Xerath, the Magus Ascendant
Overview:
Once a mage with a unique (but somewhat unrelated) gameplay hook of rooting himself in place to increase his ability range, Xerath now occupies the not-so-unique niche of "super long range poke mage" along with Vel'Koz, Lux, Ziggs, etc.
My initial redesign was created with his origins in mind: a being of energy locked in a magic sarcophagus, whose every surge of magic loosened the bonds and created the cracks that would eventually lead to an opening of the floodgates of power. I'm still pretty happy with that redesign, so this is mostly a touch-up.
-
The main changes here are making Mage Chains a bit more interactive than a point-and-click (which is for the best, considering how strong its effects are), and to curve the power of Magic Missile to fall more in line with his other abilities.
-
With Aatrox now being more about sinister swordplay than punching the ground to shoot chains at people, a more mage-oriented version of that ability was a natural fit for Xerath's kit. It's not too different in function than his current Shocking Orb, being a single-target crowd control skill that's more advantageous when landed on distant foes.
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Artillery
Recommended Positions: Solo Midlane
Complexity: Low
Innate: Runic Bolts
Xerath starts with 5 stacks of Runic Bolts, which restore 0.5% of his maximum mana every second while in place.
Using an ability destroys a Runic Bolt and grants a stack of Ascended Form (up to 5), granting him 6 to 24 (based on level) bonus AP, increasing the mana costs of his abilities by 5%, and modifying his abilities' effects.
If Xerath hasn't used an ability within 8 seconds, he will lose all stacks of Ascended Form, and regain all 5 stacks of Runic Bolts.
Q: Arcanopulse
Xerath fires a beam of arcane energy in the target direction after a 0.75 second delay, dealing 75/115/155/195/235 + (60% AP) magic damage to all enemies hit.
Arcanopulse's range is increased by 20% per stack of Ascended Form.
Range: 650
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 6/5.75/5.5/5.25/5
Cost: 65/70/75/80/85 mana
W: Mage Chains
Xerath sends a bolt of binding magic in the target direction that stops upon hitting an enemy, dealing 80/110/140/170/200 + (45% AP) magic damage.
If Mage Chains hits an enemy champion, they are chained to the center of an arcane sigil. If the chained enemy is still within the sigil after 1.5 seconds, they are dragged to the center and rooted for 0.75 seconds.
The sigil's diameter is increased by 20% per stack of Ascended Form.
Range: 750 (range), 350 (sigil radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 13/12.5/12/11.5/11
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana
E: Magic Missile
Xerath releases a slow-moving cluster of arcane energy that travels towards the target enemy for up to 5 seconds, dealing 45/70/95/120/145 + (45% AP) magic damage to the first enemy it collides with and slowing them by 80% for 0.5 seconds.
Xerath releases an additional, smaller Magic Missile per stack of Ascended Form that deals 9/14/19/24/29 + (9% AP) magic damage to the first enemy it collides with and slows them by 40% for 0.25 seconds.
Magic Missiles will quickly accelerate towards their target if they are damaged by one of Xerath's other abilities.
Range: 700
Targeting Type: Targeted
Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6
Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 mana
R: Rite of the Arcane
Xerath channels for 3 seconds, creating a tremendous concentration of arcane energy above him over the duration, before launching it towards the target area. Enemies that remain in the area after 1 second will be engulfed in an explosion that deals 375/600/825 + (180% AP) magic damage.
Rite of the Arcane's channel time is decreased by 0.5 seconds per stack of Ascended Form.
Range: 650 (target range), 500 (effect radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Circle
Cooldown: 130/115/100
Cost: 100 mana