Champion Concept: Ludwig, the Bearer of the Strings

Edit 1: Q no longer slows. Ludwig has gone through like 4 updates, and he's bringing one hell of a big bang along for his grand entrance. He’s a medium range mage who deals devastating sustained area of effect damage with his melodies. And when he’s got somewhere to be, the The Deadly Soloist can steal the stage, nurturing his very own solo. http://i.imgur.com/xRPbFLJ.jpg #Hope is what makes us strong. It is what we can fight with when all else is lost. ' - Ludwig, the Bearer of the Strings http://i.imgur.com/mE0L4yC.jpg #STATS BATTLE MAGE Damage: Magic Style: Attacker - - - - - - o - - Caster Difficulty: 9/10

DAMAGE: 3/3 TOUGHNESS: 2/3 CROWD CONTROL: 2/3 MOBILITY: 2/3 UTILITY: 1/3

#LORE http://universe.leagueoflegends.com/images/iona_crest_icon.png #IONIA

Widely considered as one of the most adept sorcerers on Valoran, Ludwig fights as a warrior of the Sanark, a faith all but quashed in the lands around Ionia. As the "Bearer of the Strings," he uses a big, ancient violin to create arcane chants that shatter the listeners' perception of reality. Imblued with the essence of his violin beyond Sanark's summit, Ludwig is no longer wholly yordle, but saves cities from a grave danger when all hope is lost.

Ludwig was born as his father and mother sheltered from a storm on the unforgiving slopes of Ionia. They were coming from a land from far away, in dreams of getting a better life. Exhaustion and blinding stormwinds overwhelmed them on the eastern slopes of the island, and there, beneath cold, pitiless moonlight, Ludwig came into the world as his mother breathed her last.

The same night Ludwig's father buried his wife, they heard croatan wolves' howl. The city and temples of Ionia were too far from where they decided to stay the night, so they seemed to be doomed. As the wolves' glimmering eyes appeared from the dark, his father took a massive object from his bag. As the wolves vaulted at them the object unleashed an enormous barrier around Ludwig, his father, their campfire, and his buried wife. Even the largest wolf couldn't break it, so the wolves left disappointed. Years later Ludwig still remembers the flash that happened during that night.

After years of dutiful service to the Ionian goverment, his father was cruelly struck down by a terrible wasting sickness of the dark pox. The elders’ own physicians declared, with a heavy heart, that his father was incurable, and would be dead within a few days.

With his father's last breath, he said Ludwig must become the next Bearer of the Strings, find his destiny and pursue it. He was brought to an Ionian temple in Thalm which was the home to many musicians who use their sorcery to enhance their melodies. Their elders thaught Ludwig the ways of the Sanark, and that he must find his motive and the violin must accept it. Some bearers would find the strongest and prove them their insignifigance, while some bearers would save wars when all hope was lost.

Over the following years, Ludwig bent his every effort to learning all he could, scouring the Ionia for years in search of information of other bearers.

Years passed, he has still not found his motive, so he went on a journey almost through all of Valoran, but the violin has still not approved. His power and desire, however, is undeniable.

Ludwig had finished his training as a bearer, so he had to prove his powers in front of a dozen of Ionian elders. However, a mysterious threat known as the Titan causes a deadly threat soon learn of their terror as the Titan breaks through the gates of Thalm.

The Titan is a massive, mountain like colossal creature that wakes in the harrowing, imblued with the mist's magic to destroy everything in its path.

The elders struggled to keep the Titan down, but only Ludwig's magic seemed to weaken the beast. Though he has low experience on fighting creatures so massive with this violin, he played a rhytm that caused the Titan burn in agony, falling down and sinking beneath the sea.

Ludwig's violin started mysteriously glowing, meaning that Ludwig has ended his training, and he has found his motive.

The Deadly Soloist

In a remote corner of Bilgewater...

"They say some of the best warriors in the continent are here. They have to be to fight the mistreavers." Said a random citizen in the darkness of the harrowing.

"This time I'll prove Sanark myself." Said Ludwig in the bottom of the citizens. As he walked closer towards the docks more citizens went inside as the Bilgewater city seemed unsafe.

"Maybe I shouldn't rush this time -" suddenly the warriors started screaming "It's back, run!"

A giant mistreaver suddenly appeared from the sea. Ludwig now ran towards the danger, thinking that this was his chance.

"Get everyone inside!" Said a random warrior, bravely charging into battle.

Ludwig ran towards the mistreaver and as many other warriors died just from its touch, Ludwig sprinted faster towards it.

