We're back in the world of League of Legends for a fun build that I've been plotting for a while. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Gnar, the Missing Link, from League of Legends!
GNAR, THE MISSING LINK
CHARACTER Gnar
SOURCE League of Legends
BUILD GOALS
o A prehistoric yordle (a primordle, if you will), Gnar felt a kinship to the yetis of a primordial Freljord
o After obtaining the jaw of a beast that he began to wield as a boomerang, he considered himself a hunter though he mostly just trailed herds of beasts
o He was frozen fighting the Watcher, left there for centuries before emerging in modern times
o In League, he is considered a specialist, defying classification though he was previously considered to be a fighter and a tank
o His passive is his Rage Gene, causing him to build rage in combat until he transforms from his Mini Gnar into Mega Gnar, gaining health, resistances, and attack damage. Each form has its own abilities
o Mini Gnar has Boomerang, throwing his boomerang in a line and slowing enemies whereas Mega Gnar has Boulder Toss, hurling a boulder that impacts and slows enemies
o Hyper is a passive effect on Mini Gnar, placing stacks on enemies and consuming them at three to increase his speed. Wallop causes Mega Gnar to slam his fists down on enemies, stunning those caught in the blow
o With Hop, Mini Gnar leaps to a location, gaining bonus attack speed. He can bounce off foes to slow them. In his Mega Form, Crunch causes him to leap and land heavily in an area, releasing a damaging shockwave
o While in his mega form, he can use GNAR! to hurl nearby enemies in a direction of his choosing, stunning them if they impact with terrain
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Beastkin Grippli
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Strength, -Strength
o Ancestry Feat: Animal Senses – scent (imprecise) 30 feet
Background: Hunter
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained), Tanning Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Survey Wildlife
Class & Subclass: Ape Instinct Barbarian
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Nature (trained), Stealth (trained)
o Class Feat: Raging Thrower
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 16, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10)
The start of this build is probably the funkiest part of it and may provoke some questions. Initially, the intent was to build Gnar as a beastkin gnome, representing both his atavistic nature and the fey-like aspect of the yordles. However, grippli offers an extremely appropriate feat down the line that makes it more valuable than gnome, leading to its inclusion. Regrettably, this comes with a flaw to Strength that alternate boost rules would benefit from in games that allow it. Beastkin still serves as his atavistic nature, potentially being a fox or some other furry beastkin. Based on his self-described profession as a hunter in the distant past, this build uses that for his background almost entirely for the sake of the build. The feral child background seems to match him better, but hunter fits while also allowing him to better function as a switch hitter by virtue of it granting him two ability boosts instead of just one. Finally, to capture his rage and transformation into Mega Gnar, he is a barbarian with the ape animal instinct. This allows him to bring his powerful fists to bear when enraged.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Adrenaline Rush
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Gear: cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), cloak of feline rest, everburning torch
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Oversized Throw
o Skill Feat: Titan Wrestler
o Gear: bracelet of dashing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), +1 boomerang, cloak of feline rest
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12)
o Ancestry Feat: Quick Shape
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), bracelet of dashing, coyote cloak, +1 boomerang, cloak of feline rest, everburning torch
With a lack of standout feats at second level, Adrenaline Rush at least thematically matches Hyper while the enhanced strength from it matches his growth into Mega Gnar. More aptly, he takes Oversized Throw for his Boulder Toss. Hop can potentially have two bounces if Gnar lands on an opponent, so he will make use of Quick Jump. Titan Wrestler is going to help him bully around foes despite his diminutive stature, especially as he invests deeper into Athletics. As a hunter, he will also increase his Survival. Ability score wise, he had to invest in Dexterity and Strength, meaning that his health can be a little lacking. While the temporary HP granted from raging helps match the tankiness of Mega Gnar, he will also grab Toughness. With this current build, turning into Mega Gnar can take a bit to set up between Rage and Change Shape. To make that set-up a bit quicker, he takes Quick Shape.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Animal Skin
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), +1 striking boomerang, bracelet of dashing, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Gear: ring of the ram, +1 explorer’s clothing, lesser boots of free running, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), bracelet of dashing, coyote cloak
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Raging Athlete
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Gear: boots of bounding, hauling weapon rune, ring of the ram, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking boomerang, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Ricocheting Leap
o Skill Increase: Survival (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II), ring of the ram, +1 striking boomerang, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 19, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14)
o Class Feat: Impressive Landing
o Skill Feat: Cat Fall
o Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, frost weapon rune, boots of bounding, +1 striking boomerang, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)
Gnar doesn’t wear much in the way of armor, much less clothes, and is noted as being more resilient in his Mega Gnar form. While the eventual raging resistance he gets will help this, he can also pick up Animal Skin to enhance his Armor Class. Many of the other feats within this block are making sure that Gnar jumps good. Raging Athlete allows him to Jump and Leap farther, and Impressive Landing deals damage as he impacts with the ground, per Crunch. Powerful Leap increases his jumps and since the distance you can jump is determined by your Speed, Fleet will also help with that aspect. Wall Jump sets Gnar up to take Ricocheting Leap, hands down my favorite feat from the grippli, and which will allow him to Shove or Trip when he bounces off of them for the slowing effect of Hop. With all that jumping, it’d be handy to make sure that he lands safely, leading to the use of Cat Fall.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Knockback
o Skill Feat: That’s Not Natural!
