Red Post Collection: Gnar Q&A

[ ~8 PM PST: Just added in a batch of posts! New info at bottom of each category ]

Earlier today, several Rioter's hopped on the boards to host a Q&A session on Gnar! From Creative and Gameplay to Art & Sound, the team answered a gnarly amount of questions regarding our upcoming champion!

Continue reading for more information!

The Q&A was separated into three categories, Creative, Gameplay, and Art & Sound, with Rioters from each discipline answering their groups questions!

While I've kept all the posts sorted into their respective threads, I did try to clump similar questions or topics together within each category.

Creative

Here's Riot Opeli with an intro for the creative section of the Q&A:

"Hey everyone, 

I'm Riot Opeli, Narrative Designer on Gnar. He's a pretty neat guy.
If you’re curious to know how we went about creating Gnar’s character and story, ask us here! 

Rioters from our Narrative and Creative teams will be hanging out for a few hours to share stories and ~~secrets~~ on League’s prehistoric champion! 

Here are some other things you might want to check out:
Discovering the LinkGnar Reveal 

Check out the other Gnar Q&A sessions here:
Gnar Art & Sound Q&A
Gnar Gameplay Q&A"

First up, Opeli commented on how to pronounce "Gnar", saying:

""Nar." The source of the silent "G" is up for debate"

she continued, mentioning the origins of Gnar's name:

"Hmm, I think Runaan has a better answer for that. She came up with the name over a year ago. I think her and the team were brainstorming names and knew they wanted to land on something simple, sounds like a... sound... and is a little rough."

Opeli also commented that Gnar has been a concept since around last March:

"Oh, gosh, since last March or so. He didn't change much from start to finish though. The rage thing was always a part of him, and I think what changed most was fur color, haha."

As for how "old" Gnar is, she noted:

"He's about 4 human years old."

Opeli also shared that Gnar doesn't really know how much time has passed and commented on fan theories that the watcher's are the who froze Gnar in ice:

"He doesn't fully comprehend how much time has passed. He knows things are... different, and that his family and home are gone. 

It could have been Lissandra, Watchers, something new, or someone else that wields the power of true ice. We can't be too sure. The person who drew those cave paintings could have been confused or had a super narrow understanding of what was going on when Gnar was frozen."

Riot Opeli continued answering a big block of questions regarding Gnar's transformation and his personality":

"Who would be Gnar’s friends in a cold, unforgiving future? 

HMM. Poros, definitely, if they're still alive and well. Lulu and Pix, for sure. But, really, anyone who is kind and will play with him, even if it was your typical scary monster (assuming they don't try to kill him or piss him off). 

Does Gnar realize he transforms into a vicious beast, or is he unaware? Does that affect his actions? 

He's unaware, but that may change as he grows older. :) 

Does Gnar retain his personality in best form? 

YES! This is really important to us. When he transforms, he doesn't become a bloodlust-y beast. He's just really mad. He's the tantrum incarnate. You picked on him, so he's reacting. 

Speaking of which, Gnar is more of a defender? It looks like he was protecting his family. 

He was protecting his family, but I don't think he actively thinks about saving people, like Braum. He will do what's necessary, though. 

Does Gnar get sad when he remembers the past, or does he have something like amnesia? 

Yes, absolutely. While he's enjoying being free and doing whatever he pleases, he's still lacking a home and family. And that really sucks."

She continued:

"Can I assume the Rage Gene was recessive? Only Gnar Hulked out and fought against the thing that presumably killed his family/tribe. 

It's unclear to scientists (read: Heimerdinger) whether it's a recessive trait or something Gnar acquired in that moment. More research is required. 

Who would be most likely to befriend Gnar? My guess is Annie. 

Lulu. Although Annie would probably be up there. She's a little demented but Gnar is still young enough to not judge her for burning things down. 

According to the reveal, Gnar was "born millennia ago." Does this make him the oldest living champion? 

Nah, Anivia is pretty frickin' old. 

On the Fields of Justice, Mega Gnar doesn't stop being mad unless he's tired (or dead). Off of the Fields of Justice, is it possible to calm down Mega Gnar before he tires himself out? Who (or what) is most likely to be able to do it? 

While it may be possible... it has yet to be seen."

