@Riot Honest question about the Assassin update

Kharn Skyshatter·12/2/2016, 5:15:38 PM·17 votes·1,193 views

The general changes of the assassin update was to improve their team fighting and counter play by adding delays, but from what I've seen in friends and games I play is that their team fighting ability for most are still weak or non-existent and the delay on some of the kits feels off or doesn't flow well with their kit. I get it that a lot of them was released as weak to give better balancing levers, but do you feel that it accomplished this goal or do you feel that a few are too far off their mark?

Edit: I know this'll get ignored, but outside of this post I'd ask everyone to refrain from the up and down votes if they agree/don't agree with something. Instead argue for or against their point which is more effective to continue the discussions.

33 Comments

LostFr0st12/2/2016, 5:19:06 PM6 votes

The idea of the update was NOT to increase their teamfighting presence. It was to make the assassins more unique when compared to one another and to make their kits not completely useless if behind while opening up counterplay for opponents.

Goatfish12/2/2016, 8:04:26 PM4 votes

[deleted]

Astôlfo12/2/2016, 5:23:03 PM3 votes

The assassins got turned into fighters (the AD assassins) and battle mages (for the AP assassins).

There are no assassins anymore, except Rengar and Kha'Zix. And then the unintended assassins like Vayne.

Divewing12/3/2016, 1:18:18 AM2 votes

Assassins will be the unparalleled superior skirmishers and their burst has been traded for greater mobility/combat tricks so they can punish mispositioning more frequently and more easily. It won't matter how slow my burst is as Talon when I flip over the wall beside the ADC, smash my W-Q-AA in his face, then Ult to repostition for next Q.

Assassins no longer have RELIABLE burst, and frankly they shouldn't, but they will be able to MAKE PICKS with superior ease than any other set of champions in the game.

Long story short, assassins have had their burst time traded for increased macro capabilities, they are more dynamic with how they play the map, and now play SMARTER, not necessarily BETTER, than the enemy to succeed.

Case and point, I do better taking Ghost on Talon than ignite.

HazyCloud712/3/2016, 1:19:08 AM2 votes

I think some of the assassin reworks successfully accomplished their goals while some of them ended up really gutting the champion. For example, even though people are struggling with Kat because she's a lot harder to play, her rework added a lot of counterplay to her assassination (daggers telegraph where she will go) while giving her more tools to outplay people and actually lane.

The Khazix rework was pretty successful. I think the general direction they went in with Fizz/Akali/Talon reworks was good but some of the specific number/cd decisions might have been overkill. Akali was really awful when her rework first hit live for example. Zed is objectively a worse champion than before his changes. The Shaco changes unfortunately pushed him towards building AP, which really sucks because AP shaco is a lot more frustrating to deal with...

Then there's Rengar. For some reason they decided to give him a free cleanse and still allow him to instantly 100-0 people. Not sure what the hell riot was thinking when they reworked him.

Chromatic Eagle12/2/2016, 8:24:41 PM2 votes

It's only been a few weeks still right? Some of them have high learning curves.

deadlychuck12/2/2016, 9:57:06 PM2 votes

The irony is that a lot of these updated champions, in the 3 updates that have occurred, have basically just been riot's second guessing of the design decisions they've made, but their inability to commit to changing the core factors which define the designs.

Teridax6812/3/2016, 6:00:10 PM1 votes

Assassins as a class aren't especially meant to shine in teamfights, since they're all about killing single targets and making an exit, but I also think most (though not all) updated assassins have some more options. Talon and Leblanc both kind of struggle in teamfights now, but I think that with eventual numbers balancing they'll both be able to operate without unnecessary difficulty. Akali and Shaco are both not in great spots, but honestly I think their issues stem from much deeper core problems, which will only be solved with proper VGUs. Rengar I think is the only champion who needs significant follow-up, as his changes did little to address his counterplay and snowballing issues. He has the tools to survive and escape teamfights, but usually he throws them away just so that he can access more instant damage, which isn't healthy for anyone involved. Ferocity as a resource just doesn't work on him anymore.

GULAG 4 U12/2/2016, 10:01:39 PM1 votes

Tbh Kha'zix's teamfighting is now actually worse and so is zed's. Talon's got worse too.

Sckullzz12/2/2016, 10:35:21 PM1 votes

I think people are still adjusting to the changes. There were a TON of adjustments made all in one sitting. I think one of the most unique ones was Talon's E where he can wall hop. When Riot released the animated video of Graves and Nautilus fighting, I thought, "That would be super awesome if champs could interact with the terrain..." Well, Talon is the first step. Might take a while to iron out all the details.

THE RlVER KlNG12/3/2016, 1:05:15 AM1 votes

Maybe that's because assassins AREN'T suppposed to be strong in teamfights - you pick an assassin for excellent roaming and splitpushing potential with mobility instead of range. You pick mages for teamfights and range instead of mobility.