Riot, How Much of Updated Swain is inspired by a D&D Warlock with Raven Queen Patron?
In this post, I'm not at all trying to equate D&D class mechanics to Swain's story or mechanics. I'm just drawing some parallels that suggest D&D 5e's Warlock class as strong inspiration for Swain's update.
Firstly, Swain being called a warlock, and having raven-flavored magics. Pretty clear cut comparison to a Raven Queen Warlock, simply by labels.
Second, Swain's new Q: Death's Hand. Basically D&D 5e's Eldritch Blast spell. In D&D 5e, as a Warlock gets stronger (increasing in class levels), whenever they cast Eldritch Blast, they release more beams per cast (up to 4 beams max per cast). Death's Hand shoots out 5 beams. Also, the beams stop at the first target, which is similar to Eldritch Blast, where each beam is single target. The idea of multiple beams being released at once, and with a number comparable, Death's Hand correlates hard with Eldritch Blast.
Next, Swain's new passive: Ravenous Flock. When an enemy champion dies, they leave behind a Soul Fragment. In Swain's VO, he says some lines about champions whenever he gets a Soul Fragment that results from a champion death. The thing that struck me about these VO lines is that he's talking about their life, as though he just learned something about that soul. He even says "I already knew that" when he picks up a Soul Fragment from an enemy Swain. How does this relate to the Raven Queen Warlock from D&D? There is an Invocation for Raven Queen Warlocks called Chronicle of the Raven Queen, where the Warlock can place the hand of a recently deceased creature (within 1 minute of death) upon a special tome they carry; they can ask a single question, and the answer will appear in the book shortly thereafter. In both cases, the warlock learns something of the deceased just after they die.
Lastly, Swain's ultimate: Demonic Ascension. We can see Swain sprout large raven wings, taking on the visage of a demon raven while he drains life from living things around him. While this is a very weak correlation, Raven Queen Warlocks can merge with their raven familiars, entering into the shadow raven's body and gaining a fly ability and being otherwise hidden. And on that note, Raven Queen Warlocks have raven familiars, which is basically what Beatrice was for Swain before. Though Beatrice is unconfirmed, I feel like she will show up in a lore short for Swain.
That's all I've got. I know that Swain very clearly isn't a Raven Queen Warlock from D&D copypasta, as he has so many things that are different from D&D Warlocks, but I can't help but feel there was a LOT of inspiration taken from D&D material for Warlocks. If anything, in comparing Swain to D&D Warlocks, he represents the apex, the very best and coolest manifestation of what a Warlock ought to be.
Thoughts guys? Any Rioters wanna chime in to discuss or confirm?
