Creating Illaoi's Arch-Nemesis

SaltyToplaneGoat··4 votes·708 views

So, there is one special thing about Illaoi: she does not think in terms of "good" or "evil". She even says that herself: "Why should we care for such things?" For her, everything is just motion - no matter what direction it goes into. And of course there are also individuals that lack motion but she sees them more as poor fools who have come in contact with forces they shouldn't and have now to suffer from it. Heck, she even tries to help them, as she does not destroy the spirits of the Black Mist, but tries to make them pass on into reincarnation/afterlife/whatever there is in Runeterra.

Another cause might be the ascended, but she doesn't view them as a threat either. Just another bunch of dumbasses that do not understand the glory of the motions of the universe.

But none of them are really viewed as evil. I'm looking for a character that would make her completly lose it like Garen when he sees a villain with low HP while he has his ult up. Usually when Illaoi fights she does it more for either fun or educational purposes (I hit you until you are smarter - as long as I can hit you you still suck. That kind of logic).

She doesn't really fight to completly eradicate her opponent based on ideological differences. If she completly breaks someone apart that's maybe because she didn't like his face and felt like smashing it - no, but what I'm looking for is a character that even causes something like fear in Illaoi. Something so opposite of her believes, even thinking about it makes her feel uncomfortable and irritated.

Ok, a moving thing cannot use that role. An unmoving person? Probably, but still not right there. How about "unmoving" and "taking movement away from the world"? That would probably do it. And this person does not even use the motion he steals for himself (because then he would be moving again), but just negates it.

A character completly without motion that completly goes against the natural order of the universe but still exists in some twisted and sick way... the more I think about that the more I like it. Side effects to that would be immortality (Because "to never die is to never live" to quote Kindred) and probably some emotional issues, most likely extreme psychopath behavior (not in the "he's crazy" sense, but in the actual meaning: emotionless, lack of conscience resulting in unthinkable cruelty).

As for backstory I'm mostly imagining a Zaunite scientist who heard about Illaoi's religion and giod and just was like "Hmm, the thought alone is sacrilegous, morally wrong and ethically highly questionable, but... what would happen IF...?" (how crazy Zaun science usually happens) and then just pulled a crazy stunt with a badly remade ascension ritual reconstructed from old scrolls and writings, super old Urtistan time tec, also half broken and some necromancy only to become something that could be described as Illoai's personal antichrist.

As for visuals I imagine the total opposite of Illaoi: a dude with zero muscle, looking as if one could break him apart like a dry twig. I'd like him running around with a labcoat, but that's not really important right now. More important is how one would actually translate that into gameplay!

But how do we design the kit? Well, let's settle with some basics.

First: No gap-closers. He's not supposed to be mobile, it would completly go against the very basic theme. Also, we already have enough champs hopping and dashing all over the place in this game already. Time for something new!

Second: Draining "motion" from the surroundings: That translates into slows, cc and probably even a specific anti-mobility spell.

Ok, the first thing that came to my mind was the passive:

> "Unmoveable Subject": This champion is completly immune to any displacement. Instead of him a double is knocked away (like that soul/spirit thing from Illaoi) that can be attacked and then merges back with the champion after X second. This deals damage to the champion, the more if and how strong the double has been attacked.

This passive is pretty much the foundation to what this character will be ingame: we will come for you, he might not be fast, but he will come and kill you and you won't be able to push him away. He'd be a melee champ with that passive of course. I'm kind of thinking about a CC Bruiser here... sure that combo sounds kinda scary and paradox, but let's try it:

Now for the active abilities:

> "Petrifying touch": Passive: Basic attacks deal bonus damage on slowed targets, depending on the strenght of the slowing effect. Maximal bonus damage by attacking stunned or rooted targets / Active: Basic attacks drain "motion" from the enemy, applying a stacking slow. At X stacks the target is stunned.

Typical melee move for a CC heavy champ. Not too bad in my opinion, especially because of the lack of gapclosers.

> "Area of Stagnation": Creates an AoE that deals damage over time. The damage is low, unless the enemy on top of it is moving, in which case the damage increases, depending on how fast the enemy moves.

A spell that would work well I think, also useable for waveclear in certain cases. Mostly intended as some kind of zoning tool in fights. Well of course you could walk through there, it might just hurt really bad... In some cases it might be really useless tho, as you use it on someone and that guy just stops moving and gets barely any damage. That helps you to get closer as a meleee with no gapcloser or pull, but it's no guarantee.

> "Unnatural Bond": Connects the champion with a target enemy champion. Both are slowed for X%, but the champion gains a massive shield while this spell is active. Tether range is short, shield vanishes when tether is broken, tether breaks when the shield is broken.

Probably the reason you should buy swiftness boots on this champ: so it doesn't screw you as hard as the enemy.

> "Null Zone" The champion channels, slowing down everything in an large area around him - even dashes. (Which means that even something like a tristana jump goes way slower). Stuns enemies in area at the end of the channel - stun duration ranging from 0,5 seconds to 3 seconds, depending on channel duration)

Pretty much a Nunu Ult, but instead of tons of damage you get tons of CC - and shut down dashes too. They still work, but they will be just as slowed as normal movement.


Well, that's my concept so far, of course nothing is complete or perfect here. So if you have a better idea how the personal nightmare of Illaoi could look/play like, just let me know in this thread ^^

Btw I have not decided on AP or AD in the abilities above. Both would work I guess, depending on what's better to balance.

