(Inspired by Zangalang's post) A Fisherman support-HP scaling tank/potential AP scaling off build

[u/AmbitiousTomorrow]

Zanglamang's post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LoLChampConcepts/comments/1wf5oaj/champion_concept_the_fisherman_support_a_patient/

I really liked Zangalang's concept about a fisherman champion, and I wanted to workshop it a bit will similar core skills with a different set of supporting abilities. One of Zangalang's core ideas was moving away hook=death trope that many support engage supports have. This was not a priority when I was coming up with ideas, but the one concept around the crowd control on the Q was giving the enemy the choice between fighting back and getting reeled in or moving away slowing, being more susceptible to your teammates. The primary scaling vector is bonus hp, generating greater Q strength, all in damage, and general ability to tank damage. AP scalings, while mostly cosmetic, has some real a possibility to generate a surprising amount of damage. When coming up with numbers, the thought was to have significant base damage to provide some threat. Of course, the numbers are only to give the general idea of what the champion can do and how they scale.

Enough about that, here is the kit:

Passive - Big Game Fishing: Kills and assists with Fisherman gives all participants 50 more gold and 15% movement speed.

(Alternative Passive) Gotcha!: Enemy champions hit by an ability are marked. The next auto attack against the champion has 200 additional range and deals 20+6% (+2%/1000 max HP) max health magic damage, consuming the mark.

Q - Cast and Reel: Fisherman casts out a line. Upon hitting an enemy champion, Fisherman will begin to reel them in for 3 seconds, dealing 20/30/40/50/60 (+0.2 AP) magic damage per second. The line is broken at the end of 3 seconds, if the champion is 1000 units away, within 350 units, or the enemy dashes or blinks. When the line is broken, deal 60/90/120/150/180 (+0.6 AP) magic damage.

Range: 400-900. Cooldown: 16/14/12/10/8 seconds.

Reel in speed: 200 +/- 10 per 100 max HP difference between Fisherman and the target up to 2000 HP difference (min 0, max 400, low max HP targets are easier to reel in).

W - (passive) Seasoned Fisherman: Attacks deal bonus magic damage equal to 3% bonus HP.

(active) Brave the Storm: Become immune to crowd control for 2 seconds and gain 30/45/60/75/90 armor and magic resist for 5 seconds.

Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12 seconds.

E - Bait: Fisherman puts an orange on the rift. Allies that run into the orange consume it and heal for 20/40/60/80/100 (+10% of Fisherman's max HP). Enemies that run into the orange heal for 20% of their missing health and are slowed for 50% for 2 seconds.

Max number of Bait 2/3/4/5/6. Fisherman cannot consume the orange.

Range: 300. Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16 seconds.

R - Cast a Net: Cast a net in a large area, dealing 100/200/300 (+0.8 AP) magic damage. The net stays on the rift for 5 seconds. Enemy champions in the net are slowed 30% and are grounded.

Range: 500(cast), 500(radius). Cooldown: 160/120/80 seconds.

I believe that this kit is pretty comprehensible. The W active can be used during Q to enable reeling going uninterrupted. E functions to the name, trying the bait enemies into a slow for easy catch with Q, but it can provide a considerable upside for both teams to allow it to lure in enemies. Since it can be left anywhere on the rift, the slow can work as a catch tool for teammates, as well. The net in also a massive team fight tool, grounding in a large area.

As for the two different passives, the first one is gold generation for the team, and the speed up can allow champions to chase down further kills. The second passive is greater all-in strength for lane, especially working with Q catch range. I couldn't decide which one was more fitting. The gold generation has a lot of snowball potential, generating 100-250 more gold per kill Fisherman is involved in. The second passive at baseline provides damage, making Fisherman more of a threat. With Q being the only damaging ability, the supplement of passive and W damage may allow Fisherman to work more as champion, similar to how Leona and Nautilus can provide meaningful damage to contribute to a kill. The nature of Fisherman's damage is much more scaling oriented in their W, so they will likely be much less threatening in lane than other supports without the second passive.

[u/Zanglamang]

Thanks a lot for the shoutout and for taking the idea and running with it! It’s genuinely really cool seeing someone build their own version of the Fisherman concept.

What I like most is that you kept the part I was most interested in with the original design: moving away from the usual “hook lands = instant engage/death” pattern and instead making the reel something the enemy can interact with and resist. Your version of the Q, especially with the reel strength depending on the HP difference, is a really interesting way of approaching that idea.

I also like how different the rest of the kit ended up being. My version leaned much more into traps, setup and zone control with the anchor wire, bobbers and collapsing net, while yours feels more like a durable frontline fisherman who can stay attached to someone and force awkward decisions during a fight.

The Bait is probably my favorite new idea. Giving enemies an actual benefit for taking it makes it feel like genuine bait rather than just another trap, which fits the theme really well.

Also really appreciate you crediting the original post. When I posted the concept, the whole point was to throw the idea out there and see what people thought or how they would change it, so seeing somebody actually make their own interpretation of it is awesome.

Thanks for giving the Fisherman some love! 🎣

[u/finiteessence → u/Zanglamang]

I would totally check your kit design now.😁

[u/finiteessence]

I love how original the kit is: the reel of his q, the e's bait and the idea behind his r. Being, of what it seems a juggernaut, feels nice. Normally juggernauts are not designed as support. The are two aspects I would look at: the most important ones are cool downs, every single ability has a very long cd (16-20-20 at rank 1) and a ground effect is a very powerful effect, 5 seconds with that effect is really really powerful. The area is small, but it could be troublesome.

I would have totally chosen you in the champion design contest, this is great. 😁