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Assassin Reworks: Katarina and others if you'd like to add.

Kata1Trick·11/18/2016, 2:50:31 AM·4 votes·851 views

Hey everybody. I've been a dedicated League player ever since the end of Season 2. This game is awesome, Riot is constantly changing things about the game while using player feedback, and it's a big reason why I've never complained about the game (outside of the in-game community). Every season, Riot has taken it upon themselves to change up a certain "genre" of champs (juggernauts, marksmen, etc.). As everyone knows, this year was Assassins. I've been a loyal Katarina main ever since I first played her back in Season 3. Although I've favored other champions in Ranked because of Katarina inability to be played in higher elos, she was my go to pick versus any team with at least two squishies. Sometimes even in Ranked. I loved the way her kit felt. Nothing was more satisfying then Qing onto a group of champs, Shunpoing to one of the squishies and bursting them without a moment's hesitation, then continuing on to dance around the battlefield as her kit reset on kills. While she still may have very similar mechanics, she doesn't feel nearly as bursty as she used to, and she also lacks the very strong damage reduction from her Shunpo, along with the high-damage, utility W. Riot has also nerfed her Q into the ground. Hitting only 3 targets instead of 5 makes it so that she can't trade nearly as well in lane. Not to mention, she was a pretty good lane bully if you could bait out your lane opponent's cc and Q, E onto the enemy caster minions, and W the enemy for an easy thunderlord's proc doing massive damage. I would've been happy if Riot had just nerfed her w's damage, maybe dial down her ult base damage. The new Katarina feels too clunky, and her potential to burst is lacking heavily because it's so easy to dodge the way her old W now works. I've invested roughly 500 hours into Katarina, whether it be gameplay or looking into guides to see how everyone else is playing her. I, for one, would really like to see her reverted with some slight tweaks so she can't snowball as hard. I understand that's hard to do, being the feast or famine champion that she is, but her being reworked the way it was done has honestly made me altogether stop playing League out of pure sadness. At the very least, I would absolutely love to see her reworked in some other way that makes her just as fun and bursty as she used to be.

22 Comments

Niyumi11/18/2016, 2:51:23 AM7 votes

Katarina is fine. She's just not freelo anymore, sorry.

Zezockary11/18/2016, 3:14:58 AM5 votes

The goal of the assassin rework was to make the window of assassination for them wider, so it makes sense that she doesn't feel as bursty to you, but her numbers are there and it is definitely possible to work with them. She is much more difficult now, but she should be a better pick in ranked once you get used to her.

Trust me, I am going through the same thing with Talon, my main Q.Q

OneMustFall11/18/2016, 4:14:19 AM3 votes

As a former Kat main, I agree she's just not fun to play anymore. She feels very clunky to play and her W being a MS boost doesn't mesh well with her kit. I'd have rather see them do something cool with her W like let her do a backflip or something.

ChaddyFantome11/18/2016, 2:58:37 AM3 votes

Your post reads as "I don't like that she is different and requires more skill and thought".

Rose Muffins11/18/2016, 4:22:43 AM2 votes

Unfortunately you're suffering from a change in playstyle completely. I see most of the comments are saying "She's not freelo" or "She's harder now" and that you should "get over it" or "get used to it." What I see in her new kit is flexibility in play and more thought being put into everything you do. Her kit isn't as simple as mark, jump, damage. Now she has to set up, think about where she is positioned and where her daggers will be or when/where to throw them. I love the new rework and decided to play many, maybe ten or fifteen matches of katarina (same with Leblanc) before her rework. i have to say the change is welcome and allows counter play while also providing a great new way to play around other champions and not be shut down by every form of CC in the game. I do believe you'll have fun with her the more you learn. In fact, I'd think you might find you'll like her more in the near future once you unlock her full potential and new ways to build her item set. Don't give up and don't let change discourage you.