When asked about Gnar's teaser and other ideas the team explored to introduce him to players, Opeli commented:

"We always knew we wanted him to be trapped in ice since his conception. So, really, we didn't have to explore too many other options. The thing that came into question the most is how we show Gnar's personality in the story piece, without making him too knowable. Like, we didn't want to do a first-person perspective for him because it would give too many insights about his thinking and we liked the fact that he doesn't speak like all the other champions. Giving him a translatable inner monologue would've ruined that. 

Or it could've been: 

Gnar. Gnaaaaar. GNAR GNAR! 

The end!"

As for who froze Gnar in the ice and what became of his family, she noted:

"Nope. Vel'Koz can't freeze people! He would've disintegrated Gnar instead, so we should be super grateful it WASN'T Vel'Koz. 

Some people speculate it was the Watchers, but it's unclear from the drawing. It could easily be a monster we don't see nowadays, and Gnar is an exceptional case because Runeterrans haven't come across a frozen specimen like him before. So, the question really is: what has the capability to freeze something in true ice but wouldn't destroy it afterwards? Maybe it was an oversight? 

We don't know the names of his family members. RIP Gnar's family. :'["

Opeli continued, sharing her nickname for Gnar's mom

"PERSONALLY, I like to think her name was Coco. 

But... that's just me. :| "

She continued, answering a question about the unique perspectives recent champion lore has been presented in:

"Yes, most likely. We take a look at the champion, their personality, and what story we'd like to tell, then decide what format feels right when telling that story. Vel'Koz was first person because it was compelling to hear the thoughts in his own head. Heimerdinger's was in a journal format because that'd actually be a thing he'd do, and it still is able to show his personality.  

We knew we didn't want Gnar's in a first person perspective because that'd make him too knowable, but we still wanted to display both of his forms."

As for what Gnar's personality is, Opeli shared:

"Fun, mischievous, playful. Trickster in a 4-year-old toddler sense."

and if he'll interact with other champions or remain secluded, she noted:

"He'll definitely try. He's not a shy dude. But he might receive some funny looks because he's so different, and maybe ultimately feared if they see him transform."

When asked what inspired Gnar and if he stemmed from a desire to create a caveman themed champion, Opeli noted:

""Caveman" wasn't the inspiration, but prehistoric was one of them. We wanted the chance to bring something new to yordles, and giving him a trait that could be explained by time was nice. 

We just didn't want him to be a modern yordle that was captured by Zaun and mutated by one of their science rays so he could hulk out. I mean, what a ridiculous concept, right?"

As for Gnar's relationship with Rengar and Kha'Zix, Opeli noted:

"Does Gnar consider himself a friend of Rengar, despite the lore? Rengar seemed happy to see the little Yordle, despite it's annoyance to him. When he went Mega-Gnar on Rengar, was he mad about Rengar trying to tell him to bugger off, or was throwing his boomerang the last straw? 

Once he's out of his mega state, yeah, I think he likes Rengar. For now. He was mad that Rengar threw his toy to a place he couldn't reach and felt pretty rejected by the lion cat assassin man. So, I think Gnar has a forgiving heart to an extent but if it ever happens again...

Really, we all want to know, why Gnar? Which brilliant mind envisioned the little Yordle? 

It came from a combination of people, including our CEO! The idea of a yordle growing mega came up and people just ran with it.

Well, he and Rengar are clearly not on the best of terms, does that mean Gnar doesn't like Kha'Zix? 

Gnar would approach Kha'Zix the same way he approached Rengar. It all depends on how Kha'Zix would react to him (which wouldn't be well)."

If you had any doubts, she also confirmed that Gnar's lore was told from the perspective of Rengar:

"Yep, it's Rengar!"

She continued

"1) Does Gnar know that he transforms? 

Nope. Not now, anyways. That may change as he grows older. 

3) Most people assume that Gnar's lore is told from the point of view of Rengar. Does this mean that Gnar and Rengar and "enemies" or is the person from Gnar's lore someone else? (possibly Rengar's master?) 

It's Rengar. They aren't enemies, but that last encounter definitely strained their relationship. I think Rengar now knows how to handle Gnar and will be sure to not tick him off again, and Gnar is forgiving to a point. 

4) What do you like most about Gnar? 

His big, wonderful eyes! LOOK AT THEM!"

