Darius, the Hand of Noxus
Overview:
Darius is the champion I usually cite when bringing up holistic kits with great internal synergy, with all of his abilities lending their power to each other to create a champion who is truly mighty when able to play to his distinct strengths.
My initial redesign was meant to push his strengths and weaknesses even further, giving him more power over longer fights but also requiring him to chop away at enemies a bit more before he hits 100%. This (re)redesign is meant to bridge the gap between my earlier work and his recent official update, hopefully reaping the best of both.
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Compared to his current iteration, the main differences with this Darius are that he takes a bit longer to max out Hemorrhage stacks and doesn't pop off as much offensively when he does, but in return has been given the defensive tools he needs to let him drag out fights long enough for him to be able to end them single-handedly.
Darius's main defensive tool has been moved from his Q's heal to threshold rewards for stacking his Innate, with his Q in turn letting him ramp up more quickly over the course of the match. Since this defense has moved from an emergency heal to a temporary shield, he'll have a bit less sustain when playing passively, but in turn will have more of a defensive edge against committed assaults.
(As a side note - since 10 bleed stacks are a lot harder to keep track of visually than 5, and since there is an important threshold once he hits half those stacks, hitting 5 stacks could consolidate the floating indicators into half of the Noxian Axe symbol, allowing the next 5 to build up as usual before consolidating and completing the symbol at 10 stacks.)
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Juggernaut
Recommended Positions: Solo Sidelane
Complexity: Low
Innate: Hemorrhage
Dealing damage to non-structure targets with basic attacks or abilities causes them to bleed every 1.25 seconds for 5 seconds, dealing 9 to 20 (based on level) + (20% bonus AD) physical damage over the duration. This can stack up to 10 times for a maximum of
90 to 200 (based on level) + (200% bonus AD) physical damage over the duration.
Applying a 5th stack of Hemorrhage to a champion or monster, or dealing direct damage to a champion or monster with 5 or more stacks of Hemorrhage grants Noxian Might for 5 seconds, shielding Darius for (7% missing HP) every 1.25 seconds, up to (20% total HP). Applying a 10th stack of Hemorrhage or killing an enemy with Noxian Guillotine doubles Noxian Might's effects for 5 seconds.
Noxian Might's shield gradually decays after not damaging an enemy champion or monster for 10 seconds.
Q: Decimate
Darius hefts his axe, disarming himself for 0.75 seconds. He then swings it around himself, dealing 50/80/110/140/170 + (100/110/120/130/140% total AD) physical damage to nearby enemies, reduced to 35% against enemies hit by the handle.
Enemies hit by the blade receive an additional 1/1/2/2/3 stacks of Hemorrhage.
Decimate doesn't apply Hemorrhage to enemies hit by the handle.
Range: 425 (effect radius), 205 (inner radius)
Targeting Type: None
Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5
Cost: 30/35/40/45/50 mana
W: Crippling Strike
Darius's next basic attack within 4 seconds gains 25 bonus range, deals
(30/35/40/45/50% total AD) bonus physical damage, and slows its target by 90% for 1 second. Damaging an enemy with at least 1 stack of Hemorrhage causes Crippling Strike to apply an additional stack.
If Crippling Strike kills the target, it refunds its mana cost and half of its cooldown.
Range: None
Targeting Type: None
Cooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5
Cost: 40 mana
E: Apprehend
PASSIVE: Damage dealt by Hemorrhage ignores 30/40/50/60/70% of the target's armor.
ACTIVE: Darius pulls in all enemies within a cone in the target direction, slowing them by 40% for 1 second. Apprehend briefly reveals its target area.
Range: 535 (range), 50° (angle)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Cone
Cooldown: 24/21/18/15/12
Cost: 70/60/50/40/30 mana
R: Noxian Guillotine
Darius attempts to execute the target enemy champion, leaping towards them over 0.3 seconds to deal 100/200/300 + (75% bonus AD) true damage, increased by 0% to 130% (based on Hemorrhage stacks).
If the target dies within 0.15 seconds after being hit by Noxian Guillotine, Darius causes all nearby minions and monsters to flee for 3 seconds during which they are rapidly slowed for by up to 99% over the duration, and is able to re-cast the ability within 20 seconds at no cost.
At rank 3, Noxian Guillotine instead completely resets its cooldown if the target dies within 0.15 seconds.
Range: 460
Targeting Type: Targeted
Cooldown: 120/100/80
Cost: 100/100/0