Give Graves 3 bullets but up his reload time significantly

Arabed·Feb 15, 2016·1 votes·773 views

and only allow him to reload only when out of bullets.

Here is why I think it would help:

-Slow down clear in the jungle -Makes it harder to take little to no damage in jungle -Adds counterplay (if you see graves with no bullets it gives you a window to act on it) -More strategy to graves jungle (if you want to gank you better make sure you have 3 bullets to maximize the outcome of the gank) -If you have 1 bullet after clearing all the camps you better waste that bullet on the scuttle crab and wait for the reload. -It will shift him more into the jungle but riot already did that for the most part

3 Comments

Allahu BarackbarFeb 15, 20162 votes

Well, there are a few problems with that kind of treatment. And here's why:

To implement that mechanic would give Graves the same inherent weakness as Jhin in the lane-phase; a set amount of AAs, followed by a painfully long reload time. Which drastically hinders their ability to do extended trades, which by the way, is a major reason why Graves is rarely taken to the bot-lane these days, and also why Jhin is rather weak right now.
Graves being in the jungle isn't necessarily a "bad" thing. It opens up more pick diversity for the role, and I feel like both him and Kindred (and the occasional Quinn) are solid introductions to the Jungle role. They provide another style of play, one which Riot isn't wrong in implementing.
This last set of nerfs have actually impacted him quite heavily; he is not the same powerhouse he once was. As a Graves player, I can tell you that the nerfs have noticeably reduced the power in his kit, and in a way, he feels fairly clunky to play as.

If they give him 3 shots with a longer reload, it wouldn't be the WORST thing to happen to him, but it would certainly shove his viability in the bot-lane aside even further, and make his team-fight ability incredibly weak.

If the jungle-knockback is such an issue, they could simply make a change where they remove it from Large Monsters. That would reduce the healthiness he has after his first clear.