Opeli also commented on the team's thoughts about prehistoric Runterra and what it would look like:

"Yeah, we talked about it a bit. Mainly what Gnar's life would be like, what was going on thousands of years ago, what the world looked like, stuff like that. 

Let's just say that modern Runeterra looks quite a bit different than when Gnar was originally alive."

she continued, commenting on if Gnar realizes his relation to other yordles:

"He has an idea about their connection, like how dogs recognize other dogs without having to say, "HELLO. I AM A DOG. ARE YOU A DOG, TOO?" 

I'm not trying to compare him to a dog, though. 

But, for the record, I love dogs. So if he was one, I wouldn't be upset. 

Anyways..."

As for the inspiration for the Dino Gnar skin, Opeli noted:

"That was precisely it! The child in a costume thing. Gnar wants to live out a particular fantasy of being a dinosaur, but he actually has the ability to live out that fantasy in mega Gnar form, which is awesome."

Gameplay

Here's Gypsylord with an intro to the Gameplay section of the Q&A:

"Greetings Summoners, 

Gypsylord here. Transform champions have traditionally been some of the hardest to balance in League, but with Gnar we set about tackling the issue with some unique solutions. Meddler and I are here to answer your design questions and give some insight into his creation! 

Here are some other things you might want to check out:
Discovering the LinkGnar Reveal 

Check out the other Gnar Q&A sessions here:
Gnar Art & Sound Q&AGnar Creative Q&A"

When asked about Gnar's imminent release date, Gypsylord noted:

"We usually try to get champs out the patch after they hit PBE. We're hopeful Gnar will follow this trend but we won't release him 'till he's ready. With that in mind, I can't give any hard dates. Just know that we want this guy live just as much as you do."

When asked about the origins of Gnar's kit and if he was always a yordle, Meddler noted:

"Gnar was indeed always a Yordle right from the start. What we did spend a while exploring though was what sort of creature he should transform into, with various big forms inspired by dinosaurs, bears, oxen, etc. We eventually chose to go with a version inspired by the proportions of a gorilla - really front loaded body with enormous muscle mass, huge hands and so on. 

The rage mechanic was on the kit right from the start, with the back and forth only somewhat controllable transformation the core of what we wanted to capture with Gnar's gameplay. It did go through an enormous amount of tuning in terms of how fast in should generate, what should generate it etc - getting the feel right on that, both in lane and in teamfights, was critical to Gnar feeling good to play."

He continued, sharing how the team arrived at a transforming yordle:

"Gnar started off with some exploration into the ways that a young yordle, all alone, might be able to survive in a dangerous, ancient world. One of the ideas hit upon was the classic man and monster style of transformation (Jekkyl and Hyde, Mogwai and Gremlins, Bruce Banner and the Hulk etc). That combined well with a fish out of water tale (Gnar, frozen in ice for thousands of years, awakens to a very different world) and from there we started exploring a bunch of different concepts for what Gnar might look like, how he'd act etc. 

We'll definitely keep looking for more good Yordle opportunities, won't be another in the near future though."

Meddler also commented on the several lessons the team took away from Gnar's development:

"Developing Gnar did have a number of good lessons. Some of those we'll be looking to apply to other form/stance swapping champions where possible, though in a number of cases they're lessons more applicable to newly developed champions than modifcations to existing ones.

1. Keeping the same targeting type on a button in both forms makes it a lot easier to learn a form swapping champion and offers a smooth flow back and forth between forms. In Gnar's case this means Q is always a line skillshot and E is always a ground targeted leap. Not every champion's going to be a good fit for that approach (we've got another character that swaps stances basically, rather than forms, under development that doesn't for example) but where possible it's valuable to offer.
2. Clarity of form purpose is important, both for the player and when looking at how best to balance a champion. Mini Gnar early in development didn't have a ranged basic attack for example or particularly high auto attack damage and so struggled outside of poke situations. Identifying that Mini-Gnar should therefore be the sustained damage, kiting form, in contrast to Megar-Gnar's immediate impact, high CC, slow form, really helped give clear reasons for each form to exist and distinct strengths and weaknesses. Some of our other form swapping champions accomplish that well already (Nidalee in particular has clear reasons to be in Cougar or Human form), others less so (it's often unclear to Quinn whether she should be using her ult mid team fight for example).
3. Limited access to a form swap allows you to give each form really distinct strengths and weaknesses, since the player can't just swap back a few seconds later, thereby nullifying the problem. In Gnar's case that meant we could give him two powerful skillsets that don't overlap, given he shares CDs between forms too.
4. Itemization for two different roles is tough. Building different forms so that they can bring some item indepedent contribution (CC/toughenss for Mega-Gnar, some guaranteed damage via his W proc for little Gnar) helps with that, there's still conflict between what each form really needs though. Ultimately we've ended up with Gnar being able to use a wide variety of items depending on how tanky or damage focused he wants to be. That allows for some cool choices on the Gnar player's part, there's still a bit of conflict between form needs there though unfortunately."

