Rhus, Lord of the swamp

Rhus
Lord of the swamp
Role(s)	Enofrcer Deprecated
Author	dudism
Ratings
Difficulty

Damage	0 / 3
Damage	0 / 3
Toughness	0 / 3
Toughness	0 / 3
Control	0 / 3
Control	0 / 3
Mobility	0 / 3
Mobility	0 / 3
Utility	0 / 3
Utility	0 / 3
Difficulty	/ 3
Difficulty	/ 3

Stats
Health	608 (+90)
Health regen	0 (+0)
Mana	XXX (+XX)
Mana regen	(+)
Attack type	Melee
Attack range	125
Attack damage	58.7 (+3.2)
Attack speed	0.615 (+3.24%)
Armor	27.6 (+4.9)
Magic resist	32.1 (+2.1)
Move speed	340

Check out my other champions:

• Inkha, The Phantom Edge
• Lor'Mak, The Void Destructor
• Adria & Lianne, The Twin Souls
• Klishma, Messenger Of Light
• Aerith, The Scrap Genius
• Draxxar, The Automata Commander

Rhus, Lord of the swamp is an AP Bruiser/Tank that specializes in inhibiting the enemy’s mobility. He also has the ability to create zones of denial that forces the enemy to take the long route and walk around it. If they are foolish enough to step inside, Rhus makes sure they will never get out.

With Rhus, I gladly introduce you to a new type of crowd control, which I would like to call Hinder. Hinder reduces the range of the target’s dashes and blinks by a percentage, thus severely punish mobility-reliant targets. Unlike ground or other disabling effects, hinder still allows enemies to use mobility spells, but at decreased effectiveness. Thus, Hinder is considered as a soft crowd-control just like slow, but works only on dashes and blinks.

Abilities

I Cursed Ground Targeting Affects Damage Location Self & enemy Magic Rhus has no natural health regeneration. Whenever Rhus casts an ability, he corrupts an area on the ground for 5 seconds. Enemies inside Cursed Ground will take magic damage equals to <span class="pp-tooltip" style="position:relative; border-bottom:1px dotted; cursor:help; color: ;" data-size="18" data-values="1.4%☂1.8%☂2.2%☂2.6%☂3%☂3.4%☂3.8%☂4.2%☂4.6%☂5%☂5.4%☂5.8%☂6.2%☂6.6%☂7%☂7.4%☂7.8%☂8.2%☂1☂2☂3☂4☂5☂6☂7☂8☂9☂10☂11☂12☂13☂14☂15☂16☂17☂18" data-label1="Level" data-values1="☂" >1.4% − 8.2% (based on level) of their maximum health per second and heals Rhus for the damage done. Enemies who are being slowed, rooted, or grounded will take 50% more damage from Cursed Ground. Cursed Ground's damage (including enhanced damage) against non-champion target has is capped between 50 and 150 damage per second. Enhanced Magic Damage per second: <span class="pp-tooltip" style="position:relative; border-bottom:1px dotted; cursor:help; color: ;" data-size="18" data-values="2.1☂2.7☂3.3☂3.9☂4.5☂5.1☂5.7☂6.3☂6.9☂7.5☂8.1☂8.7☂9.3☂9.9☂10.5☂11.1☂11.7☂12.3☂1☂2☂3☂4☂5☂6☂7☂8☂9☂10☂11☂12☂13☂14☂15☂16☂17☂18" data-label1="Level" data-values1="☂" >2.1 − 12.3 (based on level)% of target's maximum health Range: 175 (AoE radius)

Notes: Overlapping Cursed Ground does not deal additional damage nor provide extra healing. Rhus does not receive any healing if the damage is blocked by shields.

