Malphite, Anchor of the Monolith

Arakadia··90 votes·5,530 views

http://img00.deviantart.net/1f46/i/2014/353/c/5/malphite_lowpoly_shots_by_blindconcept-d8af2in.png [Not my Art]

"Like a comet I flew, from my home to yours. The Monolith must fall, but not to end. It must fall to go on."

There is a world of perfect harmony, where all are part of the whole. The Monolith is the essence of all creation, and its denizens are but singular pieces of it. It is beautiful in its symmetry, and in its almost complete lack of uncertainty. The rocky beings that live there know their place and work to fulfill their duties to the fullest extent, functioning almost as a superorganism or hive. Malphite has always strived to live up to his full potential, as his own personal part of the whole, serving the role of a distinguished creature questing to enforce his people's flawless vision of order.

The Monolith was burried deep under Rune Terra. A cluster of World Runes keep this world bountiful and healthy. And so it was strange when the Monolith rose, first blooming from the earth and then above the clouds. Without the World Runes which stayed under the earth, Malphite's world began to crumble and decay. And so he took a leap of faith, dropping from his haven in the clouds down into the world of man, hoping to bring his world back to its time of wonder and magnificence.

P: Granite Shield: Malphite generates a Granite Shield every 12/10/8 seconds of not being hit. The shield scales with his health.


Q: Earth Shock: Malphite stomps his foot and causes a rupture to fire off foward as a cone. The force ruptures up 3 times on its journey outwards dealing physical damage and slowing enemies hit each time. At the end of the rupture's travels is creates a semi circle wall.

Force of Nature Special Effect: If Malphite shatters his Earth Shock wall it will explode, dealing heavy damage and applying the AS reduction to enemies hit from a short distance forward from the walls location. The wall is destroyed upon being hit.

10/9/8/8/7 Second Cooldown.


W: Force of Nature: Malphite slams a boulder down in front of him, dealing physical damage to each enemy champion hit. Enemies it have their attack speed reduced. If hits his Earth Shock wall or a Monolith it will shatter with a special effect and reduce this abilities cooldown by 60%.

16/15/13/12/10 Second Cooldown.


E: Monolith Shard: Malphite yearns to repeace the Monolith and brings Shards of it with him to the battle field.

Passive: Malphite increases his Granite Shield for every Monolith on the battle field.

Active: Malphite summons a Monolith at target location which forms after .75 seconds. Allies gain health every second while near a Monolith. Enemies are grounded while near Monoliths. Monoliths are untargetable and have an effect range of 525.

Force of Nature Special Effect: If Malphite shatters a Monolith Shard he refreshes his Granite Shield.

16/14/13/12/11 seconds per charge up to a maximum of 2 charges.


R: Unstoppable Force: Malphite rises into the air and solidifies, and after the delay crashes down at a target location and knocks up all enemies upon arrival while dealing heavy physical damage. If Unstoppable Force hits an area of a Monolith's influence, this ability is instant cast.

95/85/75 Second Cooldown.

This iteration of a Malphite Rework make him a powerful tank who has powerful spells at his disposal that are gated by high cooldowns and chaining them for effectiveness. He still scales with armor and retains his niche as an anti-ADC tank with strong engage but now he is interesting with a mechanic to work with: The Force of Nature. It gives more chance for counterplay and interaction along with some synergy.

84 Comments

Meep Man31 votes

Malphite, in my opinion, does need a rework, and this idea here is a wonderful idea. It needs touch ups, but what concept doesn't? This is definitely a Malphite I can get behind.

dapositiveviking20 votes

i could just do with a non-nose maplhite to start with

DREADN0UGHT16 votes

This is the best fanmade rework ive seen.

Arakadia2 votes

Thanks! A lot of people seem to love it.

THE RlVER KlNG4 votes

Very nice overall, I like how the damage is changed to physical. I could see Malphite becoming a sort of 'terrain' juggernaut. Although his armor scaling should be preserved I feel.

50000000000000001 votes

He's an engage tank, not a juggernaut? Juggernauts are about damage, not disables.

THE RlVER KlNG3 votes

I said that I could see him becoming that if they ever reworked him. Read more carefully.

Pÿrö1 votes

Read slowly , don't hurt yourself!

LostFr0st4 votes

OP, please take the following with a grain of salt, I'm trying to help, honestly ^^" I want a shiny new pet rock too.

