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Spellsword Concept

Mira Arya Enthe·6/18/2016, 7:44:38 PM·6 votes·1,817 views

Yes, it's me! I have posted Merlin before, however. Each iteration has been quite a bit different and upgraded from the previous. But after reviewing the three previous generations of this character design, starting almost two years ago. I came to the conclusion of what aspects I think win, and which ones don't. Let me know what you think.

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/EJVWtATz-merlin-the-spellsword-concept Old Spellsword concept

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/OivEGaHj-merlin-project Old Support version of Merlin

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/T8Ecc7R7-a-wizardly-wizard Old pure mage version

The reason Merlin exists:

The goal with Merlin is to make a female "mage" who is just genuinely cool. Not a dominatrix, anime girl or loli. And to avoid using balls(Ahri, Syndra, Oriana) pets(Annie, Zyra) or marks(Nidalee, Diana, LeBlanc, Katarina, Akali). But also to fill in the lack of recent arcane themed mages - as in more wizardry and runic arcane magics - less wind, fire, water and earth. But bare in mind this isn't an attack on those characters, I absolutely adore many of them. But I want a female mage more comparable as a character to Ashe, Quinn, Riven and Leona. This is a personal request, for myself and people like me. Who prefer to play relatable, calm or cool characters. Over badass, angry or characters with an otherwise extreme attitude. This has nothing to do with politics or ideologies. Any such comments will be downvoted and ignored.

Things to avoid 1: Dominatrix or "bitchy" attitude. 2: Obsession with Revenge. 3: Excessively alluring personality 4: Weird character model(loli, little girl, temptress, random floating objects, etc) 5: Elemental magic, except maaaaybe lightning.

Important attributes 1: A real "Arcane" feeling to her abilities. 2: That slight bookworm turned badass vibe. 3: A feeling that while still aligned with Demacia, Merlin has become a bit of a subversive person due to her high ideals of what Demacia could be. 4: Some level of relatability. 5: A hidden insanity due to her immense knowledge.

Personality and Lore:

I won't go too much into what this should be. In the other 3 versions I had entire lores, but this time I decided to leave that entirely up to Riot and the community. But I will say just a little.

First she should be Demacian, it fits a lot of where I would want her to go with overall design. Plus Demacia needs a subversive character who isn't 100% totally aligned with them on everything.

Her story should relate that once upon a time she was a peace loving bookworm. Until some event caused her to realize how corrupt the governments of Noxus and Demacia are. Causing her to train herself in combat from her immense knowledge of books, and workout. To become the magical warrior she is. Or something along those lines.

As such Merlin's personality should be that of a once shy, vain, aristocratic bookworm. Turned into a nerdy, badass, magical warrior.

I did have an idea for her joke and taunt. The joke being where she sips a potion, wobbles and says "Whew... One too many." The taunt being where she flips through the pages of her book and says "I've read books on your fighting style, they weren't very good!"

Appearance and Animations:

Primary concept http://i.imgur.com/mZKLNjy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/leUnWXF.jpg

Possible secondary concept http://i.imgur.com/m68DYbH.jpg

Merlin should have a longsword in both hands, as they were meant to be used. She should have a book on her left hip, and when she uses magic with her hand or book she will simply release her left hand from the sword momentarily. Crits should be thrusts, and normal strikes swings. Movement should reflect the character, a slightly trained aristocratic walk trying to pretend to be a heroic soldier instead. Merlin's movements and actions should be very tactical, refined and schooled. Lacking the rough edges and excessive flare of somebody hardened by battle.

Stats: Melee

Normally I get very specific in my stat designs. Only till I realized after somebody mentioned it, that most people don't actually know the average base stats in the game, and don't understand what specific stats imply. So instead I will give a more general idea

Movespeed High Attackspeed Low Health Pool Low Health Regen Medium Attack Damage High Armor Medium Magic Resist High Mana Pool Medium Mana Regen Very High

Passive: Spellsword Basic attacks from Merlin deal an additional 12(+1 per level)+10% ability power as magic damage. And gives her a stack of Arcane Resonance. At four stacks the cooldown of her Mana Spark is reset and if cast within 5 seconds deals 50% increased damage and stuns instead of silencing.

