Graves could use a few changes... [ Champ Rework Concept ]
So after the New Dawn cinematic and the glory that was Graves' part in it, I thought 'What the hell, I play ADC fairly frequently, and I toyed around with Graves for a while... I should play him some more!"
Sadly, this did not go particularly well. Specific reasons for that aside, though, it did show me exactly why a lot of people say that Lucian does Graves' (and Ezreal's) job, only better. The Lightslinger's dashing and dueling abilities really do feel a lot more effective than Graves', and it's certainly made him a lot more popular than the member of the old 'trifecta' of great ADCs.
With that in mind, I thought I might throw out my conception of what could make Graves shine again, as well as make him better fit what I think is his overall theme; namely, the rugged con man/thug who's seen it all and isn't afraid to get into the thick of things.
NOTE: I'll be leaving numbers alone in the first draft of this, since I've found in the past that my ability to balance the math side of champs is... weak, to say the least.
Initial Note!
Discussing this with some friends has brought up an interesting note I had not considered before. Graves is, for many, considered a worthwhile pick for his ability to burst a target and heavily chunk targets * around * that target while using the AS bonus on his dash to reposition for a cleanup.
To be honest, that didn't mesh well with what I saw as the 'fantasy' for Graves. He's the no-nonsense tough-guy with a shotgun who doesn't take guff from anyone, be they assassin or tank. This has led to my design choices being a lot more confrontation-focused, but also a bit more reactive once * in * that range. Perhaps this slots him more into something of a Bruiser role rather than an ADC one... and maybe his attack range (even when not shortened by Q [see below]) would reflect that? I'm unsure... And maybe the burst approach appeals to people a bit more than the shotgun-brawler! At the very least, something else to discuss!
Passive - True Grit
When Graves deals damage to enemy champions and large minions/monsters, he gains X% (very small) of the damage dealt as bonus armor and magic resistance for Y seconds. This bonus is doubled if any of the units damaged are within W units (the minimum range of his Q's passive effect).
Graves' passive seems a bit crazy for an ADC, since ideally you wouldn't want to need those defensive stats in the first place, assuming your team is peeling well. Then, if someone dives your face, it's really unlikely the combat will last long enough to have any meaningful impact as it is. As such, it makes more since to me for the passive to be a bit stronger up front to give him a fighting chance against divers and allow him to be in the thick of a team fight where he can apply more damage.
Update - 7/28 - Passive changed from being based around merely being in-combat to Graves personally dealing damage and benefiting from it. This solidifies him as a champ who can focus heavily on building damage to still make defensive gains, while also preventing him from gaining those defenses purely by being /near/ combat, being ambushed/poked, or from most lane minions. It also no longer stacks.
Q - Buckshot
Passive - Graves deals more damage to enemies who are closer to him, scaling with distance. (Starts accumulating ~100 units into base AA range)
Toggle Off - Slug - Graves attacks from his standard attack range (Probably shorter than average) and gains a small Movespeed Bonus while running towards enemy champions.
Toggle On - Buckshot - Graves' attack range is shortened dramatically, but he fires in a short, wide cone that deals increased damage (stacking with this ability's passive) and has a minor, short-duration slow.
This, I think, is something that would bring Graves' style to the forefront. Sure, allow him to attack like a normal ADC for farming, poking, staying out of range of melee assassins, etc., but when Graves decides to go in hard, reward him for diving head-first into the brawl! Anyone building traditional ADC items will be aided by the passive so as not to blow up immediately, but will still have to balance risk and reward. Additionally, people who decide to take Graves top -- or who just like tossing in tank stats in general -- will be able to come closer to a straight ADCs damage output despite their build in exchange for not being nearly as effective while out of the enemy's reach.
W - Back Off! / Quickdraw
Graves swats the target champion with the butt of his rifle, knocking them back a moderate distance and dealing X damage. By correctly timing a second press of this ability, Graves will fire a parting shot with the following effects depending on his current Q-state:
Slug: The target takes an additional Y damage and is knocked back a bit further.
Buckshot: The Target takes an additional Z damage and everyone in a cone around the target takes A% of that, is slowed (by the amount the Q applies), and is knocked back slightly (Not as much as the main target, who also is not knocked back any additional distance).
In exchange for his dash, which I've replaced (as you'll see in a bit), Graves gains a more stylistic disengage that changes with how he was playing before he decided to back off. Taking on multiple opponents? You won't do as much damage to the primary recipient of the backside of your weapon, but you get a bit of breathing room from everyone. Going single target? Then this move functions a bit like an execute, with the risk that your target might survive if you're cocky. If they were attempting to execute you, though, then they get a lot more pain for their trouble!
Also, I really think having this ability function on a skill/timing-based basis would really give a chance for the practiced Graves players to differentiate themselves from those still learning. That bonus damage isn't a sure thing. You need to practice to make sure you can pull it off when you need it most!
tl;dr Graves gets close on his terms, not yours... at least the first time.
E - Collateral Damage
Graves fires an explosive shell in a straight line, dealing physical damage to any non-champion enemy it passes through, aswell as the first champion that collides with.
After hitting a champion or reaching the end of its range, the shell explodes, dealing physical damage in a X-range cone behind the target.
I think this is a great ability for Graves, but I'm not sure it's quite ult quality. On a sufficient cooldown, it can easily take the place of the old Buckshot as the AoE damage option for quick minion-clearing or teamfight spraying. Given how similar it was to that ability in the first place, though, I really didn't think there was a reason to have both as they were.
Note: I considered writing this to apply some sort of minor CC to the impact recipient, but that seemed like a bit too much CC in his kit, particularly since I have a bit in his ult as well. Thoughts on that, anyone?
R - Smoke Screen
Graves fires a smoke canister at the target area, dealing damage and creating a Y-radius cloud of smoke for X seconds.
Allied units treat this area as if it were brush. If they remain within the smoke cloud for W seconds, the first auto-attack made against them will be ignored.
Enemies inside the smoke cloud will be slowed, have their vision reduced to 675-range, and take Z damage for every second they are within the cloud. If they remain within the smoke cloud for W seconds, they will be blinded for V seconds.
Smoke Screen as it is right now is a bit... meh. The thought of the effect, as well as its representation (though brief) in the cinematic, really make me feel like it would just be an amazing ability to create havoc around team fights, not to mention the utility options! Give Nid a speed boost, or Rengar a new place to leap from! Let your allies hide from ADCs and enemies with particularly scary targeted abilities!
Since it works on brush mechanics rather than just applying stealth, it could theoretically be countered by wards (perhaps too big a weakness?), and it also means that Graves isn't just dropping stealth to let his casters decimate people invisibly without any chance of return fire. Even more, since the thing applies a DoT for hanging around inside of it, it would give the enemy team a very valid reason to want out, leaving your team the nice, handy cover all to themselves.
Update - 7/28 - Removed the blinding factor from the initial landing and instead added a timed effect to the cloud itself for both allies and enemies that allow it to almost be used in a defensive sense as easily as it could be used offensively, denying damage output or damage received depending on who spends time in the cloud. This gives it a bit more utility than variable, deniable stealth to the allied team while further emphasizing to enemies that they really don't want to be standing in it for very long.
So those are my thoughts on how Graves could be a deeper, more interesting, less-similar-to-Lucian champ. Any thoughts?
