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@Yousosmart: So you wanted a thief champion... [Female Yordle Thief - Support / Marksman]

DrugsForRobots··5 votes·1,016 views
Yordle Thief - Support / Marksman

This is my thief concept I've been developing for a while. She's intended to be League's first and only Support / Marksman. Her kit is almost entirely utility, having very little damage from abilities, and potentially tons of damage from her basic attacks.

She's also part of my propaganda campaign to get Riot to embrace sight, stealth, detection, and denial. To that end, I don't think she can exist in League's current vision ecosystem (thus my push for Riot to develop the vision game.)

This is a quick overview of her kit. For the best presentation and all the details, check out her page on LoL Wiki! Some stats and abilities are subject to change, and not all numbers are final.

Passive: Unlocked & Loaded

  • Imoen must reload after every basic attack, cannot crit without 100% crit chance, and won't be revealed when attacking from stealth or cover.
  • Her basic attacks temporarily grant her bonus crit chance, with her basic attacks from stealth granting her even more crit chance.
  • At 100% crit chance, she no longer needs to reload, and she will critically strike for modified bonus damage.

Q: Rogue's Passage

  • Imoen opens a door, creating a 'one-way-in' corridor in a target direction that lasts for several seconds, stealthing all champions inside but nearsighting them as well.
  • Imoen can reactivate Rogue's Passage to close the door, collapsing the corridor after a short delay, dealing magic damage to all enemies caught inside.
  • Rogue's Passage has a reduced cooldown if used on a Keyhole.

W: Keyhole:

  • Imoen channels her sight into a long thin line bound within a cone in front of her, nearsighting herself in the process, but letting her see unimpeded by terrain and granting her lingering sight of enemies and traps she sees.
  • Moving, taking damage, or reactivating Keyhole leaves behind a right-clickable Keyhole that Imoen can look through.
  • Keyholes last a fairly long time, and are visible - but untargetable - by enemies.

E: Spelljack:

  • Imoen dashes in a target direction, becoming spell immune for the duration.
  • She will silence the 1st enemy champion she passes through if the spell-shield remains unbroken. Otherwise, the ability that breaks the spell-shield is locked out of its cooldown for a few seconds.

R: ???:

I'm still undecided what her ulti should do, but I think the rest of her kit is pretty cohesive and thematically appropriate. I think she's got a solid core - it resonates with me at least, but then, I'm biased...

What do you think? Does League have room for a mousey yordle thief? Do her abilities and icons make sense given her theme and flavor? Do you think her gameplay would be fun? What do you think her ulti should do?

17 Comments

JayHog19921 votes

Seems a bit confusing, personally.

DrugsForRobots1 votes

But her art, her theme, the idea of a support / marksman whose 'firearm' is a giant magical key, all these things are cool and fun right?

JayHog19921 votes

{quoted}

But her art, her theme, the idea of a support / marksman whose 'firearm' is a giant magical key, all these things are cool and fun right?

The Q and W seem weird, but her E seems something I'd actually aprove.

darkdill1 votes

Confusing design, doesn't really fit a thief, and ultimately feels like it could be pretty cheapass at times. Not saying you shouldn't try; just that this needs some work.

Also, a marksman isn't quite appropriate for a thief. Thieves in fantasy are generally up-close knife-users who pick your pocket.

Lastly, it doesn't quite feel like a thief in that there's no stealing. This one feels more like an evasionist in general, not a pickpocket.

DrugsForRobots1 votes

Confusing design, doesn't really fit a thief, and ultimately feels like it could be pretty cheapass at times. Not saying you shouldn't try; just that this needs some work.

Maybe her kit was communicated poorly and / or I need pics to really sell it. Did you check the LoL Wiki version? I've thought about this for months, and gone out of my way to make icons and art for her. I'm even putting in work right now, trying to get feedback from the community...

Also, a marksman isn't quite appropriate for a thief. Thieves in fantasy are generally up-close knife-users who pick your pocket.

The version of the thief you are describing is exactly what Riot should avoid - a generic fantasy rogue. In fact, they did avoid it when they cancelled Rob Blackblade. If League is going to have a thief, she needs to standout from the thousands of hooded, dual-dagger-wielding WoW or DnD rogues out there. She is pretty iconic, IMO.

Lastly, it doesn't quite feel like a thief in that there's no stealing. This one feels more like an evasionist in general, not a pickpocket.

Her Q is a skillshot that creates a persistent zone. Walking into the zone (through the door) nearsights her but also stealths her. The point of nearsighting her (like how Rek'Sai loses vision and gains detection) is that it gives players the feeling of being in the dark.

Her W turns her field of sight into a narrow beam that follows the cursor, which 'roots' her via a channel (because she's looking through a keyhole.) It also nearsights her to give the player the feeling of being in the dark and lets her detect invisible traps and see people in her corridors.

Her E silences the first person she passes through or lets her 'steal' any enemy ability she absorbs (a powerful single spell 'silence'). She doesn't and shouldn't steal gold, and stealing items or stats is problematic, but a spell-shield works with her gameplay and theme - she steals magic and is a thief of opportunity.

And her Passive was my attempt at having an 'unlocking' mini-game / X-hit passive. She can 'pick pockets' with her E, but her Passive his her getting inside the treasure chest. Her first few attempts at 'lock picking' fail (the reload) but depending on her luck and patience and skill (crit chance and level) she will eventually get inside and be rewarded (tons of damage).

I've looked all over the Boards, old Forums, Reddit, and LoL Wiki for 'thief' champions, and they almost always end up being assassins who happen to steal gold, or stats, or items. These abilities - her use of stealth, vision, and mobility - might make her feel like an evasionist, but that's what I was going for. As a thief, she shouldn't be super combat oriented. Her abilities shouldn't deal tons of damage. Instead, she offers incredible utility to her team via her vision and stealth and the outplay potential that comes with it.

