Ahri's my favorite character, though my fondness for her is unfortunately greater than my skill at using her.
My kid brothers got into League of Legends before I did. I was kind of holding off on playing it, until Ahri came out - she was my icebreaker: the champion I installed the game to play (though I've widened my horizons since).
Overtime I've had a few questions I've been burning to ask about her, questions I figured I could just try and ask here:
Design:
Her Passive, Essence Theft:
Why exactly did you make it this way? 9 stacks to get a 35% spell vamp bonus on the ensuing ability... that always kind of seemed overconvoluted for the purpose of following the 'number 9 theme'. It's mostly made me envious of Morgana's passive, which just seems so much more reliable.
Her identity as 'mage/assassin':
After my time playing her, I've come to not really consider Ahri an assassin. Ahri seems designed to do more damage as she closes distance, but aside from her occasional spurt of mobility... her ability to pursue never felt that great to me because she lacked the prowess to do the kind of takedowns I see from other AP assassins like, say, Akali. There's also how her two skillshots force her to be immobile when she fires them off.
Then again, maybe it's my caution that colors my opinion of Ahri differently. I tend to wear down my opponents with standoff poking and if they are rash while below half thier health, I'll set them up for a EQRRWR combo to finish them off. But that methodology fixes her far more firmly in the mage category to me.
So, I was hoping you could tell me: why put the assassin label? What did you intend design-wise that I'm not seeing?
Recommended items for pre-season 3:
That was a significant change!
The only thing she seems to have in common with what she had before are the Doran's Ring, Sorcerer Boots and Death Cap.
What happened there? Why are you recommending the new items? I'm particularily baffled by the absence of Rylai's crystal scepter as well as the presence of two items (deathfire grasp and abyssal rod) that require mid-to-short range distance to get the most out of them - a distance which seems very risky to linger in for the squishy- err, soft-skinned Ahri when she'd likely survive better at the standoff distance I usually have her fling her orb from.
Art:
Classic skin coloration:
I think Ahri looks great. I use Foxfire Ahri due to the great quality and particles, but I'm sometimes tempted to return to the classic because I like how feminine and elegant it feels like.
However, there's one design decision of Classic Ahri that I don't understand. The color of the hair and tail - why don't the hair and tails match?
I could get variations: they happen in nature. I'd have expected her to have hair as pale as the fur of her tails or furred tails as dark as her hair, but Classic Ahri kind of breaks that notion; her hair color is a beautiful black, but her tails are sleek with much paler fur.
So, I ask : why? She's the exception: all her other skins - Dynasty, Midnight and Foxfire - have a more cohesive color scheme with hair and tails more closely matching.
Whisker marks:
It might seem silly, but it's one of the design choices I like the least about Ahri. Following her lore, how she came to look human, there seems to be no reason why she'd end up with marks like that on her cheeks.
Then again, I suppose you could turn the argument around and point out the same about her clothes - Ahri could simply choose to use makeup in her face that way. ~_~
Though the marks could just as well not have been there. Some versions of Ahri I've seen were smooth-cheeked. The only thing the whiskers appear to have in common is the anime character Naruto.
Now, don't get me wrong: I actually dislike when people reference Ahri with Naruto. As I picked Ahri partly because I really enjoy the nine-tailed fox myth, the Naruto references feel like they only scratch the surface of what I see of the theme.
So, I ask: was giving Ahri the face-whiskers a marketing-oriented decision to have fans of the Naruto anime connect more with her to draw more clients into purchasing her that way?
Ahri in American Art and Chinese Art:
Is there a special reason why both are so disassociated?
I don't want to belittle the people whom worked on the splash art we see Ahri as in America - iterations are part of the art process - but I find the chinese art for the Dynasty and Midnight skin splashes to be of higher quality today. Is there a special reason we don't end up using them in North America? I mean, it's hard not to see chinese Midnight Ahri as being some very sexy art - I might've bought it if it had been presented so!
Are they that mutually exclusive? I mean, there's some chinese artwork used as background to mastery pages, if I remember correctly.
Ahri concept art:
Is there any art of Ahri before she started appearing in splash art prototypes? You know, character concept sheets like RiotZeronis shows off on his DeviantArt gallery (Zyra, Syndra and Elise all look pretty amazing over there). I never saw anything equivalent for Ahri - I'm wondering if there was anything like it.
