the smaller vessels, catching the Noxian cannonballs and hurling them back at the warships. The Noxians refused to retreat, so Zale sent them on their way by releasing his wall and using the resulting force to push their ships quickly out of sight. However, a stray volley from the lead ship caught the ships in several key areas, namely on the main masts and below water level. Suddenly pressed for time Zale used his abilities to propel the ships towards harbor, but lost control and ran the ships violently on the rocky shore, hurling several people from the ship, including Zale, knocking him out. When he woke up, he was in an unfamiliar area, with one goal in mind. Find Anelyse and Briar and get answers for their odd behavior on the ship and why the Noxians wanted him so badly the would come after him in his own territory.
Q and A
Q: Who are you? A: I am JamesDrake9. I am a toplane main who plays Kled and Urgot regularly. I am 15 years old and in 10th grade.
Q: Why did you decide to make these Champions? A: I love to write, and my favorite part of writing has been making the characters and their backstories. When I discovered League of Legends, I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to put my limited abilities to the test.
Q: I see unfamiliar names in Zale's Bio. Who are Anelyse and Briar, and why are they important? A: They are two other Elementalists that I haven't put on the Boards yet. Anelyse should be out by tomorrow or the end of this week at the latest, so be sure to be on the lookout!
Q: What are the Elemental Familiars? A: They are the embodiments of the Elements. They take different forms for each Elements, some spirtual, some physical, and some are even objects.
Q: Have I seen this concept on the boards before? A: Probably. This is my second attempt at this and I hope it goes better that before.
Track the Elementalists: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/xHjpd0zQ-elementalists-tracker-page-champion-concept-links
Anelyse, the Shadowsinger: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/b03ffmJw-anelyse-the-shadowsinger My second Elemental. Basics: Darkness, Assassin, Claws, Panther
Edit Boards:
5/13/2019 - Anelyse has been revealed! Added link to her post.
5/14/2019 - Added link to Tracker page.
