Sunday, May 13, 2012

Avengers as League Champions REVISED 2.0


So I wasn't going to make a whole other post about my LoL Avengers Champions, but I went to see the movie a second time!  I figure hey - if I can see the movie a second time, doesn't that mean I can do a design pass on my Champions too?  Besides, design is about iteration - we'll consider my first pass a piece of garbage, and we'll call this one cleaned up garbage.

For convenience I did strikeout over deleted sections and posted new things in revision purple.

The Hulk
PassiveWhenever the Hulk takes damage, his attack damage is increased by 5% of the damage sustained.  This effect can build indefinitely, but resets when the Hulk has not taken damage for 5 seconds.  The hulk gains 2 Armor and 2 Magic Resistance every second while dealing or receiving damage.  This effect can build indefinitely and resets when the Hulk has not dealt or taken damage for 3 seconds.
Punch Smash![Q]: On an enemy, deals 30 (+AD) damage and knock them back.  When used on an ally Punch deals no damage but can still knock that ally back. 8 second cooldown.
Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie.  In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a  thin brush line, etc.
Leap! [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.
Mighty Roar! [E]: Passive: The hulk regenerates 2 Life per second.  Active: The Hulk lets out a mighty roar, removing all CC effects from himself and nearby allies. 25 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missiles
Adopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.

Iron Man
Passive: Iron Man's suit uses energy to bolster his defenses.  Iron Man gains 5% of his AP as Armor and Magic Resist.  Intelligence Gathering.  Iron Man has superior tracking and sensors.  Iron Man gains vision of enemies affected by Laser Torch or Missile Barrage for 3 seconds.
Laser Torch [Q]: Fire a Laser Beam that deals 120 (+AP) damage to the first target in its path and mark it with Guidance System for 3 seconds.  Laser Torch deals 50% more damage if the target is also suffering from Missile Barrage. 8 second cooldown 15 second cooldown
Missile Barrage [W]: Launch 3 missiles at nearby targets for 80 (+AP) damage over 3 seconds. If there is an enemy with Guidance System on it, all 3 missiles will launch to it. 8 second cooldown
Billionaire Philanthropist [E]: Passive.  Gain an additional 1/2/4/6 2/3/4/5 gold every 10 seconds. Does not work while Active portion is on cooldown. Active. Drop a Sight Ward.  Cooldown 180/150/120/90 seconds.
Orbital Unibeam Targeting Array [R]: Lasers from overhead satellites instantly damage all enemy heroes for 50 (+AP) damage, places the Guidance System debuff on them and reveals their location on the map for 
3 seconds. 120 second cooldown. 
Rocket Jet Boots [R]: Take flight for 5 seconds increasing movement speed by 20% and allowing you to ignore collision.  120 second cooldown.
Feedback that his ult was too much like Karthas I think was totally valid, and I think it's more interesting to try and play out some targeted missiles mechanic.  He doesn't have any mobility yet, and while watching the movie I realized Iron Man was the only human that can "fly". I'm not sure how the LoL engine handles collision with trees, since no other hero can currently fly over trees I'm assuming there are issues?  If you lose flight while over trees I'd search the closest open landing spot and land there.

Thor
Passive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack Damage
Mjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.  The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path..  6 second cooldown.
Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely.  The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it.  Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it).  Slight variant to Orianna's ball.  Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.
Control of Lightning Lightning Burst [W]: Toggled.  Melee attacks discharge a chain lightning dealing 40(+AP) damage to 3 targets.  8 mana cost per swing.  Let out a burst of lightning that electrocutes all enemies for 40 (+AP) in a cone in front of you.
Dimensional Portal [E]: If you are wielding Mjolnir, drops Mjolnir on the ground.  If you are not wielding Mjolnir, instantly teleports you to Mjolnir and you pick it up.  25 second cooldown.
Mjolnir Smite [R]: Only usable if Thor is wielding Mjolnir, Mjolnir falls from the sky and smashes target Champion for 300 (+AP) damage and stunning the target for 2 seconds..  Usable anywhere on the map. 90  90/75/60 second cooldown.
I realized that the "usable anywhere on the map" doesn't actually add anything.  A simple ranged stun move, combined with the rest of the kit, is plenty.

Captain America
Passive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.
Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage.  The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. All targets struck will be silenced slowed for 2 seconds. 10 15 second cooldown.
Vibranium Dissipation [W]: Captain America can no longer move or attack but becomes immune to all damage and spells in front of him for 1 second. 18 second cooldown  Lasts until Captain America attempts to move.  8 second cooldown.
The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America.  He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast.  All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated. 
Shield Slash [E]: Slash an enemy with your shield for 30 (+AD) damage and silence that enemy for 2 seconds.  9/7/5/3 second cooldown.
Defensive Roll [E]: Roll to target location.  Any enemy at the target location is pushed back and slowed for 3 seconds. 8 second cooldown.
Most of the kit is built on his passive, which blocks ranged basics.  To really make use of this Captain America benefits from a skill that lets him get in between enemies and his teammates, as well as a way to create a distance to help peel enemies off his friends.  The small knockback on enemies at the target location is intended to be extremely small, probably just the width of Captain America himself (like if a melee hero is on an ally, he can just inserts himself in between them)
Personal Sacrifice [R]: All damage done to nearby friendly champions is redirected to Captain America instead for 2 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
Beacon of Hope [R]: Captain America inspires his team, decreasing all damage taken by 15% for 5 seconds.  20 second cooldown.
I'm still not happy with this Ultimate.  Needs more work still.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Avengers as League of Legends Champions

edit 5/13/2012.  A revised version has been posted here
The Avengers is awesome.  League of Legends is pretty awesome too.  Just for fun, the Avengers as LoL Champions!  (note: powers listed are based on the movie, not the comic book.).

