Ekko - Ability Adjustment Ideas

Ekko, whether building Full AP, Full Tank, or (especially) anywhere in between, has always been something of a Generalist.

His burst and sustained damage both range from 'decent to bonkers' (depending on build and how fed he is), he has decent health growth as well as a shield and a sizeable heal, on top of his slows his W is actually way too easy to land (saying that as an ex-Ekko jungle player in low-ish elo) given the massive actual and potential power of the ability, and he runs and jumps like a black guy. In addition, he has very strong waveclear, excellent tower-diving both before and after 6, and an ult that completely forgives him for making a mistake.

While most champions tend to role with up to three of the four 'D's (Damage, Disruption (CC), Dashes (Mobility) and Tankiness [gah forgot my word lol] ), Ekko has above average amounts of all four jam-packed into his kit. This isn't necessarily wrong for a champion if they are situational / conditional / unreliable enough, though as these tend to be the primary definers of a champion's weakness, being exempt from them will put him/her at risk of literally having no exploitable weaknesses, and thus becoming very, very, infuriating to play against.

That said, much of the hate against Ekko here and now isn't completely unfounded.

Here are a few ability ideas with the intention of trimming his excesses, which might help put Ekko in a better spot:

Have Ekko's Passive Conditional on Four Hits Instead of Three.

Three autoattacks or spell hits on a champion is not a hard ask, given the ease which Ekko can do it and the amount of payoff he gets from the proc. As well as toning down his waveclear (assuming his Q just half-healths minions), four hits will force Ekko to exert himself a fraction more before he gets his damage and move speed.

Have Ekko's W Only Stun Units Caught in its Epicentre, Reduce the Size of the Zone, Give Enemies a Bit More Time to Respond, OR Perhaps Reduce / Remove the Stun (in favour of softer CC or another effect).

While an Ekko player may feel like a god when they successfully land a Parallel Convergence, this sort of comes at the expense of his target(s) who see this circle almost instantly appear on top of them before getting pounded. The ability already has a significant amount of zoning and disengaging power, and so while it shouldn't feel bad for the Ekko player to use, it could definitely afford to have some power trimmed off it.

Increase the Cooldown on Ekko's Ult, and Perhaps Make the Heal Conditional on Damaging an Enemy.

An ultimate that both (1) completely forgives a positional mistake and (2) allows one to solo dive nexus towers without any ramifications (if that's not a 'positional mistake' in itself) should in the very least be gated by a cooldown window far more sizable than the 110 - 38 seconds we've got at the moment I write this. If this champion isn't going to have a weakness, a more distinct window of vulnerability the other team can try to capitalize on would be a prime area to instill one.

I also reckon that toning down / denying Ekko his heal when he uses it as a disengage could incentivize the player to instead use it aggressively and proactively. This admittedly damages his 'turn back time' thematic somewhat, but then again: in his cinematic and lore Ekko still retains his injuries after rewinding, and by in large Ekko uses his device to 'finish what he starts' rather than with the intentions of 'lol nope i'm not doing that again'.

I am aware that these are all 'nerfs' in the sense of the word, and that there are probably other champs who need adjusting far more than Ekko. I'll admit that I have been wrecked by him a few times and I'm not entirely devoid of salt when I form what may seem a heavy-handed judgement (which I'm not alone on, I see). Here, I'll even say that he's not terribly far off from being in a (somewhat) balanced state - there are just a few things that hinder that reality.

Also, these are not intended as 'Rito plz, make it happen' - rather, I hope these can, in a tangible way, contribute toward a long-term solution for the conundrum that is this champion.