[Champion concept] Elcandra: Ambassador of the Endless Arsenal

tl;dr: mid AP marksman that combines aspects of new Kog, Ekko, and a windwall that isn't as annoying to deal with.

Lore: Somewhere beyond the knowledge of the scholars of Valoran, there exists a perpetual storm of endless blades, a vast collection of weapons from many worlds mashed into a cyclone for some unknown purpose. This Endless Arsenal is commanded by forces unknown and is the resting place of all the great weapons that have been lost throughout time, and will be the final resting place for those that have not yet been lost. It is unknown how such weapons find their way there, but in some cases the Arsenal sends an emissary known as Elcandra (Elle-Khan-Draw) to claim a particular prize, and with an endless supply of ancient and futuristic weapons at his disposal he allows nothing to interfere with his duty.

Visuals: Human-sized, wears a suit of melded armor that may or may not be empty inside. Warden J4 but darker colors essentially. Or since Unlimited Blade Works was an inspiration for this, he could just be Archer.

Stats: Melee range, squishy, low base stats (like most APCs really, aside from the range).

Kit:

Passive: Allowance

Elcandra is manaless, has a silver Allowance bar instead. Abilities cost/return Allowance, signifying how many weapons Elcandra may borrow from the Endless Arsenal. Initially has a cap of 12 Allowance, but can purchase a unique item in the shop to increase the cap (same item may be purchased multiple times).

Q: One-Shot Barrage

https://media.giphy.com/media/PEIEs9Z0MlhzG/giphy.gif

Elcandra summons a futuristic weapon from the Arsenal, shooting a beam in a line. Penetrates but does greatly reduced damage to minions and monsters. Applies a slow to the first enemy hit, which can stack. Can be recast immediately if no movement commands are issued. After each shot Elcandra throws the weapon a short distance in the direction of the shot.

Costs 1 Allowance per cast. 15 to 6 second cd based on rank. Deals magic damage with AP scaling. Individual shots do low damage, ability is only strong if it can be fired multiple times.

[Linear skillshot, essentially a thin Xerath Q. No manaless shoving allowed because that's always annoying. Has a moderate cast time. Cannot be used to kite normally, as the recast mechanic inventiveness setting up a situation where you can spam Q with impunity. Visually, Elcandra summons a long sci-fi rifle, fires once, throws the rifle away, then summons another for the next shot.]

W: Safe Return

All discarded weapons are returned to the Endless Arsenal, granting 1 Allowance each (will fill the Allowance bar unless another skill is in progress). An Empty Armor will spawn in place of each discarded weapon as it returns, and remain for 3 seconds (details further below).

No cost. 30 to 12 second cooldown based on rank.

E: Bladefall

https://media.giphy.com/media/5VVab1MpJPJrG/giphy.gif

Elcandra summons a ring of swords around himself and marks an area on the ground. After 2.5 seconds Elcandra leaps in the direction of the mark and lands an equal distance from it that he was at the beginning of the leap. As Elcandra passes the mark his ring of swords plunge downward, damaging enemy champions. If no sword strikes a champion and therefore the ring is intact, all champions within the ring are briefly rooted. Elcandra gains increased movement speed on casting the spell and the radius of the ring increases based on his distance from the mark when the dash begins.

Costs 8 Allowance. 20 to 11 second cooldown based on rank. Swords deal magic damage with AP scaling, diminishing returns on the same target. The leap does not trigger the cooldown of Q.

[Very nuanced mobility spell. Mark a nearby area on the ground, slingshot yourself past it after 2.5 seconds, and on the way you can drop either damage or a root depending on how far you ran during the window. Also gives a speed boost to get even further from the mark. Can be used to reposition during the Q chain. Enemies can see the sword particles on Elcandra that shows the ability is active, but not the mark.

As powerful as this ability is, it's difficult to use reactively and requires some planning. You can't use the speed boost to escape a gank by running under your tower, since in a few seconds you'll be slingshotted back into your waiting foes. You also have to commit ahead of time (the leap portion cannot be cancelled) and although your enemy cannot see the mark, if they guess where it is they can easily hit you with skillshots. As well, the leap can be interrupted and the swords portion fizzles if Elcandra doesn't make it at least halfway through the animation. The dream of landing a massive AoE root on the enemy team is likely just that, the root is more useful in a 1v1 situation. I'll talk about uses of this spell later.]

R: Overwhelming Arsenal

http://pa1.narvii.com/5804/d9ec24d4de5da512b8c370ee3fb3db5329ed8178_hq.gif

Elcandra withdraws his full Allowance, firing a flurry of weapons in a target direction. The gif says it all really. Each weapon is a distinct projectile and will impale the first enemy champion struck, doing magic damage that gets diminishing returns on the same target. The weapons will remain until W is cast, at which point an Empty Armor will appear and rip out the weapon, interrupting the enemy champion. Weapons that do not hit a target will immediately return to the Arsenal and refund one Allowance each. Mechanically this ability works the same as Heimer's W.

