Alpheus, the Water Ward

Visual Overview: Here

Visual Ability Guide: Here

https://66.media.tumblr.com/e03e0fe64b9cf2521659018733166829/tumblr_pmjcneLT0e1ufaa5vo1_1280.png

https://66.media.tumblr.com/bce7d5c3ad4ca0e07d2369a65a5e683e/tumblr_pmjcneLT0e1ufaa5vo2_1280.png

Overview

Role: Support (Enchanter) | Mage (Artillery) Damage: Magic, Ranged Style: Basic Attacks - - - - - - - - o - - - Abilities Difficulty: 1 Mobility: 3 Utility: 3 Damage: 1 Toughness: 1 Crowd Control: 1 Whose father is a lighthouse keeper, and mother an innkeeper, Alpheus has seen all sorts of travelers dock at the harbor in Ironwater. He has met various types of sailors come from Bilgewater, some who looked to escape debts, others who arrived to collect them; he has met platoons from the Noxian navy who shared stories of how their soldiers rose through the ranks; and he has gotten to know the Piltan industrial fishermen who frequent the docks with huge catches of fish. Alpheus often looked to the sea, wondering how these people always had amazing tales to tell, when his life in the town seemed so mundane compared to theirs. He wished for his own adventure one day, and to his amazement the ocean listened. For every rainstorm was a surge of magical energy that allowed Alpheus to control the water around him. He took every opportunity to practice until he was a natural mage of the sea. It wasn’t long after gaining such a proficiency that he was able to save a crew of fishermen from crashing into a nearby rocky cliff during a rough storm, as he used the waves to beat the fishing boat to another direction, and then used the surrounding ocean and rainwater to grab hold of the boat and pull it towards him, ever so slowly, but steadily, guiding it to the dock. All of the members of the crew thanked Alpheus that night. Since then, travelers try to recruit him to keep their crew and ships safe while out at sea. Now, Alpheus doesn’t just hear of the stories coming to the docks, he bears witness to them himself.

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Note

Alpheus is the completed version of this from four months ago. The goal was to distinguish him from the other champs and to improve the lore background. I also took the time to draw something so I can call it my own. However, I did use some photos and existing art for inspiration, found here. I'm not a skilled artist, so I just spliced different pictures together and traced my screen. :)

The design purpose of Alpheus goes back a few years. When I first started playing League, was my first main, but he was the only adc I played. Eventually, around S6, I found my sweet spot in the support role, but I was still playing Ezreal. So I just played support Ez (in normals), and was either really good or really, really bad. Then I took to the boards to design a support version, and created a few iterations over the past few years. One of them I entered in the CCOS and got 5th (one or two of the abilities had to be refined, and those issues were taken care of a long time ago). This version of the kit has completely different abilities, but compared to the last post I made, I took some inspiration from the roots of my design that I entered in the CCOS. Basically, Alpheus is an enchanter/artillery mage that has a malleable itemization kit with a focus on poking and kiting, short bursts of lane pressure, rescuing allies in a unique way, and my favorite shield that is underserviced imo through an existing champ's kit. Alpheus is also the go-to pick for an AP attack speed support, whose only competitor is . Alpheus is the kind of support I have always wanted to play, and I believe that his kit and character is lacking in the support roster.

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Karma

Alpheus' E is almost directly ripped from Karma's E, with some minor differences. Alpheus' counts for himself and an ally, and the shield strength scales with AP and MR, because it allows Alpheus to build other items without being punished for not taking an AP item. To accommodate for Alpheus inheriting the speed shield, as part of this champion concept Karma gets a short rework for her W and E, found on this post. Karma's speed buff was changed to an ally cast on her W, based on the latest news for her upcoming mini rework. If Riot chooses to do something else with Karma's W, I will update that post accordingly in case anyone is reading this post at a later time.

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Wiki Page

If you prefer to read through the kit on the wiki, link is here. Just remember to come back here if you want to leave a comment. Your feedback is welcome here. :)

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Statistics

Statistics	Level 1 – 18	(By Level)
Health	486 – 1812	(+78)
Health Regen	6 – 16.2	(+0.6)
Mana	374 – 1071	(+41)
Mana Regen	8 – 21.6	(+0.8)
Attack Damage	52.7 – 102	(+2.9)
Attack Speed	0.625 (+ 0 - 34% bonus attack speed)	(+2%)
Armor	20 – 71	(+3)
Magic Resist	30 – 38.5	(+0.5)
Range	550	–
Movement Speed	330	–

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Abilities

https://66.media.tumblr.com/d719647b93eadea3d8ca67472970463f/tumblr_pmjepoI6B31ufaa5vo3_75sq.png Passive: Slide Step

Alpheus has Bliss, and he also grants Bliss to allied champions who he targets with spells and abilities for 5 seconds.

