Champion Concept: Ethel, the Hearth of Demacia
Ethel, the Hearth of Demacia http://imgur.com/Z0HDYSa
Demacia Marksman
pls leave comments and suggestions
Inspiration
This champion was made to fit two things that people have been looking for. Firstly a different type of marksman who uses a different type of ranged weapon. And second people have been asking for a legit muscular, or buff woman champion instead of the stereotypical skimpy female game characters (we also have Illaoi now, rejoice!) The thing that eventually came to mind was catapults. In ancient times it took at least a crew of men to work most catapults efficiently and they packed quite a bit of power as the staple weapon of ancient ranged warfare. I thought that something similar to this could be a valuable addition to the league of legends; a one woman catapult crew. The first problem was of course how would she carry this big powerful weapon around, and how could she shoot it fast enough for it to be a viable weapon for a person who relies on auto attacks. It may seem weird - but yes spoon catapults. Riot didn't get to where it is today by being normal, we love this game for its uniqueness and this is no different. The second problem was how and where would she get her ammo, she can't carry around the catapult and a huge bag of stones. Solution: if she is strong enough to carry around a giant catapult, then she might as well be strong enough to rip chunks of earth up too: boulders heavy enough to smash armor. Ethel is a legend; strong enough to tote around a giant catapult and use her own environment as ammo.
Design Philosophy
Ethel is a new type of marksman who can switch between stationary ranged lobbed AA and mobile melee AA that stack damage. Her lobbed attacks go straight up into the air and fall down on the selected target. In addition her catapult AA have AoE damage. But for her to have access to this she must be stationary. She can still change her location to more favorable spots whenever she wants but she must then pause her attack: she cannot move while AAing, inputting a move command will cancel AA commands, and inputting an AA command will cancel a move command. Catapults are stationary and the way Ethel shoots her ranged AA means that there is no getting around that fact; there had to be a way for her to attack on the move when being stationary was not an option. Womp fixes that problem, while it is a melee AA, it has very good melee range and it allows her to move while attacking. In addition using her W will make Womp ranged for 1 AA. W also creates a slow area, that helps her put distance between her and the "reason" she had to move from her catapult spot in the first place. Ethel is a strong woman and she uses boulders from her environment for ammo, naturally, this means she is going to smash through all of her targets. The more she hits them, the weaker their armor gets. She is the one-woman catapult crew, demolishing all that stand in her way.
KIT
Passive - Heavy Salvo:
Ethel's Onager basic attacks are so heavy they smash armor. Every AA using Onager or ability applies 1 stack of Smashed Armor each lasting 5 sec, maxing at 5 stacks, granting 2/4/6/8/10% armor reduction. If Ethel's fails to AA or land an ability on a target with stacks within 5 sec it will stop stacking. Armor reduction will be active for 6 sec. Once deactivated this ability cannot be activated on the same target again for 16 sec. Can stack on multiple enemies.
Q - Onager/ Womp:
Onager - Ethel takes 0.25 sec to plant her large spoon in the ground and grabs chunks of earth from the ground, gaining stationary long ranged lobbed attacks, smashing into the ground from the air. AA deal 75% AD to secondary targets in 125 unit radius AoE. Womp - Ethel hits her target with her large spoon. Switching to Womp resets AA animation, allows her to move while attacking, and increases Ethel's AS for 1.5 sec. Passively on hit, each strike to the same target will increase her basic AD by 35% temporarily for 5 AA within 6 sec up to 175% bonus AD. After 6 sec the passive goes on a 25 sec CD. Womp cannot crit, it's passive CD isn't effected by CDR.
Note: Womp is mainly a defensive ability to use when another champion tries to hard engage Ethel such as an Assassin. The damage dealt to a single champion (one at a time) within 6 seconds will build up over time. For an enemy engager seeing the damage being dealt to them increase with each AA should prove frightening, to all but the most aggressive or tanky engagers. This damage increase which stacks on its self will allow Ethel to put out a lot of damage but only if she hits every AA on a single target. This should help to get most engagers to back off.
The timed limitation means that Ethel cannot and will not be able to hit multiple enemies or spam this, as it is also on a lengthy CD. It should only be used for defensive maneuvers to discourage hard engages and diving. If used offensively, it could prove to be Ethel's downfall because she will not have the power to force an eager engager to back off in the future. It should not be used offensively, and is near useless for any fight beyond a 1v1, and in that case she would already need to have some sort of advantage. If she switches targets the damage % increase starts over, but the time limit does not.
W - Loaded Ladle:
Ethel pushes her spoon in the dirt ahead of her leaving a trail of gouged land lasting 6 sec, slowing enemies. She gains a buff: Loaded Ladle lasting 10 sec until used. If Womp is active, it's first AA is ranged (it will not activate the Passive). If Onager is active it grants 10% bonus AS (+ 5x W's rank) for 3 sec. Any AA consumes the buff. Grape Shot cannot be activated while the Loaded Ladle buff is active.
E - Grape Shot:
Ethel loads her spoon with small stones launching them in a lobbed 80 degree cone dealing AoE damage as they land. Enemies that walk over the area of the area studded with stones will be slowed.
