Let's talk.
I propose a +MS buff upon use, similar to heal as well as increased mana regeneration tacked on as a passive to Clarity. This will allow mana-hungry champions to actually make good use of the spell and make it a good spell to have in a teamfight as well.
Discussion commence.
MrBuffington3 votesI mean, the movement speed buff on heal is already excessive, imo, and it's not really unique, sort of just a heal copy (and I don't know why you wouldn't just take heal, since you also get a speed boost and heal will keep you alive, where extra mana is a much more situational life saver ie. if you're oom and an extra spell would save you.)
Here's a crazy idea: since most summoners are clutch sorts of spells, what if clarity had a CD reduction effect too? Like, in addition to the mana restored, reduces cooldown of basic spells by half (no ults, that would be silly). This way you're more tempted to use this spell in the middle of a fight, so you get an extra rotation to spells off. This would probably make the spell really useful for casters, maybe more than Ignite since you get double damage out of your spells instead of a bit of extra true damage. The cooldown of the spell would also probably need to be increased. Thoughts?
ChickenWrap1 votesThat would make it far too powerful. Heal and Clarity were meant to be spells that worked really similar to each other.
MrBuffington1 votesAt the same time I doubt giving clarity a movement speed boost would give any incentive to use it. If you want mobility, you already have ghost, and health is useful in far more situations than mana.
Free mana regen would basically give summoners chalice lvl 1, imagine that on champions like Xerath or Ziggs, who excel not interacting with the enemy by just shoving waves from far away. At the same time, I don't think these champions would take clarity either, since once they get chalice, they're usually good as far as mana goes. Additionally you're not punished for using your summoners; there's no opportunity cost (I mean, the movement speed boost, but that naturally is minor). If you use the spell, you get mana back, and if the spell is on cooldown, you still get mana back.
I agree that half cooldown reduction is too powerful, but I do think there is some potential in augmenting cooldowns for spells. Heal was given a movement speed boost since you typically use heal to save your life or teammates life; giving a speed boost makes it easier to get away. The two effects synergize that way. For clarity, if you get mana back, you're going to want to use your spells. Sure, heal and clarity were meant to be similar, but I don't think this means their mechanical aspects are identical. For a mage, an extra reel of spells can save their life, just like extra health and movement speed can save an ADC.
Oh, also I meant that the cooldown is reduced for the caster, not everyone. That would be ridiculous. In fact, I think if they remove the AoE mana restore and double the cooldown, a 25-50% CD reduction might work, since the mage now has to use their spells effectively to save their teammates, not just heal one and give them a MS boost.
Serpents Embrace2 votesPersonally, I think it should go the way of Fortify, Surge and Promote.
And if you don't remember what those are, you know why.
ChickenWrap2 votesAnd I think it should be made a viable spell instead.
Ive been around since pre-season 1, I remember when Fortify was needed on every team and was usually taken by top laners. It was removed due to the promotion of the stagnant, un-aggressive play that it promoted because when it was up, you couldn't play aggro. Couldnt even towerdive effectively due to the ASpeed boost it gave to the towers.
Promote still exists on BoC, and Surge still exists on Rageblade.
Serpents Embrace3 votesThe fact is, mana and mana regeneration itemization is so cheap and so powerful that using a summoner spell for mana will never, ever be a viable decision.
Clarity shouldn't exist as a summoner spell. It could vanish like Fortify or be transferred to an item active like Promote but in its current position it's useless.
Phoenix Kotori 2 votesAgreed a mana restore active on item would be better.
But riot has stated it exists an intentionally unviable spell, and is the game to help new players who don't know how to properly manage their mana at all.
ChickenWrap2 votesIn its current position it is useless. I'll quote what I said in another thread.
On a poke or mana heavy champion, I don't see how +mana regen would ever be a bad thing. Might allow you to skip building a chalice if you don't need one for mana regen and give you a slot for another strong AP item which would allow your spells to do more damage than you'd get off with an ignite if you were to pick Ignite, thus allowing those kinds of mages to deal more damage with a summoner spell that gives you mana.
In essence, Clarity would allow for greater spell casts via the passive mana regen also not forcing certain AP champions who need mana regen to build a chalice or a tear and would allow them to use that slot for another AP item which would be a significant damage boost whilst still retaining strong mana regen.
C9 Squeeky 2 votesMana regen runes?
ChickenWrap1 votesHealth regen runes instead of heal?
Movement speed quints?
Cooldown blues instead of building for it?
Runes have every single stat tacked on to them already. That's a poor argument for anything.
I'm looking to make Clarity useful, not have someone come up and say "lol just use mana regen runes to solve the problem".
C9 Squeeky 1 votesIn essence, Clarity would allow for greater spell casts via the passive mana regen also not forcing certain AP champions who need mana regen to build a chalice or a tear and would allow them to use that slot for another AP item which would be a significant damage boost whilst still retaining strong mana regen.