Q Strangling Grasps Targeting Affects Damage Location Enemy unit Magic Active: Rhus creates an area of Cursed Ground at the target location. After a 0.5-second delay, a group of undead creatures will emerge from the beneath the Cursed Ground and grab on to all enemies caught inside, dealing magic damage and briefly rooting them for a short duration Magic Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+50% AP) Root duration: 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds Range: 900 (cast rage) / 175 (AoE radius)

Notes:

W Soul Reap Targeting Affects Damage Self Enemy unit Magic Active: Rhus empowers his next basic attack within 4 seconds, causing it to apply a plague on the enemy hit for 5 seconds, and create Cursed Ground beneath them. While being plagued, the target takes magic damage per second. Against enemy champions, the curse also hinders the target by 30%, gradually increasing to a maximum amount over its duration. Magic damage per second: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 (+8% AP) Maximum magic damage: 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 / 200 (+40% AP) Additional Hinder per second: 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9% Maximum Hinder: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75% Cooldown: 9 seconds

Notes:

E Lurking Terror Targeting Affects Damage Location Enemy Magic First cast – Mist of Dread: Rhus surrounds himself in a cloud of poison for up to 5 seconds. Enemies who are exposed to the cloud will generate a stack of Dread every second. The stacks persist for 3 second after the enemy leaves the cloud At 3 stacks, the stacks consume themselves and cause the enemy to flee for a short duration. While Mist Of Dread is active, Rhus can cast Death Leap. Second cast – Death Leap: Rhus leaps to the target location, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies upon landing, and creating Cursed Ground where he lands Enemies inside Cursed Ground will generate Dreads tacks twice as fast (one stack per half-second). Each enemy cannot be feared more than once per cast of Mist of Dread. Magic Damage: 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 / 210 (+40% AP) Flee duration: 1 / 1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6 / 1.8 seconds Cooldown: 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 seconds Range: 160 (Aoe radius) / 900 (Cast range)

Notes:

R Inescapable Nightmare Targeting Affects Damage Self Enemy Magic Active: Rhus sends out 10 tendrils around him, forming a tether with each enemy hit and dealing magic damage to them. Hitting an enemy champion creates Cursed Ground under their feet. As long as the tether lasts, the target will be grounded and slowed, increasing based on the distance between them and Rhus. The tethers last for 4 seconds, and will be broken if the target manages to move out of range. Magic Damage: 160 / 320 / 480 (+60% AP) Maximum slow: 40 / 55 / 70% Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90 seconds Range: 700 (tendril range) / 1100 (tether range)

Notes:

Strategy

I/ General

• Cursed Ground is Rhus’s main source of self-sustain, since he has no natural health regeneration. As a result, Rhus cannot gain back health while out of combat. This is contrary to normal champions, who seek to avoid combat in order to regenerate health.
  • As Rhus levels up, the damage from Cursed Ground will increase, as well as the healing. This would make Rhus extremely hard to kill, while dealing proper damage during late game.
  • Since most of his damage and healing comes from his innate and not his abilities, it is recommended that Rhus go for a tanky build so that he can benefit more from the healing, as well as being more useful in the role of a tanky controller.
  • Be careful with Grievous Wound effect. Most of Rhus’s tankiness relies on his rapid healing ability.
  • Cursed Ground is Rhus’s main source of AoE damage. Therefore, he should use his abilities in a way that can trap as many targets as possible inside the Cursed Ground.
  • Since Cursed Ground deals bonus damage to immobilized champions, and that each of Rhus’s ability provides CC of some sort, Cursed Ground guarantees to deal bonus damage and provide extra healing in most cases.
• Strangling Grasps is Rhus’s main lockdown tool. Strangling Grasps can root enemies from afar, so that Rhus can have time to approach and deal with them. Strangling Grasps can trap multiple enemies at a time due being an AoE spell.
  • Since Strangling Grasps creates Cursed Ground where enemies are trapped, the victims will always be dealt bonus damage, and gives Rhus a small burst of healing. This is very useful when Rhus is low in health and/or being pursued by the enemy team.
• Lurking Terror consists of two components. The first one is Mist Of Dread, which will become an AoE crowd control if Rhus manages to stick to his opponent. The second component, Death Leap is a gap closer.
  • Lurking Terror has good synergy with Strangling Grasps, since Strangling Grasps locks down the target so that Rhus can approach and fear them with Lurking Terror.
  • Lurking Terror’s gap closer is its second cast, not the first cast. If Rhus waits for too long before using the second cast, there is a chance that the poison cloud’s remaining duration is not enough for Rhus to fear the enemy. Thus, the player should choose his/her moment carefully before using Lurking Terror.
  • It is important that Rhus manages to trap his targets with Strangling Grasps before using Lurking Terror. Lurking Terror generates Dread stacks twice as fast when the enemy are inside Cursed Ground. If Rhus jumps in with Lurking Terror first, chances that the enemy will use their molibity to escape or just walk away.
  • Lurking Terror helps Rhus tremendously in extended trades. If the enemy champion decides to stay and fight you, they will be feared by being exposed to the poison cloud, which will fear them and gives Rhus an advantage. If the enemy champion runs away, Rhus can use the second cast and catch up to them.
  • Lurking Terror can help Rhus run away quite easily because it allows him to jump over terrain. If the enemy decides to keep chasing down Rhus, the poison cloud will just fear them and force them to walk the opposite direction.
• Soul Reap is Rhus’s punishment for champions that relies on mobility. For immobile champions, it is simply a spell that allows Rhus to deal magic damage over time. For mobile champions, the ability reduces the range of their dashes and blinks. Soul Reap leaves the enemy with several choices:
  • The first choice is to accept using their mobility at reduced efficiency. Most of the time, the enemy would be unable to determine the current range of their mobility spells, causing them to hit the terrain instead of jumping over it.
  • The second choice is to wait for Soul Reap to wear off before using their mobility. This is not a good choice either, since Soul Reap do last quite a while. Even if the enemy can stay alive until Soul Reap ends, Rhus can still have other tools in his kit to keep locking them down.
  • The last option is to stay and fight Rhus. This will most likely to go in Rhus’s favor due to the fact that Rhus has his Cursed Ground to heal himself up for extended trades.
• Inescapable Nightmare is Rhus’s ultimate anti-mobility spell. It cripples both mobile and immobile targets, thus helping Rhus fulfill his role as a Tank/Initiator
  • Rhus’s ultimate can be combined with all of his other abilities. Lurking Terror allows Rhus to jump into the middle of the enemy team to use his ultimate. While being immobilized by Inescapable Nightmare, trapping enemies with Strangling Grasps would be easier. Enemies that manage to escape his tether will have their dashes and blinks become less effective due to Soul Reap
  • Be noted that the tendrils only connect to the first enemy hit, including monsters and minions. Therefore, Rhus may have to use his Lurking Terror first to bypass blocking enemies.
  • Inescapable Nightmare can also be used for healing, since hitting an enemy champion creates Cursed Ground beneath them. Since Inescapable Nightmare grounds the target, Cursed Ground will deal bonus damage and gives bonus healing.

II/ Jungling

• Rhus is mostly played as a control jungler or an anti-jungler thanks to his innate. Cursed Ground deals damage based on the monster’s maximum health and heals him by the same amount, which is quite substantial. Therefore, Rhus can clear jungle camps fairly fast, while not losing much health in the process.
  • As Rhus levels up, his innate will deal even more percentage health damage, making it even easier for Rhus to steal monster camps from the enemy’s jungler.
• Strangling Grasps allows Rhus to kite jungle monsters more easily, while Lurking Terror fears jungle monsters and stop them from dealing damage to Rhus. The two abilities help Rhus take even less damage in the jungle on top of his self-sustain.
  • If Rhus encounter the enemy jungler, Rhus is encouraged to fight them to apply pressure. As stated above, Strangling Grasps and Lurking Terror can either be used to either fight the enemy jungler or run away. The idea is not to kill the enemy champion, but to curb their aggression and waste their time.
• Soul Reap can be used on jungle monsters for bonus damage. However, it would be better to use on enemy champions if you encounter them in the jungle.
• Inescapable Nightmare can either be used to catch the enemy, or to run away. The tether grounds the target while slowing them down, so they will not be able to catch you, or run away from you.

