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Thoughts on Xerath

Stars Shaper··1 votes·940 views

As the mage update comes close, I guess it's time to share some thinking around specific characters. Xerath is going to be one of the "great six" but since every mage will be looked up even a tiny bit there are some things I'd like to get addressed. I want to say that I find Xerath in a fair spot but just being eclipsed by the Assassin/ADC meta and some overperforming picks (Lux, I'm looking at you

  • Hitting his W bullseye should feel as a reward, not mandatory. Right now hitting something outside the center doesn't do any noticeable damage and the slow also is fairly low I think that a small increase in both wouldn't hurt. Any other option is welcome.
  • His Ultimate badly needs a visual rework, it has been stated several times that it lacks impact and I want to remind every1 that the current VFX is from a scrapped iteration of Xerath Ultimate during his rework where he was constantly shooting those bubbles.
  • Keystones synergy is lacking really hard. Now, some ppl will argue that both DFT and TLD are viable options, the real thing is that both are just the "lesser worse", DFT does unnoticebale damage unless you hit 3+ ppl and TLD brings you to play in an unfitting way for a sniping/siege mage. Things would go better if DFT would get some boost by hitting the W bullseye. Or introducing a new Keystone benefitting mages like Xerath would be awesome too.

Any more feedback is welcome.

9 Comments

SoundChaosDebug2 votes

Any time I see some one say xerath ulti should be like jhin where they change the screen visuals and zoom out I cringe a little

ModWulf Helhammer1 votes

Um, he didn't say that

SoundChaosDebug1 votes

I know that, but this is a thread related to xerath so I shared my thoughts on xerath.

Stars Shaper1 votes

I wouldn't agree with that because Xerath ultimate has a far wider range and is circular, a little zoom might help but I think it would feel strange (expecially since the orbs area is rather small, aiming might be harder)

DrCyanide2 votes

I've been playing a lot of Xerath in Ranked, this season and last. Here's my list of tweeks:

  • Passive

  • Have it work on towers and if the unit dies before the auto lands. These are things that I've come to expect from playing Twisted Fate and using a Blue Card. Yes, TF has to spend mana to get mana, so it's a little different, but the execution should feel the same

  • Ultimate

  • Refund some cooldown per unfired shot, rather than only refunding if no shots were fired. Because of the multiple warnings given with Xerath's Ult, players are conditioned to fire as fast as possible, because if they don't it won't matter. It's very sad to fire that first shot just as the enemy dies, putting you on full cooldown for nothing.

  • Slightly improved ability to land the shots. Sometimes I feel like the best I can hope for with my Ultimate is to miss all the shots and get the enemy to feel safe, letting me land my Q to actually finish them. That's a terrible place for an ultimate to be.

Stars Shaper1 votes

I totally agree on the CD refound to work as Jhin's ultimate.

About the landing factor I think that maybe (maybe) removing the red fat line of the range limit of Xerath ultimate from enemies view would help. I mean, they should just get a sound warning of Xerath going turret mode and/or look on minimap (since he becomes visible).

CoBCommander2 votes

Regarding balance he is and always was fine,

but the Rework did not make him more popular, better, more interesting or anything else but boring. When he got his rework his playrate was 1.5% at worst but regularly in the 3%. As of now, he is on 1.84 in Plat+ for a reason. His playstyle is absolutely onedimensional(what makes him boring). Poke and nothing else. The sad thing however is, He isn't even the best doing it(no payoff).

I'm a Xerathmain since day 1 and the current Version of Xerath is simply boring to play compared to the old One. I still stick with him overall, but i'm not loving him anymore. I was a diehard fan Prerework.

Biggest reason for this is, that he lost two things with his rework:

  1. Lategame-Prowess For a Champion that relies on heavy Poking his damage in the lategame is very lacking. The sustain and resistances are so high that i need to hit 3 Spells in a row to do anything worth my effort. Pokecomps go into lategame a LOT so being weak here is really bad. I'm not saying i want those old things back also i ACTUALLY do, but the added Armor per AP as well as the free Mpen we got was, what made him good before. Xerath needs a bit of help here.

  2. Solo Killpressure Xerath has absolutely no killpressure in lane. If he somehow manages to kill something it's because his opponent fucked up and didn't sustain well or went back early enough, but if the opponent is somewhat skilled, Xerath can't kill anyone. For someone who was a real good killer before, this is very sad to hear.

I'm VERY willing to lose some power in the early game for those things to come back again. I'm very well aware that with those buffs there have to be nerfs elsewere.

Sidenote: Passive, his Stun and his Ult are the skills that should be used to do these changes. E: Could be a lobbed style AoE like Corkis Q and then the stun gets procced by the next spell, like the old stun. I loved that mechanic, but point and click was too strong. Ult: Faster castrate for the Ultimate. It could also get an extra Passive and add extra dmg with consecutive hits(Mpen, Dmg, Ratio). Passive: Passive could not just get mana back, but maybe do something else too.

Stars Shaper1 votes

Thanks for the feedback, it has been a really good reading.

I am "younger" player than you since I joined when Quinn was released. I had mastered old Xerath to a decent level just before the rework so I can understand your disappointment, though I like the new one since it has more freedom of action.

I agree with you on most of things, I recognise that his kill potential isn't his own and that he lost a ton of lategame power. His kit is pretty baseline: damage, damage with more damage and a slow, a stun and damage. As I already mentioned, the bullseye mechanic is a likeable one but right now it doesn't feel rewrading but rather mandatory if you want to have some significance.

As you said, I'm all for a rethinking of some mechanics and giving him more kill-power at the cost that we must sustain. Xerath has been the first champion I really mastered and my actual main. It pains me a lot seeing as he got the short end of the stick with itemization and masteries.

Stars Shaper1 votes

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