 As for if any of Gnar's abilities came from other or scrapped champions, Meddler noted:

"None of Gnar's abilities are ones we've tried before but hadn't previously found a good match for. We did try a couple of things on Gnar that didn't work for him that we'll probably try on other champs someday though (an ultimate that devoured an enemy champ, temporarily removing them from the map, in particular). 

The feeling, though not the details, of Gnar's ult is also something we'd talked about for Vi's ult (physically throwing other champions around)."

Meddler also commented on the sheer amount of tools Gnar has access to, saying:

"Gnar's got access to a lot of stuff, no argument, the thing is though that he doesn't get it all at once and doesn't get to choose which skillset he wants on demand. You could describe him as having two line skillshots that hit multiple targets and slow for example, but that's not a realistic desciption - he's getting one or the other, never both (especially given his CDs are shared between forms). His passive gives him a lot of stats, but that's because it's a way of expressing how his base stats are radically different in each form (and his 'actual' base stats apart from those listed on the passive are very low as a result). 

To answer your specific questions: 

Mini Gnar's quite squishy and has a very short ranged auto attack for a ranged champion. In order to survive at all he therefore needs to be able to kite enemies. We wanted to ensure the tools he had to do that were in combat mobility though, hence he's got a slow on his Q and a movement speed boost accessed via auto attacking rather than just a large haste buff to use whenever. 

The attack speed on the mini E is there so that Gnar has a reason to use it offensively in lane. If he wants to put out as much damage as possible he can't just sit on his E and only use it to disengage and, as a result, has to make a trade off between offensive power and being more vulnerable to getting engaged on (jungle ganks especially)."

When asked about the limited control over Gnar's transformation, Meddler explained :

"Gnar's limited control over his transformation's core to both his kit and his personality/background. As a result it's not something we'd want to change to balance him - there are other ways to achieve that if needed that don't trim away what makes him distinct."

Gypsylord dove deeper into the Transformation mechanic, explaining:

"Yeah sure. Gnar's unreliability was put in place for two reasons:

1) We wanted to provide a new gameplay experience. Similar to how Draven mains feel amazing for being AXE CATCHING GODS, we want the people who master Gnar to feel like they're CRAZY RAGE BEASTS who've learned to master their anger and transformations and bend them to their will. Honestly, some players won't like Rage Gene's uncontrollable nature. 

--------You're going to be running Kog'Maw down in Mini form, have him one hit from death, and then transform into Mega Gnar, miss your boulder, and helplessly try to trundle away as he kills you from 700 range. Some of you will come out of that game not wanting to play Gnar again because WTF I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A KILL BUT MY TRANSFORM KILLED ME. That's okay. 

---------Hopefully if you stick with him you'll then run into the game where you bounce off the enemy tank into the fight as Mini Gnar, assassinate the ADC, get brought down to 5 HP, TRANSFORM JUST IN TIME, hurl the rest of the enemy team into a wall, and watch in satisfaction as your team collapses on and eliminates them (try /dancing). It's all about those high intensity transform moments and the feeling of trying to wrest control of this epic transition out of the hands of the game. Sometimes it screws you, sometimes it wins you the game. The uncontrollable mechanic is not going to be for everyone, but I feel that it will FEEL GREAT for those who do want to engage with it.

