Dahlia, the Withering Maiden
Role: AP Mage, AP Support
Inspiration: The original inspiration for Dahlia was to design a champion that could put a powerful thornmail effect on an ally, including minions, that did all of its damage in one up front burst. The hope was that this would create interesting CS denial gameplay.
General Design Philosophy: Dahlia is an offense-based, high damage mage with powerful sustain but very little utility. Her damage is a mix of single target nukes and AoE DoT effects, making her a consistent damage threat at any level. This damage threat can only be realized with proper utilization of her primarily-skillshot based kit, however. As a concept, Dahlia represents the symbiotic relationship between plants and insects, and her move set reflects that connection.
Risk Analysis: Moderate. Dahlia has a fun and interesting kit, though technical considerations need to be made for her Ultimate. The largest hurdle for Dahlia to overcome is in her visuals, as her theming as a flower-based female mage may be overshadowed by Zyra and Death Blossom Elise.
Appearance: An insidious humanoid insect with a flower-esque appearance. Similar to Death Blossom Elise in many respects, but more vile/creepy and less elegant. Also shares similarities in appearance to Zyra and Poison Ivy.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/poison_ivy___flowering_by_joteivv_zpsdbd86a76.jpg
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/silithidflyerskin-dragonfly_zpsb1c7bc9b.jpg Dahlia's "Hive Mind" ability summons three flying insects which resemble the Silithid creatures from the World of Warcraft universe.
Lore:
Note: Dahlia's lore is shared with another one of my concepts:
Melicent, Conduit of the Swarm.
Since she was a child, Melicent has always been fascinated by insects. She never quite cared about them, so much as she desired to unlock their microscopic secrets in order to obtain a higher plane of personal power and enlightenment. They were simply the means to an end; an end she never could have imagined as a child...
Melicent grew up in a backwater village of Zuan, picking the wings off of honey bees just to learn how they managed to fly. This obsessive fascination quickly began to invade her every pore and sculpt the young girl into something ...odd. She was ruthless, but driven. Her passion for research was boundless and she stopped at nothing to discover the answers she sought, regardless of the moral ambiguities her studies sometimes carried.
It wasn’t long before Melicent was preparing to graduate from a leading Piltover institution with degrees in both biomechanics and entomology; the study of insects. As part of her final thesis, she constructed a massive machination she called the Mechapede. She announced that she would use her creation to explore the most dangerous environments in Runeterra, discovering insects, collecting samples and ultimately learning whatever hidden secrets they could offer her.
Several years into her travels and studies, Melicent was struggling to make any meaningful breakthroughs. She knew the insects had secrets, but she found their silence maddening. It was then that she met Dahlia, a brilliant but somewhat naive botanist from Noxus. Dahlia hypothesized that Melicent could advance her studies through the use of a pollen-based attractant that Dahlia had been perfecting. She invited Melicent to her lab to show off her various spore and pollen samples, and it didn’t take long for the young entomologist to realize the kinds of revolutionary advances she could make with Dahlia’s help.
However, Mellicent soon betrayed her own desires by revealing to Dahlia that she intended to use her plants to intoxicate and ultimately perform horrific experiments on the insects she captured as a result. When the brilliant botanist refused to help Melicent with her dubious research, desperation struck and Melicent took drastic action. Without warning, she lunged at Dahlia, smashing her against a small table as diagrams and charts flew about the room.
Despite her best efforts, Dahlia was ultimately overpowered and sent flying into one of her experimental workstations. The corrosive and acidic toxins stored within the surrounding beakers doused the young botanist’s body, causing her to scream in terrible pain. Melicent grimaced in disdain over her actions, but her guilt was quickly overcome by an immense drive to begin her research. Melicent silently gathered up Dahlia’s work and left the lab, having no interest in watching the girl begin to mutate and wither away.
Within a few short days, Melicent’s prized Mechapede had received numerous upgrades, including a massive grenade launcher which she outfitted with a modified version of Dahlia’s pollen compound. With a grizzled brow of determination about her face, Melicent climbed aboard her Mechapede. It let out a piercing, mechanical shriek before beginning to slither and scuttle its way out of Piltover and into the dense, unknown jungles of the Howling Marsh. It was there, Melicent thought, where she would finally discover the secrets she was so desperate to find...
Strengths: Very high sustain/regeneration, powerful AoE damage, ability to silence multiple enemies
Weaknesses: Reliant on spell order, minimal CC for a mage, no escapes, long cooldowns on basic abilities
Plays Most Like...: 
Hidden Passive: The hue of Dahlia's flowery skin changes based on her current environment. When she is near enemies, it becomes more vibrant and aggressive, like a defense mechanism. When she is in a safer area, her colors soften and dull slightly. (Thanks to TengagedInvasion for the suggestion!)
