Champion Sneak Peek - Graves, the Outlaw[]
By Average Gatsby[1]
If you've ever had a nemesis in your life that made you want to call him out for a showdown like the no-good, low-down, varmint, snake-in-the-grass that he is, you'll probably have a bit in common with this next champion. Allow me to introduce
, the Outlaw. In addition to being one of those crack-shot renegade types, Graves is possessed of a particular disinclination towards everyone's favorite Southern gentleman, .Whatever the result of his arrival in the League, one thing's for certain: Somebody's going to go out with a bang!
Graves Mechanics Preview[]
By Average Gatsby[2]
Greetings Summoners!
We wanted to take this opportunity to preview some of the gameplay on our newest ranged DPS champion:
, the Outlaw.This rough-and-tumble gunman uses a massive, hextech double-barreled shotgun to rain down death from a distance and punish any foolish varmints that get too close. For example,
shoots three quick shrapnel bursts in a cone in front of him. Unlike other multi-missile spells, however, all three rounds can all hit the same target (although each individual projectile will deal slightly reduced damage)Graves is also able to make it uncomfortable for foes to fight at his optimal range by throwing out
to limit enemy vision and slow them in an area, while lets him dash in for a quick shotgun blast or escape danger as needed. In this way he can control his positioning to set up maximum damage .Finally, Graves can use
to unleash a skill shot that nukes the first target it hits, spreading a cone of damage behind its target to hit anybody yellow enough to hide behind the tanks. While the single-target use is simple, properly utilizing the cone is what will separate the good Graves players from the great ones.Our goal with Graves was to make a ranged DPS that had some incentive to get up close or make enemies think twice before getting in your face. While it's completely possible to play Graves as a standard max-range carry, this dichotomy makes for skill differential without adding a high barrier to entry (or any hefty, paragraph-long tooltips) Whether trying to maximize the close-up damage of
, or setting up the 1-2 punch of , we're excited to add a champion with to the ranged DPS lineup.2016 Season Update[]
has always been about getting up close and personal to whatever he wants to make holes in, and now he's even stronger at that. We dare you to dive him.We're changing up Graves'
so they behave like his , meaning his basic attacks deal area of effect cone damage and knockback minions, although the three (yep - his shotgun still fires three rounds, and no, we still can't explain it) rounds can each be blocked. Still on Graves' basic attacks, he actually has an ammo system now, and reloads his gun after firing two rounds. Every round that lands reduces the cooldown on , which no longer grants attack speed but does reload his gun. Finally, we're tweaking , giving it a unique attack that deals two rounds of damage. We could try to explain it, or you could just watch the video.
- New Destiny
- End of the Line
- Smoke Screen
- Quickdraw
- Collateral Damage
Media[]
- Main article: Summoner icon
- Main article: Ward skins
- Main article: Emotes
- Main article: Card Back (Legends of Runeterra)
Trivia[]
- Graves is voiced by Kyle Hebert, who also voices and 6Jarvan IV in Legends of Runeterra.
- is voiced by Fred Tatasciore, who also voices him in the Tales of Runeterra cinematics.[4] Tatasciore also voices and .
- Hebert previously voiced . and pre-rework
- In the collaborative fan film Outlaw Origins, Graves is voiced by Luke Massy.
- Graves's Japanese voice actor is Hiroshi Shirokuma.[5]
- During development he was codenamed Gunslinger,[6] then named Briggs before settling onto Malcolm, which was inspired by Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly.[7]
- Graves' concept is heavily inspired by the American Old West and the Western genre.
- His poncho might be referencing the Man with No Name from the Dollars Trilogy.
- One of the scrapped narrative concepts for Graves was for him to be married or an ex-lover of [10]
- The concept of having "palpable sexual tension" between the characters was preserved in their final lore.
.
References[]
- ↑ Champion Sneak Peek - Graves, the Outlaw
- ↑ Graves Mechanics Preview
- ↑ 2016 Season Update
- ↑ Graves' voice actor in Tales of Runeterra
- ↑ Official Japanese Voice Actor List Released For All Champions (Up to Qiyana's Release)
- ↑ Gunslinger
- ↑ IronStylus on champion names
- ↑ http://www.wales.ac.uk, English Proto-Celtic Word List, p. 8
- ↑ Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, p. 741
- ↑ Runaan of Graves and Twisted Fate