Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

The Powerful Should be More...Powerful

The Yetii Rider·6/19/2016, 2:52:35 PM·25 votes·1,809 views

I've seen this complaint a lot with Xerath, but I think it extends to many powerful characters in the League.

I'll begin this discussion by proposing a rule of thumb for the Art Department: If a champion's lore is centered around power, that champion's abilities should have more visual impact than normal. In order to deliver on the fantasy of 'this champion is just plain STRONGER than everyone else', we need some hardcore animations. The Gameplay side of things won't deliver on this fantasy for the player, so it's up to the Art department (who, along with Story, gave these champions this identity in the first place).

So, how do we fix this? Well, I have a few suggestions but I invite everyone else to comment their ideas as well!

Chogath - Probably just needs an entire VU, but at the very least the spikes on his Rupture could use a texture update or something to make them more defined and sharp-looking. Because the champion is being knocked up, and your eyes are constantly on the champion, it's hard to even really notice the actual attack itself. I think the spikes could be lengthened, maybe so that they stick up to where the bottom of the champion's model ends when it is knocked up, so that you can still see the attack even when you're focused on the enemy.

Syndra - The slight delay and forming animation on her Q is really good, makes it feel like even the Sovereign is taking some effort to create this powerful Dark Matter. And her ultimate is so close to feeling impactful, but the individual spheres are just so small. It looks more like Vegeta barraging Cell and each of his hits doing absolutely nothing. The visual is probably unalterable, but maybe Syndra's ultimate could get an audio change, where each sphere's impact has a distinct crashing sound that makes it seem more painful.

Xerath - This has been said plenty of times, but I'll say it again: Xerath's Rite of the Arcane doesn't feel like an ultimate. The visual of Xerath splitting apart looks amazing, but now that you zoom out like Jhin you don't even get to see that. The missile is where the strength of the ability needs to shine through. I honestly think Xerath would feel so much more satisfying if, instead of a mortar, he just called down enormous bolts of lightning on the area of effect (the AOE isn't that wide, but still, imagine how wide a bolt of lightning would have to be to cover the entire area. That would look so powerful and epic).

If the bolts of lightning look too silly with the width, that's fine. Just a huge cylindrical beam that drops down from the sky would still be better than the current ultimate. The mortar aspect is okay I guess, but it doesn't really fit the thematic established by Xerath's W.

AurelionSol - Voice of Light is...meh. A barrage of pure light sounds interesting, but it just isn't. Isn't there some way this could be more...cosmic? I would love to see Aurelion's attack look like a beam with the same color scheme as his body, that space blue and stars inside of it.

16 Comments

Fasmodey6/19/2016, 3:13:45 PM10 votes

Xerath's ultimate should create a shockwave that is similar to Garen's ultimate effect on villain when it is in its first moments. And circle should be an animated circle, a blue one. Not just a lame red circle. And, may be, may be sound improving. With those, this ultimate can be the coolest ultimate ever.

RoodToob6/19/2016, 5:20:24 PM4 votes

Xerath - This has been said plenty of times, but I'll say it again: Xerath's Rite of the Arcane doesn't feel like an ultimate. The visual of Xerath splitting apart looks amazing, but now that you zoom out like Jhin you don't even get to see that. The missile is where the strength of the ability needs to shine through. I honestly think Xerath would feel so much more satisfying if, instead of a mortar, he just called down enormous bolts of lightning on the area of effect (the AOE isn't that wide, but still, imagine how wide a bolt of lightning would have to be to cover the entire area. That would look so powerful and epic).

Sooooo, pre-rework ulti look?

Dr Poro6/19/2016, 10:19:34 PM3 votes

I think in-game clarity is more important than lore, though.

SeaWyrm6/20/2016, 2:18:08 AM1 votes

The hard thing with AurelionSol's ult, though, is that it needs to come out more or less instantaneously - and the way you make things feel powerful is with that anticipatory buildup that makes the hit so much more satisfying when it drops. Flashier visual effects may or may not even help. Maybe the visuals could linger in a powerful-feeling way, or something like that?

Azteryz6/20/2016, 2:43:29 AM1 votes

i remember them saying that wanted to work on xreaths ult visuals

The God of Cakes6/20/2016, 11:08:32 AM1 votes

I feel like they should swap around on Xerath's ult and w animations. This would make his ult feel a lot more powerful and also make his w look more like a basic ability. There is already a delay on both abilities, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. Just re-size the visuals of the abilities so they fit the actual abilities.

Also, I think Xerath should glow more. I mean, come on, the guy is a walking (read; floating) pile of light, and ATM he is lucky if he gives as much light as a smartphone screen.

Mirkhail6/23/2016, 5:44:40 PM1 votes

Veigar

Meep Man6/24/2016, 12:12:17 PM1 votes

Honestly, it's not that the spells are dull at times (excluding Xerath R, still feels a little underwhelming visually), but that the atmosphere is unchanged by the presence of champions. While this would be hard to create, I believe the game would be improved DRASTICALLY if the map and atmosphere of the map changed based on the champions being played.

Example: After 2:30 in a match, the game checks what champions are in each lane and which champion has jungle items. Whatever champion is closest to the outer turret in each lane or nearest to a jungle camp in the jungle when 2:30 comes, that section of the map is changed visually to match that champion's theme. For example, say you are playing Draven and are Bottom Lane. The walls of the lane are changed into the walls of an arena with crowd on them that are constantly cheering for Draven. The floor of the lane is changed to a dark stone color and the turrets are only slightly changed to maybe have a Noxus symbol on them somewhere.

Changes like these would really enhance the gameplay and even, in my opinion, reduce toxicity in games since the game is a lot more fun to play since you feel much more like you are your champion and are some mighty being.

For the champions you said: Chogath The walls of the lane he is in are destroyed and become pillars of void-ish spikes. The floor is similar to normal Summoner Rift, except it has some cracks in it and the bases of the turrets have some small purple cracks on them. Syndra The walls of the lane are lifted up slightly and are being lifted up by dark matter (or whatever Syndra has). The floor is replaced with purpleish Ionian decorations and has darkish wood. Xerath The walls of the lane become Shuriman walls that are flowing witth arcane energy via small carvings in the walls. The floor is similar except it also has various destroyed Shuriman decor in it. Towers' crystals are replaced with glowing arcane balls. AurelionSol Insane looking space effects. Walls are replaced with very cluttered asteroid belts and the floor becomes the darknrss of space.

Of course, this should all be able to be toggled off if you don't want it, but it would feel SO cool.

Witch of Babylon6/26/2016, 4:25:56 PM1 votes

Even though Janna isn't really someone you'd think be centered around power, her lore seems to talk about her violent wind capabilities. She's even caled the Storm's Fury. I'd like Riot to emphasize that on her abilities.