User blog:Double Slap/Zara, The Cryptic King

Note

 * Highest damage output to expect on a single autoattack is 3,596. Utilizing, , , and three items with full  runes.
 * The cast time for Archaic Bludgeon is 0.5 seconds.
 * The interval between disappearing and reappearing with Runic Redux is also 2 seconds.
 * If Zara's or  is reduced lower than the ratio of his shield, he will diminish his shield similar to the total shield,  per second, until it reaches the adjusted ratio.

Design
I've gone down the beaten path of trying to make a legitimate Assassin/Tank. I was working on this for a while and came to no avail since a tank that deals damage is simply a beefed up fighter. I've had some debates in the past with tanks in general with Ntoulinho. When I came to the question, "What makes a tank unique?" Upon blueprinting a design for a tank, I remembered this old project of mine.

I thought to myself about the significance of hybrids. Not just the and  everyone thinks of, but also the primary and secondary mixes and symbiosis seen in life in general. On the economic scale, it is done for growth in efficiency through trading. On a biological scale, it is done to avoid hazards and also for efficiency. In League of Legends, it is done to enhance one particular iteration to an indomitable force. One such example is in the typical item build of an ADC. These champions buy massive amounts of, , , and armor penetration in order to amplify the one thing that converges from all of them: autoattacks.

Looking in terms of class primary and secondary attributes, mage supports are known for their relentless battering of bursts and utility due to how and CDR are where they converge. The mix creates an effect of helplessness from enemies since good reactions from the mage support can allow for much juking due to the frequent level of downtime between abilities. A mix of tanks and fighters, being very apparent, is through the duration of battle due to being where they converge. Living to fight longer is the main point of the tank fighters which allows them to fearlessly charge into an ongoing battle bringing large momentum in fights to feel like an inescapable truck bulldozing its way through. So what about assassins and tanks? Where could they possibly converge? I concluded it was their base damage.

Assassins are known for getting their penetration. It allows them to handle any counters to their ratios and push their lead as far as possible. However, tanks are also known to forgo their damage options for additional base damage due to their low ratios. Juggernauts, who are mixes of tank fighters, get items such as and  to exemplify this point of high base damage with some like  being also designed for. As such, I found that the only way to truly make an assassin tank work is to take advantage of penetration and throw gigantic amounts of base damage into the kit.

Champions like and  are seen with numbers that only scale with levels, to simulate getting a lead over the enemy. I decided to make this top priority by literally removing all ratios that would increase damage output and instead making the whole damage output scale with levels. That means that if there is no lead, there is no coming back. No turnabout elixirs here, sorry. Q~Q However, I used this as legitimacy for the massive numbers you see on Zara. Having an ultimate that deals a net 2,700 damage is nothing to scoff at. It also loosens priorities a bit. Instead of ranking up an ability to maximize damage, priority shifts towards the utility since the damage will go up through levels anyways.

The visceral aspect of the priority on base damage is massive impact. Tanks are known for having large downtimes and assassins are known for being very vulnerable. By creating a gigantic level of base damage and armor and magic resistance shredding, there is a massive amount of pain able to be dealt with the combination of your own damage and the damage of teammates. The combination also crushes the priority of building damage as there are no ratios for increasing damage output outside of and  for the shredding. However, this brought about massive struggles that I compromised through pushing the boundaries vastly.

The handicaps I placed are all speed related. More specifically: movement speed,, cast times, and DPS vulnerability. I cut down on movement speed, because the last thing we need is a monster slapping every carry with a. If, and potentially , did not have infinite damage scaling, I would say that this is the most intense form of a juggernaut as you can get. Of such grandiose intensity that it pushes itself from the boundaries of fighter into assassin. As such I needed to completely obliterate and significantly lengthen cast times to prevent him from being ridiculously overboard.
 * The DPS vulnerability comes with his tankiness. Now, if he is tanky why can't he survive DPS? Well, the method I went about it completely removes the prominence of sustain--such as the potentially insane lifesteal. By completely removing damage resistance, Zara is going to be taking tremendous damage output. Proof is in how we believe assassins are the top notch damage around, when carries obviously have the highest damage output due to consistency.

The compensations I gave back to him were all burst related. More specifically: gigantic, turret destruction, largest pool, and burst durability. The tremendous allows him to utilize powerful autoattacks like  and. I want to encourage the more offensive route of since his slow actions make him feel like a traditional samurai due to the tremendous force behind each strike. With this tremendous force in mind, I felt that all this compensation was still not enough to make Zara feel powerful in a unique way. So I gave his Blade of the Ruined King the ability to damage turrets on its true and physical damage portions. I wanted to give a vibe similar to how barrels into a turret with his ultimate as it is an extremely slow ability. Due to how important his abilities are, I made a shift towards having a large pool with low capability to regenerate it. I wanted to give Zara the priority of using his abilities carefully while not giving him too much stress over. While he will still need to build, having the largest pool will at least alleviate it slightly.
 * The burst durability is through his tankiness. Since assassins and carries are known for getting penetration, I wanted to create a method that would defend him against penetration. As such, I thought about the concept of EHP. If his EHP was unaffected by penetration, it would be tremendous. I liked the limitations a shield gave so I transformed what was supposed to be EHP into shields. Zara has slight vulnerability to and  reductions in terms of tankiness, but it is over time rather than immediate. This means that in order to defeat him, methods of increasing raw damage is best. However, against burst, the fact he can transform investment in  into a shield against physical damage and vice versa is very valuable. However, I balanced it in a way that is not too much over a super.