I guess I'm rambling in defense of my champ now, but doesn't she look like she belongs in the LoL universe? Doesn't she fit? Isn't she fun? And the idea of a key-gun is one that seems super obvious but I haven't seen anything like this anywhere and I looked!

darkdill1 votes

When you put it that way, I guess it can work.

DrugsForRobots1 votes

I really thought I had something here. T~T

Friendly Ram1 votes

I love the idea of a hybrid support like this. Passive: Not being revealed while attacking from the bush is neat but wierd. Seems kina like a guerilla warfare type marksman. Q is fun but we already have it in bards E unless I'm missing something. W and e are good though. My only gripe is she doesn't have any cc for her allies as a support while having more than enogh utility but might just be me. Thank you for sharing.

DrugsForRobots1 votes

I wasn't shooting for 'guerilla warfare', (even though that is an accurate observation and possible skin!) but more of a 'tag, you're it!' kinda spirit. Imoen is a thief for fun. She's a very young yordle, and still very innocent. She steals because it's like a game to her, just like the running and hiding. :)

Her Q has nothing to do with terrain, doesn't let people pass through terrain, and isn't something people R-Click on and 'ride'.

It's effectively a skill-shot which creates a persistent invisibility zone (like Akali's Twilight Shroud), but the 'corridor' nearsights people inside and only has one entrance - the point where you activated it. The reason it nearsights all those inside is 1) fairness, since all those inside are stealthed, they can't see out; and 2) flavor, i.e. you feel like you're in the dark. Anyone can leave the corridor at any time by stepping out of it's boundary (just like Akali Shroud.)

Her ult could be a CC, but I don't have any flavorful ideas. :(

Friendly Ram1 votes

Wow i completely misunderstood the Q thanks for the response. Might not need cc with the utility she offers it was just my thoughts.

LASERDREAM1 votes

Since she is a thief, her ultimate could be something like being able to steal stats, like movespeed, attack speed, crit chance, and maybe health? I really enjoy this concept :)

DrugsForRobots1 votes

I think that kind of 'thievery' doesn't allow for a lot of ability to outplay or give the opponent any real counterplay, and would be an example of invisible power. Such a design ends up becoming a sort of stat check that doesn't really feel fun or allow for interesting scenarios or plays.

Her E is suppose to feel like the 'steal' move for her kit. E'ing through someone (silencing them), only to immediately Q open one of her corridors and run inside (becoming invis) should fulfill the fantasy of being a thief. Likewise, you can also do some neat tricks where you E in front of an ally to absorb that Morgana Q, thus 'stealing' it from her (it doesn't go on cooldown until after 3-4 seconds, being like an odd single spell silence.)

I'm not sure what her ult should be. I think it wants to be a skillshot, maybe with CC, but thinking of something that is flavorful and functional is killing me. That's why I want to get this idea to the Reds. :/

Thanks for checking her out though!

LASERDREAM1 votes

Riot is trying to make stealth a less engage-like mechanic and more of an escape mechanic. Maybe you could work that into her Q?

DrugsForRobots1 votes

I think it's already inherent in the functionality of her Q. While inside the corridor, you're nearsighted. It should make using the corridor as an engage tool risky since you can't see the enemy. Her allies do get a split second of stealth once they leave the corridor though, so they have a moment to orient themselves, just to be fair.

It also has inherently, by means of having a door, a way for you (as Imoen's enemy) to counter her stealth - just go in the corridor and you can see her.

I do imagine some cool particle effects for her door would help make it apparent where the danger may be coming from. I also imagine each of her basic attacks gives off a tell-tale sign about her position, visible through the FoW and brush and even in her corridor.

Time421 votes

So what I've gathered from extensive research (reading a couple of posts here and there :P) These are 3 of some of the most important things in a champion's kit:

  • Unique to play against and with as a teammate
  • Variance in output - so an ability has different possible outcomes
  • Synergy between abilities

Gangplank's barrels are an example of lack of variance.. they always do massive damage. -_-

Your idea is definitely unique. :D I think it's a good first iteration.

The passive I don't like, just because I don't think crit should be any part of a support kit (maybe I'm just old fashioned :P). I like the reloading but yeah it doesn't feel supporty to me still ;_; Maybe I'd think differently if I saw it in action.

In terms of variance lemme throw out a random idea. Spelljack I'm assuming is a point and click, you get a spell shield that lets you get close to silence someone. An alternative (probably bad, but just focusing on variance):

A skillshot, depending on the distance you've travelled you get a scaling shield.

If you hit a champion you damage them a bit and silence them (as it is now) and 'boomerang' back.

If you miss, you don't get to boomerang back and you have to walk back, but you still have a shield to help you out a bit.

This way you get:

  • A shield which rewards you for trying to hit enemies from further distances.
  • If you're successful in landing your skillshot you get help in returning to safety.
  • Enemies have a chance to punish you if you miss your skillshot.
  • Enemies have a chance to punish you if you land the skill at point blank range (you'll have a smaller shield)

I mean that's one possibility, I'm sure you can think of other ways. :P

Overall I like the ideas, Rogue's Passage and Keyhole especially!

Last thing I'd say is kit-wise she seems more a member of the Dark Brotherhood than the Thieves Guild (I hope you've played an Elder Scrolls game or that will probably not make much sense :P) in that there's no stealing, but lots of vision / stealth stuff.

I hope this was helpful in some way. :P

DrugsForRobots1 votes

It was. :)

You might want to see this.

Statchecky1 votes

Trundle OG Thief Champion

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