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Embracing the Darkness in our Souls

A Superb Villain·11/9/2014, 5:06:56 PM·34 votes·4,334 views

With champion updates being addressed in a recent developer blog, many people are clamoring to get their opinions and ideas sorted for presentation regarding their favorite champions. The possibility of an old character being brought up to contemporary standards is quite exciting, and this should come as no surprise; many people have grown attached the champions they have played for years. That being said, it is with some trepidation that I bring my own ideas to the table at risk of saturating a board overflowing with similar threads.

Yordles have come under the careful lens of scrutiny as of late, and being among the oldest champions in League, it is well deserved. Some yordles hardly appear to be yordles at all, such as Poppy, Tristana, Corki, and the Yordle Unification Project aimed to rectify that. With Heimerdinger being the poster boy of the project, I can say with confidence the yordles are in for a bright future. As such, I would like to direct attention to the darkest yorlde we all love and/or fear.

With the exception of CupcakeTrap, I might be the most vocal advocate for Veigar and his unquestionable magnificence, and would like to outline my opinion and hopes for the Tiny Master of Evil, visually, mechanically, and from a narrative standpoint.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iSSqyBkCP6c/VDwqVpypeUI/AAAAAAAAbKs/rQgKtxOvcvM/s1600/Veigar_Splash_0.jpg

Visuals

Thankfully, Veigar has a rather simple concept: diminutive, evil mage of unfathomable power. I would not expect his model to cause a great deal of grief updating, as his aesthetic is relatively unique; he is the traditional, fantasy wizard, complete with pointy hat, robe, and staff. However, animators have their work cut out for them; Veigar has very few animations. Final Boss Veigar is a very nice template with the exception of some animations that would not fit on classic Veigar, such as anything related to the skin's orbiting hands.

Where Veigar can receive the most dramatic changes are his spells, which are currently lacking in flair. Baleful Strike is a psychedelic meatball with static discharge. Dark Matter is a high-pressure oil spill from space that leaves some cracks on the ground. Event Horizon appears to be, and acts like, The Box 1.0 Thresh. Finally, Primordial Burst is a collection of concentric circles with fairy dust (hm... Lulu).

His spells lack impact. I have seen people complain in-game the only time they realized a Veigar ulted them was being stunned immediately prior. Think about it; Veigar is literally ripping apart reality with his spells, conjuring singularities and tearing, an admittedly theoretical, matter from space. I am not suggesting every spell leave behind a mushroom cloud, but enemies should have a very good idea of how much their impending doom will hurt.

Mechanics

Veigar, as he is now, fulfills his fantasy, at least what I presume to be his fantasy, very well: a joke everyone laughs at until people begin spontaneously imploding when the Tiny Master of Evil so much as looks at them. Farming like a boss as your enemy spams /lol? A necessary torment. Returning the favor when you instagib them with nothing more than DFG+R? Par the course. Granted, a smart enemy should shut Veigar down early, harassing like no tomorrow and denying him farm. But if a game goes on long enough, Veigar will inevitably transform into the champion-farming terror of League.

Narrative This is perhaps the most significant, and consequently delicate, aspect of Veigar's update. Veigar is an evil yordle, the evil yordle. Teemo may be a merciless killer, Tristana might have an obsession with explosions, Rumble is a yordle supremacist, and Lulu apparently lacks any morals, but none of them are explicitly evil.

Veigar will rip the soul from your loved ones and leave your home as little more than a smoldering crater, and he would do it all laughing.

---Warning: the following calls into question Viegar's narrative direction.---

Veigar is insane, it says so in his biography; he was tormented in a Noxian prison through complete isolation for an indeterminate amount of time, emerging with the sole goal of accumulating unlimited power and bringing Runeterra to its knees... to end all conflict.

Beg your pardon?

That sounds like a rather noble goal, though the means of achieving it are questionable. Does this mean Veigar is using evil as a front to mask his true motives? Does he truly believe that evil can be good, that it is good, and traditional good is dumb? Or is his dream of ending all conflict an excuse to exercise the limits of his power?

Personally, I feel Veigar is case of good intentions twisted by a broken mind; if no one can fight because he destroyed any means of resistance, then the world is at peace. To a rational mind this makes no sense, but to Veigar it is perfectly rational.

And yet, none of this is represented in-game. Veigar does not sound insane, on the contrary, he sounds incredibly lucid, to the point his evil antics seem more like a child trying too hard to be evil. He is every cartoon villain that tied heroes to a railway before twirling their mustache. To be honest, I love this characterization, but I would love it more if Veigar had something to show for it.

To wit, Veigar should indulge in cartoon villainy, he should be comical, but most importantly, his villainy should terrify us when we stop to consider its implications. For example, stealing every mirror on Runeterra is silly, building a giant lens to magnify the sun's light and create a deathray is impractical and silly, watching screaming families vanish in a flash of light and clouds of ash is horrifying.