As for the background of Zara, he is actually one of the original characters made in my story. In my story, he is known as the conqueror due to wielding the sword called: the Avenger. He is the rival of another called the guardian, who wields a sword called: the Defender. If this sounds familiar, yes these are both the same as of Lenaieka's sword from Nazareadain. I was very surprised with how well it matched with my own story. Her upbringing was a lot like Don, the guardian's. However since Runeterra has nothing to do with my story, I am transforming Zara into a totally different character which will avoid any clashes.

While he is supposed to be something like a General from the Fire Emblem series, I am instead making him a samurai ghoul to better fit into the lore of League of Legends from my story. Since anger and death are two very prominent themes in my story, the Shadow Isles is a very good place for many of my characters. It's particularly good for Zara though, since he the Shadow Isles is in the Conqueror's Seas. However, runes and glyphs are of immeasurable importance and as such I gave him a title that seamlessly merges it all together, The Cryptic King.

Lore
A Distant Memory=

"Gracefully..." With elegant agility, a slice cuts straight through a tree. The lumberjacks holler in approval as the tree begins crashing down.

"Thanks chief! We couldn't even be able to cut em down with a battleaxe--let alone a hatchet," a worker expresses in gratitude for taking down the largest timber in the forest.

"The key is in the form." Zara expresses as he sheaths his sword. "It's our most prominent weakpoint. Practice that and while you are at it, practice calling me King. This is a kingdom afterall."

Returning from the foothills of the Ironspike Mountains, Zara gazed upon his kingdom. Curved in a horseshoe fashion to match the bay jutting between it, Zara hardly could believe that he inherited this at the speed that he did. Building upon the remnants of a war-ridden dominion, Zara was in the process of expanding the grounds of a fallen faction. Not too long ago, Zara was but only the chieftain of a neighboring village. However, after a long series of internal disputes within a fallen empire, one of the factions nearby sought to Zara's village for help.

Zara sprung into action with magnanimous zeal, commanding every villager to gather resources and assessing the efficiency of their labor. It was not long until Zara gained such a large reputation within the faction of the empire that they decided to merge territories and declare him as their new king.

Zara's niece was happier than she could ever be as she could finally utilize her skill with the spear in ways other than hunting. Suddenly Zara rushed back to his castle, as he remembered that she was scheduled to see him. She was going to show Zara a new trick using the weight of her spear to propel herself in any direction. He knew it was possible to propel oneself forward, but backward was something that piqued his curiosity.

"How's the city folk?" Zara asked as he passed a lieutenant of the Iron Order.

"At ease," he grunted in reply.

Stated contradictory to how the lieutenant felt. A large portion of the Iron Order were remnants of the fallen empire. The lowly were ruthless, the great were warmongers. After the great chaos of anarchy, the peaceful times was a large contrast for the knights. Too disparate for some to handle.

While Zara found his work to be grand, others knew that the empire was moreso. An expanse stretching along the eastern borders of Valoran was all the domain of the lost empire. While some were appreciative of the kind acts of Zara, others found he pushed too far. Some thought him a great king, others believed him a weak replacement. With that, the story fades into darkness. A darkness I cannot remember.



Conquering the Abyss=

Light shimmers and refracts upon my gaze...

Where am I?

It is cold and heavy. Drifting toward a dark place.

This place is wet and flowing. Is it the ocean? No, no. I would be drowning. Unless...

No way, I would be rising rather than falling as is heavier. Much heavier, I would know. Falling? Ah, yes it is I who drifts toward the abyss. I'll wade in these waters soon enough, but I can't.

My arms? I move, yet I do not move. I gaze around me. Fish. Yes, I must be in the ocean deep. However, that is a big fish. A really big fish. In fact, it's almost as if-

"Holy shit! A fish is on my arm!"

I yell, but I cannot hear. Nobody can hear. I'm alone. Well, except for this fish.

Is this how I die? Drowning into the abyss, with a fish.

No. I'm in the ocean, deep within. Yet I do not drown. I had a fish gnawing away at my flesh. Yet I did not notice. Thus I cannot die, I will not drown, and I cannot lose. Especially when-

"I eat fish like you for breakfast!" Clamoring to reach my sword as an explosion of light fills the expanse of darkness with a blue luminosity, I look the fish dead in its dead fish eye.