Bliss: Gain slow resistance, and whenever you benefit from a % movement speed buff of 25% or higher, you are ghosted, allowing you to move through units until you are no longer benefiting from that much movement speed from that particular buff.

Slow Resistance: 18 - 35% (+1% per level)

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4701a930c29c3de9d0be583f85325c5d/tumblr_pmjepoI6B31ufaa5vo4_75sq.png Q: Aqua Bolt

Active: Alpheus fires a pulse of water in a line, dealing magic damage to enemies it passes through, dealing on-hit effects and applying Soaked for 2 seconds. The damage is reduced to 70% for enemies hit after the first. This ability has two charges.

Soaked: The target is slowed, and crippled if it is a champion. Both of these effects decay after the first second, but are tripled if Alpheus hits the target twice with Aqua Bolt within 3 seconds.

Ability Type: Projectile AoE Magic Damage: 42 / 69 / 96 / 123 / 150 (+30% AP) Reduced Damage (70%): 29.4 / 48.3 / 67.2 / 86.1 / 105 (+21% AP) Slow: 12 / 14 / 16 / 18 / 20% Cripple: 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10% Slow & Cripple Duration: 2 seconds Mana Cost: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 Charges: 2 Cooldown per Charge: 6.45 / 6.15 / 5.85 / 5.55 / 5.25 seconds Projectile Range: 1100 units Projectile Speed: 1750 units

Technical Notes:

• When an enemy is inflicted with triple the slow and cripple from Soaked, the effects remain tripled until the enemy is not hit by Aqua Bolt for 3 seconds.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/f54ee3f4a348e2dca88a8b0fb088b896/tumblr_pmjepoI6B31ufaa5vo5_75sq.png W: Streamline

On Self-Cast: For 8 seconds, Alpheus can select a summoner spell or an active ability item to pair with this ability. Once a summoner spell or item has been paired, Alpheus cannot pair with a new one if the currently paired spell or item is on cooldown. Pairing an ability has no mana cost and refunds the cooldown.

When Alpheus activates a paired summoner spell or item active ability, or when its channel is complete, he gains bonus attack speed, and basic attack against enemy champions deal bonus magic damage on hit for 5 seconds.

On Ally-Cast: Alpheus pulls the target allied champion to his location, entering a portal upon reaching him. While inside the portal, the ally is untargetable for up to 4 seconds, but takes reduced damage inflicted to Alpheus. Within that time, Alpheus slows himself by 10%, but can activate this ability again, causing the ally to be removed from the portal next to him, removing the self-inflicted slow.

Ability Type: Special Bonus Attack Speed: 13 / 16 / 19 / 22 / 25% Bonus Magic Damage: 7 / 9 / 11 / 13 / 15 (+10% AP) Reduced Damage: 60 / 55 / 50 / 45 / 40% Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown: 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 seconds Target Range: 800 units

Technical Notes:

• Active ability items with toggle abilities and ally links cannot be paired with Steamline.
• Stasis counts as a channel for Zhonya's Hourglass, Wooglet's Witchcap and Stopwatch.
• The selection for summoner spells and active ability items are similar to leveling up an ability, with a box to click over each spell and item that qualifies.
• Alpheus cannot self-cast Streamline at any time while carrying an ally in the portal. However, targeting an ally while having the selection boxes open cancels the self-cast.
• If the 8-second duration of the self-cast expires, the cooldown and mana cost are not affected, since that only happens once a selection is made.
• The self-slow is affected by slow resist.
• If champions stay on top of each other this ability will prioritize those who stay beneath.
• Streamline cast time cannot be interrupted by anything other than Alpheus' own death. He will still suffer any crowd control effects, duration permitting, after it ends.
• If the targeted ally leaves the target range before the 0.25 second casting time is complete, the pull still occurs, wherever that ally is, as long as the ally remains targetable (going into stasis will prevent the pull from happening). Completing a recall cancels the pull.
• If Alpheus is displaced mid-cast the pull will still occur. Likewise, only the death of the ally can stop the pull.
• If the ally dies prematurely, either while being pulled or while inside the portal, the ability immediately goes on cooldown.
• If Alpheus dies while pulling an ally, the ally will still be pulled to his location, but will not enter a portal.
• Alpheus cannot do anything while pulling an ally, except to use consumables. Any movement and basic attack commands will execute once the pull is complete.
• Once pulled, the ally cannot do anything until ejected from the portal, except to use consumables. Any movement and basic attack commands will execute once ejected from the portal.
• The ally is pulled at the same speed at Thresh's lantern.
• The ally is immune to all crowd control once the pull begins. However, any crowd control effects that linger upon exiting the portal remain, duration permitting.
• An audiovisual effect indicates when the ally enters the portal, as well as when Alpheus is carrying an ally in one.
• The reduced damage that the ally takes while inside the portal comes from all sources, including single target abilities and Ignite.
• If Alpheus dies while carrying an ally, that ally is immediately booted from the portal.
• If Alpheus enters stasis while pulling an ally, the ally is still pulled to his location, but if Alpheus is still in stasis when the ally reaches him, the ally does not enter the portal. Likewise, if Alpheus enters stasis while carrying an ally, the ally is also considered in statis. If the portal's duration has ended when the stasis ends, the ally is immediately removed from the portal.
• If Tahm Kench is pulled into a portal while he is carrying an enemy champion, the enemy is booted from Tahm Kench upon going into Alpheus' portal when he reaches Alpheus' position. However, minions and allied champions can be carried through the portal inside Tahm Kench's mouth. Once Tahm spits them out, they are booted from the portal, too.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/aeee5c6a99fd8b474ac6426de85d4e54/tumblr_pmjepoI6B31ufaa5vo2_75sq.png E: Cover Sport

