How to balance Darius - An idea

Hey dear summoners, I got an idea how to balance Darius, (one of) the most hated champion in League Of Legends. This is my main character for a very long time, and I'm close to get 2 millions points on him, so I know what I'm talking about. When I'm writing this, Darius is the 6th most banned champion in LoL, and the second most popular top laner pick (Riven being first). So yeah, he needs some balance changes.

Here's my idea. It's MY idea, so I can be completly wrong, and feel free to tell me and correct me.

Idea :

Passive : NOXIAN MIGHT: Darius gains 40 - 200 (based on level) bonus attack damage ~~ and instantly applies full Hemorrhage stacks through his usual means.~~

Decimate : SHAFT PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+ 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70% AD) COOLDOWN: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 SHAFT PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% AD) COOLDOWN: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7

Crippling Strike : ACTIVE: Darius's next basic attack within 4 seconds gains bonus range, deals 40% AD bonus physical damage and slows the target by 90% for 1 second. If Crippling Strike kills its target it refunds its mana cost and half of its cooldown. COST: 30 MANA COOLDOWN: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5

ACTIVE: Darius's next basic attack within 4 seconds gains bonus range, deals 20 / 40 / 60 / 80/ 100% AD bonus physical damage, and slows the target movement speed by 60% for 2 seconds. If Crippling Strike kills its target it refunds its mana cost and half of its cooldown. COST: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 MANA COOLDOWN: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5

Apprehend : ARMOR PENETRATION: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25% COOLDOWN: 24 / 21 / 18 / 15 / 12 ARMOR PENETRATION: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 flat COOLDOWN: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16

Noxian Guillotine : ... I bet it's ok.

Here I explain my thoughts :

Passive : Darius's passive is just too strong. You are an off-tank champion, and you shouldn't be able to "solo pentakill". Assassins should, but not off-tanks. Just be serious... it's not fair. What you have to do as Darius? You know he is very weak against ADC, but very strong against other roles. Put 5 stacks on a tank who stick you in a corner (Nautilus is very strong at this for exemple) and then Flash+AA+W+R the ADC at 3 meters of you, and then they are all dead, whoever they are, because you are so tanky and you deal so much damage while under Noxian Might, and with your Q-healing, you are just unstoppable. This is far to be fair. You are a fighter, not an assasin. Hitting Darius's passive is very very huge, because it's his "only" strenght, and players don't like him because of that. But the fact that Darius is played and feared just because of his passive isn't good. Actually, Darius's spells are just tools to get Noxian Might and starting pentakills. And I don't think it fits an off-tank-gameplay. Still, if you hit his passive, you should increase his output damage with his spells : Decimate, Crippling Strike and Apprehend. Because he will loose a lot of damage potential, and you have to balance it elsewhere. So : nerf Darius's passive and buff his spells.

Decimate : Just for boosting his damages output mid game, where he is supposed to be stronger, and nerfing his early game. In lane, Darius Q is a pain to deal with, even for a ranged champion. His Decimate damage and his heal is very strong, and his low cooldown make it hard to deal with him in a 1v1 situation. You never know when to engage against him : if he miss his Q and you jump on him, he will survive long enough to put another Decimate on you, and he won't miss it this time, and it means your death because he will probably be under Noxian Might because of some AA. After using his Q, he will heal a lot and use his ult on you. But still, in late game, Darius's Q feel awkward, because you do not deal that much of damages, and you will mainly use it to heal yourself instead of dealing damage (it will be probably a loss, because you will get CCed very hard and won't have the time to hit with the outter range). Darius's Q healing should be a tool, not the damages. So : nerf Darius's 1v1 potential in early game by increasing Decimate's cooldown, and buff his mid/late game damage outputs.

Crippling Strike : I kept the farming system with the spell, because it's a great way to not missing CS because of your very low attack speed. I think it's better to nerf the slow : 90% is completly ridiculous. It's better to change that for a stun, or an another slow (less strong, but longer). That's why I thought about 60% for 2 seconds. Seems to be a fair slow, because your E-Apprehend slows aswell and 2 seonds will allow you to stick yo your enemy AND WILL MAKE IT HARDER TO PUT A Q ON HIM. I re-added the % AD bonus physical damage, because this way, people will maxout Crippling Strike or Apprehend depending on the situation IG. Here are my thoughts : if you are against a squishy melee champion at the top lane, you will better have to maxout W second, because you won't need E armor pen ; if you are against a tank, you should better have to maxout E second ; and if you are against a ranged champion, it will be up to you AND MAKE A CHOICE! So : buff W output damages, but you will have to use it with cautions because it cost hell lot more of mana.

Apprehend : % armor pen were great with the "old-Darius", because he got a lot of troubles against tanks, and he was built like an "off-tank assassin". But now, he is stomping completly all the tanks of the game, which isn't normal for an off-tank champion! 25% armor pen, + Black Cleaver passive that every Darius use, it's totaly unfair. That's why flat armor pen is better now : he still does decent damages against tanks/off-tanks, but he will deal a bit more damages against squishies targets. Increasing the pull cooldown in a must too : it will be easier to kite him. Remember that Darius always build CDR anyways. And Apprehend used to be a strong spell, but if you missed it, you were better than dead.

Noxian Guillotine : Good how it is.

In summary :

• Hard-nerf his passive to buff his spells.
• Nerf his early power and buff his mid/late game strenght.
• More counter-play : will be easier to deal with as a melee, and easier to kite/poke as a ranged.
• He won't shreds tanks like before, but he will be a bit stronger against squishies target.
• He will be deadlier if he catch someone.

He will still be an off-tank champion with a strong potential, but with a lot more of counterplay.

Thank you for reading, gimme some hours to write it. Please give me your feedsback, I will be glad.

Have a nice day!

PS : english isn't my native language, so excuse me!