[{quoted}](name=Takashi Suzuki,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6afsnwEE,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-04-20T21:12:47.658+0000)
I realize that a lot of people are happy with the meta at the moment, and I am too. However, I think when things on the high-level are good, I hope that we can start focusing on the low-level problems. The problem I'd like to discuss are champions having/lacking strengths/weaknesses.
There are a few notable problem-children in this regard. Veigar has generally low AP ratios for being a burst mage because he gains a lot of AP. When you make his AP Ratios low to compensate for having high AP, then really you may as well have just given him normal AP ratios and removed the gimmick. Cassiopeia is in the same boat.
I'd just like to point out that the High bonus AP-Low Ratio gimmick is actually a means of balancing a champion on time or other elements outside of the items you've bought.
Example: If an AP Champion with regular ratios goes from 0 AP to 120 AP, it would be a way sharper power curve than a champion with 60 AP going to 180 AP with a lower ratio. Maybe the end result is the same, but in the path to getting there, the power curve is much smoother.
Now this concept makes no sense on Veigar, a burst mage, a type of champion that's almost defined by when they spike, but this concept of smoothening out the power curve makes perfect sense for an AP Markswoman like Cassiopeia
[{quoted}](name=Takashi Suzuki,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6afsnwEE,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-04-20T21:12:47.658+0000)
Sion has terrible base-HP for a tank to compensate for him gaining HP. With cinderhulk, this artificially makes his HP seem reasonable. But overall, if you're going to give him bad HP and HP per level to compensate for an ability of his, you may as well have just given him normal HP and removed the gimmick.
I should also note that Nasus is in the same boat.
You want to know the funny thing about Infinitely Scaling stats? They tend to reach their power spikes in the mid game, not the late game.
No, really. This makes a ton more sense with Sion even once you realize this. His infinitely scaling stat is countered in the late game because ADCs and other DPS Carries tend to rule the late game, shredding through tanks with ease. Unless the game has gone for waaaay too long and Sion has farmed continuously throughout, Sion's power curve (in terms of relative health to other tanks) resembles more of a bell curve.
What I want to point out is instead of giving him a normal curve compared to many other tanks, Sion's mechanic goes way out of his way to force him to scale on time (how much CS/minute he can get) and reach a power curve unique to other tanks.
[{quoted}](name=Takashi Suzuki,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6afsnwEE,comment-id=,timestamp=2015-04-20T21:12:47.658+0000)
I hate Yasuo with a passion, but I think he's in an okay-ish spot because he has his strength (high-damage, high-mobility) and his weakness (terribly squishy). Although, Yasuo isn't the greatest example because he has a free shield in his passive to compensate his squishiness.
Personally, I always thought Yasuo's problem was his Critical Chance passive. He's designed as a melee carry, a late game DPS class, but his Critical Strike passive is designed for mid game burst. Where there should be clear moments of strengths and weaknesses in Yasuo's power curve is his passive messing with that balance.
It's not that I disagree with you on all these points, but you have to realize that some of these gimmicks have a purpose. Smoothening the power curve, completely changing it, or covering up a power curve, and as obvious as this might sound in retrospect: Different numbers tend do different things. I like Sion and Cassiopeia having different power curves compared to other champions, even among their own kind, because that makes them strategically different from other champions. I know when certain power curves are just not healthy, like Yasuo's Assassin power curve on his Melee Carry kit. Figuring out the purpose of these gimmicks can go a long way to painting the context to this discussion.
