@Riot, A Case for Valor
Recently, there’s been some discussion about Quinn and how her rework has left her feeling unsatisfying both to play as and play against. I wanted to continue that discussion here, and make a case for increasing Quinn’s current ult cooldown in favor of removing its clunky channel time and allowing Valor to fight as his own Champion on the Rift again. Here is my list of reasons on why I think this would be a good direction for Quinn and Valor, with both gameplay and thematic elements kept in mind.
Please be mindful of your comments and keep the discussion civil as well as objective.
#1: Build paths. Essence Reaver is an item that is supposed to be an optimal choice for Quinn, but usually goes unnoticed in favor of tankier options. Bringing Valor back as a combat form on a cooldown would incentivize Quinn to build CDR items like Essence Reaver again in order to have more uptime as Valor.
#2: Counterplay. Valor returning as a combat form means Quinn players will feel encouraged to put themselves at very close range to fight—giving melee opponents in particular a better fighting chance when going up against Demacia's Wings, but also rewarding Quinn players who know when to play as Valor at just the right time.
#3: Less roams, more decision making. With these changes, Quinn does not have to stop being the best roaming marksman in the game; she can still be useful to her teammates with her high map mobility and pressure. However, assigning her ult a modest cooldown means that she'll have to plan her map movements a bit more carefully than she is currently required to. A higher cooldown on her ultimate also offers her opponents a bit more breathing room, because they'll have a window of opportunity where they can take advantage of the objectives she's left behind.
#4: Mechanical depth. Currently, Quinn's mechanics are extremely linear and predictable: she runs up to you and tries to get off as many passive procs in a row as she can before running away. While chaining Harrier marks can be fun, it can also feel both visually and mechanically bland and uninspired. Bringing Valor back into the fray means Quinn players can approach and participate in fights in different and meaningful ways, while also giving her a higher mastery curve: "Should I kite back and stay safe while dealing damage from a distance as Quinn, or should I risk it all for virtually guaranteed damage and insane movement speed and attack speed as Valor?”
#5: Theme. When Quinn first came out on the PBE, her name was not just Quinn, it was "Quinn and Valor." This was to indicate that Valor was just as much a part of the Champion as Quinn was, further established by little things in game such as Quinn's portrait changing to Valor's during her ultimate. Valor was never meant to be another simple pet, mount, or particle effect like Tibbers, Bristle, or Pix--he's an eagle who kills and fights and wants to have all the glory, so letting us play as him was vital because HE wants the spotlight. Just like Tibbers functioning as a walking sunfire cape feels bad, so too does it feel bad for Valor to be turned into a pair of glorified mobility boots.
Not only that, but their whole concept revolves around being a dynamic duo. Being able to play as both of them only makes sense.
#6: Novelty. Let's face it, no other Champion in the game besides Quinn allowed you to play as a badass murder-bird. (Sorry Swain and Anivia, but you're not really birds, are you?) If I remember correctly, a primary goal of the Marksman Update was to preserve what was cool and fun about the Champion. This was most definitely one of those things.
Frequently Asked Questions
- "A melee ult like Tag Team was bad on a squishy Champion like Quinn; therefore, it needed to go, and shouldn't come back."
Playing as Valor had its perks; namely, (1) your Q was nigh undodgeable, (2) you gained insane movement speed and attack speed, and (3) you had an execute. Knowing the right time to play as Quinn and the right time to play as Valor was what "separated the good players from the bad ones." Just like Nidalee and Elise players don't always have to fight in their melee forms, Quinn didn't have to either. And sure, Valor may have been a defenseless melee carry, but in the current version of League we live in, there are items that could make up for that (i.e. Maw and Sterak's). Alternatively, Riot could shift some of the power around in Quinn's kit to grant Valor some additional survivability (but in my view, this would be unnecessary).
As a side note, I am not asking for the execute on Skystrike back. I think the advantages that come with playing as Valor are fine enough, though that's ultimately a decision the design and balance teams would have to make.
- "Realistically, how is a bird like Valor supposed to fight people and survive?"
I don't know about you, but I'd be afraid if a bird of Valor's size came at me trying to gouge my eyes out with fully armored talons. Not to mention it could easily dodge attacks since it would be airborne.
- "But wait! When using Tag Team, why does Quinn disappear while Valor takes over? It makes no sense."
The idea behind Tag Team as an ultimate is that Quinn sends Valor to chase after fleeing prey she otherwise wouldn't be able to catch up to. Quinn disappearing from the battlefield may be a bit confusing visually, but she has to go somewhere to charge up that huge Skystrike move safely, no? Also, maybe she's watching his back from above like Valor does for her when she's on the field. In any case, not all abilities in League are going to make perfect sense. (See: Tahm Kench ulting on dry land.)
- “It was unfair that Quinn’s ultimate gave her a get-out-of-jail-free card, though.”
Bit of a misconception here. While Quinn’s ultimate was certainly useful at helping her escape sticky situations--an intended strength of Quinn’s that was even mentioned in her Champion Spotlight--every R click was not always successful at it, particularly if, say, an enemy jungler went around to flank her and leave her without an escape path (Valor's movement speed would drop massively in combat). Not only that, but committing to Tag Team's use as an escape meant she’d have to wait a significant amount of time before she could call upon Valor again due to the long cooldown.
- “Quinn just got a rework, she’s unlikely to get a set of changes like this for a long time."
That’s understandable. This wouldn’t really be an update of the preseason Marksmen Update’s scale though, more along the lines of something that could be contained within a set of experimental changes like Sona is currently getting.
- _"Wouldn't it be better if they allowed Quinn to switch freely with Valor like Jayce and Nidalee do in their forms?" _
I'm not opposed to this idea, I think it would be cool and more thematically appropriate than what we have now. It's something that's been considered by Riot before, but would require a larger update, as there would definitely need to be some significant changes made to her abilities, movement speed effects from her ultimate, etc.
http://i.imgur.com/F031rTx.jpg
If nothing else, Riot, please allow us to play as Valor again during Behind Enemy Lines. It wouldn't fix Quinn’s current issues, but at the very least, it would give us back some of the thrill and excitement of playing as a swift eagle again.
Thanks for reading if you got this far.