Ahri's my favorite character, though my fondness for her is unfortunately greater than my skill at using her.
My kid brothers got into League of Legends before I did. I was kind of holding off on playing it, until Ahri came out - she was my icebreaker: the champion I installed the game to play (though I've widened my horizons since).
Overtime I've had a few questions I've been burning to ask about her, questions I figured I could just try and ask here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Design:
Her Passive, Essence Theft:
Why exactly did you make it this way? 9 stacks to get a 35% spell vamp bonus on the ensuing ability... that always kind of seemed overconvoluted for the purpose of following the 'number 9 theme'. It's mostly made me envious of Morgana's passive, which just seems so much more reliable.
Whenever making a new champion we always want to ensure thematic cohesion, especially when working on characters that are very important to different regions. In this case, I wanted the number 9 to be an important aspect to the character (as seen in her passive as well as her ultimate (3x3 shots)).
It also added to her gameplay flow and thought process. A good Ahri player knows how many stacks they are on, and pays attention to which spell she will vamp with in order to maximize potential life gain. Generally I try to make my characters follow the general design principle of easy to use yet hard to master. Whenever possible I try to add ways that players can see/understand that they are getting better over time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Her identity as 'mage/assassin':
After my time playing her, I've come to not really consider Ahri an assassin. Ahri seems designed to do more damage as she closes distance, but aside from her occasional spurt of mobility... her ability to pursue never felt that great to me because she lacked the prowess to do the kind of takedowns I see from other AP assassins like, say, Akali. There's also how her two skillshots force her to be immobile when she fires them off.
Then again, maybe it's my caution that colors my opinion of Ahri differently. I tend to wear down my opponents with standoff poking and if they are rash while below half thier health, I'll set them up for a EQRRWR combo to finish them off. But that methodology fixes her far more firmly in the mage category to me.
So, I was hoping you could tell me: why put the assassin label? What did you intend design-wise that I'm not seeing?
Well, Ahri is not a full Assassin (otherwise she wouldn't have a 2 second hard CC). We wanted her to toe the line between assassination and harassment, which the current kit does quite well. I would actually really agree with your playstyle. Ahri is the type of character that likes playing with her opponent before going in for the kill, it just sort of fits her personality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Recommended items for pre-season 3:
That was a significant change!
The only thing she seems to have in common with what she had before are the Doran's Ring, Sorcerer Boots and Death Cap.
What happened there? Why are you recommending the new items? I'm particularily baffled by the absence of Rylai's crystal scepter as well as the presence of two items (deathfire grasp and abyssal rod) that require mid-to-short range distance to get the most out of them - a distance which seems very risky to linger in for the squishy- err, soft-skinned Ahri when she'd likely survive better at the standoff distance I usually have her fling her orb from.
I am afraid I wasn't part of the updated recommended items list. That being said, the designers who did work on them are far more skilled than I am, so if I were you I might try out a couple of the new builds =-D.
As for the mid range items, that really is where Ahri shines. As you said before, she likes toying with her opponents, and then goes in for the kill. These items ensure that you will be successful when you commit to taking down your opponent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Art:
Classic skin coloration:
I think Ahri looks great. I use Foxfire Ahri due to the great quality and particles, but I'm sometimes tempted to return to the classic because I like how feminine and elegant it feels like.
However, there's one design decision of Classic Ahri that I don't understand. The color of the hair and tail - why don't the hair and tails match?
I could get variations: they happen in nature. I'd have expected her to have hair as pale as the fur of her tails or furred tails as dark as her hair, but Classic Ahri kind of breaks that notion; her hair color is a beautiful black, but her tails are sleek with much paler fur.
So, I ask : why? She's the exception: all her other skins - Dynasty, Midnight and Foxfire - have a more cohesive color scheme with hair and tails more closely matching.
Well, we did it for a few reasons. 9 Tailed Foxes (Gumihos) are generally known to have white tails, which ensured that we kept true to the origin of the myth. Additionally, as these myths originated from Asia, their depictions mostly had dark brown and black hair.
