{Champion Rework Concept} Vladimir - A bow to the Crimson Reaper

Whew, now after making that thread about Galio (I recommend checking it out) my brain seems to be in full-concept-creation-mode, giving me inspiration on how to turn Vladimir more into a true bloodlord (and less of a annoying mosquito as he is right now.)

First of all, I know what I'm talking about here. Vladimir was the first 6300 IP champion I bought back when I started this game (That was somewhere between Jayce and Zyra release I think) and I have A LOT of games with him behind me. So please don't even think of posting any “do you even play that champ?” comments here. Yes I do play him. Even more than most of you probably. Also I wrote a 40k word fan-fiction on him, so YES I did my research on that character.

Ok, this all aside, for general information, let's just start with the lore, shall we?

There is a temple hidden in the mountains between Noxus and the Tempest Flats, where the secrets of an ancient and terrifying sorcery are kept. The area surrounding the temple is littered with the exsanguinated corpses of those who have mistakenly wandered too close. These served only to pique the curiosity of Vladimir, when - in his youth - he trekked through these mountains during his flight from Noxus. A day earlier, the teenaged Vladimir had brutally murdered two boys his age, for no better reason than to enjoy the intoxicating scarlet bloom that surged forth. He realized immediately that he would never be able to suppress his murderous desires, and if he remained in Noxus, his foul deeds were sure to catch up with him. Without hesitation, he abandoned the city-state, and journeyed south.

The trail of bodies led him to a crumbling stone temple. Inside he found an aging monk who appraised him with eyes of pure crimson. Vladimir surprised the monk by returning the wicked gaze with zeal. Recognizing the boy's sinister craving, the monk taught Vladimir how to manipulate and control the fluid of life, often practicing on passing travelers. When it came time for Vladimir to learn the final lesson, the monk warned that failure would result in death. Vladimir did not fail, but success bore a grisly surprise. During the ritual, every drop of the monk's blood was drawn from his body and fused with Vladimir's, imbuing him with his master's magical essence, and that of every hemomancer before him. Left alone and suddenly without purpose, Vladimir resolved to return to Noxus, demanding enrollment in the League to prove the supremacy of his craft. When the Noxian High Command observed the gruesome fates which befell the palace guards, they elected to avail themselves of Vladimir's unsavory talents.

''That which runs through you will run you through.'' -- Vladimir

For further information check out his judgment on that can be found on LoL wiki, not posting it here since the IoW is no longer canon, but it describes him as a “predator with the appearance of a noble” if I remember correctly.

I think the theme should be obvious:

• Noxian: Okay, less important for Gameplay, but shows us A LOT about his character, especially if we consider the nature of Noxian society.

• Aristocracy: He isn't the kind of champion that would get his hands dirty, so f. ex. turning him into a brawler would be the wrong approach

• Morbid Blood-lust (also really bad puns... bad puns all day... really getting UNDER YOUR SKIN, isn't he? ^^)

• Hemomancy, his main theme. Controlling blood and using it as a weapon.

• HIS THEME IS NOT VAMPIRISM! HE'S NO VAMPIRE! Okay, now that we got that cleared, let's go to the next point

Also it should be noted that Vladimir took a leading role in Sion's second resurrection, implying that his magic is by far no easy craft. This complexity needs to be translated into the abilities/playstyle.

**Let's proceed to Gameplay elements: ** His role is actually pretty clear, making him a mage-tank hybrid and this is as what he should remain. So... what are the problems with his current kit?

It's extremely toxic – and that is why Vladimir is constantly undertuned, because if he get ahead even the slightest he stomps almost every lane he's up against without any chance to fight him. Some Spellvamp and a crystal scepter and TADA! You're untouchable, lose barely health in trades and you have STILL your pool for escapes. Playing against Vladimir is frustrating, especially when he gets ahead and you can't even go out to farm under the tower since he will just suck you dry like some kind of hyper-mosquito (with the same level of annoyance).

Some of you should remember how strong Vladimir was back then, before they tuned him down...

Let's break it down to the abilities.

• The passive: a stat modifier. Meh. Not much to say about that, but I can tell you that this section will get some changes. Worry not, AP and HP are still supposed to be the most efficient stats on him.

• The Q: Transfusion. Here's where the problem is. Poke, Sustain, Unavoidable and on Range, all packed in a low cooldown spell. Especially in lane this is problematic and offers barely counterplay. Expect some changes here, but it will still be used to drain your enemies.

• The W: The pool of awesomeness. This ability is unique and iconic, so I will try my best to keep it included in his kit, although there might be some smaller changes to its functionality and usage.

• The E: That random AOE tool. The skill was usually thought as a midgame damage tool. Increasing health costs → more damage → get costs back with Q. That's how it was intended. Now: build spellvamp → Use close to minions while in lane → no problems with getting low. And out of lane you'll be too tanky to care about ~100 hp missing temporarily. Expect this part, the least iconic ability, to be completely replaced as it's no longer needed in this form (and since this concept seems to have failed entirely).

