Boards›Gameplay

Why Riot missed the Mark with Kindred.

Ravenous Howls·7/13/2017, 2:54:51 PM·50 votes·9,413 views

http://pre14.deviantart.net/8d32/th/pre/f/2015/270/0/8/kindred__league_of_legends__by_siakim-d9b2rln.jpg

I have never been more hyped for a champion then I was when I heard the teaser for Kindred "Lamb tell me a story..." It was a legendary piece or storytelling and voice acting all at once. I was mystified, anxious and my curiosity was insatiable to know this new champion.

Then upon release I was thoroughly disappointed that this duality champion was just a singular champion with a gimmicky shadow wolf. I really thought that they would design this champion to have two separate characters in one or at least a shape shifting aspect in the ult. Wolf is so underused and nuanced that I feel like he's only there for the aesthetics.

Kindred was suppose to represent Death not Life. The ult is by far the most underwhelming and lack luster part of their kit. In all the lore it talks how one can accept their fate and die quickly and mercifully by Kindred Arrow or try to outrun wolf only to inevitably meet their end but in a savage and agonizing way. The ult should have reflected this aspect.

What I would have loved to see is if Kindred Marks a Target and they run from them then Wolf takes over and begins relentlessly pursuing the target. Dealing % max health damage based on the hunted target. If the target stands an accepts their Fate then Lamb will fire a true damage arrow based on then marked targets max health.

The other idea is they mark all enemy champions within a certain distance and Wolf will take over hunting with increased speed, melee only and will deal increased damage to targets under 50% health or execute a target under 20% health.

I just feel like Kindred never delivered thematically on the idea of the peaceful/agonizing death aspect of what their lore implied. These are just ideas and certainly not maybe the best but I am just really disappointed in the new rework for the champion and the state they've been in ever since release.

69 Comments

PlsTouchMeGently7/13/2017, 2:57:59 PM42 votes

lol... the mark... they missed the mark... with Kindred... XD

midnight oil247/14/2017, 3:27:59 AM11 votes

I think that my biggest problem is how they give the wrong ways of killing to the wrong members. Lamb is about those who accept their deaths, yet she chases them down. Wolf is about hunting down those who flee, yet he'll really only do anything if you don't run.

TheHobbits7/13/2017, 3:09:02 PM10 votes

So true. They just seems so cluncky as a duo. Lamb does everything and wolf judt sort of snaps at you when that move is active. Playing into that idea of death and your choice i feel would be really awesome.

Similar thing I feel can be said about Bard. That animation was fantastic. He sits idle very mysterious then swoops in to clean things up. In game he just kind of derps around and duds hos ult.

StoneSparrow7/13/2017, 3:07:55 PM7 votes

I agree, such a cool theme to just make another adc. I miss old quinn too, changing into valor was one of my favorite things about playing her. They need form changing adc's they all play the same way and it seems like a boring role XD. Jhin was the most unique markman imho

Birdie Sànders7/14/2017, 6:26:04 AM4 votes

I've always loved Kindred and wanted her to feel less like her and more like them. I got really hyped up to play them and was underwhelmed with a shittier version of Vayne . Older champs have an excuse for being underwhelming and not following their thematic, but Kindred was released after Azir Kalista TahmKench and she wasn't even close to Riot's standards

WinTheWarOnPants7/13/2017, 9:12:15 PM3 votes

Kindred IMO is the biggest failure of a champ kit in the game. The only champ that comes close to having a kit as disconnected from their character(and bland) is Karma. Kindred's kit not only fails to live up to her theme, it's also just plain lame AF. Riot wreks is 2 for 2 when it comes to making amazing characters, but goodness he REALLY dropped the ball on kindreds kit.

Dataless7/14/2017, 3:47:20 PM3 votes

Kindred could do with a new ultimate, as their current one doesn't fit the character.

Pandemic Punch7/14/2017, 8:00:34 PM2 votes

With that title, I was surprised to not find this in the memes and games section LOL

DrCyanide7/14/2017, 8:05:19 PM2 votes

I feel like Ivern and Daisy are a better "Duo Champion" than Lamb and Wolf. Ivern feels lack luster without Daisy, Daisy feels lack luster without Ivern, but together they're great.

Eeyore7/15/2017, 3:11:17 AM2 votes

I was hyped for a two-player champion when she was announced, if I'm honest.

I'm not a fan of turning Kindred into a shapeshifter (opt-in or automatic). Having Kindred be a shapeshifter would overlap completely with Quinn, Nidalee and Elise - who all already boast a softening form and the executing form. There's also the fact League is super-saturated with champions that "chase down and execute low health targets". In particular, League's other wolf.

I do agree that her ultimate is a little weird. I think McCree's High Noon would be more fitting for Kindred - either as a PBAOE or a conic area (similar to Jhin) where Lamb slowly locks on to all visible targets within the area and then, upon reactivation, fires a targeted shot at all of them.

Arakadia7/13/2017, 11:14:44 PM2 votes

What I would have loved to see is if Kindred Marks a Target and they run from them then Wolf takes over and begins relentlessly pursuing the target. Dealing % max health damage based on the hunted target. If the target stands an accepts their Fate then Lamb will fire a true damage arrow based on then marked targets max health.

So its a lose-lose scenario in this case. I too think Kindred failed gameplay wise to meet their theme, but this idea sounds cancerous.

The Yetii Rider7/14/2017, 3:21:42 AM2 votes

The important aspect of duality is that both characters are always present, thus we can't have a shapeshifting character for Kindred. Kindred's appearance is also much harder to picture floating in midair, unless they wanted to give her a completely new model and give Wolf a form that has legs so he can run on the ground while Kindred floats above him and fires some arrows some times.

More importantly, form shifting characters are a giant pain in the ass because they often take up two separate and distinct roles nearly by necessity. That's much harder to balance properly than a consistent theme and goal. By having Lamb always be the character under control, Kindred remains a marksman at all points of the game. Much easier to balance.

Blåbæret7/14/2017, 2:29:53 PM2 votes

New Kindred sucks so freaking hard. None of these reworks have done any good at all. Complete failures.

Acheron167/14/2017, 3:33:04 PM2 votes

I think their ultimate should be changed into something like:

R - Wolf is thrown to the champion with the least ammount of HP in the enemy team (semi-global or very large range), dealing damage plus a small % of missing health.

There, thematically solid and still hold Wolf as a bigger part of the duo, since he only really is present in the W and last part of E.

Zeanix7/14/2017, 4:54:05 PM2 votes

Hmm I dont know really, those changes look busted if you ask me. I think their ult is kinda fine in all honestly even thematically. In the Story "A Good Death", there was a scene in which Magga met Kindred. Seeing Kindred usually means the person dies, but here Lamb says "We are just having our fun, you have come to us tonight; we have not come to you." Then the next scene shows the other actors died due to bandits. You can analyse it and realized Kindred basically saved her, aka ulted. The depiction of death doesn't have to be "Everyone is gonna die tonight" but more of the lines "Everyone will die one day, knowing when your time is up is they key". Also with the Kindred changes they have now basically have an execution ability (their E). Don't mind me, a finally lvl 7 kindred player here.

Seekêr7/14/2017, 6:50:12 PM2 votes

I'm surprised people haven't mentioned that lamb, the calm and gentle one, is the one that gets buffed from hunting; shouldn't wolf be the one to get stronger?