SPOILER ALERT: Some of the abilities have light movie spoilers.

Cooldown timers are approximate to communicate intent.

The Hulk
Passive: Whenever the Hulk takes damage, his attack damage is increased by 5% of the damage sustained.  This effect can build indefinitely, but resets when the Hulk has not taken damage for 5 seconds.
Punch [Q]: On an enemy, deals 30 (+AD) damage and knock them back.  When used on an ally Punch deals no damage but can still knock that ally back. 8 second cooldown.
Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie.  In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a  thin brush line, etc.
Leap [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.
Mighty Roar [E]: Passive: The hulk regenerates 2 Life per second.  Active: The Hulk lets out a mighty roar, removing all CC effects from himself and nearby allies. 25 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missiles
Adopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.
Additional Commentary: I played around with some Bruce / Hulk transformation designs but didn't like the way it was working out.  It started to have the Lee Sin / Nidalee complexity of 2 functions tied to every ability on top of requiring an enrage mechanic.  So instead I chose to just go with a straight Hulk design that exaggerates my favorite moments from the movie instead. Finally, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a way to properly capture the "totally invincible juggernaut" fantasy, so I totally failed on that front.

Iron Man
Passive: Iron Man's suit uses energy to bolster his defenses.  Iron Man gains 5% of his AP as Armor and Magic Resist.
Laser Torch [Q]: Fire a Laser Beam that deals 120 (+AP) damage to the first target in its path and mark it with Guidance System for 3 seconds.  Laser Torch deals 50% more damage if the target is also suffering from Missile Barrage. 8 second cooldown
Missile Barrage [W]: Launch 3 missiles at nearby targets for 80 (+AP) damage over 3 seconds. If there is an enemy with Guidance System on it, all 3 missiles will launch to it. 8 second cooldown
Billionaire Philanthropist [E]: Passive.  Gain an additional 1/2/4/6 gold every 10 seconds
Orbital Unibeam Targeting Array [R]: Lasers from overhead satellites instantly damage all enemy heroes for 50 (+AP) damage, places the Guidance System debuff on them and reveals their location on the map for 3 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
Additional Commentary: Ranged AP Nuker.  Probably could have been built as a melee hero from a lore standpoint and also how he's depicted in the movie, but the other champions turned out so melee oriented I figured I'd design Iron Man ranged. The damage on his ultimate is deliberately on the low side, I feel bad because it overlaps Karthas' ult a lot, which made me not want to do it.  The Ultimate started as simply a full map reveal, but that didn't feel sexy enough, which is what led to adding damage and Guidance System.  Not entirely happy with this one.

Thor
Passive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack Damage
Mjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.  The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path..  6 second cooldown.
Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely.  The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it.  Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it).  Slight variant to Orianna's ball.  Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.
Control of Lightning [W]: Toggled.  Melee attacks discharge a chain lightning dealing 40(+AP) damage to 3 targets.  8 mana cost per swing.  
Dimensional Portal [E]: If you are wielding Mjolnir, drops Mjolnir on the ground.  If you are not wielding Mjolnir, instantly teleports you to Mjolnir and you pick it up.  25 second cooldown.
Mjolnir Smite [R]: Only usable if Thor is wielding Mjolnir, Mjolnir falls from the sky and smashes target Champion for 300 (+AP) damage.  Usable anywhere on the map. 90 second cooldown.
Additional Commentary: Melee AP brawler with ranged abilities. I knew I wanted to do the hammer return, because they play that up in the movie a lot, but it was really hard to make hammer return work in terms of 4 abilities on a LoL champion.  In the comic book Lore, Thor could spin his hammer to create a dimensional portal to travel.  I wasn't sure how to make that work, but I could see Thor vanishing in a flash of lightning from a departure location and then a bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and allows Thor to materialize at his destination.  I think the final kit came out so-so on both the mechanics and aesthetic front.  Basically trying to do the Hammer Return that had value to a Hammer out in the world still feels a bit forced, but maybe it's 'cause I've been staring at the design all day.

Captain America
Passive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.
Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage.  The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. 10 second cooldown.
Vibranium Dissipation [W]: Captain America can no longer move or attack but becomes immune to all damage and spells in front of him.  Lasts until Captain America attempts to move.  8 second cooldown.
The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America.  He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast.  All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated. 
Shield Slash [E]: Slash an enemy with your shield for 30 (+AD) damage and silence that enemy for 2 seconds.  9/7/5/3 second cooldown.
Personal Sacrifice [R]: All damage done to nearby friendly champions is redirected to Captain America instead for 2 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
Additional Commentary: He's got a shield, he likes to protect people, so he's gotta be a tank.