Talk:Elise/@comment-74.56.47.106-20121018023607/@comment-5523473-20121018101311

Everyone tunnel visions when they cry about originality, and some of the claims are completely whack (OMG Darius is Axe from DotA!!!!1!!). People need to understand that in games like LoL and DotA, there are a limited number of basic skill ideas and mechanics - steroids, debuffs, shields, point-and-click nukes, auras, dashes, for example. These mechanics WILL BE RE-USED, because they are fundamental.

A champion's originality stems from the combination of the mechanics used in their skills, and the resulting interaction of those skills (playstyle). Riven has a shield, so does Malphite. That doesn't mean that they're unoriginal. Riven's shield is combined with a dash and scales on AD - essentially, it is a skill that provides her mobility and defense, based on offense. Malphite's shield scales on max health and reactivates itself after some time not taking damage - this shield greatly rewards itemizing for tankiness. The difference in scalings and mechanics between skills, therefore, can result in fundamentally different uses of the skills, although they may bear some similarities.

The interaction of these skills with the rest of the champion's skillsets can also create originality. Riven's shield and its short dash combines well with the rest of her short-range but mobile skillset, allowing her to get in range to hit the rest of her abilities while providing some damage mitigation. The shield also allows her to do greater damage with her passive. Malph's shield, on the other hand, is not linked to mobility; however, his armor scalings and steroid signifies that he should be building armor to enhance the EHP of his shield. One shield is for a fighter who needs some damage reduction, the other is for a tank who is ridiculously hard to kill. Similar examples abound (Nidalee and Soraka's heals, Rengar and Voli's roars).

tl;dr Saying champs are unoriginal because they share some basic mechanics is like saying books are unoriginal because they share the same letters.