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[Champion concept] Nova, Keeper of the ancient weapons [Complicated]

Fertsa··2 votes·795 views

Innate passive: The Ancient Weapons Nova's non-ultimate abilities, attack range, and Master of Weapon's second passive are determined by which of the 5 ancient weapons Nova chooses, and become more powerful as the seal is broken and the weapons transform. (Weapons start in nova's inventory. 4 disappear when he chooses. Weapons grant stats, these stats double when the seal is broken, and more are added when the weapon transforms. when the weapon transforms, a unique passive may be added instead)

Shield of Bravery / Crest of Bravery Seal breaks at 50 instances of damage taken from enemy champions, transforms at 400. +50 armor +30 MR / +700 hp Attack range: 120 Q: All is null CD: 25 seconds. Mana cost: 130/110/90/70/50 Active: Reduces damage taken by 2/7/12% for each nearby enemy during cast for 5 seconds. Passive: Increases movement speed by 6/20/34/46/60% when an enemy casts a spell, speed boost is not given while on cooldown. Range: 700 W: Heart of the battle CD: 15/13/10 seconds. mana cost: 130/120/110/95/80 Active: Jumps to target enemy champion, Taunting them and reducing both of their penetration stats by 20/40/80% for 2/3/4 seconds or until Nova is more than 500 units away. Range: 1000 E: Flee in terror CD: 15/13/11 seconds. Mana cost: 50/70/90/110/130 Active: Slows nearby enemies by 10/17/24/31/38% for 3 seconds,

Book of Aid / The Heal Tome Seal breaks at 1 assist, transforms at 12 assists. +20 armor +150% base mana regen / Unique passive: 50% increased movement speed when out of combat for 6 seconds or when below 50% health. Attack range: 300 Q: First Aid CD: 15 seconds. mana cost: 200/100/50 mana Heals target ally champion for 10/50/100/200/400(+1/5/10% of target's max HP), or himself for 10% missing hp. Range: 700 W: Hold Back CD: 20 seconds. mana cost 10/50/100/110/150 After a 1 second channel, Slows all enemy units within 300 units of target unit by 10%, building up to 100% after 2 seconds, then stunning the units for 0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.75 seconds. E: Cease your efforts! CD: 50/40/30 seconds. Mana cost: 500/250/100 Marks target ally other than Nova for 5 seconds. If the target takes damage while marked, they are healed at a rate of 5/30/100(+10% of target's missing health) per .1 seconds, until they are at the health they had when they took damage +5/50/100/150/200(+10%AP).

Casting jewel / Great Wand Seal breaks at 50 Minion kills, Transforms at 200 minion kills +200% base mana regen +40 AP / Unique passive: Gains 2 AP upon killing a unit, stacks indefinitely Attack range: 1000 Q: Grand Flame CD: 15/7/3 seconds. Mana cost: 100/50/0 Launches a projectile 600 units, upon hitting a unit, the fireball explodes, dealing 10/50/110/200/250(+50% AP) damage in a cone 500 units long and 400 units wide, the first target hit takes 20% more damage. missile speed: 500 W: Ice Pillar CD: 15/12/10 seconds. Mana cost: 100/90/50 A pillar of ice launches out of the ground after a 1.75 second channel, launching enemies and dealing 50/100/200/400/800(+100% AP) magic damage. Range: 1200/1500/1700 E: Air blast CD: 12/11/10/8/6 seconds. Mana cost: 70/100/150/200/250 Nova launches an orb of air 700 units in the target direction dealing 60(+20%AP) magic damage, reducing their magic resist by 10(+5%AP), and slowing them by 40%. If a minion or monster is hit first, the shot travels twice the distance, carrying the minion or monster with it, dealing increased damage and improving the slow by 40/60/80%

Bow Rod / Staff of Might Seal breaks after dealing damage to enemy champions 10 times, transforms after 100. +50 AD / Unique passive: Enemies bleed for 50% of Nova's attack damage, as magic damage, On-hit. Attack range: 160 Q: Trade Won Passive: When Nova enters combat with an enemy champion and there are no other enemy or ally champions nearby, Nova deals 5/10/15/20/25% increased damage to that champion while they are above 70/50/30% HP. If Nova enters combat because the enemy strikes him first, nova takes 50/30/15% increased damage from that strike. W: Cheap shot CD: 40 seconds. mana cost: 100/50/0/0/0 Active: In the next 5 seconds, Nova deals 10/20/30/50/70% increased damage to champions that did not have vision of nova when cheap shot was activated. E: Ride the wave CD: 30 seconds. Mana cost: 100/40/0 Nova jumps to target unit, dealing 10/90/140/230/300(+100% AD) Physical damage if it's an enemy, triple against minions, half against monsters. If ride the wave kills a unit, it's cooldown is reset, Nova regens 20 mana, and Nova gains 30% movement speed that decays over 3 seconds, stacking up to 7 times.