2) We wanted to finally make a transformation character who felt good in both forms. Historically we've had problems with achieving this as our other transform chars (Elise, Old Nid, Jayce) can transform at will. Because of this we can't give the forms meaningful weaknesses (you can just swap out) and instead have to balance the character around whatever form is their best case. When Old Nid's cougar form was strong human form was a glorified heal and scouting tool and when Old Nid's spear throwing form was strong Cougar form was a 3 second CD dash. She never got to feel great about both forms at the same time and building to the strengths of one made the other suffer immensely. We hope that by not allowing Gnar to swap when he wants to we can truly give both forms meaningful weaknesses that players can exploit in the moment. This means we can also make their strengths REALLY strong. Human form Nidalee isn't a problem in isolation. You jump on her and kill her. It's when she gets to turn into a cat for free and pounce away that she becomes an evil spear monster that can't be dealt with."

Meddler tagged back in to comment on balancing this mechanic, saying:

"The goal is to have both forms be equally useful but in different ways, with each form being stronger under certain circumstances. 

Balancing Gnar's probably going to have its fair share of challenges, we do have a couple of useful advantages from the way his transformation works to draw on though. Since Gnar shares CDs between forms he can't throw out as many different abilities in a short period as some of our other form swappers. Additionally since he can't shift/deshift at will constantly he's locked into dealing with each form's weakness for a period of time, which gives his opponents opportunities to take advantage of said weaknesses."

He continued, sharing his thoughts on if this uncontrollable transformation will make Gnar more susceptible to ganks:

"There's a tradeoff to be made there. As the enemy are you more concerned about Mini Gnar's mobility or Mega Gnar's CC/tankiness? On top of that, how long are you prepared to wait for that transform to occur? There are definitely ways to take advantage of Gnar's transformations back and forth, it's not a simple 'Wait until he swaps and then kill him' scenario though."

Gypsylord also popped back in to explain the uncontrollable transformation was intended to combat the balancing problems with other shifters like Jayce or Elise:

"To answer your main question: Yes, the uncontrollable transformation was to combat the Nidalee, Elise, and Jayce problem. We're hoping that by taking away control of the transform it will give the weaknesses we've built into Gnar's kit a chance to actually express themselves and be exploited by opponents. Little Gnar is a slippery assassin/ADC but he has to put himself in danger to deal damage and he's the squishiest guy in league (take a look at his base stats). Big Gnar is an uber tank but he's slow and easily kited. There's also the fact that if you itemize too much towards one form (straight damage for little or straight tank for big) you're going to have periods of the game where you're significantly weaker. Jayce can build straight damage and sit in cannon form all game. A Gnar building all damage will eventually transform in a fight and have to deal with being a slow and squishy melee. 

If we need to balance the guy I'd want to trend towards playing up each form's strengths (for buffs) and weaknesses (for nerfs). For example, Mega Gnar is supposed to have low comparative sustained DPS so the first place I'd look to nerf him is things like AS and base damages/ratios on lower CD spells. Irelia (if on even footing) should be able to survive Mega Gnar's burst and then run him down and kill him with True Damage AA's."

Meddler added on to this, saying:

"One of our original goals for Gnar was to make a more accessible form swapper that both new players and experienced ones could get a lot out of (Jayce, Nid and Elise are all pretty tough for new LoL players to pick up). That goal was one of the starting points for keeping targeting types the same between forms. As Gnar developed 'accessible form swapper' became more of a secondary goal, with 'Hard to control rage transformation to manage' taking more prominence, and as part of that we accepted that Gnar would be a more advanced champ than we'd initially thought. Very glad some of that accessibility's still there though. 

Mini Gnar's auto attack range scales by level in large part to keep his laning under control whilst also giving him the range he needs for later team fights. His alternation between forms also means opponents have windows to engage/disengage in, depending on which form they feel best able to tackle (and since he can't shift back on demand those windows are a lot longer than other shape shifting champions). Having said that watching how he performs against melee champs, and whether he's doing too well or too poorly in some matchups, is going to be one of our big balance focuses after he goes out. 

The goal is to have both forms feel equally useful, with each more powerful in certain circumstances and powerful in different ways. Great to hear the mirror match up's good fun, haven't actually had a chance to play that myself (it's not a regular part of our testing process internally)."

Meddler also tagged back in to answer his own set of questions regarding Gnar's Q, the health shift for Gnar's transformation, Mega Gnar's hard to hit abilities, and more.

"The Q's CD reduction is 60% of the CD applied to the spellslot when you throw it e.g. if the spell goes on a 10s CD when you throw it catching it wil take 6s off the CD when you catch it. 

