Beakin: The Bombardier [V3.0]

Elite4Runner··2 votes·393 views

I made sure to give the abilities up front in case you don't feel like reading my notes at the end.

TLDR For once I can't blame anyone for not wanting to read this wall of text. Complex champion is complex

Passive: Mediocre damage to champions within vision. Massive damage to champions not within vision. Q: Main ability. Large range. Ground targeted ability with low cooldown, intended to mimic auto attacks.
W: Mandrake wards that allow for local attack range. E: Reduces his own vision, tracks enemies, empowers Q. R: Detonates triggered traps for large AOE damage.


General Champion Description Beakin loves the hunt. Finding his prey is half the fun, and making it even more of a challenge is the other half. He has low to medium durability Low to medium mana pool Medium base AD at level 1 through 18 Medium attack range for a marksman


Passive: Double Blind - Ability damage, with exception to Last Resort, is doubled when applied to a target Beakin does not have vision of upon attack. (on-hit and spell effect damage from items, masteries, and buffs are not doubled)


Q: Long Gun Active Cooldown - Scales with attack speed. Not effected by CDR Cost - 10/12/14/16/18 mana Range - 2100 radius (Reference; same range as Quinn's Heightened Senses vision)

Beakin launches a mortar into the sky. After a static delay, the mortar falls to the target location, dealing damage to a 100 unit radius area (Reference; same AOE size as Karthus's Q)

Damage - No base damage + (55% / 60% / 65% / 70% / 75% Total AD)

  • When targeting an area which Beakin currently has vision of, a visual indicator will show all players the area in which damage will be dealt.

  • When targeting an area in which Beakin does not currently have vision, no indicator will be displayed for the enemy. An additional 1% per 16 BONUS AD physical damage is dealt to the target, for a maximum of 25% of his TOTAL AD.

Applies on-hit effects Can not critical strike Will not damage structures

Long Gun - Particle Effects

A visual indicator will show the maximum range surrounding Beakin and the respective ranges surrounding his Motion Sensors.

An audio indicator (mortar or rocket sound) can be heard each time Beakin fires a shot with Long Gun, heard by all enemies who are within his available range. This includes enemies who are within range of an active motion sensor.

With significant enough attack speed, Beakin will be able to cue attacks at a new location before previous attacks have landed at their target location. Particle effects will animate in a way that indicates where and when the mortar will make impact in it's respective location.

My intention here is for the ability to expect a player to bombard an area, searching for a target. The delay will prevent them from identifying the location of a target and immediately canceling subsequent attacks in order to redirect them to the new location. The delay between attacks will give the target opportunity to change course and avoid further attacks.

Upon impact, particle effects will change in color based on what is hit and will take priority in the following order.

  • Enemy champion = Red
  • Enemy non-champion = Orange
  • Neutral monster = Yellow
  • Miss = Grey

Keep in mind, the passive will double the damage dealt to an unseen enemy, causing Beakin's attacks to deal 110% / 120% / 130% / 140% / 150% AD and an added 2% per 16 BONUS AD to a maximum of 200% AD.


W: Motion Sensor Cost: 1 charge Cooldown: Placement - 1 second / Generates charge - 15 seconds / Max - 3 charges Range: Placement - 700 units from Beakin / Area - 400 units from sensor (Reference; Same placement and area ranges as Akali's Twilight Shroud)

Beakin places a sensor on the map that is similar to a ward but does not grant vision. Instead it will ping his teams mini map when an enemy champion has moved into the active range of the sensor. There is no visual indication to an enemy that they have triggered the sensor or where the sensor is, unless using a sweeper or true vision. The sensor can be destroyed like a ward with 3 hit points. While an enemy is within this active range, Beakin is able to target the local 400 units surrounding the sensor with Long Gun toggled on. A maximum of 3 sensors can be active on the map. If a 4th sensor is placed on the map the most previous sensor to have been placed will instantly be destroyed.


E: Blindfold Passive - When Beakin deals damage to a unit from any source he applies a mark of Track on them for 5 seconds. Additional damage will reset the mark.

Toggled off Cooldown - 20s / 18s / 16s / 14s / 12s Beakin has normal vision.

