My thoughts on Fiora

I KNOW I'm not that challenger/diamond or , heck, even silver player that's all good and all. But I'm climbing insanely fast, and I started much later in the season, etc.

Just because I don't have 2k+ matches on me doesn't let you ignore me for that reason alone. I'm wrong? Feel free to say that, more than likely you're right and I'll slam my face against the wall under your impeccable reasoning. That's what this is for, I'm looking for others thoughts on my thoughts on the champs :P

K. To start off with, Fiora.

I have never played her, but I have played against/with her in top/jungle/mid. As far as I remember her, I've always found her ult to be either broken or useless . She's one of those binary champs, with her entire kit basically "the ult".

When a Fiora was behind she was little more than a flimsy meatshield. She lacked the damage, and therefore the sustain, to be anything else.

When she was ahead, and honestly this happens way to often IMO in bronze etc., was IMPOSSIBLE to counter her no matter what you did. I've tried hard CC, 3 v 1's, other dueling champs such as Yi , and none of them could scratch her. Oh yes , you could get her low, but it's not like she gives a damn. Press R to win, boom. Heals back to at least 3/4'ths hp, meanwhile you're down to about 25%. You couldn't escape it, you couldn't dodge it, (with exceptions that just block the spell, become invulnerable themselves, items, etc.), and you could only watch as she got that triple.

The new kit is ranks above what it was before, turning the duelist into a skill-based and positioning champion.

Some of you argue that %max health true damage is too OP. . . and ignoring the fact that it takes some insane positioning to pull it off in the first place.

1. Don't go 1 v 1 a goddamn duelist and say that they're too OP. IT'S IN HER NAME "THE GRAND DUELIST". She isn't a tank, and she's no longer invulnerable while she tries to ult you etc., so feel free to CC her to death like other champs (Yi etc.). Do you 1 v 1 a fed Yi? NO.

2. Once again, she now takes SKILL and POSITIONING. Champs that just AA like Yi etc. do not require even close to as much, they just need to close. Fiora needs to close from the right direction , and do a freaking 360 on her ult. You have to let the champ literally run circles around you, it's either you being silly in positioning or them being impeccably skilled.

Well that sums up her damage values. Any assasin/duelist needs high ones, she has them. She also needs skill to pull them off, which , sadly, isn't present in a lot of similar duelists.

The second point is her ult. Why the heal?

As far as I can gather, Riot intends the team to care on whether she killed her target or not, forming a great advantage that also isn't as ridiculous as Katarine's resets. They said they tried AS buffs, damage, MS like sivir etc. but heal was more vital since “she typically was on low health”.

If she ults and them someone else kills the target, the heal still triggers, but in return she loses out on that massive damage that she could have been doing.

Now, er, the issue. The fact that it's a heal isn't bad in of-itself, but it just doesn't seem to fit with the champion kit IMO.

She's a duelist, everything else is focusing ONE target and whittling them down to 0 hp. However it doesn't really make sense that upon killing that one target, her team gets heals??

Even lore-wise she is honor-bound for fair duels, demanding to prove herself superior in combat. She’s a glory-hound, but she is also honorable.

Her ult defines her, her ult makes her who she is. Changing it will massively changes how she plays, and I aim to have her be more of a "perfect duelist".

To that end, I propose a "slightly" different idea.

Think about what her ult is.

It's a duel. That implies an element of 1 v 1, the daring competition between two foes as they battle it out, blood and iron and impeccable skill-play as they nimbly dodge and weave

..........

in the middle of a teamfight???

Any form of CC will ridiculously break this. Period. Ult someone -> morg's bind -> just waltz about them boom insta-kill + free hp. Nope....

or the reverse, Ult someone-> get bound or CC'd.....cry as your ult is wasted and you die

I strongly recommend giving the sense of a DUEL between Fiora and her target. That implies that they are going with an element of 1 v 1, doing in the middle of a team fight is….pointless.

So, how about this?

Point one)

Both Fiora AND her target become immune to any form of CC, speed ups, and heals form either of their TEAMS(not each other).