Additionally, the tails were a focus point of the character, and thus we wanted them to stand out. So we kept the hair and tails a different color to ensure readability and depth. For example, the Foxfire Ahri skin has hair/tail color differentiation (Hair = Red, Tails = Orange / White).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Whisker marks:
It might seem silly, but it's one of the design choices I like the least about Ahri. Following her lore, how she came to look human, there seems to be no reason why she'd end up with marks like that on her cheeks.
Then again, I suppose you could turn the argument around and point out the same about her clothes - Ahri could simply choose to use makeup in her face that way. ~_~
Though the marks could just as well not have been there. Some versions of Ahri I've seen were smooth-cheeked. The only thing the whiskers appear to have in common is the anime character Naruto.
Now, don't get me wrong: I actually dislike when people reference Ahri with Naruto. As I picked Ahri partly because I really enjoy the nine-tailed fox myth, the Naruto references feel like they only scratch the surface of what I see of the theme.
So, I ask: was giving Ahri the face-whiskers a marketing-oriented decision to have fans of the Naruto anime connect more with her to draw more clients into purchasing her that way?
This was an interesting decision we made part way through Ahri's design. We were struggling with a feeling that Ahri felt like a normal girl with tails attached. So we made a number of changes in order to ensure that she felt cohesive. We readded her ears (which we previously removed), added on the 'whiskers', and did a few other minor changes.
We did not add the whiskers because of Naruto.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Ahri in American Art and Chinese Art:
Is there a special reason why both are so disassociated?
I don't want to belittle the people whom worked on the splash art we see Ahri as in America - iterations are part of the art process - but I find the chinese art for the Dynasty and Midnight skin splashes to be of higher quality today. Is there a special reason we don't end up using them in North America? I mean, it's hard not to see chinese Midnight Ahri as being some very sexy art - I might've bought it if it had been presented so!
Are they that mutually exclusive? I mean, there's some chinese artwork used as background to mastery pages, if I remember correctly.
I am afraid I don't have much context on this and thus can not really answer this question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoberraz
Ahri concept art:
Is there any art of Ahri before she started appearing in splash art prototypes? You know, character concept sheets like RiotZeronis shows off on his DeviantArt gallery (Zyra, Syndra and Elise all look pretty amazing over there). I never saw anything equivalent for Ahri - I'm wondering if there was anything like it.
Of course, though I am not sure if we have ever shown it off. I'll look into it.
@Riot: questions about Ahri's design
Ahri's my favorite character, though my fondness for her is unfortunately greater than my skill at using her.
My kid brothers got into League of Legends before I did. I was kind of holding off on playing it, until Ahri came out - she was my icebreaker: the champion I installed the game to play (though I've widened my horizons since).
Overtime I've had a few questions I've been burning to ask about her, questions I figured I could just try and ask here:
Design:
Her Passive, Essence Theft:
Her identity as 'mage/assassin':
Recommended items for pre-season 3:
Art:
Classic skin coloration:
Whisker marks:
Ahri in American Art and Chinese Art:
Ahri concept art:
Ahri's my favorite character, though my fondness for her is unfortunately greater than my skill at using her.
My kid brothers got into League of Legends before I did. I was kind of holding off on playing it, until Ahri came out - she was my icebreaker: the champion I installed the game to play (though I've widened my horizons since).
Overtime I've had a few questions I've been burning to ask about her, questions I figured I could just try and ask here:
Her Passive, Essence Theft:
It also added to her gameplay flow and thought process. A good Ahri player knows how many stacks they are on, and pays attention to which spell she will vamp with in order to maximize potential life gain. Generally I try to make my characters follow the general design principle of easy to use yet hard to master. Whenever possible I try to add ways that players can see/understand that they are getting better over time.
As for the mid range items, that really is where Ahri shines. As you said before, she likes toying with her opponents, and then goes in for the kill. These items ensure that you will be successful when you commit to taking down your opponent.
Classic skin coloration:
Additionally, the tails were a focus point of the character, and thus we wanted them to stand out. So we kept the hair and tails a different color to ensure readability and depth. For example, the Foxfire Ahri skin has hair/tail color differentiation (Hair = Red, Tails = Orange / White).
We did not add the whiskers because of Naruto.