Toggled on Cooldown - .5 second Beakin blindfolds himself applying the nearsight status effect to himself. Beakin also loses all bonus movement speed while Blindfold is toggled on. All Track marked units leave a visible trail (Reference; similar to Rek'Sai's Tremor Sense). While Blindfold is toggled on.

Damaging to a marked unit with Long Gun while Blindfold is active will deal bonus 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 + (25% / 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% AP) magic damage. Blindfold will remain active until toggled off or silenced, then the long cooldown timer will begin.

Applies spell effects

A tracked enemy is not considered to be within vision, and since nearsight will essentially place all enemies outside of vision, all enemies damaged by Long Gun will receive doubled damage from this ability. Resulting bonus magic damage will equal 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 + (50% / 60% / 70% / 80% / 90% AP).


R: Last Resort Cost: 50 / 75 / 100 mana Cooldown: 180s / 140s / 100s

Beakin detonates all triggered motion sensors, destroying them, and dealing 200 / 300 / 400 + ( 50 AP) magic damage to all units within range.

Overlapping damage will stack.

Keep in mind, the damage from this ability is not effected by vision.


So, that's my idea, now for some notes.

Passive comments Everything really started with the passive. I always get a little rewarded when I blindly check a bush or into the fog of war with a skill shot and manage to peg an enemy. So I wanted to try and come up with a champion who tries to do just that. The problem really came down to how to make it fair and viable, which is where the other abilities come into play.

Q comments My initial plan for Beakin was to have everything revolve around his auto attacks, even so much as to consider his Q to be an augmented auto attack, which it still pretty much is. I figured it really HAD to become an ability because there was no other way to have him target an area with the standard auto attack without having a target to select directly. Thus, it became a ground target ability on a very low cooldown. Having the cooldown scale with attack speed instead of CDR helps it keep pace with his auto attacks, further cementing the comparison. The problem I found beyond this was that it would become too easy for him to hang way back and harass his enemies using his extreme range. The idea was to significantly decrease the effectiveness of doing this by decreasing the subsequent damage dealt, a mana cost, a subsequent delay, and a visual indicator intended to give the enemy an easier time of dodging the damage. I also wanted to address the intention for having the mortar fly skyward, off the 'screen', then dropping down on top of the target location after a delay. In theory, this will eliminate any need to illustrate travel distance for his mortars.

W comments His motion sensors are used as a pseudo-ward, similar to an item that was tested on the PBE at some point, called a mandrake ward. It can be used to simply identify when enemies are passing through a specific space without providing vision. Beyond this I wanted to be sure that it could actually give the champion something to do as a result, so I wanted to allow it to extend the range of his Long Gun. These motion sensors can also be used in coordination with vision wards in order to more accurately identify where an enemy is within the targetable space so you can be sure to land a hit when they are within vision, or wait until they are just out of vision to get the full effect. The track mark will then give you a short glimpse as to where they are headed just after being pegged out of nowhere. Without the use of a vision ward, I feel the size of the motion sensor area is large enough to make it difficult to know where the enemy is, but small enough to make a reasonable guess. With that said, I also want to be sure to state that I am fully aware that any numbers I have provided are entirely theorized as a complete guess at creating a balanced champion. I do believe that with some adjustments, this could be a fully functioning champion.

E comments During earlier iterations of this champion, this ability did not exist. Instead it was a linear skill shot intended as an alternative damage source. At that point, it was pointed out to me that this champion would actually be hurt by team fights in which his allies had vision of the enemy. After some time at the drawing board, the idea came up to simply have him hinder his own vision, but retaining some sense of where his enemies were. There is also a part of this ability that is really just for my own preference. I really like champions who can be built AD or AP, and still be strong in their own respective ways. The AP scaling here is intended to accomplish this. Having lower damage from his standard auto attacks and his Q, this ability will give him the ability to harass enemies who are within his and/or his allies range of vision. This is also a much more risky play-style. Not being able to see around you makes it much easier for an enemy who he has not damaged to walk up and punish him for it. To further increase the risk of this, I wanted to remove all bonus movement speed available to him while blindfolded. .. Wouldn't want him to stub his toe ;)

R comments To tell you the truth, I feel like this ultimate is pretty underwhelming when compared to the rest of his kit. However, there is a definite benefit that can come from its simplicity. You KNOW that there is an enemy in that area, and you want to kill them, or hurt them really bad. Instead of rolling the dice and lobbing a few mortars in that general direction, why not just push that handy-dandy self destruct button? This can be used to finish off fleeing enemies who don't know they are walking into a trap. Or, if you're creative and sneaky enough, you could possibly even use this to steal a jungle camp or objective.

