[Malzahar - Rework Concept] Minion focused with mid lane and jungle capabilities

A Foreword:

I used to be a Malzahar main long back before he was reworked and while he was one dimensional, I feel as though he was enjoyable, and after the reasonable nerfs to his W Null Zone, he was balanced. The rework changed his identity to be based around voidlings, these tiny things in the skin art and what used to be his passive. I was not happy because to me, Voidlings are a footnote in his design, what really was his thing was imparting visions of impending doom (E Malefic Visions) before finally melting his enemies' mind (R Nether Grasp). Instead, it was Voidling do all your serious damage and you get this seemingly OP passive that makes you take 90% reduced damage for awhile ( spoilers, its not OP).

When the nerfs finally hit reworked Malzahar his voidlings (his main source of damage) became so useless that it ruined any chance of him being viable as a mage, nevermind no longer fun. These days ironically he is played as support whereas pre-rework he was what was known as a AP hyper carry; a AP champion that did not fall at late game but just kept getting stronger and was a monster late game. I aim to change Malzahar back to a hardline AP carry with some flexibility as a Jungler if the situation merits it.

---

And now the meat of the post:

In the spirit of Malzahar's design I want to remake him into a champion that is like a true prophet. A prophet is nothing without his followers, and if we look back at some of the old Journal of Justice documents, its clear that Malzahar does have a cult of sorts that worships him, so where are they on the Rift? I'd think they would want to rally around Malzahar in game not just in their hidey holes waiting for the end. Malzahar's cult is not one about good feelings and holding hands, its a fanatical worship of Cthulhu-esque horrors from the beyond, with promises of power, fortune, and maybe eternal life. Malzahar's cult is filled with zealots and nutjobs.

In Malzahar's design, his cult will serve as his own private army of sorts, charging blindy into battle in worship of their "prophet" and reap bloody carnage in his name. While Malzahar can sustain his cultists in battle, it will always come at the cost of another's health. I see the main mechanic in this design is slain minions, monsters, and champions are not killed, but instead converted to join Malzahar's cult of the void.

---

#Malzahar's new kit:

**Passive: Cult of the Void - **

Slain minions, siege minions or super minions or monsters, epic monster or champions are instead converted to join Malzahar's cult of the void with their health equal to 50% of their health before being slain. If Malzahar converts a target while already at max cultist, replace the weakest cultist that he has. What the converted enemy will turn into is as follows:

_Minion: Lesser Cultist - melee cultist with charge ability activated against distant targets damaged by Malzahar (max 4). Seige minion or super minion or monster: Greater Cultist - Ranged cultist that fires bolt of void damage, becomes hasted if Malzahar damages a target below 30% hp (max 3). Epic monster or Champion: Shadow Cultist - Powerful ranged cultist, has a close range AoE sweeping attack that damages and fears nearby targets for 1 second if Malzahar is damaged by an enemy champion (max 2). _

Lesser cultists deal 20/25/30 (based on level) (+10% of AP) magic damage with basic attacks. Greater cultists deal 25/30/35 (based on level) (+15% of AP) magic damage with basic attacks. Shadow cultists deal 40/60/80 (based on level) (25% of AP) magic damage with basic attacks.

Q: Call of The Void -

After 0.25 seconds open 2 portals to the void, after 0.4 seconds void energy erupts from these rifts dealing 60/100/140/180/220 (+80% of AP) as magic damage and silencing anyone hit for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds.

If Call of the Void damages an enemy champion or monster, restore health to your cultists equal to 40% of the damage dealt.

**W: Void Shift - **

Malzahar shifts into the void becoming untargetable for 2/2.5/3/3.5/4 seconds. Shifting into the void releases a burst of negative energy which deals 40/80/120/160/200 (+40% of AP) magic damage to all enemies within 150 units of Malzahar (30/28/26/24/22 second cooldown).

While untargetable, Malzahar cannot be hit by basic attacks but can still be damaged or stopped by indirect attacks or abilities.

**E: Malefic Visions - **

Malzahar releases a noxious cloud of dark visions in a 325 radius circle dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+85% AP) magic damage over 4 seconds. If the initial cast of this ability strikes a Monster or Champion, summon two voidlings to deal an (+10% of AP) additional magic over the duration.

Malzahar's cultist will prioritize targets damaged by Malefic Visions in the last 5 seconds

R: The Great Truth -

Malzahar Suppresses his target over 2.5 seconds and reveals the great secrets of the void, dealing 100/200/300 (20/40/60 damage per tick) magic damage over the duration.

The Great Truth's power is enhanced based on what cultists Malzahar has under his command:

-Each Lesser Cultists increase The Great Truth's damage per tick by +5% of your AP (+20% AP per tick). -Each Greater Cultist extends the suppression and duration by 0.5 seconds (max +1.5 seconds). -Each Shadow Cultist increases the base damage of The Great Truth by 50% (max 100%).

---

The goal of these changes was to once again make him dangerous as an AP carry but also have options for jungle play. He is more minion focused, but each of minions can be pretty dangerous in there own right. I felt that aside from Q and E, Malzahar needed a facelift on his skills; his W is now a strong defensive that when paired with flash or ghost can allow him to escape imminent death. His ultimate is meant to be a grotesque parody of the idea of some anointed truth but instead with a darker more terrifying reality. Visually I envision Malzahar's Nether grasp animation with his minions also contributing to the primary "beam animation" with their own lesser "beams". **His ultimate is now an ultimate death beam meant to utterly annihilate a single target if Malzahar manages his cult well enough: **

A dummy test with 400 AP and full cultists at max rank looks like 600 base damage (2x shadow cultist) + those extra 1.5 seconds (3x greater cultists) so 600 +360 (120x3) + 20% of your AP each tick (4x lesser cultists) with 8 ticks total equals 640 + 600 + 360 = you might be dead OR 1600 magic damage over 4 seconds; So yeah there might need to be some numbers tuning! To be fair that ultimate damage can be stopped by an interrupt on Malzahar from an ally or else sabotaging Malzahar's cult by killing of its members to weaken his ultimate.

Let me know what you guys think!