Additionally BOTH heal to FULL health, all CD’s are reset, AND they get a damage reduction of (70%?) from the enemy team, while dealing (70%?) less damage to any other target on the enemy team.

Turret and minion damage is ignored to allow dives etc.

Reasoning: Kiting and CC will be allowed from the targeted champion. “Standby” interference is not allowed, therefore the limited interactions with the rest of the respective teams.

Full health and all CD’s reset. It’s a honor-bound duel = fair fight. Fiora has bonus damage from her ult, and so does her target.

Damage reductions same reason, fair fight, plus no “poppy-syndrome” of ulting one killing 3 others.

(Not sure how that would work with , say, Aatrox…..I’ll think about it, he could just stay a “counter” :P)

Point 2) A set dueling area, similar to Jarvan's but affecting only the two and not being a collision, probably just a shiny circle on the ground. If either one of them walks out and stays out for longer than 1.5 seconds (counting throws/pushes & CC from target), the "first rule breaker" (so first one to leave is penalized, not if you're chasing the leaver), is penalized.

Penalization involves the below situations.

Reasoning: In a honorable duel you don’t ditch. Fiora never ditches, she will never bow down etc. and rue the coward that tries to run!!

Case 1) The target leaves.

Target gets ALL remaining weak points automatically activated, but with a damage reduction of about (50?)% or so compared to the usual damage.

Fiora self-heals just as on a win, so if the target ditched while both low she still can catch up and finish him if needed or escape the enemy team if not.

She gets the “Wrath” buff and her target the “Dishonorable” debuff.

CC or rebuffs on Fiora get their durations and/or effectiveness reduced by (50%?). She also gets a (20%?) speed boost when chasing the fleeing target, dealing (20%?) bonus damage.

Heals/shields/speedups etc. on the target get reduced by (50%?). The target gets a slow of (40?)%. Slow lasts for (2?) seconds and the reduction lasts for 6 seconds. The target also does less damage versus champions OTHER than Fiora by (30%?), but they can still “prove” themselves by fighting her again (so no further rebuffs in a 1 v 1 vs fiora).

Reasoning: This is a nice mixture of pros and cons. Should the target try to run away, they still can but are hampered in their ability to do so.

This allows supports, tanks, etc. to try and run away from her. Should this be in the middle of the team fight, she can still catch up before her damage reduction leaves, due to the 1.5 second timing.

Case 2) Fiora leaves She gets a decreased self-heal (50%?) of its original value.

She gets the Dishonorable debuff, her target gets the Wrath buff but doesn’t self-heal.

Case 3) One of them dies. Ult does not end until one of them leaves, dies , or (6?) seconds pass.

The winner of this duel gives their team a slight, one-time heal (only Fiora gets an additional self-heal if she wins, slight heal to give a teeny “morale” boost), in addition to a honorable buff.

This "Honor" represents the fact that their team had won, and with honor (No ditching fight, unfair team CC or heals), giving them an increase in their own TEAM buffs by (30?)%.

Fiora also gets a upgraded “Wrath” buff. Complete CC immunity for 1.5 seconds, damage and speed boosts apply to all enemy champions.

Target, if they win, gets a nerfed “Wraith” buff. Same 50% CC decrease for 2 seconds, damage and speed boosts apply to all enemy champions but are decreased by (50%?)

By team buff I mean speed ups, heals, shields, etc.,

Reasoning:

There’s a cost, it’s an all-in gamble where the winner gets a team buff and a self buff. If it’s fiora the self-buff is magnified, cause it’s her Ult in the same place I can’t make it a purely 50/50 100% fair ult.

Case 4) 6 secs pass and the ult “times out”.

Both target and fiora get the debuffs, no one gets buffs. A "stalemate" , where the penalty is the two losing. Both get the “Dishonerable” debuff, no one gets the “Wrath” buff.

Now, just what does this mean? How is this balanced? What's the reasoning?