Q: Mana Spark, Cooldown 10/9/8/7/6s, Mana 30/35/40/45/50, Skillshot 750 Range. Merlin flings a spark of magical energy that screeches in the targeted direction. The bolt deals 65/80/95/110/125+65% Ability Power as magic damage and silencing the target for 1/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4 seconds.

W: Magic Mirror, Cooldown 22/20/18/16/14s, Mana 80/85/90/95/100, Self Targeted. Merlin shields herself for 1 second, nullifying one ability that strikes her. If the abilities cooldown is shorter than 30s(before CDR) it will also be reflected back to where it came from.

Passive: Magic Warrior Merlin's basic attacks and Mana Spark steal 1/2/3/4/5% of the enemies armor and magic resist for 2.5 seconds. Stacking up to 5 times.

E: Runic Warp, Cooldown 12s, Mana 60/70/80/90/100, Target Area Radius 150 Range 600. Merlin is rooted for .725 seconds while she casts a rune on a targeted area. On completion all enemy champions in the area will take 20/30/40/50/60+30% Ability Power as magic damage, and all Allies will be healed for the same amount. Merlin may reactivate the ability within 1.5 seconds to convert all champions in the area into energy and warp them to her.

Ultimate: Mental Breakdown, Cooldown 120/100/80, Mana 100, Radius 500-1500. Merlin channels for 1-4 seconds. Rising into the air and laughing hysterically as her mind falls apart under the weight of her own immense knowledge. Enemies within an expanding radius are slowed and have their attack speed reduced by 10-40%. The channel reaches maximum potential at 3 seconds but may be channeled for up to 4.

Merlin may right click an enemy champion within the radius during the channel to dive onto them and impale their mind with limitless arcane knowledge, dealing a minimum 75/100/125+25% Ability Power as True Damage at a minimum 1 second charge. Silencing them for 1 second. Scaling up to a maximum 225/300/375+75% Ability Power as True Damage and Silencing them for 1.5/1.75/2 seconds.

Alternate Ultimate: Archon, Cooldown 140/120/100, Mana 100, Self Targeted. Merlin explodes with limitless magical power, knocking enemies away from her and dealing 50/100/150+50% as magic damage and reseting her cooldowns. For the next 9/12/15 seconds her basic attacks become energy bolts with 500 range and deal a bonus 25% damage in a small area.

16 Comments

Luxychan6/18/2016, 8:04:20 PM3 votes

I like the concept, but I would change a few things personally.

First, her passive is a great idea, but having each book affect every spell is a little too intense for my tastes. I think each book affecting either her Q W or E would make for better counter play and on the fly changes.

Second her first ult is okay but a 3 second silence might be too strong. Instead of a scaling silence time, have it be flat at 6/11/16. So at 6 it's 1, next rank 1.5 and final rank 2. It's a good squishy or healer eliminator.

Third is the Archon form ult. With the idea change I gave on the passive, this can help archon form be more appealing. All abilities gain the book effect instead of all 3 schools. It would make balancing just a bit easier, imo. Having cooldowns halved might be too strong, so why not an ability like what kog has for attack speed? Why not gain a % of cdr that isn't affected by the cap, or have her current cdr doubled and not affected by the cap?

Also, as a personal thing, I feel for what this ability does, halving mana will be too strong. The reduction on ability timers and the ranged bolt make it good enough without the mana cost changes.

Overall I like it. The theme is clear and we need more "pure mages" imo.

Keira Helsh6/18/2016, 7:53:09 PM2 votes

I like this a lot, and that E looks like it's a lot of fun,

Keira Helsh6/18/2016, 9:34:55 PM2 votes

I like the updated kit even better. And would definitely like to see a Demacian mage.

CasterGilgamesh6/18/2016, 8:34:35 PM1 votes

kinda feel like she would be a little better in Noxus since i dont think demacia really likes magic too much but then again lux is from demacia and she uses magic.

Arakadia6/18/2016, 8:59:46 PM1 votes

Archon feels overloaded and not focused. Schools and Magic should be changed to Branches of Magic for the same reason I don't like the name; sounds cleche and unoriginal. Also how is it a spellsword concept? Did I miss something?