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), +2 striking boomerang, armbands of athleticism, frost weapon rune, cold energy robe
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Dire Form
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater hauling weapon rune, +2 striking boomerang, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Awesome Blow
o Skill Feat: Rolling Landing
o Gear: greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 greater striking boomerang, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, instinct crown, dinosaur boots
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 16)
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Athletics (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, boots of speed, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), bag of holding (type III), greater hauling weapon rune
For the effects of GNAR!, he makes use of Knockback to fling foes around and the advanced form of Awesome Blow to Trip them, forcing them to waste their actions to get back to their feet, playing into the stun of the ability. For his first feat regarding his Survival skill, he takes That’s Not Natural!, calling back to his adversarial relationship with the Watchers, beings from the Void. To take advantage of his Cat Fall, he begins investing in Acrobatics during this block and grabs Rolling Landing to gain a reaction to close in on foes if he doesn’t land near them and can’t trigger Impressive Landing. Finally, during this block, Gnar acquires the means of growing to the size of Mega Gnar with the Dire Form ancestry feat, making him Large and adding a bit more damage to his blows, which will stack with the extra damage from Rage.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Unbalancing Sweep
o Skill Feat: Cloud Jump
o Gear: greater frost weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of bounding, greater ring of the ram, +2 greater striking boomerang, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Animal Swiftness (Climb)
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (legendary)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater frost weapon rune, greater boots of bounding, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, boots of speed
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Furious Bully or Brutal Bully
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Gear: avalanche boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), +3 greater striking boomerang, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Canny Acumen – Reflex
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, avalanche boots, 17, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater frost weapon rune, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 20, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 18)
o Class Feat: Unstoppable Juggernaut
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained)
o Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater impactful weapon rune, avalanche boots, speed weapon rune, +3 greater striking boomerang
Unbalancing Sweep is a way for Gnar to capture the multi-target effects of GNAR! since Knockback/Awesome Blow are very single target. For the 18th level feat, both Furious Bully and Brutal Bully are fantastic feats for this build, which focuses on using Athletics to control the battlefield. Furious Bully increases Gnar’s accuracy with such effects whereas Brutal Bully adds some extra damage to these effects, both of which are handy and may have different values to different people. Unstoppable Juggernaut causes Gnar’s resistances to apply to all types of damages since Mega Gnar increases both types of its resistances. Cloud Jump further extends the range of Gnar’s jumps since that is an aspect that this build ended up focusing on. Finally, as nimble as Gnar is in his mini-form, taking Canny Acumen to boost his Reflex save to master felt appropriate.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Not a lot of archetypes leap out for Gnar, but I did find two that could work. The Ursine Avenger Hood archetype plays more into the primal nature of Gnar, giving him additional unarmed attacks, animalistic senses with Senses of the Bear, and increased size with the likes of Great Bear and then Mighty Bear. Wrestler Dedication focuses more on playing into the build’s Athletics focus, and options such as Whirling Throw, as another way to do GNAR!, and Running Tackle, are fairly enticing. It is also a fun reference to his El Leon skin.
BUILD CONCLUSION
As a prehistoric yordle prone to an atavistic rage that causes him to grow into a giant, Gnar is beastkin grippli barbarian with the ape animal instinct and the hunter background, since that is what he considered himself as. As a barbarian, he can wield martial weapons, which allows him to pick up a boomerang for his Mini Gnar form before he has to drop it when his Rage Gene activates and he switches to the fists of his ape instinct. Raging gives him additional health, eventually adds raging resistance, and also increases his damage, everything that happens when he turns into Mega Gnar! From the bearskin heritage, he uses Dire Form to grow Large, coinciding that with his rage to become a giant monstrosity. Oversized Throw stands in quite easily for his Boulder Toss. Thematically, Adrenaline Rush is useful for Hyper and the increased speed comes from Fleet. Wallop is another that can be a little hard to find something that fits since stunning is a rarer effect for martials. Awesome Blow could possibly be counted as it knocks people back and prone, meaning that they have to spend actions to get back into position, somewhat ‘stunning’ them. A vast array of Gnar’s feats help his jumping for the sake of Hop, with Ricocheting Leap allowing him to bounce off of enemies while also Shoving or Tripping them. In addition to that jumping, he has Impressive Landing for his Crunch. Finally, for his ultimate of GNAR!, he uses Unbalancing Sweep to throw around an entire group of foes at once. That’s Not Natural! covers his animosity with the Watchers.
Gnar is a switch hitter that can fight at a distance with his boomerang before leaping into the midst of the fray as the enlarged Mega Gnar, laying out devastating blows as he controls the battlefield by throwing and knocking enemies down.
Lemme know what you think and what other builds you would like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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