So, I have rambled about Veigar long enough. Just my thoughts on what I would like to see for the Tiny Master of Evil if/when he is updated.

30 Comments

CupcakeTrap11/9/2014, 9:14:08 PM10 votes

Here's something I wrote for something else a while ago.

Veigar, a tiny yordle with a big chip on his shoulder, has been granted entrance to the League of Legends.

WHEN YORDLES GO BAD

Locked away in a solitary cell by cruel Noxian jailers until he went insane, Veigar has embraced the darkest sorcery in his quest for power. He now strikes down his foes on the Fields of Justice with magic as black as the cosmic expanse, as cold and hateful as the walls of the cell in which this little yordle slowly went mad.

Some say that Veigar has come to the League to gather favor with its Summoners and member-states through his “service” to them. When a great crisis leaves even mighty Noxus vulnerable, they claim, Veigar will use his accumulated influence to tip the balance against the Noxians and bring their final ruin. Others whisper that his mind is already too far gone for such machinations, and that all he can feel now is the murderous glee of unending slaughter upon the Fields.

Which story is true, none can say. The Summoners who delved into his thoughts during his Judgment found only an unreadable abyss of hatred, through which drifted one lonesome fragment of tear-blurred memory: Veigar clinging to another yordle as a guard pried them apart and dragged her away.

Whatever the case may be, Veigar is a yordle with a score to settle.

LIMITLESS POWER, AT A STEEP COST

Most mages dominate the mid-game and fall off later on. One of Veigar’s spells, Baleful Strike, allows him to gather permanent stacks of bonus Ability Power by slaying enemies — with no upper limit. This mechanic enables Veigar to continue to grow in strength even when all of his item slots have been filled. He is a mage who can truly live up to the title of AP Carry.

Veigar pays for this exceptional late-game scaling with early weakness. Summoners who call him to the Fields must struggle to survive a brutal laning phase: his harsh mana costs demand judicious use of his spells, and his lack of a “dash” ability with which to escape ganks calls for strict attention to lane positioning. But this makes it all the sweeter when Veigar and his Summoner are able to reach the late-game and together take their revenge.

IT’S PERSONAL

Veigar may not seem very frightening early on — but when the tables are turned, he shows no mercy.

Veigar’s ultimate, Primordial Burst, deals bonus damage based on the target’s own Ability Power. This amplifies his already impressive burst when turned against the mage who tormented him in the laning phase.

Be warned: the psychic link between Summoner and Champion may, in such moments of gleeful vengeance, induce fits of high-pitched maniacal laughter.

LAYERS OF DECISIONMAKING

Learning to weave together the spells in Veigar’s grimoire is a multi-layered challenge that rewards deep mastery.

For example, Event Horizon is a massive ring-shaped stun, capable of catching multiple opponents at once if properly timed, while Dark Matter is a high-damage spell with a long delay as the meteor falls from the sky onto its target.

Summoners can use Event Horizon’s stun to guarantee a hit with Dark Matter on a single high-value target. When Dark Matter is chained with Baleful Strike and Primordial Burst in this way, Veigar can blast an unwary opponent into cinder — though Veigar, lacking a dash ability, can just as quickly meet his own doom if he gets out of position while chasing a one-shot kill.

More experienced Summoners will also learn to use careful timing and anticipation of their opponents’ next moves to land Dark Matter unaided, saving Event Horizon’s powerful stun for a critical moment in which it can turn the tides of the teamfight by locking down multiple enemies, or save his own fleeing team from being run down and aced.

IT'S ONLY A SHORT WAY?

If you do summon Veigar into battle, be warned: he can hear you, and he really doesn’t appreciate short jokes.

ModWulf Helhammer11/10/2014, 1:34:55 AM8 votes

For example, stealing every mirror on Runeterra is silly, building a giant lens to magnify the sun's light and create a deathray is impractical and silly, watching screaming families vanish in a flash of light and clouds of ash is horrifying.

Best line in the whole post!

Alljoy11/9/2014, 5:23:14 PM4 votes

I think almost all the Yordles seem unbalanced or unstable one way or another.

Talon Gerrard11/10/2014, 1:15:37 AM2 votes

As for Veigar sounding the way he does with his quotes, I do agree with that being said he sounds like a child trying to hard to be evil. I do feel that he needs something new, something that makes him sound a little more insane than just flat out creepy ("I will appear in your home!") I propose some quotes like this: "Can you hear it?" "The magic...it's calling...calling to me!" "I am the hand of the cosmos!" "Who am I? I am destruction and the beginning of a new world." "I will end you all and begin this world anew!" "You think you can simply stop me? And they call me insane..." "Standing up to me? Yes! Show me your power! I MUST SEE IT!" "It's dark. So dark." "They all abandoned me. Left me in the darkness." "My mind hasn't been lost. Simply enlightened to how cruel this world is." "Do you wish to perish by my hands, you fool?!" "Defy my power. I want to see you try." "My heart is gone. You will be shown no mercy at my hand."