R - Ground to Ground Meteor:
Ethel grabs a huge chuck of earth and loads it into her spoon channeling for 2 sec. Upon launching it to a selected target, within a large radius, the meteor shoots into the air disappearing from enemy view for 2 sec, except for a faint shadow that appears 1 sec before impact, then it swiftly slams into the ground doing huge damage and stunning enemies caught under the 300 unit radius stone, and sending out a 500 unit radius shockwave of AoE damage. Places 5 stacks of Smashed Armor on targets directly hit.
LORE
Ethel always loved to help out other people. In the way that she thought she could help best, she claimed the position as town cook. She became known to make the best soup in the providence. Some say the reason the soup is so good is not be cause of the ingredients but because of her famous giant spoon. She spent almost as much time on the soup as she does maintaining her spoon. It was her most prized possession, made of a supple yet strong wood. Crafted to bend slightly, to achieve the best texture when she stirred. With it she had stirred thick cauldrons for soup since she was a little girl. The hard work as sole cook, cooking to supply the hundreds of townspeople every day, in addition to a hard life at the edge of Demacian territory, had made her body strong.
At a young age she discovered her gift for cooking and was glad to help her town. She always wanted to help out in any way she could, even though she would rather directly help out, she was content to help from the sidelines. One day she would learn that her urge to help and her giant spoon would find new uses. As a town on the border of Demacia in conflicting times, they all lived precarious lives. They had to be ready to protect their walls, and the border at any moment. This lifestyle forced all to grow up tough and hardy.
When Demacia went to war she earnestly extended her services as a camp cook. As a town on the border of Demacian land, it was a strategic location for a back lines base of operations, that the leadership took advantage of. The town was protected by high walls and catapults, but they were always careful. When ever she wasn't cooking Ethel was helping to fortify the camp defenses. This was good foresight, for unfortunately the Noxian army was able to get past the vanguard, and started a siege on the border town, hoping to cut supplies and gain an advantage in the war. No one had the expected the Noxians to get past with so few casualties, or for the siege to be so well planned. The Noxians started by targeting the towns catapults, with their own from over the walls until there were none left, and the town was defenseless.
When Ethel heard what had happened, she didn't know what to do, but she knew something had to be done. She left the kitchen and ran to the ruined defense catapults, spoon still in hand. When she saw the irreparable damage of their only defenses, her hopes faltered, but her will remained strong. Realizing that she was still holding her giant spoon, and seeing the left over ammo, a idea began to take form in her mind. While still under attack, she slammed the handle into the ground, picked up the nearest boulder, and loaded it in. Bending back the spoon, she targeted the first enemy catapult.
The Noxians were surprised when their fire started being returned, and even more so when they realized it was being done by just one person. The artillery fire was being returned so much vigor, their catapults were being destroyed one after another, till there were none left. With their main source of offense gone, The Noxus siege failed, and they retreated in humiliation. Ethel knew that she had saved the town that time, but she knew that she could do a lot more to help, and the only way to do that is to get better.
Tips playing as Ethel
- Be mindful of the location of all your enemies while using Onager, and whether or not they have a gap closer available. As you will have to stay in the same position to AA using Onager
- Change position often as you can when using Onager, it will pause your AA salvo, but it will be harder for enemies to target, or get a lock on you.
- Always try to get as many stacks of your passive on the enemy ADC as you can, it's always beneficial for trades
- If the enemy tries to hard engage you while in Onager form, don't run away, teach them a lesson with Womp.
- If possible use Grape Shot before attacking with Onager to really stack on some damage while your target is in the slow field.
- If you have to retreat switch to Womp and use Loaded Ladle, this will create a slowing path between you, and your pursuers, and you can use your LL buff to shoot a skillshot at range while still using Womp on the move
- Keep in mind that you cannot use Grape Shot right after Loaded Ladle
- If you can, try to save the majority of you basic abilities until after you have used your ult, that way you can take advantage of the full stacks of Smashed Armor.
Tips playing against Ethel
- She slow AS
- While in Onager form Ethel cannot kite very well
- If Ethel sets up in 1 spot with Onagre and doesn't move, use the vulnerability of her stationary attacks to get in some AA, or hard engage.
- One the other hand she is much more mobile while using Womp
- When Ethel is using Womp beware the damage she can put out, but she does have to be within melee distance
- Avoiding allowing too many stacks of Smashed Armor to build up will decrease Ethel's power in trades
- Ethel cannot use both of her abilities of CC at the exact same time.
- Ground to ground Meteor does tons of damage in addition to her Passive, but it's not hard to notice it coming.
- If Ethel has not used a majority of her basic abilities before she uses her ult, beware an all-in.
- watch out for the range on Onager, it's AoE damage can still hit you if your out of AA range
Quotes A dash of rubble, a pinch of pain Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen There's more where that came from Back for seconds? Had enough? Hell has no fury like a woman scorned Looks like you went through the meat grinder! You versus me? A recipe for disaster. This one has a little kick to it Good food is medicine for the soul Looks like you bit off more than you could chew One piping hot attack coming right up In what kind of hell fire did they cook you up in?! Don't sugar coat your attacks, honey
Upon 5 stacks of passive Like a smashed tomato!
Using R Meatball!!