III/ Laning

• Due to the nature of his kit, Rhus can either be a top-lane tank or a tanky support.
• His Cursed Ground allows him or his AD Carry to push the lane due to the fact that it deals AoE damage. It also give Rhus some good self-sustain by dealing damage to minions.
  • Cursed Ground creates denial zones in lane that can be used to deter the enemy from initiating, or for zoning.
  • Cursed Ground also helps Rhus in extended trades, due to the fact that it heals him from the enemy champion’s health and from minions. If the trade does not go well for Rhus, he can just use his abilities to create Cursed Ground and heal himself back to full health.
• All of his other abilities, including his ultimate, are very good for initiating a trade. Combined with his Cursed Ground, Rhus is most likely to win the trade due to the healing. Thus, an aggressive playstyle is necessary when playing as Rhus.

IV/ Roaming

• Most ganks from Rhus are very deadly, due to the fact that he can chain his CC and prevent the enemy from escaping. There are several ways that Rhus can do this:
  • Initiate Strangling Grasps, and then use Lurking Terror to jump in, and apply Soul Reap while the enemy is being immobilized to cripple their mobility.
  • If you are not confident, you should jump in with Lurking Terror and then use Unescapable Nightmare next, followed by the rest of Rhus’s abilities.
  • Another way is to just walk into lane with your poison cloud, then wait for the enemy to use their mobility so that you can jump on top of them with the second cast of Lurking Terror to apply the fear.

V/Team fight

• Cursed Ground can help Rhus survive for a very long period during team fights. Since Cursed Ground heals Rhus based on the enemy’s health, it will give him incredible sustain if the enemy has a tank who has a lot of health. The percentage health damage also shreds down tanks very easily. In short, Cursed Ground allows Rhus to out-tank the enemy front line.
  • Remember that the enemy has to stay inside Cursed Ground to take damage and heal Rhus. Thus, if the enemy can manage to kite Rhus, he will not be able to do much.
  • Since the enemy does not want to stand inside Cursed Ground, the ability also acts as a zoning tool, and may cause the enemy team to split their formation.
• Strangling Grasps has good range, and can trap multiple targets at a time. Rhus can either use the ability to initiate, or catch the enemy off guard so that his teammate can deal with them, while Rhus himself dive into the enemy’s back line.
  • If the enemy is immobile enough, you may want to save your Strangling Grasps until the enemy is slowed / grounded / feared to lock them down for good.
• Lurking Terro'r allows Rhus to jump into the middle of the enemy team to use his ultimate. The slow and ground from Unescapable Nightmare also allows Rhus to fear the enemy with the poison cloud from Lurking Terror.
• When Rhus jumps into the middle of the enemy team and uses Unescapable Nightmare, the enemy will try to escape his tether by splitting up their formation. Usually, the enemy carries will try to run away, while their front line will stay to dive your back line. Since Rhus cannot maintain his tether to everyone, Rhus will have to choose who to stick to.
  • If your team has an assassin, then you should stick to the enemy’s carries to make it easier for your assassin to take them down.
  • If the enemy team has champions that are good at initiating, Rhus should stick to them instead. Many champions like  Malphite or  Zac has the mobility integrated into their initiation. Therefore, his ultimate also work as an anti-initiation and anti-diving tool.
  • In addition, Rhus can wait until he gets relatively low on health, then use Inescapable Nightmare. If he manages to hit all 05 enemy champion, it will give him a big burst of healing, making him extremly hard to kill.
• If Rhus believe that targets who can escape his tether will become a problem, then he should tag them with 'Soul Reap' before leaving them alone.

Development

Hi there, it’s me again – Peter from Vietnam.

About a year ago, I posted my very first custom champion on Suggestion Wikia. Since then, designing champions has become my new hobby, and I have posted a total of 5 custom champions. After one year’s time, I am very excited to show you guys my latest projects, which I would call “Phase 2” if you don’t mind. Anyways, let’s get into the point.