Forgive me if this is a Straw-Man fallacy but your argument is so you can have another AP item for bigger burst instead of a mana regen item. That is basically what you said. You want to do away with your mana problems by not using mana regen items or runes which is exactly what they are for. You might as well have infinite mana or remove all mana costs. Mana-hungry champions are like that for a reason, they have lot's of burst damage already. It just sounds like you want to CONTINUALLY burst. Next you'll want a Summoner spell that has CDR so you can have an AP item instead of CDR item. If you want to build offensively you can but there is a tradeoff, which is what Riot has been promoting, especially recently. Might as well make a thread about URF if you don't want to run out of mana but still 100-0 your opponent.
ChickenWrap2 votesWhy take ghost when you can have Movespeed quints? Why take heal when you can build health?
Summoner spells are there to offer players the utility they want on champions they play. A long-range mage that stays out of fights makes use of almost none of the summoner spells currently available and champions like Malphite need it just to stay in the lane for extended periods of time.
You should not be forced to build a mana regeneration item if you don't want to, just like how you're not forced to buy lifesteal and can take lifesteal runes if you want. It helps, but it shouldn't be completely mandatory for you to play your champion. Clarity offers an alternative for your character. I am not saying give it +20 MP5 as a passive, not by any means. I was thinking about the same as chalice around 7-8. (Chalice sitll regens more due to the Mana Font passive) Mana regen is not an extremely expensive stat.
Long range casters are made in a way that PREVENTS them from bursting other players by nature. They are gated by both mana, cooldowns, and damage dealt. By giving them slightly more mana regen by giving up a summoner spell for Clarity, they have the option to POTENTIALLY take another AP item if they feel they can still manage their mana well with their slightly increased MP5.
C9 Squeeky 1 votesWhy take ghost when you can have Movespeed quints? Why take heal when you can build health?
Why take Clarity when you can build mana regen? Again your argument is why take a summoner spell when you have runes and items and that's exactly my argument which you are borrowing and that doesn't make a good case for you.
You should not be forced to build a mana regeneration item if you don't want to, just like how you're not forced to buy lifesteal and can take lifesteal runes if you want. It helps, but it shouldn't be completely mandatory for you to play your champion.
That is like saying you shouldn't be forced to buy HP/armor/MR as a tank or damage/atk speed/lifesteal as an ADC. Without those items, it's impossible to play those champions as well.
So you're saying that mana-hungry champs should never have to buy mana regen items? Champs like Anivia and Brand (and others)?
I really don't understand this thread anymore. Instead of trying to come up with idea to make Clarity more viable, it seems more like you want mana-hungry champs to be less mana-hungry or not mana-hungry at all. Mana-hungry champs are that way because of the insane damage and/or CC. It takes skill to not only land your abilities but to time them as well and should be punished for making a mistake. Clarity already provides almost half of your mana pool in an instant at the push of a button.
ChickenWrap2 votesWhy take Clarity when you can build mana regen? Again your argument is why take a summoner spell when you have runes and items and that's exactly my argument which you are borrowing and that doesn't make a good case for you
The entire point was to prove that your argument was silly. Yes, you can take mana regen runes instead of new clarity, but nobody would do that.
You can also take Ghost right now instead of movespeed quints. It's the same argument, but apparently you're not looking very deep into it, or even shallowly for that matter.
You're not forced to buy anything as any champion, but some things help more than others. For instance, people take ignite to usually supplement their innate lack of damage, and people take barrier and heal to supplement their lack of innate defensive stats. Therefore, people should be able to take clarity reliably to supplement their innate lack of mana regeneration. People take those spells so they don't have to build things that would skewer their build path. Malphite is a great example of this. Also, mages with very high mana costs.
I am not saying Mana-hungry champions should never buy Magic regeneration. I am saying that they should have the option to have more mana regen which would make it so that they aren't forced to buy a mana regen item as their first buy or face the consequences. The mana regen is worse than that of a chalice. It would supplement their early-game. For some reason, you seem to be thinking that the mana regen granted is going to be upwards of 10 mana/second, which is not true. If I must, to sate you, the mana regen passive will only be up when Clarity is on cooldown.
The entire point of this thread is to try and make it viable. The entire point of clarity is to give mana, thus making mana-hungry champions less mana-hungry. That is the purpose of the spell, is it not? It gives mana. What did you think it did?
It definitely doesn't take skill to land your abilities as Malphite/Liss/Ziggs/Orianna/Lux, and it's not very hard to do so. Again, it's a summoner spell. I highly doubt it would be an instant-grab on midlaners over barrier/heal/ignite, but would become a contender and would also help warrant the rise of mana-hungry top laners, offering more viable picks to competitive play that are heavily gated by their early/mid-game mana issues.
Serpents Embrace2 votesBut there are already alternative mana regeneration items for champions who don't need Mana Font. Tear and Forbidden Idol accomplish fixing mana without using chalice AND build in to something useful later game while Clarity will sit on your bar after 10 minutes doing nothing.
Even in ARAM, the mode that it got common use in, it is now out of favor and a waste of space even on mana-heavy champions. Anecdote: I was Anivia the other day and decided to bring it instead of Heal (because we already had 4 other Heals) and I used it once. I forgot about it after that because I never got low enough on mana that it mattered.
