I often spend time mucking about with champion designs. Occasionally I happen upon an idea so horrifically bad that it deserves to be put into the wild. Thakkrad Goldtooth is just such an idea.
Thakkrad was born through the epiphany that a champion could have abilities which cost gold to use, which is possibly one of the worst champion design concepts ever imagined. At the same time the idea was so unique and hilarious I couldn't help but attempt to make it work.
At the outset I recognized that there were two paths to take in order to balance this mechanic. The first path was to compensate Thakkrad for his trouble by making his abilities significantly stronger than normal. As he would be expending a meaningful amount of gold on his abilities, he would normally be weaker by virtue of having fewer items. The second path was to find a way to augment Thakkrad's gold income to make up for his extra expenditures. Both paths have significant issues.
The first path has the potential to snowball very powerfully. If Thakkrad were to get a lead he could easily leverage his over-potent skills to dominate the early and mid-game. While he'd have a slump toward the late-game, he'd be exceptional in very long games simply because by the end he'd eventually have a full item build plus naturally stronger abilities. This path seemed too difficult to balance, so I avoided it.
The second path has its own pitfalls. With an enhanced gold income, Thakkrad could potentially pull a "Bank Plank" and farm incessantly, show up with a trifecta of super-items, and destroy the game. It also had some snowball potential, though not as much. As this seemed easier to balance, and more unique, I took this route.
The net result was the following monstrosity.
Thakkrad Goldtooth, the Wealthy
Thakkrad is an extremely wealthy warrior from Lokfar. He gift for acquiring riches is matched only by his ability to spend them. He fights by swinging a giant bag filled with gold.
Passive: Avarice
All of Thakkrad's gold per 10 is doubled (includes base gold per 10).
Q: Crush
Thakkrad crushes an enemy under the weight of his wealth, dealing 50/100/150/200/250 (+ 1.5 Bonus AD) physical damage, and stunning the target for 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8/2.0 seconds. 14/13/12/11/10 second cooldown. Costs 17/19/21/23/25 gold.
W: Fast Money
Thakkrad passively gains 15/20/25/30/35 movement speed. When activated the passive bonus is doubled and Thakkrad gains 25/35/45/55/65% attack speed for 7 seconds. 12 second cooldown. Costs 20 gold.
E: Clear the Field
Thakkrad swings his bag around up to three times, dealing 20/35/50/65/80 (+ 0.3 Bonus AD) each swing and moving 30% slower than normal. At the end of his spin he hurls his bag, dealing 30/60/90/120/150 (+ 1.5 Bonus AD) damage to the first target hit and knocking them back. Thakkrad can activate this ability again to end his spin and throw the bag early. The knockback distance is based on the number of spins. 10 second cooldown. Costs 25 gold.
R: Ransom
Thakkrad gains 5/7.5/10 gold per 10. When Thakkrad dies, he can activate this ability to spend 30 + Level * 15 gold to revive immediately where he fell with full health. 180 second cooldown.
This is not a good champion design. This is, in fact, a terrible champion design. Without even taking his ultimate into account, Thakkrad can burn 400 gold per minute spamming his abilities without cooldown reduction. Despite looking like a bruiser he'd probably end up as a support, sitting in bushes waiting to crush opponents while abusing his massive gp10 advantage to get good items.
I can't overstate how bad this design is, or how fun it was to make.
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