Following up the Medarda matriarch, Mel makes her own way in the world with this build, hot on the high heels of her release. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choice may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
The video includes some fun clips that I put together, so I hope you'll check it out.
Let's get into the build for Mel, the Soul's Reflection from League of Legends!
MEL, THE SOUL’S REFLECTION
CHARACTER Mel Medarda
SOURCE League of Legends
BUILD GOALS
o The daughter of a Noxian general, Mel was sent to Piltover when she lacked the warrior spirit of her homeland
o She became a powerful politician there, helping to bring hextech into reality
o Searing Brilliance comes with two effects. Firstly, her attacks fire bonus projectiles after she uses an ability. Furthermore, her attacks and abilities apply Overwhelm, which will execute targets brought low
o Her Radiant Volley unleashes a barrage of exploding projectiles
o When Mel triggers Rebuttal, she forms a barrier around herself for a second that makes her immune to damage and reflects any projectiles, including spells, back at her attacker
o Solar Snare launches an orb that roots enemies at its center and slows enemies in its radius
o Her final ability is Golden Eclipse, which increases the effectiveness of her Overwhelm. She can trigger this to deal damage to all enemies marked with Overwhelm, dealing damage based on the number of stacks
Summary of Goals: Mel is a powerful mage capable of offense and defense – and even her defense has some offensive properties. She demonstrates her Noxian sensibilities with the mercy she demonstrates to low-health targets, and she’s as capable a politician and orator as she is a mage.
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Skilled Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Ambition
o Skill Increase: Crafting (trained)
Background: Grand Council Bureaucrat
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (trained), Government Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Group Impression
Class & Subclass: Imperial Bloodline Sorcerer
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Deception (trained), Intimidation (trained), Society (trained)
o Class Feat: Counterspell
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – shield; 1st – force barrage
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +0, Dex +3, Con +0, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +4)
We stick with the human ancestry for Mel, taking the skilled heritage to get her an early training in Crafting based on her association with Piltover. Furthermore, since she is on the council of Piltover, she uses the grand council bureaucrat though that description might be a bit lower than her actual position. This is further benefits her by giving her training in Diplomacy and the Group Impression skill feat, making it a solid starter. Given Mel’s Charisma and the suggestion that her magic came from an affair her mother had, she uses the sorcerer class and uses the imperial bloodline. This already provides her with a blood magic, Imperious Defense, that offers her some protective benefits inspired by her Rebuttal. This defensive option extends to some of her spell options with the shield cantrip. Notably, her bloodline provides her with force barrage, which is a great fit for her Radiant Volley especially as she ranks this spell up. Normally, Mel wouldn’t get a class feat her, but thanks to the Natural Ambition that she took earlier, she gets to pick out an option. And this build is actually going to go for a pre-master, legacy feature. However, it isn’t a feature that was rewritten, which means that it technically still exists. In fact, it can even still be taken in Pathfinder Society and if it’s good enough for PFS, it’s good enough for FBF. That’s all to say that she’s taking Counterspell, which will build into a more pertinent feat down the line, but this can potentially allow her to nullify the incoming magic of her foes as long as she has the right spells to counteract them.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Dandy Dedication
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert), Society (expert)
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Hobnobber
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – force barrage*; 2nd – dispel magic*, rime slick
o Gear: +1 air repeater, genealogy mask, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Bespell Strikes
o Skill Feat: Recognize Spell
o Gear: glasses of sociability, +1 air repeater, brooch of shielding, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +0, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4.5)
o Ancestry Feat: Witch Warden
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert), Athletics (trained), Crafting (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – cave fangs*
o Gear: +1 striking air repeater, glasses of sociability, bracers of missile deflection, brooch of shielding, genealogy mask, ring of discretion
Getting into the build, the Dandy Dedication is great for representing Mel’s political career with it increasing her Deception and Society skill and the ability to shift rumors in her favor. However, she then swaps back to her sorcerer feats to take Bespell Strikes, letting her charge up her weapons with the spells that she casts, which is based on the first aspect of her Searing Brilliance passive. She delves into a number of Diplomacy feats, starting with Bon Mot, which she’ll mainly use for the benefit of her allies as I didn’t include too many Will-save based effects in her build. She values Hobnobber over a general feat, letting her swiftly Gather Information about whatever topic comes up. Recognize Spell might be important for Counterspelling down the line, but right now it’s actually competing with that reaction. Given her reactions with the Black Rose, Witch Warden shows her taking some steps to counteract their efforts.