I agree with you that a passive mana regeneration on it would help it. But it will never help it enough. It's just not functionally sound enough as a Summoner because it has too much competition for the non-flash slot.
iRetribution2 votesHonestly, I'd rather see clarity buffed than transferred, If anything should be transferred to an item, it should be flash just so that the SS isn't so mandatory. Clarity should provide a passive mana regen when on cooldown and the active should give you something like 50-80% mana (based on level) + speed boost. This would allow AP casters like Brand/Cass/Anivia to become more popular because their first item could be a solid damage item instead of rushing mana every game.
ChickenWrap1 votesThis is kind of what I stated in the OP, except I was thinking perhaps keeping passive mana regen whilst the spell was up as well. I do appreciate how you also immediately went for "Mana hungry champions won't have to spend a slot on mana regen".
This is exactly what I was aiming for. I like you.
Flying Buntcake1 votesMake it more than just a spell for lvl 1 people that don't know any better, and im happy
Knight SoIaire 1 votesremove flash thats all then we will see if champs are mana hungry once they wont have to toss additional skills cause enemy flashed
you speak about clarity not being viable but nobody notices that flash has 99% pick rate ?
Phoenix Kotori 2 votesHalf of the champions if not more are balanced around flash existed, it would literally break balance completely to remove it.
And realistically all it means is you'll see more 
in place of flash, or worse making 
+ 
a viable thing, something that I don't think would be fun.
Knight SoIaire 1 votesyou cant break somethign that already is broken
riot made this game all about mobility already, mobility is a paid power, you are mobile you are squishy or deal no damage, this does not work cause everythign is mobile atm
Phoenix Kotori 1 votesNo but you can make immobile champs like 
feel even worse to play as and reduce their viability.
Knight SoIaire 1 votesboots of speed or boots of mobility + rylais scepter or frozen mallet
lol warus and ashe ? are you insane or trolling cause they are already very good champs
what about jinx who has like the less reliable safety ever
as far as kiting goes, it would be solved with 2 maybe 3 tweaks to items we already have but are useless due to riot making the game a jump fest
C9 Squeeky 1 votesThis will never happen but curious to see if it had a passive effect just for having it. Perhaps passively grants mana regen and the active could grant mana and possibly spellvamp? Possibly even MR for temporary tankiness or as a spell shield. "Clarity" to me suggests knowledge/wisdom/understanding so having their mind opened to be able to block the next enemy ability makes sense to me. I'm just throwing ideas out there from the top of my head, I'm not good with designing/creativity and balance.
ChickenWrap1 votesTacking on something expensive like spell vamp would make it too strong, and allowing it to block an attack would be deemed a waste of a summoner spell since both Heal and Barrier exist in the game right now. Tankiness tacked on to a summoner spell would be interesting, but one might argue that both heal and barrier, again, serve the same function.
C9 Squeeky 1 votesThe problem is Clarity falls off mid-late game once you gain levels and mana regen items. Sure it gives mana to your allies as well but again mana isn't an issue for the team by the time a TF starts and is completely useless on mana-less champs/teammates. There is nothing that scales for Clarity like other summoner spells Heal, Ignite and Barrier do with champion levels. Clarity seems to be only good on ARAM where it affects the whole team, not for an individual. As for spellvamp, it could be a small percentage. Not every mage buys spellvamp, although I can understand it'll buff those who self-heal (Swain, Vlad, etc.). Remember it's a summoner spell so it doesn't last long (nor should it).
ChickenWrap1 votesRemember when I said it should grant passive Mana regen?
C9 Squeeky 1 votesWould that really help it compete with existing summoner spells? Most people would argue to learn about mana-management.
ChickenWrap1 votesSame can be said about "health management". This iteration of Clarity would allow for more strategic option as well as the ability to forego chalice or Grail as a mana management option for something that would make you hit much harder in the later game.
Hawnda2 votesHealth management is a lot different than mana management. One takes damage and one deals damage. With mana, you can choose when to deal damage and that's what is key here. Having clarity means you can consistently dish out damage without buying necessary items in order to do so. Not to mention that champions who do not use mana as a resource would be at a disadvantage. Clarity does nothing for those who use other resources. Giving Clarity a mana regen buff will not make it a viable spell for everyone. I would suggest adding a universal boost to Clarity instead. These changes could be:
C9 Squeeky 1 votesThe reason I brought up runes is because they already are passive, they just only work for you and not also your teammates (but not all summoner spells affect more than one champion anyway). They are working from the start of the game. It's not really a summoner spell if it's always on, more like another champion innate ability. Other spells may do the same thing as an item (like Cleanse & Quicksilver Sash) but none of those last consistently over time and don't do anything while on Cooldown (You can still get debuff/disabled after using Cleanse for 3 sec or using Sash active). The point is nothing is permanent and lasts more than a few seconds. The longest lasting spell is Ghost and that's only 10 seconds then on CD. The point of a cooldown is to reduce how often one can use spells, abilities, etc. Having free stats while on CD just doesn't seem right.