A few comments:

  1. Depending on the travel speed, distance, and the "delay" before the wall, Q has far too much power for a 10-7-sec cd. Either that or the base damage must be tiny; that's going to be upsetting for AP Malphite and standard Malph players since Q was the relied on chunk of damage/ anti kiting ability.
  2. I think W should be on E, since it is basically the old grand slam.
  3. Radius of the grounded effect? Delayed or nah? Because his ult is now un-dodge able. Q is also now basically guaranteed to hit, along with the Q-->W followup dmg. counterplay lacking, I don't think grounded fits if he gets a terrain ability.
  4. Can the monoliths be destroyed like barrels?
  5. W should not reset CD on hitting the Q wall. He needs a window of weakness.

Overall I see the synergy, but with so much cc and the monolith utility I'd honestly take this Malphite bot lane as a support. The W-brutal strikes being gone reduces his 1v1 dueling ability and the lack of Q ms steal makes him easily kited. If the wall explosion has high base damage then for sure he'd be transplanted bot lane. In addition, I highly doubt this new Malph can clear the jungle unless Q gets a cd refund for monsters like Voli E.

-LostFr0st

Arakadia2 votes

I plan to repost this concept and I love your feedback, it's actually very good.

I might make Malphite gain AoE basic attacks when near a Monolith Shard to help him in top and jungle. I would remove the healing though. Destroying a Monolith would let him have AoE autos for a few seconds after its destroyed.

  1. His Q if used properly can be used as an anti kiting tool as the slow and wall help him. If I give him AoE enhanced auto's near Monolith's then that might be enough extra damage although I could give his Q a sheen effect.

  2. Another person suggested it so I might do it. Ability layout would encourage my current format as your balancing out the keyboard and making it easier to understand what the "Force of Nature" special effect is. However I think switching E and W is a better move.

  3. His ult doesn't create the Monolith's until after he has crashed down so you can still dodge it. I'll make Monolith's take .75 seconds to form probably. Also his Q is like Nauts E: delayed. Meaning until the ability reaches max range it won't form the wall. Also the Q+E combo only deals damage to units behind the wall. That should be plenty of time to get away from the wall.

  4. Yes but because their more valuable their tankier. Like Zyra's plants are harder to kill then GP barrels. Monolith's take increased damage from melee attacks too.

  5. The W getting a percentage of the cooldown being reduced is because it's low range and he might want to destroy a few Monoloths after another. It's supposed to be used for the combos and should have a long CD if not used well like Gnar's Q if not caught.

Being able to only destroy one Q or one E in a team fight might be ok but I think that because he will usually only be able to hit one Q\E with a single W he needs a reset if he wants to be able to shatter multiple Monolith's or Earth Shock Walls.

I will make sure to relook at this comment especially, thanks a lot.

LostFr0st1 votes

{quoted}

I plan to repost this concept and I love your feedback, it's actually very good.

I look forward to that post then^^ This type of stuff is super exciting.

I might make Malphite gain AoE basic attacks when near a Monolith Shard to help him in top and jungle. I would remove the healing though. Destroying a Monolith would let him have AoE autos for a few seconds after its destroyed.

While re-iterating make sure to analyze why you want the shards as a physical active way visible way to restore his passive rather than something that he collects over time on himself to make a stronger passive (think Taric Q stacks but with a building shield instead). You do need a reason, since leaving objects on the map tends to result in immediate community recoil (see Skarner passive, Illaoi E, Rek'sai W etc.) Perhaps hitting grandslam on champs can acquire monolith shards or something? Either way, passive refresh would be real nice for tanking, you're definitely right.

His Q if used properly can be used as an anti kiting tool as the slow and wall help him. If I give him AoE enhanced auto's near Monolith's then that might be enough extra damage although I could give his Q a sheen effect.

A huge point of the current Q is that it steals ms and is targeted (that's also many people's beef with it funny enough :P) I don't think the damage on your current ability is bad, but a slow won't help him catch people with dashes especially if he ends up walling himself from them. (He can destroy it, I know. But that ability does have a cd)

Another question then if you don't mind :D

If a champ gets walled-off their first gut reaction will be to go over the wall, and then Malphite will blow them up. That means you want them to avoid it by moving sideways right? Which way does the semi-circle wall curve?

like if the wall goes Malph -->) ---->) ---------->them )wall) they'll want to flash it if it's Malph -->) ---->) ----------->them (wall( The flipped curve will herd them sideways instead if that's what you want to do.