As more troops ran away, Ludwig was the only one to stand in front of the beast. As the beast tried to slam Ludwig, Ludwig took his violin and played a rhytm that drastically weakened the beast. Ludwig attacked the beast over and over again and once he finally killed the beast, the citizens of Bilgewater cheered to him.

Suddenly, another mistreaver rised, a much bigger and tougher one. "Wow, you are a walking mountain-" Thought Ludwig, "but you're not corrupting this town."

Ludwig played a rhytm again, killing the creature even more violently than the last one. The creature seemed to burn of Ludwig's magic, like nothing ever seen before. Ludwig put his violin in his bag as the mistreaver drowned into the depths.

As the city cheered, Ludwig walked away to continue his journey.

#GAMEPLAY http://i.imgur.com/ZVFmTzs.png Chord of Torment is a key aspect to Ludwig's gameplay, who will usually jump in your face with W-Q-Q-Q-E combo that should usually deal tons of damage. Its sheer threat will often send his opponent back to safety, giving the Deadly Soloist the perfect opportunity to unleash Drifting Stage and ramp up his cyclical damage. And as these two play out their duel, Ludwig will inevitably deal great swathes of collateral damage to the enemy minions, who’ll wither under the persistent barrage of... music. All this area of effect punishment means that Ludwig has a super easy time shoving his lane, even while he focuses on his duel.

By mid-game, Ludwig should have some of his essential items, granting him enough raw presence to threaten the enemy team while aiding his own. He doesn’t jive well with raw AP, but instead thrives with tanky AP items that provide him and his team with utility. It’s this utility - alongside Ludwig’s threat - that gives him such a huge presence around neutral objectives. He can set up outside dragon, for instance, and dissuade the enemy team from contesting by body-blocking while his allies secure their objective. The enemy jungler will have to avoid Chord of Torment as well as Melody of Truth, or else vacantly stare on in stunned silence as his team successfully smites their winged target.

#SYNERGY Works well with: Tahm Kench - the River King Tahm Kench can eat Ludwig to become a horrific, musical maniac in teamfights. Ludwig's ult will continue blasting enemies even when he's exploring the hidden depths of Tahm Kench's belly, meaning everyone's favorite catfish-frog thing can happily speed his way out to the enemy team. Alistar - the Minotaur Alistar provides Ludwig with plenty of beefy frontliner bulk for the enemy team to contend with. He'll happily throw them 10 feet in the air with Pulverize and block their onslaught with his Unbreakable Will, all while Ludwig chips away at his enemies' health bars with Melody of Truth. Kled - the Cantankerous Cavalier While Tahm Kench and Alistar provide Ludwig with strong frontline presence and tankiness, Kled brings him speed. A wisely used CHAAAAAAAARGE!!! will lead Ludwig to the enemy team thanks to its speedbuff and while Kled is keeping the enemies busy, Ludwig can steal the stage and butcher their team with Melody of Truth.

Struggles against: Nidalee -the Bestial Huntress There are a couple of ways Nidalee can ruin Ludwig's day. There’s her terrifyingly pointy long-range spears, of course, that’ll leave him begging for mercy. But even if he gets close enough to land a few Q:s on the Bestial Huntress, she can just shapeshift before pouncing in and ripping Ludwig apart in melee form. Talon - the Blade's Shadow While Ludwig jives best in extended fights, an enemy Talon can burst this helpless yordle down with ease, leaving Ludwig beg for mercy before he rips Ludwig apart within seconds (or less.) Zed - the Shadow Master Ludwig is safe from nimble opponents so long as he's got space between him and them, but he struggles against baddies who can dodge his barrage and slip past his defenses. He'll want to stay well out of the Master of Shadows' ult range, or he'll find himelf marked for death.

#NUMBERS Q Recharge time: 8/7.25/6.5/5.75/4 seconds Damage: 55/80/105/130/155/180 (+50% AP), stun duration: 2 seconds W Cooldown: 24/21/18/15/12 seconds Radius: 425 units, damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+60% AP), heal: 50% of the damage, movement speed: 25%, Q recharge time reduction: -50%, deals 150% damage to minions E Cooldown: 11/10/9/8/7 seconds Damage: 20/30/40/50/60 plus 15/30/45/60/75 (20% AP) per stack of Malice, movement speed: 15%, mark duration: 2.5 seconds R Cooldown: Radius: 750, slow: 40%, damage: 150/200/250 (+90% AP)

I’ll be back soon with the answers to (most of) your questions. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on my concept below!