Active: Alpheus shields himself and a target allied champion for 2.5 seconds, granting them bonus movement speed for 1.5 seconds. The shield will prioritize the allied champion closest to the cursor within range, if Alpheus does not target an allied champion.

Ability Type: Multi Target Shield Buff Shield Duration: 2.5 seconds Movement Speed Duration: 1.5 seconds Bonus Movement Speed: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60% Shield Amount: 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+30% AP) (+30% bonus Magic Resist) Mana Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 Cooldown: 10 / 9.5 / 9 / 8.5 / 8 seconds Target Range: 800 units

Technical Notes:

• The cooldown applies once the ability is cast.
• Like Heal, If no allied champions are near the cursor, Cover Sport will target the most wounded allied champion in range.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/6a84c756a1ab487317d1646f80bf3c7a/tumblr_pmjepoI6B31ufaa5vo1_75sq.png R: Downpour

Active: Alpheus immediately grants all allied champions Bliss, while channeling Downpour for 1 second. If Alpheus completes the channel, he and all allied champions gain bonus Attack Speed for 4 seconds and damaging abilities and attacks deal a percentage of damage dealt to champions as bonus magic damage for the same duration.

Alpheus cannot move or cancel Downpour after activation until the channel either ends or is interrupted. Ability Type: Global Buff Bonus Magic Damage: 5% (+1% per 100 AP) Bonus Attack Speed: 25 / 30 / 35% Mana Cost: 100 Cooldown: 160 / 145 / 130 seconds Range: Global

Technical Notes:

• Downpour affects allies that are untargetable.
• If Downpour's channel is interrupted in some fashion it goes on full cooldown and its cost is not refunded.

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Play and Counterplay

Recommended Keystone Runes

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/d/d7/Summon_Aery_rune.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/64?cb=20171126182228 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/7/79/Phase_Rush_rune.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/64?cb=20171126182204 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/9/91/Kleptomancy_rune.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/64?cb=20180319232518

Items

Starter Items

Early Game Items

Essential Items

Standard Items

Situational Items

Match Ups

Plays Well With

Plays Bad Against (as Support)

Plays Well Against (as Support)

Plays Bad Against (as Mid)

Plays Well Against (as Mid)

Beware Of (Alpheus can't kite Master Yi when he ults, and he has a gap closer.)

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Possible Lines & Emotes

Taunting an Enemy

• "Earthquakes cause tidal waves."

• "It's super effective!"

Upon Casting Aqua Bolt

• "Stay back."

• "Don't come close."

Upon an ally entering the Streamline portal

• "Gotcha."

• "You're safe."
• "Saved you."

Upon Casting Cover Sport

• "Let's go."

Upon Casting Cover Sport in the river

• "Waterslide."

Upon Channeling Downpour

• "Time to clash!"

Hope you liked it! :)

Changelog

02/07/2019.

• Aqua Bolt (Q)'s damage was increased from 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+20% AP) to 42 / 69 / 96 / 123 / 150 (+30% AP).
• Aqua Bolt (Q)'s cooldown was raised from 6 / 5.75 / 5.5 / 5.25 / 5 seconds to 6.45 / 6.15 / 5.85 / 5.55 / 5.25 seconds seconds.