We wanted Gnar to get a large spike in health when he goes into Mega form but not to heal too much over time via the transformation. As a result when he shifts back into Mini form he keeps his current health % rather than his current health amount. 

Gnar's abilities in Mega form are not guaranteed to land because of how powerful they are. We wanted Mega form to be a large, rampaging beast, with really high impact abilities and a real sense of 'MUST DODGE THIS OR STAY AWAY FROM GNAR' for the enemy. 

Gnar sharing CDs between forms limits the number of skills he can chain together (no chains of 6 different spells, unlike Elise for example). That means we're able to make each individual ability more impactful. He also shares CDs though because as far as Gnar the character is concerned they're the same ability - throw thing or jump on thing. Sure, Gnar's small sometimes and big at other times, but he's still the same Yordle kid at the end of the day and probably distinguishes a lot less between the two states than anyone else does."

Meddler also commented on Gnar's base stats being very low in one form and some of the highest in the other, explaining that

"Very much intended - we wanted really big playstyle contrasts between the two forms. 

I expect Gnar will present us with some balance challenges, particularly given the limited control he has over his transformation, which is space we haven't explored previously. When balancing him we'll have a few levers that we don't on other form swappers though to take advantage of which should help (inability to swap at will and shared CDs between forms in particular)."

When asked if mini Gnar being able to get cooldown reduction for his own Q from walking over Mega Gnar's Q boulder was intended, Meddler confirmed:

"Mini Gnar getting the bonus from walking over the rock/Mega Gnar from catching the boomerang is intended. It's a little odd thematically, but this was a case where the gameplay value of the plays that interaction allows was more important to us than a bit of weirdness. 

Crunch (Mega Gnar's E) triggering both on the bounce and the final landing's also intended, though it's not possible to damage a target with both of those AOEs."

Gypsylord added in:

"From a thematic perspective I was sad about Gnar being able to pick up his rock while little. From a design perspective he needs to be able to pick up his rock to ensure that he isn't trapping himself by throwing a boulder right before turning small. In this case we felt the design benefits trump the thematic costs."

As for what Gnar can use his E on to hop off of, Meddler noted:

"If it's a targetable unit (not a ward) then Gnar can bounce off it. That means he can bounce off Heimer turrets or Shaco boxes for example, but can't bounce off Maokai saplings."

As for the power level of "Super Crunch" ( using E while in Mini Gnar form to transform into Mega Gnar, which causes the effects of both Hop and Crunch ), Gypsylord noted:

"The Super Crunch is intended to be a "little too good." It was placed on the kit in order to give him insanely gated but crazy powerful play making potential. If the stars align and Gnar gets to 100 Rage, has his jump off cd, and can find a moment of opportunity within that 4 second window before he auto-transforms (remember the whole time this is happening the enemy team can see his rage bar building) then he can potentially be rewarded with the positioning power to land a 5-man wall stun after jumping into the middle of the enemy team."

Gypsylord also commented on Gnar's lack of an R ability while in Mini Gnar form:

"I've always thought about about giving Gnar an ultimate while small but ultimately decided against it. 2 reasons - First, I honestly feel like little Gnar is already close to a complete package, he already has all the tools and damage he needs to be an effective ranged kiting guy. Second, Gnar's Mega and Mini spells share cooldowns which I feel doesn't translate to a long cooldown ultimate. I tried the paradigm on Vi at one point during her development. She had a super meter with an ultimate that changed depending on how much it was charged. Turns out she'd always just use it in the moment and never really think about possibly saving it for the other spell. When Zed is about to kill you the decision is always USE R NOW. Didn't want Gnar to have to make this choice with his R as I'm not sure it really is a choice..."

When asked if we might see another champions ( a ways down the line of course ) utilize this uncontrollable transformation mechanic, Meddler noted:

"We might explore limited control transformation again sometime. We'd want to do something pretty different to what Gnar offers though, explore a different take on the idea and ensure that what makes Gnar distinct remains unique to him. Also not something we'd want to do again too quickly, both to give ourselves time to learn some lessons from how Gnar does and to ensure we're offering a variety of different experiences before revisiting this one."