Bolt sword / Blade of Storms Seal breaks after 2 large or epic monster kill, transforms after 30 +10 AD +15% attack speed / +40% crit chance Q: Hitting the sweet spot CD: 25/20/18/16/14 seconds. Mana cost: 100 Nova jumps to his target on his next basic attack, Honing in on their weak spot, gaining a 100% crit chance, dealing 150/250/350% critical damage for that strike instead of 200%. Range: 1000 W: Lightning Strike CD: 15/13/10 seconds. Mana cost 200/100/0 Becomes untargetable for 0.5 seconds, then teleports to his target, Striking it and 3 nearby units with the power of lightning, dealing 50/100/150/200/250(+60% AP)(+100%AD) magic damage. Lightning strikes Cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds upon killing a unit, 12 if it's a champion. E: Unstoppable CD: 40/30/20 seconds Mana cost: 100 at all ranks Passive: Champion kills and assists grant Nova 1 Unstoppable stack. If Nova dies, he loses all of his Unstoppable stacks. If nova has a multiple of 8 Unstoppable stacks, he gains a legendary stack. Active: For 8 seconds, the duration of debuffs on nova are reduced by 1/2/3/4/5% for each unstoppable stack Nova has, and the effectiveness of slows is reduced by 10% for each legendary stack Nova has.

R: Master of Weapons Passive 1: Increases Bonus stats from items by 2/5/8% Passive 2: Shield: +1/3/5(+1/3/5)% max Hp Book: Globally grants allies .5/1/1.5(+.5/1/1.5)% increased movement speed Wand: +5/15/25(+5/15/25)AP Staff: +5/15/25(+5/15/25) Attack range Sword: +3/5/7(+3/5/8)% attack speed

Appearence: Nova is a Yordle with goldish yellow fur, with grey fur on his stomach and lower chest. He wears Dark green shorts, no shirt, and a Necklace ending in a sapphire shaped to look like a thunder bolt. Nova is of average build, you know, for a yordle.

Now remember, there is a LARGE difference between just telling me it's bad, and telling me WHY it's bad. Even if you think it's good, it's important you tell me WHY.

Leave your opinions in the comments.

7 Comments

Fertsa1 votes

I have a weird feeling like people are gonna spend a really long time contemplating what i wrote.

ModThe Djinn1 votes

So...I could give you a detailed write-up of the champion, but I'm going to make two statement and then ask a question first, because this question is really important, and should show you why this champion has huge, glaring issues.

Statement 1: League of Legends requires knowledge of a champion's abilities and capabilities, whether you're playing a champion or playing against a champion.

Statement 2: League of Legends games begin (in competitive play) in the pick/ban stage, where it is important to be able to see what sort of team your opponent is building so you can respond accordingly with your own choices.

Question: Can you see how a character with 5 different sets of abilities, who builds differently, scales differently, and poses a different threat with each of those 5 ability sets (and who can select which he is using once he is in-game and has seen the entirety of the enemy team), might be an anathema to the design philosophy League has, which is that you should be able to predict your opponent's capabilities upon seeing their champion selected?

Fertsa1 votes

Yes, but each item has a roll lock. if nova picks up a book, all he can do is support. sword jungle, yadda yadda. so nova just fills in for whatever spot is open. except adc. so the only real problem is being unable to solidly counterpick him if he's picked first or the team comp is off.

But as far as early learning curve for playing as or against him. Plenty of champions are plenty complicated.

I do see your point though.

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted} Yes, but each item has a roll lock. if nova picks up a book, all he can do is support. sword jungle, yadda yadda. so nova just fills in for whatever spot is open. except adc. so the only real problem is being unable to solidly counterpick him if he's picked first or the team comp is off.