Costs all available Allowance, fires one projectile per Allowance spent. 140-100 second cooldown based on rank. Damage scales with AP, diminishing returns on each target.

Pet: Empty Armor

Summoned whenever a weapon is returned to the Arsenal, to protect both the weapon and the entry to the Arsenal itself. Empty Armor's do not attack and cannot be controlled, but rather function as a sort of telegraphed windwall with severe downsides in exchange for their ability to spawn all over the place (everywhere Elcandra throws his Q guns, an entire ring of them from EW, and next to enemy champions with RW). These work as follows:

-Each Empty Armor is a distinct unit (roughly one Teemo in size) and has 2 hit points, like Illaoi's tentacles. -Empty Armor does not destroy projectiles, simply freezes them on contact for as long as that Empty Armor exists. -Empty Armor vanishes after their 3 second duration or 2 basic attacks and the projectiles continue. -In the case of large projectiles, the effect will not happen unless more than 50% of the projectile is touching an Endless Armor. Clipping one would not stop a Nami ult, but a wall of them would. Killing an armor such that only 40% of the wave is touching would allow the wave to continue. -Multiple Empty Armor will not spawn in the same space no matter how many weapons are there. Instead a slightly larger armor will spawn, with the same hitpoints.

[This allows for playmaking by both Elcandra and his enemies. Suppose an Elcandra vs Ahri matchup, freezing the Charm would be beneficial but freezing the Q would give her an even longer movement speed boost. Additionally, an adc could stack multiple aa projectiles in an armor (it only takes damage if its the target of autos), then when the armor expires 3 seconds of bullets would hit Elcandra at once. For Elcandra, comboing W with other moves can give a projectile-freezing wall at just the right moment to intercept a crucial skill.]

Unique Item: Weapon of Legends

Purchased in store, consumed on purchase. Grants permanent 3 Allowance and 4% spellvamp. Cost is whatever is appropriate (I've no idea) and it can be purchased multiple times (cost might have to scale up for subsequent purchases).

Summary:

Elcandra is an AP marksman that rapidly fires linear piercing skillshots that deal magic damage but are poor waveclear until lategame. Elcandra must stand still (or use E to reposition) while firing Q so that it does not go on cooldown, leaving him vulnerable unless in a good position. He essentially has 4 "big" moves with high cooldowns, meaning that each skill must be used intelligently to get the most out of that potential. With low base stats but the teamfighting presence of a marksman with soft utility, Elcandra is a hypercarry that prioritizes raw AP (does not have the bases for much MPen to be good, kit doesn't synergize with CDR, gets SV from unique item).

Since Elcandra is forced to make effective plays at all stages of the game, the way to deal with Elcandra is to outwit Elcandra. Baiting out Q or E and then retreating, and then taking advantage of their long cooldowns, allows most champions to bully Elcandra in lane. Taking advantage of the pre-committed leap on E can allow for easy skillshots if one can read Elcandra's movements. Slowing Elcandra during the E wind-up will make the leap useless; essentially Elcandra doesn't move much during it but cc's himself for the duration. Essentially, Elcandra is only powerful when he has control of that situation; take that control away and he's at your mercy.

Combos:

QW- Fire at the enemy, and then W to create a Empty Armor that holds their retaliation in check for a moment. Possibly Q again, then move out of the way of their skillshot before the armor expires.

QEQ- Fire, reposition, keep firing. Since Q can apply a stacking slow, this combo can punish your opponent for wasting their gapcloser.

QEWQ- Either a variant of the above combos, or an all-in; Q, burst or root with E (this will position you some distance behind the enemy), W to stop projectiles and refresh your resource for Q, then Q until one of you is dead.

REWQ: Engage bait combo. Bait an enemy into engaging, then hit them with your full ult (or spread it across their team) then E backwards to safety (waste of the swords effect but it's also a powerful dash if used this way), W to refill your bar and interrupt all enemies, allowing your team to engage and you to land an easy Q. From there, spam Q from the backline.

QREWQ: 1v1 all-in. Fire a Q while aggressively positioning your E mark, and when the opponent commits to the fight ult them in the face. E will reposition you to cut off their escape, and a well-placed mark will have all 8 swords hit your enemy for decent damage. W to summon an armor (which, due to the weapons stuck in their face, is sure to intercept a projectile if timed right) then keep Q-ing until they're dead.

Not really a combo, but in some situations Elcandra can use E to juke by running in one direction and then being slingshotted in the other. Works mainly if the enemy doesn't have vision (you run into a bush while being ganked) but sounds funny as hell.

Skins: Void and Guardian of the Sands seem like low hanging fruits. Pool Party could be fun with pool toy weapons.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment, this has been in the back of my mind for months and I'm sure I left some details out.