6 Comments

Puddytat2 votes

My personal "opposite" for Illaoi is Lissandra. Age old, retreated from the world to bide her time, area stun, and of course "Entomb!". Sure she has a gap closer, but it is completely predictable and travels very slowly.

Another possibility would be Anivia. Her entire kit revolves around stopping or hindering movement: stun, slows, wall. Even her passive is a form of not-moving: you think you've killed her, but nope, Anivia is here to stay.

Lonely Flame1 votes

Question: Why does Illoai NEED to have an arch nemesis? Not every character in the game needs to have someone to fight/fighting against them. Sure, some characters do, but why can a character simply not be neutral to their own thing?

Not only that, you've put clashing lores together. Champions from Piltover clashes with Zaun. Champions from Demacia clash with Noxus. The reason for this is because they're both trying to achieve the same goal, but one maintains restraint and civility (Piltover and Demacia) on themselves while the other has none (Zaun and Noxus).

Bilgewater doesn't have that. It is it's own, self contained area. Scientists already experiment with magic in Zaun, so it doesn't make sense that one would think "Hmm, the thought alone is sacrilegous, morally wrong and ethically highly questionable, but... what would happen IF...?". Heck, they would be MORE interested in the Harrowing. You know, the thing that attacks Bilgewater every year and comes from the Shadow Isles? Uses Necromancy magic, which is something Zaun would be interested in given they are allied with Noxus, who already use it?

SaltyToplaneGoat2 votes

It was just a thought experiment that kinda took a dynamic of it's own and I was like, "Hey, a champion that is complety anti-mobility... that's something we don't have yet." - and also as this champion would be the polar opposite of "motion" it would be only logical to stand in some connection to Illaoi somehow in terms of lore.

Also, when talking about Illaoi, she's not bound to petty regional conflict as she's not bound to some minor state. She presents a god that is literally the universe itself.

Also, you assume that all scientists in Zaun are only interested in one thing as a collective. Oh I'm sure there might be the one or the other weirdo who does weird shit like that while hunting for immortality or something, but doesn't want to be as "mainstream" as his pals who just fiddle with tech and necromancy...

Also, who said that Zaun champions DO have to clash with Piltover champions? That's oversimplifying things, don't you think? Sure, it's easyer due to their geographical proximity, but in the end it's just one possibility out of many others...

Lonely Flame1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Kyoki Shinkuro,realm=EUW,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=bEm6sygA,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2016-01-06T11:44:48.930+0000)

It was just a thought experiment that kinda took a dynamic of it's own and I was like, "Hey, a champion that is complety anti-mobility... that's something we don't have yet." - and also as this champion would be the polar opposite of "motion" it would be only logical to stand in some connection to Illaoi somehow in terms of lore.

It could also be someone completely unrelated to her. Illaoi isn't a champion about literal motion. She is a champion about natural flow and spiritual motion.

Also, when talking about Illaoi, she's not bound to petty regional conflict as she's not bound to some minor state. She presents a god that is literally the universe itself.

Except that "The first duty of a Truth Bearer is to be the spearhead in the war against undeath. Having fallen outside of the normal flow of the universe, the undead are considered an abomination against Nagakabouros. While it is the responsibility of every priestess of the Kraken to protect the indigenous population from the Harrowing, a Truth Bearer directly engages its most powerful spirits and drives the Black Mist back."

Also " Illaoi broke with tradition when she chose to protect residents of Bilgewater from the Harrowing, or even more controversially when she decided that some of its residents had souls worthy of the great test."

Bit hard to protect a place if she were to leave it.

Also, you assume that all scientists in Zaun are only interested in one thing as a collective. Oh I'm sure there might be the one or the other weirdo who does weird shit like that while hunting for immortality or something, but doesn't want to be as "mainstream" as his pals who just fiddle with tech and necromancy...

You mean like Dr. Mundo, Singed, and Warwick? Because both of their lores involve a lot of killing people to get there. Your champion is studying and trying to recreate something that prevents disorder and chaos. This is not the Zaun way.

Also, who said that Zaun champions DO have to clash with Piltover champions? That's oversimplifying things, don't you think? Sure, it's easyer due to their geographical proximity, but in the end it's just one possibility out of many others...

Yes but it's also an extremely bizarre one. Riot has champions from specific backgrounds and regions for a reason. Because those champs will typically only clash with champs from a rivaling region, or from within said reason.

Champs from Demacia fight Noxus Piltover vs Zaun Ionian, Shurima, the Freljord's and basically every where else fight amongst themselves. And slowly, slowly, Riot is putting more of an emphasis on people from Bilgewater fight champs from the Shadow Isle.

Sure occasionally you have champs who fight outside this, but that will be because they typically have no fixed place.

bebeb1 votes

On the wiki page, most of her enemies are from the shadow isle's. So, shouldn't her arch-nemesis also be from the shadow isle's?

bebeb1 votes

A character completly without motion that completly goes against the natural order of the universe but still exists in some twisted and sick way... the more I think about that the more I like it. Side effects to that would be immortality (Because "to never die is to never live" to quote Kindred) and probably some emotional issues, most likely extreme psychopath behavior (not in the "he's crazy" sense, but in the actual meaning: emotionless, lack of conscience resulting in unthinkable cruelty).

Also when you said this, I can honestly only think of Shaco.

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