Rite of the Arcane, Xerath's ult, needs some fixing.

TL;DR:

Rite of the Arcane has three issues that have easy fixes:

1. Update on the visual effect. The current one looks stupid. It makes him look like he's throwing golf balls or water balloons at the enemy.

2. Removal of the channel beginning indicator, the range indicator, and the enemies' being granted vision of Xerath. If they MUST be in place, then Xerath should be granted vision of all enemies in range.

3. Extend the CDR granted for firing 0 shots of Rite of the Arcane to 34% granted for firing just one shot, and 17% for firing just two.

None of these changes are massive buffs. The first is a visual upgrade, the second is a QoL buff, and the third is a minor CD buff. None are gamebreaking or directly alter Xerath's power, but all will make Xerath more satisfying to play.

There are some issues with Rite of the Arcane that should be addressed.

First: His ult visuals.

These things look absolutely pathetic. Xerath is an arcane being of pure power who was strong enough to break out of a prison constructed by all of the strongest mages of Shurima thousands of years ago. I think he's powerful enough to generate a more menacing attack than a little colored droplet. There are tons of ideas that would all be appropriate, like an arcane bolt from above to strike the area he deems fit to be obliterated by his wrath.

Xerath's ult should feel powerful. It doesn't right now.

Second: His ult has too much counterplay.

Xerath's ult shows enemies when he's casting it, the maximum range he can cast it, and where the projectiles are landing. Xerath is also totally rooted during the channel and is interrupted by any hard crowd control for no cooldown refund. There are only two global ultimates that tell the enemy immediately when you cast it: TF's and Xerath's.

TF's ult does two things: gives vision and provides a teleport.

TF's ult has two forms of counterplay: Showing enemies they're being seen through the Destiny debuff, and showing enemies where he's going to teleport a second or two in advance.

Xerath's ult does one thing: Damage.

Xerath's ult has five forms of counterplay: Range indicator, beginning of channel warning, skillshot, self-root, and giving the enemies targetable vision of Xerath.

I bold the last counterplay because it's a glitch. There is no rational explanation as to why it's in the game. Caitlyn should not be able to ult me because I'm shooting at her with my ult. If Riot has this working as intended, then Karthus, Ziggs, Ezreal, Draven, and Jinx all need the same effect.

TF has less counterplay yet more functionality with his global ult.

"But Xerath does tons of damage with his ult!"

Well, let's compare it instead to Ziggs' ult, another damaging global ult.

First, note the counterplay again. Ziggs' ult is a skillshot, however, it is much more difficult to dodge because of its enormous size. Xerath's ult is a skillshot, and has three other forms of counterplay, as I noted earlier.

The damage: Xerath's ult has a maximum of 900 + 130% if he lands all three shots at rank 3. Ziggs' ult has a maximum of 500 + 90%. However, Xerath's ult is incredibly unreliable and is one of the easiest skillshots in the game to dodge. It's basically impossible to land all three during a teamfight unless you have good CC, and even then it will just about always be single target. Ziggs ult also: -Has a longer range ranks 1-2, and comparable range rank 3 -Can waveclear -Is harder to dodge

So, while the case could be made that Xerath's ult is more powerful because of its single target damage potential, it has immensely more counterplay for only a small payoff.

Because of its weakness compared to other global ults, I propose that Xerath's ult no longer reveal that he begins to channel it and no longer shows enemies the range. Rooting Xerath is fair considering its damage potential and range, and of course it should remain a skillshot. This will put his ult in line with other global ults in its counterplay, and will allow Xerath players the opportunity to actually land an ult on a target that isn't CC'd or sleeping.

If Riot intended Xerath to be unable to snipe lone enemies with his ult, which is the current case due to the numerous counterplay options the enemy team has, then the ult needs to be changed to indicate that. It's incredibly misleading for new players of Xerath because Riot clearly doesn't want Xerath to be able to snipe enemy champions, yet his ult at first glance seems like it should be able to do so.

Finally, regarding his ult's reduced cooldown when cancelled.

Right now, Xerath is refunded 50% of the cooldown if he begins channeling Rite of the Arcane and fires no shots. If Xerath fires 1 or 2 shots then cancels it, he takes the whole cooldown. I propose that to put a partial ult inline with a non ult, firing only 1 shot will refund 34% of the cooldown, and firing 2 shots will refund 17% of the cooldown. It's incredibly frustrating to only need one or two shots to get a kill, then be forced to use the third for something silly, like checking a bush or doing damage to minions.

None of these changes are massive buffs. The first is a visual upgrade, the second is a QoL buff, and the third is a minor CD buff. None are gamebreaking, but all will make Xerath more satisfying to play.

TL;DR: At the top.