I also have a champion concept that you guys would be really interested in going by how much you like Veigar. His lore is a little long, but it explains everything about his past. His abilities, game play, and even his quotes are displayed in an organized fashion. Check it out and if you like it, please give it an upvote. It would be really appreciated. Here's a link to the concept page: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/skin-champion-concepts/eeTGjrhl-champion-concept-cervius-the-puppet-master

SchaakaKon11/9/2014, 6:53:13 PM2 votes

The best way to keep the spirit of Veigars ult but update it is to put it in two stages.

Stage 1. Happens at cast, it is only a tracker. Itll have the same projectile speed his current ult has. It will do the same damage but the damage wont happen, yet.

Stage 2. A slow moving ball of death floats towards the target (such as the Moonite lazer gun from athf). It can grow in size and menacingly move (slowly still) towards its target. The damage from stage 1 will still apply when the death ball lands. For example, if Veigar ults Master Yi and the stage 1 calc put Yi at -50 hp. When stage 2 finally lands, Yi will die with -50 hp regardless that Soraka healed him and Yi Highlandered, flashed tp'ed to base and healed at fountain. Master Yi's death was preordained from stage 1 which leaves the Veigar player with the possibility, nay! Obligation to spam his laugh hotkey in the impending doom coming to his victims. Much in the same way a Zed does before a death mark pops.

LordHippoman11/10/2014, 4:47:01 PM2 votes

I kinda like Veigar because he's a pretty good champion for just being ridiculous and over the top. I know some people want a voice change, because they find it annoying. I don't, but to each their own (Wukong bothers me the most, which is an unpopular opinion, but eh).

Veigar is a funny character, but his Lore is pretty screwed up. So you can laugh at him, but he is the way he is because of something traumatic. That said, I really like Veigar's quotes. League's newer champions have been a little too "edgy" for my tastes (Yasuo: "JUSTICE, THAT'S A FUNNY WORD........."), and I like when the game isn't taking itself way too seriously.

So I think that tempering Veigar's screwed up past with his humorous personality would be the best way to go about it.

HeadHonchkrow11/10/2014, 5:48:10 AM1 votes

I want a VU, nothing more, so this is perfect for me

Athenes Lulu11/25/2014, 5:40:33 AM1 votes

I like how you mentioned CupcakeTrap as one of the greatest Veigar advocates. Anyways, back on topic...

He should have a taste of both funny (as in for a "Saturday cartoon villain") and badass at the same time. The Final Boss skin somewhat depicts this.

He's a "funny" villain as for how others see him (of course, that's what jokes are for, right?), even though he should be mainly depicted as some dark, evil, tiny terror wizard through more of his quotes and theme in general.

His (binary) kit in-game is fine. Early on, no one suspects that little wizard because of his (somewhat) weak early game, like how the public doesn't see him as a threat at all (is that a short joke??). Later on, even if sometimes underfarmed, he would become a champion-farming terror that everyone would eventually fear. That's where he shows his true power after building up.

Some more questions to consider... before Veigar joins the League (ok fine, with the retcons let's say before present timeline), he seeks a group of dark mages to learn his evil dark arts. Have you wondered why did he leave them? Are they just plain ol' "dark mages", or actually famous/notorious mages that people once feared, and now is hiding from the general public? If his dark arts is so powerful (come on, black holes swallow EVERYTHING), then shouldn't those mages be actually just as powerful as Veigar is? If those guys are just as powerful, shouldn't they be feared, and not just Veigar? That means, Veigar himself must be a threat even to those so-called mages.

On a side note, if Rito is okay with Veigar wanting Lulu to join his side and the like, they should consider adding something like this: "Come, and join the dark side!" "Together, we can rule the universe!" Okay... shipping aside. Not likely, but sounds awesome though.

Now I'm waiting for the eventual VU for my husbando ;~; as a huge Veigar fan myself... inb4 Rito switched voice actors for the new classic Veigar... maybe the same guy who did the final boss? Who knows...

A Superb Villain11/14/2014, 2:23:45 PM1 votes

I know Veigar isn't the most popular character in League. His aging kit doesn't lend very well to competitive play. His voice-acting might be annoying to some. But some Rioter out there must still love Veigar as much as we do.

Just don't forget about him in the grand scheme of things.

Jakethenight11/10/2014, 1:25:14 AM1 votes

Why not just do what they did with Karthus? Same kit, same numbers, news looks. I'd say that is probably one of the better courses of action, because his kit is actually one of my favorites.

Chestnut Future11/25/2014, 2:32:48 AM1 votes

Veigar the minion champion