• The R: Sigh, another skill that has to go. Yes, it's team-fight friendly. But it also has hidden power. Tons of it and the amplification on teammate damage making it always under-tuned because it could be absolutely broken in the right combination. Also, it's a thematic failure. Why? Because, let's just take a look at Vladimir's character. Does that look... in any way... like a team player to you? This is like giving Karthus Soraka's ult and the other way around. It just doesn't fit while also hurting the image of the character you're trying to deliver. Why should I, the mighty blood lord, ruler over one of the most forbidden and strongest magic crafts, require the help of my teammates? That's ridiculous!

This is going to be replaced too, but hopefully with something that's even more useful in teamfights!

So, now that I shared my opinions about the current kit with you, it's time for some improvements!

“New Passive, Sanguine Well”

Vladimir has “Blood” as a resource, the maximum and regeneration of this resource building being tied to his maximum health (or bonus health, balancing issue, who cares?) and his health regeneration. Now Vladimir has a reason to actually invest in HP, not just some 30 bonus AP lategame...

The following things are supposed to be possible with this:

• Use abilities to drain enemies and fill the resource bar
• Empty the resource bar to regain health
• Sacrifice health to get resource
• Use resource to do damage

Ok, that's it for the passive, maybe we can add some bonus effect to it later on since it's more of a resource system (maybe keep the old stat transformer?), but let's focus on the active abilities for now:

Q: Infectious Transfusion (Costs: resource, brings in health and blood, but only gets over the initial costs if a minimum of different targets has been drained.)

“Vladimir's empowers his next X basic attacks to deal X bonus damage and apply an infected-mark to the enemy. Reactivating this ability will remove the marks, but also damage the enemies again and grant health& blood. More than one mark on the enemy will result in lowered damage and drain for every mark after the first. Damaging different enemies at once with this ability lowers its cooldown”

Ok, his transfusion in a way that might be a bit healthier to the game than it is right now while also getting the theme of blood-plague from his current ultimate. You can chose between draining multiple targets for maximum resource&health gain and a lowered cooldown OR use all marks on the enemy champion for damage, but less gain. Also, the second activation has a range limit, giving the possibility of avoiding the main damaging part of the ability.

W: Sanguine Pool (Consumes resource while active)

This skill should work as it does before, but with an addition: while in pool form Vladimir drains his resource for health.

I had the thought of increasing the duration of this skill as long as you had resource, the consumption rate increasing EXTREMELY FAST after the first second and ending if you run out of juice, just like the Swain ultimate (with the difference that you can neither attack or cast spells in pool... also this give maybe one or two extra seconds to it if used to maximal duration, and IF it's used for that, Vladimir's out of options since he's “OOM” (or rather “out of blood”).

Now you surely ask yourself: HOW CAN HE HEAL WITH THAT MOVE? It's simple: while in pool he mixes his body with the resource that usually floats above his hand, taking the blood “back” into his body. It makes even sense thematically!

E: Blood Sacrifice (big health cost/slight resource gain)

“Vladimir consumes his own blood, sacrificing part of his health the empower himself for a short time, increasing his AP, Attack Speed and Movement Speed and gaining resource. This ability can be reactivated to cast “KNEEL!”, an ability that allows you to root the enemy to the ground using their own blood. Using the second ability will remove the empowerment bonuses.”

You know, that whole “I'M INCREDIBLY EVIL! KNEEL BEFORE ME!” theme... actually with Vladimir it's fitting since he actually CAN make people kneel against their will. Also I was thinking of making “KNEEL!” cost as much resource as you get with this ability, or maybe even a bit higher.

R: Blood Seeker (Resource Gain/Resource Loss)

“Vladimir channels for X seconds, drawing in the blood of his enemies into his blood orb (you know, that thing he uses for basic attacks), enemies affected will get their health drained and are slowed while being in range. Upon reaching maximum Resource, or upon breaking the channel, Vladimir will deal magic damage to every until that has been affected by the drain and that is still in range, using 90% of his current resource to deal damage, the more resource got used, the higher the damage.”

The first part is sucking power/blood in, the second part is letting it out again, in a form of, blood spears, projectiles... doesn't really matter no? “Oh hey I found your blood... here, have it back!” - kills you with your own blood while laughing about this situation – yepp, that's definetly something Vladimir would do.

Also, why doesn't it consume ALL resource? Because then he would be completely powerless. There should be at least enough left for a Q or one moment of Pool

So, how does this translate into Gameplay?

In lane you main tools are Q and E, but you need to be careful with it or you will effectively kill yourself. I think it's obvious to boost yourself with E, then Q hard, finish up with E2 and then use R (if needed/possible while the enemy is rooted and can't get away).

The pool, as always, is your getaway. OR it is your heal-up under the tower after a trade gone bad. You can decide to either safe it for dodging something, or sacrifice your best escape for more HP.

In teamfights you need to get into the enemy team somehow: there are two ways: the risky one using E for movement speed, but sacrificing some of your health, making you easier to kill. OR! Pool in, what is safer, but burns almost all your resources, so you need to channel more to get the ability to maximum damage.

So, what do you guys think of this? I'll be glad to hear your opinion on this! And not just "Muh he's okay now, he needs no rework!". I want to hear your thoughts on this very concept!