To start with, this means that the fight is instantly an important factor in the team. The winner gets a buff to their entire team, but it works BOTH WAYS. While the penalties for Fiora are not as extreme as for her target, it is much harder to pull it off than before. Basically her ult is a two-edged sword, capable of changing the flow of battle if her skill is good enough.

Due to both of them starting at full HP, this negates the ability to just 1 shot someone who's low, while also giving fiora a chance to make a 1 v 1 comeback.

Team interactions are limited (not as much as poppy's ult), enough so that they can influence the battle but not enough to drastically change it. The damage and skill has to be from fiora, and fiora alone.

Should one of them back out, they and they alone bear the penalties for that decision. This makes it so that "oh shit he 2 op backing out" allows you to do it, but still lets fiora's ult have it's pro's (and con's). At worst, you die, but at least the enemy team didn't get heals or an "Honor" buff.

Think of this as "raising the stakes". Either champion can just negate the ult, but they get debuffs inflicted upon them. Should fiora leave, debuffs and no heal. Should the target leave, fiora's ult isn't useless, it still damages the target considerably AND gives her the chance to "finish them off". With this, you can still play-around the ult if you don't want to 1 v 1 her, on one hand you lose the chance for a team buff and get penalties, on the other hand if she's fed it's probably better just for you to make a run for it.

Think of it as the perfect All-in, no holds bared and on equal(as much as it can be) footing. People might actually WANT to fight her, the chance to outplay her is fun! exciting! Death-defying! The same goes for Fiora.

Should she, say, ult the support and try to get that buff, she's losing out on the damage she could have done to the carry. The support can also CC her, and run out of the ring or create a stalemate. This gives fiora a buff (at worst), but really reduces the damage she could have been doing, and srsly, it just kills the support!

If she fights the ADC carry, the damage is comparable so they can fight it out. They can still kite (with limitations, ) do CC like Vayne's condemn, and in general decided the battle.

Think of it as gambling. When you fight with fiora you gamble her team getting a buff, or you more or less getting marked-for-death, vs the possibility of bringing fiora out of the fight( even as a tank, just survive it!) or even getting that buff for YOUR team.

The odds are, of course, stacked in fiora's favor (it's her ult come on), but there are many ways to counter it etc. Heck, your own team can be helping you from the sideline, this prevents that "ill just go 1 v 5 as a fiora and win lol". Any cc YOU naturally have is a insane counter to her.

I'd love to see a fiora ult (with this ult) on a galio. R+Q+W+E GG stupid fiora. XD

Is this ult OP ? NO, even if she's fed all you have to do is SURVIVE. You can even run, giving her one kill, in exchange for making her 1) waste an ult 2) not get a team buff. Note that the buffs/nerfs based on leaving are strictly 1 v 1 based, it only screws you over not the entire team. (well, if you're the ADC, your team is screwed anyway XD)

The 1.5 second delay on leaving duration is there for THREE reasons

1. it allows the target to get some distance before the nerfs/buffs kick in. It's still a "duel", so no heals from team etc.

2)IT allows fiora to chase down her target and still get that honor buff, if say the target flashed away and you need ~1 second to finish them off since they're low HP.

3. Lets you go in and out of the circle, provided you don't stay out to long. CC is ignored so you can't be "bound" outside and just lose the fight there.

Ok I just wrote up an insane amount of text, no doubt missing some explanations or something. However I'll just save the talk for any questions that you guys might have.

Please don't berate me needlessly, I'm trying to think of an ult that allows you to win a fight from the brink, just its activation massively changing the flow of battle depending on the result. Team effect? YES. Epic 1 v 1 skill test? HELL YES. Team-fight epic ult as well? #SWAG

Oh and, none of the %'s are set, I'm just throwing numbers in general. Ditto to times, although I'm thinking 6 might be too much, you never know vs people like zed/fizz who can just dodge for most of it or Vayne who can kite you.

(BTW see? There are counters! Zed ult -> fiora can't hit -> fiora bursted down. But wait, she has QSS! Zed's ult countered! FIORA WINS! :P lots of play and counterplay etc.)

Guess that's it, lol.

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