Auto Attack: Dahlia fires a long range thorn from her palm.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_4923_btn_zps37c740fa.jpg Passive- Rejuvenating Bloom: On level-up, a burst of healing surrounds Dahlia, healing her and all friendly units around her for 12% of their maximum health over 4 seconds. After reaching level 18, earning kills triggers this effect and assists grant a 6% heal over the same duration. As a visual cue to denote this, Dahlia features a flower on her body that goes through various stages of life (seed, bud, bloom), representative of her current experience level. The closer Dahlia gets to leveling up, the closer the flower looks to blooming. Design Philosophy: As a mage with four offensive abilities and little utility, this somewhat rarely-occurring passive provides Dahlia with a bit of sustain and teamfight presence outside of her activatable abilities. It also creates some nice positioning-based gameplay for her and her teammates.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_2427_btn_zpsc23b0f0f.jpg Q- Insidious Swarm (8 seconds): Dahlia summons a swarm of insects that spread before her in a cone, dealing initial magic damage and applying a DoT that continues dealing damage for the next 2 seconds as the insects continue to swarm around affected targets. After 2 seconds, the swarms return to Dahlia, healing her for 15% of the damage they dealt. This is doubled to 30% for any enemies affected by Pollinate before being affected by Insidious Swarm. Rank-ups increase damage done. Design Philosophy: This is a relatively easy ability to land, which helps offset the complexities of her E and Ultimate. The damage occurs over time as a safeguard against an immediate health return after casting the ability. This short delay allows enemies an opportunity to finish her off or apply Grievous Wounds, and forces the Dahlia player to ‘hold out’ for the healing effects.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_10279_pas_zps394fd1d6.jpg http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_1038_btn_zps4ab03d7a.jpg W- Infectious Thicket/Revitalizing Petals (9 seconds): On enemy cast: Dahlia encases an enemy unit in a garner of flowers, decreasing their armor and magic resistance by 20/35/50/65/80 for up to 4 seconds. If an allied champion deals damage to the affected target while the garner is active, the debuff is consumed and the attacking ally is healed for 60/90/120/150/180 (+50% AP). Rank-ups increase healing and resistance amounts On allied cast: Dahlia encases an allied unit in a thicket of thorns, increasing their armor and magic resistance by 20/35/50/65/80 for up to 4 seconds. The first attack made against them by an enemy champion, cannon minion or jungle monster during this time consumes the buff, dealing 65/100/135/170/200 (+75% AP) magic damage to the attacking enemy. Rank-ups increase damage done and increases resistance debuff. Design Philosophy: This is what Dahlia’s kit was originally inspired by. The concept of deterring enemy attacks or amplifying allied attacks is relatively underused in League. Imagine putting an Infectious Thicket on a friendly cannon minion that is about to die. Should your lane opponent bite the bullet and take the damage to get the last hit? Lowering or raising resistances so much via a targeted ability may seem strong, but keep in mind that these resistances are only applied to the first attack made against the champion currently affected by the spell.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_10563_pas_zps25445823.jpg E- Pollinate (12 seconds): Dahlia creates a cloud of spores and pollen at a target location, silencing any enemy it contacts for 1 second and dealing magic damage. This ability also applies a debuff to all enemies struck called Pollinate, which lasts for 5 seconds. Rank-ups increase damage dealt and lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: This is a simple damage ability similar to Galio’s Q, with an added component that can help amplify the sustain Dahlia receives from Insidious Swarm. Requiring precise aiming of two consecutive skillshots to receive these benefits should help offset the intrinsic power of such high sustain, similar to the relatively low-cooldown nature of Brand’s stun.
http://i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag47/Lutzburg/icons_2894_btn_zpsf67f1896.jpg R- Hive Mind (70 seconds): Dahlia summons three flying insects onto the battlefield one at a time by spawning them at target locations up to 1200 range (similar to Xerath's Ultimate). These insects are uncontrollable but will begin seeking out and sticking to the nearest enemy Champion they encounter (prioritizing and being drawn to enemy champions affected by Pollinate), and ignore other units or towers. These creatures' auto attacks deal magic damage and apply a 30% slow to enemies struck. The insects last 12 seconds before receding into the ground, although they work like normal summoned pets and can be attacked and killed. The insects have very high movement speed (400/450/500) and ignore unit collision. However, the insects lose movement speed the further they are from Dahlia. Multiple insects attacking the same enemy deal 50% less damage. Rank-ups increase insect damage and movement speed, and also lower cooldown. Design Philosophy: This ability creates a brand new style of spell within League, as most Champions with summons can only summon a single minion (of this comparative strength) at a time. For the sake of usability, these insects are uncontrollable and will function similarly to Malzahar’s Voidling once active. To help solidify the idea that these aren’t Dahlia’s ‘minions’, but rather her partners/allies, these creatures do not have to tether back to Dahlia after going a certain distance away from her. Their short lifespan and movement speed restrictions should offset their ability to chase down single targets over long distances.
Special thanks to Earthlord Jazz for the excellent visual cue suggestion regarding Dahlia's Passive!
If you liked this Champion, you can find over 70 more of my original concepts HERE!