He could just fill whatever spot is open, but knowing which one your up against is important if you see Nova as a first pick, for example. You can't react to a first-pick Nova: he tells you nothing about what the enemy team is planning, because he could be anything. It also requires players of Nova to learn 5 ability sets and 5 differing build paths for the same champion, which isn't good: champion playstyles should remain consistent, even if complicated: it's what allows players to get good at even complicated champions. Currently I could play 10 games with Nova...and really only play the same champion twice if I constantly pick different items. That's poor design: that's a character who should be 5 different characters, as opposed to Lee Sin, Jayce, Nidalee, or Elise who, while they all have complex kits with multiple abilities, always have the same set of abilities that interacts in the same way, allowing players to build up mastery with a complicated kit.

Your kits are never complicated...only the character himself. And that's a problem.

Anyway, let's look into his kit.

General Comments

You have issues with scaling. Basic abilities scale 5 times (once with each level up) and at consistent intervals (5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 20, for example). Look at your Shield Q All is Null, for example:

Q: All is null Passive: Reduces damage taken by 5/10/13% for each nearby enemy, and increases movement speed by 5/10/15/30/60% when an enemy casts a spell.

The first part (damage reduction) scales three times instead of five, at intervals of both 5 and 3. It should scale five times, at a consistent interval: something like "reduces damage take by 2 / 5 / 8 / 11 / 14% for each nearby enemy."

The movement increasing part does scale five times...but the intervals go 5 / +5 / +5 / +15 / +30. Flatten out the curve: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60% would work much better, as might 12 / 24 / 36 / 48 / 60% if you want the value to start lower.

Most of your abilities have this issue.

Shield of Bravery / Crest of Bravery Seal breaks at 50 instances of damage taken from enemy champions, transforms at 400. +50 armor +30 MR / +700 hp Attack range: 120 Q: All is null Passive: Reduces damage taken by 5/10/13% for each nearby enemy, and increases movement speed by 5/10/15/30/60% when an enemy casts a spell. Range: 700 W: Heart of the battle CD: 15/13/10 seconds. mana cost: 130/120/110/95/80 Active: Jumps to target enemy champion, reducing their damage to champions other than Nova by 10/20/35/50/65% and reducing both of their penetration stats by 20/40/80% for 3/4/5 seconds or until Nova is more than 500 units away, the effected champion cannot use dashes jumps or speed ups while effected. Range: 1000 E: Flee in terror Passive: Slows nearby enemies by 1/2/4/6/8% for 3 seconds stacking every 3/2/1 seconds maxing at an 80% slow. Nova's movement speed while moving towards champions slowed by this effect is reduced by 20%.

Let's look at his PASSIVE first. So...the problem with these items is that you start with them. So Nova starts off the game with +50 armor, +30 MR, and maybe a Ruby Crystal and two health potions. He's now hugely ahead of his opponent in stats. Enough that you probably can't force him out of lane ever. Once you've hit him 400 times this item becomes one of the best defensive items in the entire game, giving every non-unique stat a Tank could want, and lots of them to boot. It costs him nothing, meaning he hits full build sooner, and gives a whopping 5062 worth of stats, making it the most slot efficient defensive item in the game...for a cost of 0.

His Q is boring but hugely overpowered: we're looking at 65% constant damage reduction during teamfights, and insane chasing and/or escaping power whenever an enemy casts a spell...which is often. He'll have 60% bonus movement speed for the entirety of a teamfight, for example. Additionally, he's already super defensive with his incredible passive item, meaning he's now basically impossible to kill. Finally, the ability is boring: League characters almost always have active components to their abilities. While exceptions to that rule exist, they are usually very old champions, and usually those abilities aren't particularly beloved by players or the community.

His W breaks a few rules. Denying movement abilities in particular while allowing normal movement is...awkward, and penalizes certain champions much more than others. If you want to just make the ability a snare and lower the duration that's fine, but don't block out only a certain subset of abilities. Secondly, forcing the target to attack Nova or suffer a huge damage reduction feels terrible: just deny them the choice and make it a taunt if you have to...that way at least they won't be wasting 65% of their damage, and you get the desired effect (attacking Nova). A ranged targeted dash + taunt is strong though...so be careful about that. A small AoE might be better for game health and counterplay. I also just noticed the range is 1000, which for a move as powerful and unavoidable as you've made this is insanely good.

