Malphite, Shard of the Monolith
Overview:
Having gone largely unchanged until his recent small-scale rework, Malphite carries the cracks and imperfections that many older champions bear: specifically, being a walking bundle of unrelated functions without a clear theme or throughline.
My previous attempt at redesigning him was built almost entirely around his current ult, turning him into a slow-to-start powerhouse that could pick up momentum and slam himself into the enemy team. But that's not particularly unique. That's not particularly Malphite. Luckily, with Ornn bringing some interesting (albeit ill-fitting) terrain-based play to the table, we have a few new tricks for this old rock.
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With Ornn taking a break from headbutting walls to bring his legendary smithing abilities to the roster, Malphite can now be the new master of rock-solid terrain creation and manipulation. Even with much of this kit borrowing from displaced abilities, I still tried to break new ground with the ways in which a champion could interact with the map around them.
Natural for a hulking stone titan, Malphite is now much more powerful near the battlefield's rocky walls and corridors, drawing from them to bolster his defenses, using them as fuel for offensive pressure, and putting his foes between himself and these hard places. He is just as capable of creating and expanding on this terrain as well, when fights take him to more open areas.
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As mentioned before, Ornn's terrain creation and wall-smashing headbutt are carved into Malphite's kit. Taking from another hulking elemental (with a surprisingly similar-looking head), Maokai's current bramble wall lives on in a sense as a slowly-advancing, terrain-forming landslide.
Though these changes may seem strange, many of Malphite's old functions remain. Those who would miss his regenerating shield, face-first teamfight initiation, and penchant for throwing rocks have nothing to worry about. As for the folks who liked his speed stealing and debuffs? Unfortunately, not so much.
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Vanguard
Recommended Positions: Solo Sidelane, Jungle
Complexity: Medium
Innate: Granite Shield
Malphite draws in stones from nearby impassible terrain to reconstitute himself, shielding himself for (3% max HP) every 4 seconds.
This shield is applied 2% faster for every 1% health Malphite is missing, and can accumulate up to (15% max HP).
Q: Fracture
Malphite winds back and delivers a stone-shattering punch, dealing 30/45/60/75/90 +
(50% total AD) + (20% armor) physical damage to the first enemy struck and enemies adjacent to them, knocking them 650 units backwards and dealing the initial damage again if they collide with terrain.
If the punch strikes player-created terrain, Malphite will shatter it, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 + (100% total AD) + (40% armor) physical damage to enemies in a cone behind it.
If the punch strikes impassible terrain, Malphite will be rooted in place for up to 2 seconds and can re-cast Fracture during this time to throw a stone shard in the target direction, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 + (100% total AD) + (40% armor) physical damage to the first enemy struck and enemies in a cone behind it.
Range: 250 (punch range), 625 (toss range), 300 (shatter range), 70° (shatter angle)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 8
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana
W: Seismic Shard
Malphite slams the ground, sending a fissure in the target direction that stops at maximum range or 200 units behind a hit enemy champion, dealing 20/45/70/95/120 + (90% total AD) + (20% armor) physical damage and slowing enemies hit by 40% for 2 seconds.
After a 1 second delay, a Seismic Shard erupts at the end of the fissure, knocking aside enemies hit and lingering as impassible terrain for 4 seconds.
The Shard will not expire during Unstoppable Force.
Range: 800 (target range), 50 (effect radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 9/8.5/8/7.5/7
Cost: 45 mana
E: Unstoppable Force
Malphite charges forward, dealing 80/125/170/215/260 + (80% total AD) + (30% armor) physical damage to enemies he passes through, stopping upon colliding with impassible terrain.
If Malphite collides with terrain while charging, he creates a shockwave that deals the same damage and knocks up enemies within for 1 second. Enemies can only be damaged once by Unstoppable Force.
Range: 400 (min target range), 800 (max target range), 360 (shockwave radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12
Cost: 35/40/45/50/55 mana
R: Terraform
Malphite creates a colossal wave of 5 landslides that slowly advance forward, stopping and becoming impassible terrain for 6 seconds upon reaching maximum range or colliding with existing terrain.
Each landslide deals 80/120/160 + (50% total AD) + (15% armor) physical damage to enemies they pass through, before grounding them and slowing them by 60% for 0.5/0.75/1 seconds. Damage and effect duration are increased by up to 200% over the first 50% of Terraform's maximum range.
Range: 3000 (target range), 300 (wave width), 450 (wave length)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 120/100/80
Cost: 100 mana