His ult doesn't create the Monolith's until after he has crashed down so you can still dodge it. I'll make Monolith's take .75 seconds to form probably. Also his Q is like Nauts E: delayed. Meaning until the ability reaches max range it won't form the wall. Also the Q+E combo only deals damage to units behind the wall. That should be plenty of time to get away from the wall.

It's not the Ult monoliths I was worried about, it was the placed E ones XD

Yes but because their more valuable their tankier. Like Zyra's plants are harder to kill then GP barrels. Monolith's take increased damage from melee attacks too.

If they're so valuable why is Malphite destroying them :P jk. But legit don't underestimate the power on that grounded effect.

The W getting a percentage of the cooldown being reduced is because it's low range and he might want to destroy a few Monoloths after another. It's supposed to be used for the combos and should have a long CD if not used well like Gnar's Q if not caught.

ahh, I gotchu. Makes perfect sense. Gotta sift good from bad rock players.

Being able to only destroy one Q or one E in a team fight might be ok but I think that because he will usually only be able to hit one Q\E with a single W he needs a reset if he wants to be able to shatter multiple Monolith's or Earth Shock Walls.

I will make sure to relook at this comment especially, thanks a lot.

Sweet^^ glad it helped. I look forward to the next iteration~

Arakadia1 votes

Another question then if you don't mind :D

If a champ gets walled-off their first gut reaction will be to go over the wall, and then Malphite will blow them up. That means you want them to avoid it by moving sideways right? Which way does the semi-circle wall curve?

like if the wall goes Malph -->) ---->) ---------->them )wall) they'll want to flash it if it's Malph -->) ---->) ----------->them (wall( The flipped curve will herd them sideways instead if that's what you want to do.

I originally wanted it to curve like this: Malph-->-->-->) but I like ( better.

It's not the Ult monoliths I was worried about, it was the placed E ones XD

Dont stand near the monoliths just like you dont stand near Ori ball or Azir SS.

Thanks I'll use this comment too and I'll probz send you a link.

Zydron3 votes

Looks like Goliath from Evolve, I love it and the spells

Arakadia1 votes

Much grace.

Blue Moon Wolf2 votes

I have been wanting them to use this design for Malph for years. I don't care what they have to do to make this reality, it needs to happen. This look is perfect for Malph.

Arakadia2 votes

I know everyone loves the art, what do you think of the kit?

Blue Moon Wolf1 votes

The monolith shard Idea is interesting, but adding healing to malph might be a bit off. A bit like when Riot removed the healing ability from Shen and replaced it for a damage one. You could possibly have the monoliths gave a portion of malphite's max shield on activation for allies close to the monoliths. As for the ground effect, I've been a fan of that concept since Riot mentioned it and have been wanting to see it in more kits and this one is done in a nice way that can punish enemies who get in too close without proper timing. The rest of the monolith idea is great.

as for his Earth Shock, I'd miss his old Q, but honestly I think most point and click abilities are going the same way as "hit the closest nearby enemy" abilities (Sona Q, Ahri W and Ult) in that they should be heading out the door (with a few exceptions of course), and this really enforces the idea of him being able to shape the landscape around him.

Force of Nature (great reference :p) is the kind of ability I can really get behind and that is nice to see when Riot does it with other champs. An ability that interacts with other abilities in a champs kit to get a different effect is a great way to add diversity to a champs kit. I had a bit of a similar Idea for Wukongs decoy that would allow his decoy to interact with his Q and E that I think would be great for a kit update in the future.

Overall, great idea. Could use some tweaks, but Riot should look at this when they go to update Malph (maybe during the possible Vanguard update next year). At the very least it would be a great way to get their creative juices flowing :p

Arakadia2 votes

Wow! Thanks a ton.

Part of the reason I gave him the healing was because currently none of his abilities feel super impact flu because most of his impact is in his ult, conveniently named Unstoppable Force. Take a look at Sion. It feels very rewarding when you get a 4 man knock up with your Q or ult them from a mile away.

Also, I wanted Malphite to have something more then just the grounded effect.

I might make the Monoliths give a smaller Granite Shield although Granite Shield is already a bit small.

Thanks a lot, I'll sit my post when I get home because it's too hard on this mobile.

InsanitysTheName1 votes

So I love your iteration on Malphite. I have some critiques. First, Unstoppable Force is a super super super strong ability. Did I say super? Your iteration adds power to the ability without really taking away other areas of power in his kit. The reason Sion's ult feels so rewarding when you hit people when you start the channel from a mile away is because you understand that they could have played around it by hearing the global sound but chose not to. A targeted ability that is near impossible to dodge as well as dealing "heavy" physical damage and creating a heal zone is not exactly balanced for a tank. Maybe its balanced for Fiora?

