Skin Idea
So today while at work (as I often am) I tend to daydream and spitball random idea's (I read water meters, so I pretty much go into autopilot and have no one to talk to all day every day), On this particular day I figured I'd have a go and mentally try and create a skin!
With that out of the way, I set out to come up with something that:
- continues a particular skin line and therefore fits within the world of LoL
- would be something cool and appeal to a large number of people
- is visually clear in appearance and spell effects for gameplay clarity!
- is a champion that doesnt have too many skins (between 1-4)
So without any further delay, this is what i came up with today!
Champion: Rumble Skin line: Dragon Trainer likely skin tier: legendary (as new animations and SFX would likely be required)
Simplified concept: Rumble would ride a two-headed dragon! (1 head is Fire based, 1 head is Ice based)
As to how I came to this conclusion:
Gameplay wise rumble does 2 things, applies consistent damage in short windows, and also applies slows, I shall go through each ability and give my brief thoughts while trying to recreate the mental image i had of each ability and overall theme!
Breakdown: By making it a 2 headed dragon of fire and ice, I wanted each head to be responsible for the same amount of things across the board, I ended up breaking it down into 3 shared parts and 2 separate (Passive, W and ult shared, Q and E separate).
So lets start with the passive, gameplay wise, as rumble uses spells, he builds up heat, over 50% but less than 100% his abilities are empowered, at 100% he is silenced but has enhanced Auto Attacks, to translate this to the appropriate theme I looked at it more like a "rage" bar, over 50% and the dragons would be getting cranky (from the constant demands of their trainer!) signified by wispy flames/frost and glowing eyes! this would be representative that rumble is dangerous from a gameplay perspective, at 100% the dragons lose it and fly into a rage and are deaf to rumbles commands! (silence effect) billowing smoke/mist from their mouths and claws could glow molten/frozen to signify enhanced damage on auto attacks (until the bar empties and they "calm" down)
Moving onto Q, this is a no brainer, the fire head breathes fire! you take damage while in the fire, this is as straight forward as fire is ever going to get and is therefore clear from an opponents perspective!
Next is W, rumble gains a shield and moves faster, translated to the skin, the dragons scales could harden a molten rock/ ice armor while the shield persists (its body could also darken for gameplay clarity), movement animation for being sped up/homeguard etc, would be the dragon hovering/gliding just above the ground! the little floating shields could be frozen shields that are on fire!
after that is E, a projectile that slows, this is the ice heads responsibility, it shoots a chunk of ice from its mouth! fairly straight forward, an opponent can expect to be slowed when hit with an ice themed ability, this is also as straight forward as ice is going to get, therefore clear from an opponents perspective!
Finally the ult, rumble fires off projectiles that blanket an area, slowing and damaging enemies inside, translated to the skin thematic, both dragons would shoot fire and ice projectiles into the sky (merging offscreen) blanketing an area in frostfire! the fire (damage element of the ability) and ice (slowing element of the ability) would be clear gameplay wise and would use both heads combined abilities so thematically it IS their ultimate ability! visually you could have frost as an underlay part with flames emanating from it!
with the abilities out of the way, what would the skin actually look like? I shall endeavor to portray to you what was in my head as best I can!
Firstly the dragon cant take up too much room onscreen, it would need to be the size of rumbles junkyard titan, since its a baby (and being trained) you could make it pudgy and cute (rounded features), almost whimsical as yordles are wont to be! each head would be distinguished by the colours red (for fire) and blue (for ice), they would have SLIGHTLY elongated necks, with white underscales down the front (think modern day lizards that are lighter on the underside) with the main body being purple (red and blue combined),(blending at the base of their necks), the fire head would have curved horns (flames are wavey) the ice head would have straight almost spike like horns (ice is rigid). It would also be quadrupedal, probably have small wings to fit with it being a baby (and adding to its whimsy).
as for rumble, he would be sitting on a saddle with its own attached handles (reigns would be a difficult matter when used on a creature with 2 heads!), as for his clothes, fur accents with tattered leather and cloth sections, leather bracers, and a pair of goggles (which would come down over his eyes during the "flight/sped up" animations the colour of his fur should be a colour distinct from the dragon so as to not blend together, the badlands baron rumble has white fur which is quite striking and would fit well with this particular theme as well!
Last few points, I know that the "dragon trainer" line is specifically for yordles and therefore my idea is in line with that "rule", it's thematics fit well with rumbles abilities from a mechanics perspective but also fit well with gameplay clarity!
As someone who seldom plays rumble or even plays against rumble, I thought that if i faced a rumble with said skin, even for the first time, I'd know what effects its abilities would have AT A GLANCE, again gameplay clarity is very important, also it leaves me unbiased as i do not like/hate rumble all that much.
as to why I think rumble should get this skin? he has very few skins and even less good ones (not a fan of super galaxy rumble, badlands is ok, bilgewater and rumble in the jungle are VERY dated, this ofcourse is subjective and my opinion only).
Thoughts?
Also if peeps like this, could I ask that you @ some of the rioters so this gets seen? I'd love to bounce this concept off them, combat any concerns/technical difficulties, or even give more context, these are, ofcourse just my musings while I trudge along my meager work life lol!
Thanks for taking the time to read/share thoughts/comment etc!
[galio-happy]