[Champion Concept] Defo, Master of the Elements
Summary: Defo is a melee hybrid champion who can fill many different roles depending on his build and playstyle preferences. By channeling the ever-shifting power of the elements, Defo can take on the role of a spell weaving mage with powerful area damage, a quick and agile fighter, a support with plenty of team utility, or a hardy bruiser with solid crowd control. Being able to manage his current elemental aspect will allow Defo to peel for his teammates, control the flow of a teamfight, keep his allies healthy, or dish out tons of damage. This champion draws on a lot of concepts from Blizzard’s shaman. It was my favorite class to play in Azeroth, but League never really had much of a similiar champion. Hopefully this champion can help bridge the gap, without being much of a copy/paste of WoW’s elementalists. He also draws on some of my favorite champs: Udyr, Jax, and Gnar. I will post my ideas for this champs abilities, and add some extra comments in italics.
[P] Elemental Weaving – Every 15 seconds, Defo will shift to the next elemental aspect, enhancing his stats and modifying his abilities. Earth - +25/50/75 Armor and Magic Resist, attacks and spells apply Concussive Earth, a 10% slow, stacking up to 3 times. Applying a third stack will stun the target for 1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds. After being stunned, an enemy is immune to Concussive Earth for 8 seconds. Fire - +25/45/65 AD and 45/90/135 AP, spells and attacks apply Living Flames, dealing 15/20/25 magic damage every 2 seconds for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. Water - Mana costs reduced by 50%, successful auto attacks and spells heal Defo for 4% of his missing health Air - Spells and attacks grant immunity to unit collision and +3/4/5% move speed and attack speed (stacking up to 5 times) for 6 seconds.
When I first thought of this, I had the idea to have shifts occur every 8 or 12 spells/auto-attacks, which would give Defo a little more control over when he shifted. However, I feel like one key to mastering him would be to maximize your output in a preferred stance; i.e. stalling a teamfight until fire stance and then maximizing damage in those 15 seconds.
[Q] Lightning Lash (8.5/7.75/7/6.25/5.5 second CD) – Skillshot that deals 40/55/70/85/100 (+35% of Ability Power) magic damage in a straight line. This ability recieves double the effect of cooldown reduction, up to 80%. Successive casts reduce the mana cost of further Lightning Lashes by 15% (stacks up to 4 times).
This is meant to be a short-range spell, as Defo does have melee auto-attacks. Range would be the same as a Leona E or Lissandra Q. Or perhaps a cone the size of a Syndra E. When I think of this spell, I think of Lei Shen's Lightning Whip from World of Warcraft's Throne of Thunder raid. A small windup followed by a smash of lightning would be my preferred method of delivery for this spell :) This spell is obviously what you would max as a mid-lane mage, and maxxing CDR at 40% would double to 80%, giving this spell a 1.1 second CD at max rank.
[W] Unleash Element (12 second CD) – Unleashes power from the elemental plane, with different effects depending on the current plane: Earth – Grants a shield to targeted friendly player, absorbing 100/135/170/215/240 (+40% of Ability Power) damage and slows attacker‘s attack speed and movement speed by 15% for 2 seconds. Fire – Causes the friendly target to emit a blast wave, dealing 75/110/145/180/215 (+20% of Ability Power) magic damage to enemies around the target. Water – Heals the target for 60/85/110/135/160 (+25% of Ability Power), and reduces the cost of their next spell by 75% Air – Grants the target 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% (+2% of ability Power) movement speed for 4 seconds.
This spell is a top priority for playing Defo in the support position. A short radius for this spell would work well, perhaps the same range as most support heals. This spell, along with Defo's E, allows the bot lane to cycle between offense and defensive laning depending on Defo's current element. In terms of visuals, I just thought of using some already in-game animations. Water = Nami's heal animation, Air = Janna's W animation (on an ally), Fire = Spirit Guard Udyr's Phoenix wave animation and size. Earth tbd
[E]Fury Strike (20 second CD) – Your next auto attack has it’s range increased by 550, and deals 40/55/70/85/100 (+60% of ability power)(+150% of attack damage) to all targets around the unit, and spawns a 3 HP totem that grants vision and has different traits based on the currently active plane. Successful auto attacks reduce the cooldown of Fury Strike by 1 sec (double effect for hitting enemy champions). The totem can last for a maximum of 45 seconds. Earth – Slows all enemies in a radius around the totem by 15/20/25/30/35%. Fire – Deals 15/20/25/30/35 (+20% of Ability Power)(+40% of Bonus Attack Damage) to random enemies around the totem. Water – Reduces damage dealt by enemies in a radius around the totem by 10/15/20/25/30%. Air – Causes all allies to move 10/12/14/16/18/20% faster when moving towards the totem and for 2 seconds after moving through it.
