@Meddler What do you think of this to make Vlad healthier?
Keep most of his current kit.
Passive: Make each half have as much impact as the other, even if you have to make them mutually exclusive, with the stronger being the utilized one at any given time.
Q: Remove flat heal, move scaling ratio to ult as a passive. Possibly make the return particle give a very small decaying MS buff. Enough to stop his cast-times from inhibiting him so much like now, but not give him real mobility.
W: Size increases with HP
E: Add health ratio to damage, cut AP ratio to a little less than a quarter of current and slightly lower flat damage while allowing ratio to stack with the buff, costs % health instead of flat. Focus should be HP for AoE damage with relatively similar damage output for AP builds. % cost gives E significant costs when building HP. Keep in mind Hp builds will have lower sustain.
R: Ult that synergizes with passive to push his kit further, similar to Jax or Ryze. Current ult prevents him from being strong because it also makes his team stronger. If Vlad keeps his current ult, he will always be weak because if he's strong, his ult will push him to over-bearing. Something like Morphling's ability "morph" would have a great place here. http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/Morphling Basically you'd slowly trade max HP for AP or increased ratios over time, or toggle it to trade AP/ratios for max hp at a ratio similar to passive (once its equalized). Ranks increase rate of exchange and change cap, if one's in place.
These changes remove the 'toxic' parts of his kit while pushing him in two directions: AP=single target focus, HP= AoE focus. It also emphasizes the hp for damage, damage for HP aspect of his passive, adding a lot more interesting possibilities.
It de-emphasizes sustain on AP Vlad, while still allowing it to be a viable and and contributor as a bulky AoE build, who would need it. Short-ranged, reliable damage should be Vlad. He's the juggernaut of mages. At the same time, this pushes his theme further. He is a blood mage, not a vampire. Blood, or health, is his trade. Not vampirism. Sustain should never be his primary focus.
My reasoning for changing his ult is that his current ult makes it so he can never be strong, as a champion. If he's ever strong as a champion with his current ult, his current ult will make him over-bearing, since he'll do high damage with it while also buffing his team by a massive 12%. His ultimate, while interesting and a good strategic tool, unfortunately always makes him over-bearing when he is strong as a champion, not strong because of his ult. Vlad is a carry. He should be picked to be a carry, not to buff his team.