Wait, dead fish eye? This fish is dead, yet it is alive and gnawing as I bash it ruthlessly with my sword. Slicing it's fins, tearing its cartilage, making sashimi from this dead fish until finally, it lets go.

The fish crashes into the abyss as I stand beside it. Bubbles soar towards the surface as I let out a sigh. I stare upward at the fading light, my newfound destination. Stuck in a crevice, the only way to go is up. However, it will not be easy.

I'll need to conquer these seas to rise up. That won't be hard. I did not die. I did not drown. I did not lose.

So I take up my sword, tip my broken crown to the shark that challenged me, and I move forward--toward the accursed fish that I see in the dying of the light.



Runic Affinity=

"Accursed fool..." I muttered to myself, as I set up runes to cross the Serpentine River. "Thinking that the World Rune would protect his tribe forever." Glancing over at my glowing satchel I let out a sigh. "This kind of power will only backstab anyone who tries to tame it."

Completing the inscription, I grab my satchel to place the World Rune in a place where nobody can find it. However, as I held the satchel, I could not help but remember those I have left behind as I look back, towards the Freljord. Looking ahead, I see the river and think, "This crossing would only be able to fit five anyways. Plus, I cannot have anyone stealing the World Runes during the pass."

Before I can get into position, I feel a rumble. The rumble grows louder passing moment.

"An earthquake, in Kaladoun? No, that's impossible. However if it's coming from the ocean-" I panic and scramble to set up a barrier. If a tsunami truly was coming, it would be coming fast and there would be no time to run. As I finish my barrier and step inside, a wave of dread fills my soul as I see the surface of the ocean resonate with a circular expansion. I take my stance as the head of a leviathan breaks the surface.

"By the scrolls, what is a leviathan doing this close to the shore?" I exclaim as I blast an arcane bolt at the leviathan, but the leviathan continues to rise with an amplifying quake each passing moment. As I barrage the monster with a flurry of my arcane prowess, I cannot help but wonder, "Why does this leviathan not recoil?" As I ponder upon this, I find that the leviathan is lying on top of another rising object. Trying to discern what it is, the quaking amplifies as I finally bear witness to a massive clouded eye.

"A whale?!"

I fall in complete awe as I see the corpse of a whale rising alongside the leviathan. Upon further examination, even the leviathan was long been dead. Beyond the whale, I witnessed the crushed remains of sharks, giant squids, Kraken, etc. Once the stacked remains rose to as high as a mountain, it crashed upon the shoreline. A crater was formed on the marshland in its wake. I could not help, but barf in utter disgust of the putrid flesh that lied before me.

"Where could I sell these?" An unknown voice asks. I look around me to see that a ghastly being snuck up behind me. I scrambled into a battle stance as quickly as possible, but- "Woah, woah! I don't mean any harm." the ghoul interjects. "I just want to know where I could sell these... fish."

Composing myself I replied, "Sorry, but I highly doubt anyone would buy those things."

"Ah..." The ghoul releases with a disappointed sigh. "I figured as much. Who would even want to eat this junk?"

"Eat?!" I exclaim in total surprise. "I thought you were going to sell this as game, trophies for collectors."

"Oh, right," the ghoul affirms. "I could have done that couldn't I?"

As the ghoul examined the fishes, I took time to examine his form. The ghoul bore a broken crown alongside a sword he began poking the fishes with, I assume both eroded from the ocean. Despite his absent-minded disposition and rugged clothing, an aura of regal might emanates from his ghastly outlook. It comes to at no surprise to me due to the mighty strength I stand witness to, as he rummages through the flesh, carrying whole sharks with one arm as the other dangling arm fell off. Wait a second.

"Hey." I call out to the ghoul.

"Yeah?" he replies.

"Well, your arm..."

"What about it?" he questions further.

"It fell."

"Fell?"

"Well, fell off."

"Oh!" the regal ghoul chortles. "Don't worry about that, it's useless anyways."

Silence in disbelief, I can only shake my head. Suddenly, I notice something peculiar--something dangerous.

"Hey-"

"Zara," he replies, " and you are?"

"." I reply to the sudden introduction.

", I see. Okay, go on."

"May I have a look at your crown?"

A sharp silence cuts between us as he ponders. Did I push too far? To incur the wrath of this being would be the end of me. Despite my worries, Zara removes his crown. "I don't see what could spark your interest about this rusty old thing, but go ahead."

Zara passes the crown to me and I touch the jewel within. It is faint, cold, but alive.

"If it does not trouble you, I would like for us to go to my study," I offer to Zara to further examine this crown.

"That's fine with me, I don't have a destination anyways." Zara accepts as he tears away a freshly killed shark. "Can I bring this?"

I nod as I change the destination of the runes to the Freljord. Beckoning Zara inside, I begin the channel to the other realm. I must verify the integrity of the crown. Zara may be a mighty foe, but if it comes to it, I will face him head on. Else the World Rune, that is his crown, may spark another disaster.

To be continued...