Itemization comments I wanted this champion to feel a lot like a marksman in the sense that you can decide to aim for DPS with an attack speed build, or be rewarded for a raw damage build. I had to be sure that Long Gun ability could not critically strike because the passive would further double this damage, which would be way too strong. Instead I decided that the 'full AD' builds would feel more like they are critically striking by approaching 200% AD. I also wanted mana to be a bit of a concern for this champion as well. To do this, I made the mana cost per use of Long Gun, fairly high. Without addressing this, a full attack speed champion will burn through his mana pool fairly quickly.

I'm sure I have more notes, but it's probably time for me to stop. I don't even know if anyone will actually read this far. If you do, tell me your favorite color in the comments, just for fun. And please, give me some feedback on this concept.

4 Comments

FloRaider421 votes

Passive: I really dislike this passive, as it discourages vision control and gives a very high bonus for something you can’t directly control (allies giving vision etc.). The fact that you have to dedicate an entire ability (E) to work around the downside of this ability is already tribute to how hard to balance it is. Q-Ability: Not giving the enemy counterplay, because you don’t have vision, is just unfair to them. It should always display the targeted area and having an additional bonus, when you already deal double damage, seems a tad tagged on. W-Ability: I still don’t understand why this gives Q a semi-global range (give a max range or something) E-Ability: Having to blind yourself to benefit from your kit makes no sense to me (designwise and storywise). And the mark gives another buff to Q damage. Ultimate: Considering enemies have no idea they are near a sensor unless sweeping, the damage stacks and it also only destroys activated sensors, this is even more annoying than Teemo’s shrooms.

Overall: It is well crafted kit that synergizes with itself (R being a odd one out), but it is annoying for the enemy, since they are getting hit without any warning and counterplay (apart from permasweeping).

My main beef with this concept is that it lacks thematic sense: Why would your attacks be stronger when you don't have vision? Why is there a bombadeer who blindfolds himself in combat? Talking logic in a fantasy game may sound weird, but my willing suspension of disbelief stops when not even magic can explain why this works as is

FloRaider out summoner 31

Elite4Runner1 votes

{quoted}

Passive: I really dislike this passive, as it discourages vision control and gives a very high bonus for something you can’t directly control (allies giving vision etc.). The fact that you have to dedicate an entire ability (E) to work around the downside of this ability is already tribute to how hard to balance it is.

The way I look at it, I think it actually encourages vision control, just in a different way. Knowing where the enemy is when they are just out of vision will actually become more important. It is actually pretty similar to knowing when and where to send a Nidalee spear to hit a target at max range, when that would be outside of your own vision.

Q-Ability: Not giving the enemy counterplay, because you don’t have vision, is just unfair to them. It should always display the targeted area and having an additional bonus, when you already deal double damage, seems a tad tagged on.

Your lack of vision actually becomes their counter play. While, as I mentioned in the last response, it is to your benefit to 'know' where the enemy is going to be when they are just out of vision, it is to the enemies benefit that you can not know where they are for sure. Along the same lines, there is still a built in delay between the time your launch a mortar and when it lands. To compromise, there could still be a visual indicator, but significantly shorter, intended to make dodging possible, but more difficult.

W-Ability: I still don’t understand why this gives Q a semi-global range (give a max range or something)

You don't understand why, or how? I think the how is fairly easy to explain. While an enemy is within the radius, the player can target that space. Lack of vision still makes it difficult for them to know for sure where the enemy is, but coordination with available vision and an educated guess can lead to some interesting plays. Or, it can lead to some wasted plays. Again, to compromise, there could be some sort of visual indicator as to where the sensor is, but I feel this actually gives more advantage to the enemy than the sensor gives to the player. In the time that the player reacts to the ping, moves their camera and starts mashing their Q button, the enemy will most likely have located and destroyed the sensor, or simply moved out of range before even the first mortar lands. I guess if you are more suggesting that these sensors simply notify you and your teammates that an enemy is in the area, ... it really isn't much more useful than a ward. Which is useful, yes, but then it actually provides less utility for your team than an actual ward would. I don't know, still might be worth it.