Moving on, the duration is far to long to cut their attack power by that much. 3 seconds would already be insanely good, and you scale it up to 5. You also penalize them further by shredding their penetration (in an unprecedented move...no ability does something like this) so they can't even actually hurt Nova. That's insane. That's saying "you deal no damage for 5 seconds," which is simply way too good, especially on such a hideously low cooldown: with no cooldown reduction this ability ends up with 50% uptime. If I build 40% CDR my opponent gets to attack normally one second out of every six. Oh...and let's not forget that I have up to 65% damage resistance already from my super-powerful Q.

So the ability could work as a mid-range (550-650ish), small AoE medium-damage move that taunts enemies into attacking Nova for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds while giving him either damage reduction against their attacks or a short duration shield...but as it is it's super messy and hideously overpowered.

Your E is less broken, but still has some issues. First is that it's boring as hell: all it does is passively slow things. But it slows them forever, which is obnoxious, and it can slow them forever by up to 80% while your Q gives you permanent movement speed, which is insane. But it's still the least broken part of your Shield kit currently...which should tell you something. Long-duration constant-stacking AoE slow effects that passively trigger on opponents should not be a thing: simply by being near your opponent in lane you make lane dominance and harass super-easy. After a few minion waves they'll end up unable to fight and unable to run. The ability also scales terribly: it's not worth putting a single point into unless you plan to max it, at which point it's insanely OP. At level 1 it's 1% per 3 seconds, scaling to 80 seconds...you'll hardly notice that slow ever, and you'll also weaken yourself since you have a 20% slow reduction while your target has a 1% slow reduction. At level 5 it's 8% per 1 second, scaling up to 10 seconds: a single W onto the target and they'll be slowed by probably 50% of more, allowing you to use your Q boost to keep up with them easily and ensure an almost 100% assured kill on a target who will be unable to damage you. Stick Sunfire + Thornmail on this guy and he'll be able to 1v1 literally anyone in the game.

This sort of exponential scaling is a result of scaling both the effect's strength and the effect's duration: I'd always recommend against that except on characters designed to be hard-scaling hyper-carries. It makes abilities far too weak at early levels, and often far to strong at later levels.

This ability needs a complete revision though. A slow ability is fine. An AoE slow aura with some uptime is probably okay. A permanent slow aura is highly questionable, and largely unfun for both the player (who has nothing to do) and the enemy (who has no solid counterplay to such a move). A permanent slow aura that scales with itself over time should be strictly avoided.

R: Master of Weapons Passive 1: Increases Bonus stats from items by 5/10/15% Passive 2: Shield: +1/3/5(+1/3/5)% max Hp

The first part is alright, but boring...I'd probably just bake that into the item itself, honestly. Or, rather, it would be alright if the item were fair in any way: instead of giving 5062 free gold, it's now increased in value by 15%, meaning it's actually worth 5821 gold...for which you pay NOTHING.

The second part isn't hugely OP...although the item is now worth more, scaling HP isn't so strong I have to make a case of it though.

All in all though? This character has 4 abilities...3 of which are passive abilities only. That's the most boring kit in the game: all it does is make you the single most impossible to kill character in the game, with an ability that can completely shut down the enemy carry with 0 potential for counterplay. Build Thornmail / Crest of Bravery (his item) / Sunfire Cape / Locket of the Iron Solari / Frozen Heart / Mercury Treads, have 40% cooldown to make your W into an 83% uptime carry-killer and dueling spell, and go into battle rocking huge defensive stats and aura effects. Boring to play as, boring to play against, and overpowered while being so.

...I'll look into the other kits later, but a cursory examination shows that many of them have similar issues: awkward scaling, overly passive kits, hugely overpowered abilities, and clunky design.

Fertsa1 votes

The parts of non-ultimate abilities with 3 scales change with the weapon nova has as he breaks the seal, and it transforms.

I really considered writing it in, i thought people could figure it out. >.< guess i'll just right it in.

and you know, change alot of stuff cuz u make valid points keeping the 5 kit thing tho cuz, that was the point.

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted} keeping the 5 kit thing tho cuz, that was the point.

And that is also one of the largest problems with this champion's entire concept and design, and the single largest reason he's not suited to League of Legends as a game. But okay. As long as you're aware of that.

Fertsa1 votes

Yep.

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