When asked for build recommendations for Gnar, Gypsylord commented:

"Gnar's itemization is admittedly a little wonky and everything I say here may be disproved once he goes live and AP SUNFIRE Gnar becomes the terror of solo queue.
---------My rec is as follows: For a balanced Gnar build that should be pretty effective in both forms you should start with 1 offensive and 1 defensive item. Always get the offensive one first. I suggest TriForce, BotRK, or Youmuu's for offense and Randuin's, Banshee's, or Visage for defense depending on situation. After that build offense or defense based on what you feel you and your team need. A more offensive Gnar provides great damage but has to be much more opportunistic when big. A defensive Gnar is less effective at killing people while small but is much more effective at getting to big form safely and then wading into the fight for maximum disruption."

Meddler also commented on how Gnar interacts with the item Runaan's Hurricane:

"Hurricane will give you more rage, since you'll be landing extra auto attacks, so you will transform into Mega Gnar more often. The downside though is that Mega Gnar doesn't benefit from the multiple shots on Hurricane, so you're trading more time in that form for an item that's less useful then. 

Mini Gnar's W doesn't require that he lands 3 consecutive hits on a target, just that he gets a target to 3 stacks without the stacks falling off. As a result there's no need to make an exception for Hurricane, it'll just work as you'd expect."

Lastly, Meddler noted another monstrous champion might follow Gnar this year:

"I don't think we've said anything about this being a void focused year. We did mention there'd be more beast and non human/standard humanoid champs though. Vel'koz was the first of those, Gnar's another and there's potentially another that might be a good fit for this year too (no promises though, and for anyone wondering I'm not talking about Ao Shin who's further off)."

 In a series of answers, Gypsylord also commented on one of Gnar's scrapped abilities, "Devour":

"Quote

Huuuuge fan of Gnar, and I got a few questions: 

• What were some abilities that didn’t make the final cut? Any abilities you liked in particular that didn’t make it?
• Do you think Gnar will be played competitively?
• How do you guys decide who tackles a champion’s kit design?
• Any comment on Gnar’s similarities with Vayne (Hyper, GNAR!)?

1) The most interesting spell that didn't make the cut was Devour. He'd eat an enemy champ, removing them from the world for 3 seconds. During this time he wouldn't be able to move but could spit them out in chosen direction. 

Didn't see the final kit for 2 reasons: first, it felt like bad Skarner R and Fiddle fear. You "stun" Volibear for 3 seconds but during this time your carry can't kill him and then Volibear comes back and murders your carry. Second, Gnar isn't a werewolf. He isn't about running people down and eating their face off. He's more just a big angry kid so I wanted his ult to have more of a "bull in a china shop" kind of feel instead of something with such targeted intent

2) I wouldn't be surprised to see Gnar played in comp (his R is pretty strong and ranged top laners have certain advantages) but I would be worried if he ever showed up as a prominent pick without a specialized team comp built around him. Our pros tend to highly value reliability which is in direct conflict with Gnar's unreliable transformation. If he becomes a staple it likely means he's way more reliable than we intended.

3) We decide kit designers based on interest, synergy with the ideas, and availability. We have a small team of champ designers and when a new champ is getting slotted we assign someone to it who isn't currently working on a project. If multiple people are available we think about interest and expertise in the role (I love making girls from Piltover and CertainlyT is very skilled at making mechanically interesting experiences for example). 

4)At a base level the mechanics on the characters are similar (3 hit percent max health and knockback into walls). In the case of the R I think the similarities end there as I feel the use cases of Condemn and GNAR! are so vastly different. To me, Vayne's silver bolts is a brilliant and satisfying way to say "my character is target agnostic." I needed this to be true to some degree on Gnar as he is ideally forced to build a mix of offense and defense but still needs to feel relevant when small. Does it make Vayne feel bad? I don't think so. She gets true damage and Gnar can't build magic pen so she's always going to hit tanks way harder."

As for if we might see this "devour" again, Meddler noted:

"Definitely. One of the big reasons it didn't fit on Gnar was that it's the sort of effect you need to have access to on demand to utilize properly. Gnar by contrast needed an ult that would always have relevance, given his transform timing isn't particularly controlled."

When asked if they had ever tried allowing Gnar to bounce a multiple times if he could chain from target to target, Meddler noted:

"Yeah, tried that in one of the early kits. Was great fun when it worked, felt very uncontrolled and unpredictable though or, when that was compensated for, pretty unfair to play against. Also just gave him absolutely insane mobility. 

