Tahm Kench MiniRework Thoughts from someone who plays him solely in the Jungle and a proposed change

DaringPython·Apr 25, 2019·1 votes·1,197 views

Have been playing the Kench Meister in the jungle off and on since he was released and have really been getting into him for about the past 3 weeks. I'm really hoping the new changes to him coming up soon don't gut his jungle but I'm pretty sure it will because it already isn't that great. He's still viable rn, but his clear is just barely decent. One problem with Kench's clear specifically against red and blue buff is the fact he cannot use his W against them. When you pair this with the fact his only other damage based skill is his Q, taking red and blue is a real pain. At first I thought maybe some of the W damage being moved to Q might help this but I'm having second thoughts now after reading the changes fully. One of the more difficult camps for Tahm is Gromp, who has a very high hp pool. The W change goes from 20% max hp damage to 100 base + only 5%. Not to mention this also affects Tahm's overall usefullness in teamfights. His W is a big part of teamfights because of it's impact and who you decide to use it on. If the MS nerf on teammate use is supposed to encourage a more aggressive playstyle than why touch the damage, especially when the cd is decent and you have to AA someone 3 times before you can even use it on them. I'm REALLY hoping the change is rolled back a bit before it's put out or they change him again next patch because I honestly think Tahm is going to go from a fun, interesting jungle pick to unplayable from this.

I do think they could keep the changes and Tahm still be decent if they added a little something to the W, though. Maybe the W could act like a Nunu Q only on Red/Blue/Drag/Baron for a fraction of the damage since they are "too large" for Tahm to eat? Just thinking of how they could help my river treading pal stay afloat...

[zombie-nunu-bummed]

3 Comments

iChimpApr 25, 20191 votes

You will find the changes to be very good for tahm kench jungle and even better for tahm kench top. Trust me the damage added to q will increase your clear exponentially. What you might want to worry about is crab changes as I figure tahm isnt very good at multi camps, however, this is also buffed by his w cd reduction on enemies and monsters. All in all I think you'll find him to be better.

KazekibaApr 25, 20191 votes

Q damage is overall going down IIRC, since the CD is increased by 60% level 1 (5->8 seconds) Tahm being able to W buff camps sounds really cool though, I like it! Maybe instead of kidnapping them, either QW doesnt work or W does its "Spit" damage instantly with no "Devour"?

What do you think? I havent considered him Jungle before.

Does his E buff apply to Jungle kench at all? Having more health recovered from champion damage is certainly a major buff, but if Grey health is only champion damage then I question the usefulness outside of counterjungling or going to farm after a failed gank.

Throwing down some math - Currently rank 2 E converts 75% damage into GH and 20% GH -> HP. With 600 HP (level 1 kench, so it'll be higher numbers in reality), taking half of your health converts 225 GH. Of that 225, 45 of it is regained for a net loss of (300-45 =) 265 damage.

Not only does the GH buff convert 255 GH from the same damage, but also converts more of that GH -> 63.75HP recovered for a net 236.25 damage, a 29.75 HP buff. This is approximately two-three autos from a minion/small monster, or 3 seconds of a potion!

On top of this, he also has 100/98/96 more HP than before in his base stats alone, PLUS 10 more MS, by level 3. So Kench is walking around with 125.75hp more than he would, while also moving around the jungle faster than before and kiting better! While small, his passive also does slightly more damage early but I'm not sure how much 0.25% of 600/700/800 is going to really matter. I think at level 3 it increases his passive's damage by all of 2 points. 16-18 damage or so over the course of a full camp is not that impressive."

Last note - His level 6 ganks with R are much MUCH MUCH less effective; no longer can he go from blue side raptors or red side's blue buff to top's turret; Now he'll have to practically hang right outside of top lane. By the blast cone or Herald pit at best.

DaringPythonApr 25, 20191 votes

Yeah, I forgot about the R changes too. By the time a second point is put into it you're not going to be ganking as much since lane phase will be about over by then. Idk, I'll play around with it when the changes hit. I've tried just about every keystone on him and so far Hail of Blades is the best imo. 3 autos gets the passive up really fast. Alot of people don't expect all that damage so fast early.