E-Ability: Having to blind yourself to benefit from your kit makes no sense to me (designwise and storywise). And the mark gives another buff to Q damage. Ultimate: Considering enemies have no idea they are near a sensor unless sweeping, the damage stacks and it also only destroys activated sensors, this is even more annoying than Teemo’s shrooms.

Again, comes down to offering some form of visual indicator. This I am much more willing to compromise on however. Activating the ultimate could give a great big flashing ring around the target area for a whole second before the detonation. I also feel like this, being an ultimate, having a long cooldown, and also taking a simi-global utility away from the player, will become a question of if it is better to use the explosion, or save the sensor for the range.


Overall: It is well crafted kit that synergizes with itself (R being a odd one out), but it is annoying for the enemy, since they are getting hit without any warning and counterplay (apart from permasweeping).

Some people might take your comments and be upset by them. I hope you don't take my response as if that is how I feel, because honestly I do appreciate you for it. I am actually taking this part as a compliment because I have truly thought a lot about this kit. I agree that the R feels odd, as I said in the original post. As for the annoying part, sure, I can admit to that. As I have offered a few compromises so far, I do believe that some of those, and still other options could be tweaked to make it feel less annoying.

My main beef with this concept is that it lacks thematic sense: Why would your attacks be stronger when you don't have vision? Why is there a bombadeer who blindfolds himself in combat? Talking logic in a fantasy game may sound weird, but my willing suspension of disbelief stops when not even magic can explain why this works as is

As to the theme, I will completely agree that the theme is, ... well, it's bad. lol. I couldn't really think of any sort of way to justify it myself. To be completely honest, i was hoping that someone else might have some ideas in that department. To the same point, I actually HATE the name. I really felt that the kit was the more important part to nail down first, and I honestly think that just about any sort of well thought out kit can be made to make sense one way or another. ... I mean, why does Jhin have a bouncing grenade? I'm sure it makes sense to someone lol.

FloRaider out summoner 31

Thank you again for your input. I will probably keep working with this one, and I have a few others both on the board, and in my head, so keep a look out and feel free to offer any feedback.

FloRaider421 votes

That depends on the situation, but with E you already removed most of the drawbacks of this passive. Without it though you would need to have a team that keeps your passive in mind as the usual ward spots cover a lot of ground and are at places where the enemy will most likely be.

OK shorter indicator seems fine as it gives them a chance to dodge and you a chance to hit them, whereas before they had nothing to do apart from hoping you miss.

I still don’t understand why You don't understand why, or how?

Might have misread my comment there… I don’t like that you could fire from one side of the map to the other without much drawbacks and suggested a max range you can operate in (which would increase with rank) so you can’t suddenly snipe top lane from bot to get an assist, in laning phase. Visual indicator are unnecessary as the Q indicator and sweepers should help you locate the sensor when checking vision/being fired on.

That’s the problem with balancing on your ult: it needs to be strong enough to warrant the removal of some very good utility, but weak enough to not be able to one shot the enemy jungler as soon as he steps into your sensor with somewhat low health. Sounds definitely tricky and might even warrant some changes.

You are right that a lot of those changes you suggest would make it fairer to play against him, by giving counterplay and that the kit gameplaywise has merely minor flaws, but I sadly have no idea as how to fix the theme, which does hold back your concept somewhat.

Some people might take your comments and be upset by them.

Don’t remind me of them… Being able to take critic should be something every concept designer should be able to do. If you have a suggestion on how to improve my feedback I am all ears as I am still working on my style.

Edit:

Actually, if you could take a look at my newer pet I'd love to see what you think of it

Definetly will check up on it soon, but not now

FloRaider out summoner 31

Elite4Runner1 votes

FloRaider out summoner 31

Actually, if you could take a look at my newer pet I'd love to see what you think of it

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/gjEuM6Tf-the-hive-queen-champion-concept-v10

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