This spell is obviously one of the biggest nods to WoW's shaman. These totems are one of Defo's most unique mechanics. The totem dropped would function just like a ward, having 3 hp (although not stealthed of course) and have a small radius around it. Because this ability triggers on the next auto attack, it cannot be used to replace wards and just placed in a certain area; a target is required. Since this target is favored by jungling Defos (with the auto attack cooldown cut), it allows Defo to ward his camps for a short time after clearing them, giving him eyes in his jungle.
[R]Elemental Fury (120/100/80 second CD) – Summons a targetable elemental at the target location, dealing 100/200/300 (+40% of Ability Power)(+100% of bonus Attack Damage) magic damage to enemies in a radius. The elemental has 200/450/700 health and differs based on elemental plane at the time of summon. The elemental cannot move, and returns to its plane after 12 seconds or when killed. Earth – Applies a stack of Concussive Earth every second to all enemies in a radius. Fire – Continously burn all enemies in the radius for 15/20/25 (+5% of Ability Power)(+15% of Bonus Attack Damage) magic damage and applying a stack of Living Flames. Water – Heals allies within a radius around the elemental for 15/30/45 (+5% of Ability Power) every second. Air – Increased allies Movement Speed and Attack Speed by 20/30/40% while within a radius around the elemental. This buff decays over 2 seconds after leaving the radius
_Another reference to some of Azerothian shaman's biggest cooldowns: the elementals. Depending on when Defo chooses to unleash the denizens of the elemental planes, his team can have strong AoE damage in an isolated teamfight, more CC for the wombo combo, the speed needed to initiate on a slippery enemy team, or the healing required to survive a siege. The elemental can have a health bar similar to dragon or baron, which leaves some room to counter-play (I'll get into counter play later though). With such strong and varied team fight potential with this ability, Defo must know when and where to use this, otherwise prepare to get scolded by your teammates: Too soon Executus Defo! ;) _
Playstyle and Builds:
These are just some informal ideas about different roles and builds a Defo player can fill -
Top Lane (Earth focus) – max E or Q for harass, build straight tanky items with some built in damage, like Sunfire Cape or Thornmail. Build Randiuns, Banshee’s Veil, and Merc Treads/Ninja Tabi. Maybe a Wit’s End or Statikk Shiv. Makes for a bruiser with some reliable slows and decent base damage when in fire stance. Strong peels and zone control in earth stance. Stand back and regen when in water stance, try to run in and initiate towards the end of Air.
Mid Lane (Fire focus) – you definitely want to build to cap out CDR at 40% with it’s excellent synergy with Q. Build Liandry’s for some ridiculous teamfight damage or Rod of Ages/Rylai’s to be a very tanky mage. Maybe Lich Bane and Ludens for alot of burst on E. While in fire aspect, Defo has insane amounts of AoE potential, and he can provide strong support like a morgana or lux while in Water/Air. Use Earth to retreat from fights or to hold off tanks while your carries finish them off.
Support (water focus) – max W and then E. Provide your carry with lots of defensive benefits during Water and Earth, and look to fight and go on the offense during Air and Fire (great potential for jungler to gank during Air). After Defo and the ADC get into the flow of the aspects, this combo can really bounce between defensive positioning and all out, tons-of-damage offense.
Jungle (air focus) – took a lot of inspiration from Jax, this guy has some strong and fast attacks, while dealing a mix of magic and attack damage. Max E for the cleaves on jungle clears, as well as „warding“ your camps for a little while after you kill them with the totem. In team fights, try and use your agility to reach the backline and eliminate a carry. Build items like Nashor’s Tooth, BotRK, Trinity Force, and Statikk Shiv to deal plenty of damage while working to get as many E’s in as you can.
Counterplay: Making an OP champ isn’t very fun or tolerable. Addressing a champion’s shortcomings and allowing for counter play is something that competitive League play is all about. So here’s a quick bit on how to keep Defo in check: Depending on Defo’s playstyle, there are different ways to counter him. When played as a mage, Defo can lose a lot of damage if people focus down his totems and elementals, and with Q’s short range, a good bruiser can zone him away from carries. A jungler/top lane Defo that is relatively melee-AA based, can be slowed, stunned, and peeled away from carries fairly easily. Support Defo can kind of be tricky, with him generally staying near the back line, buffing and peeling for his carries. However, since he doesn’t have a dash, he is easy to catch and doesn’t have any move speed boosts until Air stance (and even then, it’s more suited to chasing enemies down).
IN CONCLUSION
I hope these ideas seem as interesting to you as they do to me. Having a shaman-esque champ on the Rift seems like a solid addition to the champion pool. Please leave feedback, I'd love to hear about ways to improve/balance/change some of his abilities. Also, I'm not artist, but if any summoners out there are as enthusiastic about this kit idea and want to draw up some artwork, I'd love to seem some!
