[Champion Concept] Raptor, the Mechanized Mercenary

Raptor, the Mechanized Mercenary

Primary Role: Assassin Secondary Role: Fighter

Champion Overview

Raptor is an assassin with extremely high burst potential and medium sustained damage. He lacks innate sustain but excels at both punishing the enemy for their mistakes and rewarding the player for skilled, calculated plays. Raptor’s concept was a mobile assassin who can either use weaker abilities to charge his resource bar or use enhanced abilities at the cost of some charges.

Appearance

I am not an artist, so if anyone with artistic talent is nice enough to draw a concept art for this champion, I would be extremely grateful. The way I picture Raptor is a humanoid shape with a half machine and half human head. The human eye has a scar over it. His body is human shaped in a dark robe like a stereotypical assassin. His arms are metal and his hands can grip knives well. On his back is a cape which, when fully extended, resembles wings. His legs and feet are both human.

Statistics

Health: 553 - 2046 Health Regen: 8.2 - 20.6 Range: 425/125 Attack Damage: 46 - 119 Attack Speed: 0.67 - 1.04 Armor: 25.3 - 83.1 Magic Resist: 32.1 - 53.4 Movement Speed: 345

Abilities

Passive - Cyberoptic Fusion

Raptor's abilities have no cost and will generate upgrade charges in the resource bar (max 7). Raptor also gains extra AD based on his level and how full his resource bar is (AD=3*level+4 AD at 7 charges). If Raptor battles with a monster or has battled with a monster in the last 10 seconds, his upgrade charges are reduced to zero.

Q - Blade Dash No cost Range: 500 AoE Range: 250 Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5/4 seconds

Raptor dashes to a target location (deals no damage). His next auto attack will deal 15/20/25/30/35/40% of bonus AD bonus physical damage. This damage can critically strike. Raptor gains 1 upgrade charge for the dash, and gains 1 additional charge if Raptor's enhanced auto attack hits a target. In upgraded form, this dash costs 1 charge per dash, and it can be cast up to 3 times with a 0.5 second cooldown between each. After using an upgraded dash, Raptor's next auto attack will be enhanced and deal 15/20/25/30/35/40% of bonus AD additional AoE physical damage around the target. This damage can critically strike.

W - Merciless Blade No cost Range: 900 Cooldown: 11/10/9/8/7/6 seconds

Raptor throws a knife dealing 70/100/130/160/190/220 (+60% AD) physical damage to the first enemy hit and gaining 1 upgrade charge. This applies on hit effects. In upgraded form, this ability uses all upgrade charges to throw a knife dealing the same damage knocking the target back from where the knife hits them. If the target collides with terrain, the target is stunned for (.4 x number of charges consumed seconds). The upgraded form of this ability has double the cooldown at all ranks. This also applies on hit effects.

E - Fury of the Mercenary No cost Range: 800 AoE range: 350 Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16/15

Raptor throws a flurry of daggers at the target area dealing 80/110/140/170/200/230 (+70% AD) physical damage to all enemies hit and slowing them by 40% for 1 second. This also gives Raptor 1 upgrade charge. Using this ability in upgraded from consumes 2 upgrade charges. Raptor throws a flurry of explosive daggers at an area dealing 40/55/70/85/100/115 (+40% AD) physical damage and slowing by 70% for 1 second. After 1 second, the daggers explode dealing 50/65/80/95/110/125 (+60% AD) physical damage and stunning for 1 second.

R - Blade Swap No cost Cooldown: No Cooldown

Raptor changes between forms changing the effects of his abilities. When in upgraded from, Raptor's auto attack range is reduced to 125. This ability automatically has 1 point in it at level 1, but cannot be leveled up after that. Raptor's other abilities can be upgraded to rank 6 instead of 5.

How They Work

Passive: Cyberoptic Fusion Charges are Raptor’s bread and butter. They let him be an extremely flexible champion and require the player to think carefully about when they use what upgraded abilities. How a player uses Raptor’s charges will separate an okay Raptor player from a great one. Raptor’s passive also discourages spamming upgraded abilities through bonus AD, which should make his optimal strategy using his upgraded abilities only when going in for heavy harass or a kill. The last part of his passive stops him from jungling because he would be extremely unbalanced. He could have amazing clear speed, ganks, counter jungling, and dueling at the same time.

Q: Blade Dash Raptor’s dash was meant to be like a more flexible version of Vayne’s tumble on a higher cooldown. While it still allows him to reposition himself, he can also use it to escape from enemies by dashing over walls. If you can use this ability to position yourself effectively, your other abilities (Merciless Blade) will be greatly benefited.