Calabok11/18/2016, 3:00:30 AM2 votes

Katarina is fine. She's just not freelo anymore, sorry ditto

Ęsdeath11/18/2016, 9:48:00 AM2 votes

Hey there,

To be honest, I agree her rework is not the best and should, from a certain point of view, be revoked - Simply because it doesn't fit her play-style; her strikes are so predictable in every way that breaks the true nature of an assassin.

Although, I have to say that even though I have had ups and downs (in the very beginning of the rework) I have adapted very well to her rework managing to get satisfying scores (e.g. 21/0/3 or even 22/4/4) and the rework tends to bring a lot of enthusiasm if you really accept it and decide to role it out - But still, the main disadvantage should be considered: She's not the same anymore.

_Some things that every Katarina main (I talk for myself too) used to do were: _Q the whole enemy team, jump into the middle, whirl your daggers and destroy the marks (this would be enough to kill any squishy target (Q - E would do it), resetting your abilities (except W if Q - E would manage to kill him) and then simply ultimate (getting two or three more kills) and who knows ... kill the last target for a good Pentakill. As I stated previously, _it is not _ the same anymore.

Stating a few personal tips for the new rework:

  • Don't go on rambo mode, that is not her role anymore; your attacks are really time-based (Q and W) and it gives enough time for the enemy team to CC you or counter you, in any way possible.

  • This tip, is the one I like the least: You should only, but only, jump into the team fight if and only if you have a guaranteed kill (or more than one) and a getaway in case something goes wrong. Now, you might ask why I don't really like this tip - Simply because if you are fighting against a tanky enemy team or even counters (e.g. Yasuo (if he knows how to play)) you will not do much of a thing, and all you can do is kill steal (which is something that proves you are doing nothing useful).

  • Go around and search for good builds (usually, I take full AP, I don't really take Hextech Gunblade, unless they are going on a full MR mode).

  • (This tip only applies to players whose key stone is Thunderlord) - In the very beginning you should play defensive (unless the experience tells you otherwise), but that doesn't mean you can't poke (not really a poke, considering you can take nearly half of his HP with this). Throw your Q (try to hit the enemy champion), instantly E (to him!) if he is on/near the dagger - This counts as three strikes, activating Thunderlord and taking away nearly half of his HP (unless he has Health items or MR, which is not very common, but can always happen) - Unfortunately, this not really effective on Yasuo, considering his passive blocks the Q, and if he doesn't have the shield from the passive he can always use the Wind Wall to block it along with that, he will sooner or later reset his shield and reset most of his health again.

Can't say anything more or less about this - Her rework is very restrictive and blocks many things that you used to do (You can't really solo a whole enemy team anymore, unless they are all squishies and you are really fed - and even then! You can still die). After all, some part of your offensive side must be swapped with defensive.

Firya11/18/2016, 7:54:47 PM2 votes

i for one dont care that shes stronger. she FEELS different. no other assassin suffers form this. i mained here because of the way she feels not just the looks of her. this is the most frustrating thing that EVER happened to me in league. if you dont build tanky (rylis at least) you will die. she is no longer an assassin. you dont just "set up" and get the kill. you need to survive in a fight long enough to deal damage. WHAT OTHER ASSASIN HAS THAT?!?! rengar? can delete. kha'zix? can delete. leblanc? can delete. zed? can delete. katarina? nope, the enemy simply move away from dagers.. damit riot!!! other assassins don't rely on setting "traps" on the ground to activate. the feel is totally different and sorry for my french. you f*cked up in my eyes. :(

Sir Fuzzi11/19/2016, 8:54:58 AM1 votes

I thought Kat was the only success of the reworks, but there you go. Everyone else got pigeonholed into feast-or-famine, where they tend to be hard counters, or hard countered. Kat got more flexibility and can fly around a little more successfully and actually gets some serious reward for having high base cooldown as she gets more flex beyond kills. Her gameplay direction is really neat and I'd love to see that kind of thing on a support.

Attticus Finch11/19/2016, 9:24:35 AM1 votes

Why so you feel entitled to the champion always "feeling the same"?