 The Monoliths are an excellent design. A unique from of zoning is perfect on his character. Force of Nature seems like a good way to add harass to his kit while keeping it highly gated by positioning and timing.

 Illaoi's ult is balanced because she first has to get to the center of the fight, a task that turns out is quite difficult. I challenge you to find a way to keep Malphite's knockup ult, while reducing its power and creating meaningful counterplay.
Arakadia1 votes

Thanks! I'll definitely put this into consideration heavilly.

I think nerfing the damage and making his ult better for engage/utility would help alot.

Drugoth2 votes

I really like the direction you have in mind for Malphite. Looks real cool.

Arakadia1 votes

:D

rtbf2256182412 votes

Look your lore is pretty well written but we all know, Aurelion is the one who created everything.

The Monolith was burried deep under Rune Terra.

And so he took a leap of faith, dropping from his haven in the clouds down into the world of man

???

Anyway, very nice concept.

Arakadia1 votes

Thanks a lot! But Aurelion Sol didn't create everything from my understanding, he only created the stars.

kasfas1 votes

So do you get an extra point in w or something? It had 6 cooldown levels.

Arakadia1 votes

Fixed that mistake, thanks!

kasfas1 votes

Still have an extra slash in there.

Arakadia1 votes

Thanks, lmao.

GoldMinerGamer1 votes

Wait, his Q leaves a wall? like JarvanIV or Taliyah ult? :l

Arakadia1 votes

Indeed.

GoldMinerGamer1 votes

That seems kinda op*[slayer-pantheon-rainbows]*

KING OF MASKS1 votes

Nautilus this league ain't big enough for the two of us

(but seriously, change the new title; anchors are Naut's thing)

Arakadia1 votes

You can only change the titles for the boards like 2 hours after posting. But Nautilus doesn't have Anchor in his title does he?

I think it's a fine title.

KING OF MASKS2 votes

Ah, no... what I mean is, Nautilus has an anchor. It's a defining part of his aesthetic, y'know. So, having another champion be called "the Anchor [of the Monolith]" seems kind of weird, when Naut is the anchor champion.

Maybe it's just me, though.

I'm assuming you didn't like his original title because you reused it for one of his spells, but you could go with "Foundation" of the Monolith, or "Core" of the Monolith... although all of those (including Anchor) imply that Malph is a key element of the Monolith. Might need to rewrite the lore to account for that.

Although, I have to say I always liked "Shard of the Monolith," because it juxtaposes with Malph's sheer size and presence. If a city-stomping titan like Malphite is just a shard, then one can only imagine what the actual Monolith is like.

Arakadia2 votes

I agree especially with the fact that Shard of Monolith was cooler.

However an Anchor isn't necessarily a hooked tool that is used to stop ships. It's really anything that holds something down or weighs upon it. And it kinda fits with his lore.

I'll definitely keep all your points in mind as I plan to with all these comments when I repost.

He4rtkiller1 votes

The art is just WOW! :O

warpenguin5551 votes

looks good but i think his w and e should be switched. the attack speed slowing ground slap is on his E currently so i think it would make sense to leave it there

Arakadia1 votes

I probably will. I originally put Force of Nature on his W due to the ability lay out being easier to understand that way.

Spoofghoul1 votes

So his damage would scale off of armor and ad then

Arakadia1 votes

Yes.

Sans Hama1 votes

The one reason why he might need a new rework is his ult, its unfair and takes no skill

Arakadia1 votes

His ult takes skill in knowing when to go in and trying to hit as many enemies as possible. I think a delay would help the health issue but mostly I think that it needs damage lowered for this concept.

PhoKingVince1 votes

[deleted]

Arakadia1 votes

Ah oker dokers! Thanks alot for the feedback Ill look at this when I repost. I cant really reply alot here atm.

Adriqnohee1 votes

Really like the art, did you make it?

Arakadia1 votes

Nope sadly.

Cubíx1 votes

First off, even though you didnt make it, I really like the design. second, I'm a big fan of the new kit, I think its interesting and works better together, as well as keeping his important aspects around (Passive and ult). I like the way the w interacts with the other abilities and I like giving another champ a "grounded" ability.

PROJECT Katarìna1 votes

If this was what malphite looked like I would play him a lot more than not at all.

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