The current state of the meta right now is worrying: champions with too much mobility and damage at the same time is dominating The Rift –  Lucian,  Fizz,  Riven, and the like. Mobility allows you to position yourself to make plays, to chase down fleeing enemies, and to escape. Most of these champions need time to be mastered, and require good decision making in order to be efficient. Therefore, they encourage players to spend time and effort to improve their skills. The players facing against these mobile champions must also know what their weaknesses are, what they are capable of, and how to exploit them. In short, champions with mobility have raised the bar, demanding the players to be “smarter” while playing.

However, mobility has its own dark side: First of all, mobile champions like  LeBlanc or  Yasuo are usually very good at trading and all-ins, and thus have very good lane pressure. Second, due to the advent of new cooldown reduction items, mobile champions are now becoming too “safe”. By stockpiling cooldown reduction, you can afford to make more mistakes, but still manage to jump out alive. Third, immobile champions like  Warwick or  Galio are becoming forgotten, due to the fact they simply cannot catch up. Finally, mobility champions are always deemed by most players as being “unfair”, and “have no counterplay”. For example, an experienced  LeBlanc player can take detours to avoid being spotted by your wards, dodge all CC that your support throws at her, make you waste your Flash / Heal / Barrier / Exhaust, and can still kill you.

Having a team composition that lacks mobility can be a painful experience. Players feel frustrated because they can neither run nor fight back. They cannot run because the enemy can just outrun them with their superior mobility. They cannot fight back because the enemy can just use their dashes and blinks to dodge everything you throw at them. As a result, players are constantly demanding for new champions with even better mobility (to compete with the enemy) and/or better hard CC (to counter their mobility). This has been proven to only worsen the situation, not fix it. Frustration leads to rage, and rage leads to toxicity. This is not the players’ fault, but because of how the meta has become.

If mobility is the meta, we need the anti-meta to solve the problem. Thus, the standards for this project are as follow:

• For an anti-mobility champion, my champion should be a tank. The longer my champion can survive in a team fight, the more value he/she can bring to the team.
• The champion should have some sort of AoE crowd control that helps him/her punish mobility-reliant target. However, he/she should not be a CC machine that terrifies immobile targets.
• The champion should reward opposing players for good positioning, peeling and kiting, rather than relying on their mobility to achieve their goals.

With all the he standards in place, the same problem arises again: character development. Luckily, things did towards a good direction: A while ago, I had a chance to travel to the country and stayed there for about a month. Although it lacked busy streets, shopping districts, Internet and the like, it was a really different experience. The house that I stayed in was near a swamp so at night, frogs and toads would come out and hop around, while cricket chirps filled the air. Occasionally, I would spot several teenagers from afar as they were waving their flashlights around in the forest, searching for a ghost or Big Foot of some kind.

“There it is”, I said to myself again, with delight. My next champion would be a swamp monster that lurks around in the forest, hunting down anything that dares to invade his territory. The creature was once a human who gained immortality by learning how to drain life force from the living. In time, the same kind of magic that kept him alive slowly corrupted him, turning him into the monster that we see today. To show how reliant he is on reaping souls to survive, he would have no health regeneration, but drains life from his victim instead. The self-sustain also fits my intention to make him a Tank/Bruiser quite nicely, so I decided to keep it as a major part of his kit.

The next step is to design a set of abilities that revolves around the “soul eater” theme, and then a back story. All of that took me longer than expect, but it was worth it. Anyway, let’s cheer up for a new phase, a new champion, and a new season. Thank you very much, and see you soon.

Trivia

• Despite being affiliated with the  Mordekaiser, Rhus does not come from the Shadow Isles, nor is he the result of Ruined King's curse.
• Rhus believes that the World Runes are the key to lift his curse. Therefore, Rhus considers  Ryze as his enemy for trying to hide them away.
• The Summoners secretly casted a spell on Rhus that bounded his soul to The Nexus, similar to  Nocturne. This will prevent him from ever escaping The Rift.