Far as I'm aware Cubone wasn't a reference point, I'm assuming this was a case of artists drawing on similar source inspirations."

When asked what made the team decide on a Boomerang for Gnar's weapon, Meddler commented:

"Gnar's initial concept art had him holding a jawbone club. Changing that to a boomerang (and therefore ranged weapon) seemed a natural answer to the question of 'how would a small Yordle fight the same type of opponents his large form also fights?'."

As for how Gnar's passive generates fury, Meddler explained:

"If you're in combat (have recently taken or dealt damage) you'll generate a small amount per second. Landing auto attacks or Q hits will generate additional rage on top of that. 

If you've been out of combat a long time (around a dozen seconds) your rage will start ticking down."

Art & Sound

Here's nickstravaganza with an intro to the Art & Sound section of the Q&A:

"Ever wondered how we put the grr into Gnar’s growl, or set about defining his appearance? We’ve asked some of the Missing Link’s Art and Sound guys to come in and chat about everything from silhouettes to animations, and voiceover to sound effects. 

Here are some other things you might want to check out: 

Discovering the LinkGnar Reveal 

Check out the other Gnar Q&A sessions here:
Gnar Creative Q&AGnar Gameplay Q&A"

When asked who Gnar's voice actor is, ProtoShredanoid noted:

"That would be Dorothy Fahn. She was awesome!"

He also commented on what inspired Gnar's sounds:

"Well, of course! Sound-wise little Gnar has a lot of ethnic / tribal / shamanistic instrumentation that I feel sets him apart from other champions. The sounds of his boomerang are processed bone flute recordings (tuned to Warm Earthy musical Keys like A flat to tie him into nature), there are doumbek drum sounds on certain hits and buffs, bone tooth necklace jangles after he throws his boomerang and of course his voice. Also the contrasting dynamic of small, quick, light, pesky sounds in small form too huge, heavy, smashing rage sounds in Big form makes him stand out to me."

When asked about his dance, Nickstravaganza explained:

"Regarding the dance animation, we wanted to support his hyperactive sort of personality. It actually felt kind of tame before the VO came in, then it became like a super-taunt haha."

Protoshredanoid also added in:

"Dance - on top of what Nickstravaganza said - we really just had fun with the voice actor in the studio. We all sang weird/silly tunes along with the video, but it was really the actor who took it to the next level and brought it to life. We were all laughing pretty hard! Overall I feel this dance really captures the spirit of this little rascal. The final version has SFX, ethnic shakers and tribal drums that make Gnar sound like a one man band. 

Localization - We are localizing Gnar's voice because of certain taunt lines, so he will most likely sound a little different in each territory."

When asked if Mega Gnar has his own set of emotes, Nickstravaganza noted:

"Mega Gnar has his own dance, taunt, joke, and laugh, though he doesn't have a lot of time to use them, of course. I think the dance is my favorite."

As for Gnar's adorable set of unique champion taunts where he tries to mimic the words they say, ProtoShedanoid noted:

"You can thank Riot Opeli for that awesomeness. She is always up to something....... 

We even got a poke at our Lead Sound Designer Jay Watford by having a "Jai Waitford" taunt which hints at an Australian Belieber. We know Jay is a Belieber at heart so it was the least we could do to honor him."

He continued:

"Early on we were talking about taking the tribal/feral gibberish route. It was a bit experimental since, as others have mentioned, we didn't really have a character that talked that way. It was a challenge striking the right balance, but judging by the response, I think we arrived at something that really works."

When asked about the idea of a "Gentleman Gnar" skin, nickstravaganza noted:

"Funny you should mention that, it was one of the ideas we tossed around. No current plans for Gentleman Gnar, but I imagine it might come up again when Skins Team is brainstorming his next one."

As for what Gnar's login music might sound like, ProtoShredanoid commented:

"Only because I don't want to ruin the surprise - do you have any ideas of what to expect? 

But just to give a hint, expect little drums, mischievous feel, weird instruments like a cows femur, big drums and fun."

PHEW!  If you are still craving more Gnar action, don't throw a tantrum! Just head on over to our PBE coverage, including details on his abilities and ratios, a preview of his special interactions, and more pictures & videos than you can shake a boomerang at.