W: Merciless Blade The non-upgraded version of this ability will provide you with your main harass. Using your dash to position yourself effectively is key to landing this skill shot, but you must maintain a safe range. The upgraded form of this ability will put your positioning to the test. Using your dash incorrectly could result in taking too much harass from an opponent and potentially dying because of it.

E: Fury of the Mercenary Raptor’s Fury of the Mercenary will provide the most burst. It should be used to either trade, follow up on a Merciless Blade into a wall, or to set up so that you can push the enemy into a wall. The stun from the upgraded form will allow you to get your upgraded auto attack from your Blade Dash off without taking damage, and the non-upgraded form allows you to poke from a medium range if your Merciless Blade is down.

R: Blade Swap This ability makes Raptor’s non-upgraded form more appealing by making his auto attacks ranged, so his upgraded form is not always the best option. By making the max rank for his abilities 6 instead of 5, his power is more spread out and he doesn’t get huge power spikes at single levels.

Combo

As of right now, I see Raptor’s best combo starting in non-upgraded form as being: Q > W > E > Auto > R (switch forms) > E > W

This combo gives Raptor 4 upgrade charges at the beginning which allows him to use his upgraded E and W and still get good effects out of them. The placement of the auto attack gives him the maximum bonus from his passive and still get the range from his non-upgraded form.

*Raptor's combo will always change based on the situation.

Builds

Starting Items: Core Items: , , , Late Game Offense (choose 1): , , , Late Game Defense (choose 1): , ,

In intended for Raptor to be played in the middle lane, but he is also viable top lane. He might be able to ADC, but his range is extremely short and he would likely be zoned out of farm.

Lore

Viktor was so close. He almost had the perfect model, the ideal cyborg. Everything went according to plan, but that pesky Talon always found his way out. It wasn’t over, and Viktor would not forget. Revenge was coming soon, and it would be perfect.

Ace was still undefeated. It wasn’t even a challenge. Darts was too easy for him, and everyone on the streets knew it. He collected the bets bullseye after bullseye, and even if he didn't make that much, it was still something. It kept him alive, and that’s what mattered.

The next best was always Viktor. His mechanical improvements let him keep up with Ace’s aim through calculations, and his lasers let him aim before taking a shot. In an effort to prove that he was an improvement on the natural human, he challenged Ace to a game. Despite Viktor’s numerous attempts to cheat for the victory, Ace always managed to predict and counter every move. Ace didn’t just win, he destroyed his opponent. That was exactly what Viktor needed.

Viktor made the call. The mad chemist was on the way, and the concoction was in his possession.

As he arrived, he approached Ace at the bar with a casual, “How about a drink?” Ace shrugged and accepted. He didn't have much money, so he took anything he could get. Singed slipped in the substance and left the bar. The plan was working exactly how Viktor planned.

Ace woke up, and he wanted to scream. He didn’t know what was happening, and he didn’t like it. The excruciating pain was too much for him to bear, and he could feel the flesh being peeled from his skin. His hands were gone, and from that moment, he knew he would never be the same. That’s when everything went black.

After awakening from his slumber, Ace sat up and examined his body. His arms were replaced and his face was half machine. He did not see Ace. He saw a genius mixture of human and machine, and it was perfect. His power was higher than ever before, and his senses were sharpened like the tips of his darts.

Viktor knew what he wanted. He needed a killing machine, and he had just made one. Darts were okay, but they were too simple. He needed deadlier weapons with a similar feel, so he created specialized throwing knives. They weren’t perfect, but the experiment was. He would know how to use the knives, and he would become unstoppable.

After months of training, the cyborg was assigned his first mission: destroy Noxus. He knew it had something to do with Talon, but he hadn’t figured it out quite yet. Each night for 7 months he attacked, and he was merciless. He hadn’t killed anyone from the League, but they were next.

Noxus was terrified. The mercenary had struck every night for the past nine months, and he was merciless. He attacked like a Raptor, swiftly, silently, and mercilessly. His knives were their beaks, and his senses as keen as theirs. That was how he was known; his infamy had spread throughout Runeterra, and his name was feared. The Raptor was ready, and he knew exactly what he had to do.

Quotes

Upon Selection: "Bullseye!"

Movement: “Strike quickly!” “Mobility is key!”

Taunt: “How will you cheat me?” “Who will be my next target?”

Joke: “We cyborgs like to be on the cutting edge!” “Failed the IQ test!? But i thought my knives were sharp…”

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed my idea, please leave a comment letting me know what I could do better next time.