As a sorcerer, she gains access to signature spells and is going to signature force barrage right off the bat to fire the multiple missiles of her Radiant Volley. She can cancel out the spells of enemies with dispel magic, which she also signatures so that she can cancel out any spell. Furthermore, she finds some spells that hit in an area with damage and slowing effects, such as rime slick and cave fangs, which is intended to simulate her Solar Snare ability.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Bleed Out
o Skill Feat: Courtly Graces
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking air repeater, lesser atmospheric staff, glasses of sociability, brooch of shielding, masquerade scarf
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Eyes of the City
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – dispelling globe*
o Gear: staff of control, +1 explorer’s clothing, wand of shardstorm (1st-level), +1 striking air repeater, glasses of sociability, bracers of missile deflection
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Statement Strut
o Skill Feat: Distracting Flattery
o Gear: hairpin of blooming flowers, ring of the ram, staff of control, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking air repeater, cloak of repute
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Courteous Comeback
o Skill Increase: Arcana (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – slither
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, hairpin of blooming flowers, boots of bounding, staff of control, wand of shardstorm (1st-level), +1 striking air repeater
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +0, Dex +4.5, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +3, Cha +5)
o Class Feat: Signature Spell Expansion
o Skill Feat: Shameless Request
o Gear: wand of shardstorm (3rd-rank), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, atmospheric staff, hairpin of blooming flowers, wand of shattering images, +1 striking air repeater
While there isn’t a bleed effect in Mel’s kit, she’ll still make use of Bleed Out, another blood magic effect that she can use to inflict persistent bleed on a target. The idea behind this is that if her spell can’t finish the target off, maybe this bleed will execute them – as per her Overwhelm. Nevertheless, I think the big callout class feat for this block is Statement Strut because it is a perfect fit for her and the way that she carries herself. She’s got a serious strut going on in her walk animation. Signature Spell Expansion is handy but not particularly representative of the character. As both Noxian and Piltovian nobility, she uses Courtly Graces and has a focus on other Diplomacy effects such as Distracting Flattery, Shameless Request, and Eyes of the City. Even her ancestry feat, Courteous Comeback, lets her walk back her social missteps.
Dispelling globe is a solid get from her spells in this block, letting her create a barrier that attempts to counter every spell sent her way. This has some resemblance to her Rebuttal though lasts a good bit longer and isn’t sending spells back at enemies.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 6th – phantasmal calamity
o Gear: +2 striking air repeater, moderate cape of illumination, wand of shardstorm (3rd-rank), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, hairpin of blooming flowers, boots of bounding
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Explosion of Power
o Skill Feat: Quick Recognition
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking air repeater, sanguine pendant, wand of shardstorm (3rd-rank), shock weapon rune, atmospheric staff
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Keep Up Appearances
o Skill Increase: Society (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 7th – eclipse burst
o Gear: +2 greater striking air repeater, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ash gown, greater staff of control, moderate cape of illumination, wand of shardstorm (3rd-rank)
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Reflect Spell
o Skill Feat: Leverage Connections
o Gear: wand of shardstorm (5th-rank), +2 greater striking air repeater, socialite staff, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, sanguine pendant, ring of lies
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +0, Dex +5, Con +1, Int +3, Wis +4, Cha +5.5)
o General Feat: Incredible Investiture
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary), Performance (trained)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, wand of shardstorm (5th-rank), +2 greater striking air repeater, greater ash gown, sparkshade parasol
This block starts off with phantasmal calamity, creating a vast area that deals considerable damage in an attempt to simulate her Golden Eclipse. She can go for a much shorter range burst of damage with Explosion of Power, which I think is noteworthy because it is triggered by her casting a spell, akin to how she has to mark enemies with Overwhelm before she can use Golden Eclipse. Perhaps more importantly, she gets another legacy feat and builds up her Counterspell into Reflect Spell, resembling her Rebuttal more fully now. Quick Recognition as her skill feat may help in this regard, letting her identify arcane spells as a free action once per round. Her other skill feat for the block is Leverage Connections, letting her use the council of Piltover for her own purposes. She finally gets some general feats with Fleet just to get a bit faster and then Incredible Investiture so that she can invest in more of the hextech gear made in her home of Piltover. Keep Up Appearances allows her to school her features, hiding her reactions to their own maneuvering. The other spell of note here is eclipse burst, which deals even more damage and covers an even greater area than phantasmal calamity. It also shares at least part of its name with her Golden Eclipse, which is why I personally like it.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Anoint Ally
o Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation
o Gear: greater lightweave scarf, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of dazzling rays (6th-level), wand of shardstorm (5th-rank), +2 greater striking air repeater, socialite staff
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Arcana (legendary)
o Spell Repertoire: 9th – power word kill
o Gear: +3 greater striking air repeater, greater lightweave scarf, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater ring of the ram, wand of shardstorm (5th-rank)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Reflect Harm
o Skill Feat: Glad-Hand
o Gear: necklace of allure, +3 greater striking air repeater, greater staff of arcane might, greater lightweave scarf, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, wand of dazzling rays (6th-level)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Reveal Machinations
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, necklace of allure, wand of shardstorm (7th-rank), +3 greater striking air repeater, greater lightweave scarf, major atmospheric staff
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +1, Dex +5, Con +2, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +6)
o Class Feat: Tenacious Blood Magic
o Skill Feat: Biographical Eye
o Skill Increase: Occultism (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking air repeater, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mask of allure, wand of shardstorm (7th-rank), wand of slaughter (7th-level), greater staff of arcane might
While Mel doesn’t really have any supportive function within the game, Arcane sees her using her magic to shield and protect others. To that end, she takes Anoint Ally as her class feat, which she can follow up with Reflect Harm. This allows her to pass on the ability to share this reflection and protection with others. And she can do so for extended periods of time with her Tenacious Blood Magic as her capstone feat, allowing a blood magic effect to last for an entire minute. Her ability to protect others can also come through her Heroic Presence ancestry feat, an option I originally planned on skipping until I realized it could fit for the shields she provides to others in Arcane. She’s still valuing skill feats over general feats, taking Reveal Machinations to inflict a debuff that she can make better use of. Several times, she’s seen trying to talk people down in Arcane, leading to the inclusion of Legendary Negotiation in her build. Glad-Hand lets her wine and dine, and she rounds out her picks with Biographical Eye to cold read targets and figure out the best way to make use of them. Power word kill ends up fitting with her build since it is an execute, killing enemies of low enough level or low enough health, just like her Searing Brilliance.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: I often have trouble suggesting free archetype picks for casters and mainly just suggest going for other caster archetypes. I have to stick with that a bit here, as I feel like the Cathartic Mage could fit her although I’m not sure what emotional focus she would use. However, another option that is a little different is the Ostilli Host. This is normally only accessible to sukri, but access is much softer than prerequisite and it gives her a tiny companion that consumes magic. It can even counteract a spell with Spell Swallow, having some semblance to her rebuttal.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Mel, the Soul's Reflection is a skilled human sorcerer of the imperial bloodline and the grand council bureaucrat background. This background reflects her place in Piltover's Council, which she also explores with a lot of her Diplomacy-based feats, such as her Leverage Connections, Courteous Comeback, and Shameless Request. There's two effects to her Searing Brilliance passive - she has Bespell Weapon to channel the might of her magic into her Strikes and we looked at a few ideas for her Overwhelm. Bleed Out might finish off an enemy, but the true low-health execution comes from her power word kill spell. Radiant Volley, on the other hand, is super easy to represent with force barrage but then we're back to her feats with Rebuttal. She uses the likes of Reflect Spell and Reflect Harm to launch the attacks of enemies back at them though dispelling globe isn't bad for it either. There are effects that immobilize, there are effects that slow, but getting all that and damage is a little rough, leaving her to rely on stuff like rime slick or cave fangs for her Solar Snare. Finally, Golden Eclipse is just a great burst of damage. The sorcerous potency adds more damage to her spells, just like how her ult passively increase the effects of her Overwhelm while the great burst of damage can be done by a number of spells. Though I liked eclipse burst for at least matching with a bit of the theme of the original ability.
Strutting her stuff with unsubtle certainty, this sprouting sorceress shields against spells, sending them to straight to sinister sources in synchronization with salvos and solar showings.
Please let me know what you think and what other builds you'd like to see!
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Have a fantastic Friday!
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