@Riot | You NEED to address Conqueror
This rune needs to go.
Several posts have been made about this, and I don't know why Riot isn't addressing it or commenting about it. Do we need to have another Hashinshin? Because he moaned so much about game design and wanted his shitty gameplay stratagems to be viable that you guys literally gave in. Yet, when we're screaming about these things - it seems these posts just go straight under the radar.
Give it the boot - it goes against good design. It did not accomplish any of the goals it was designed for and is causing more problems than it solved.
Conqueror was designed for top laners who wanted extended trades. However, there are MANY abuse cases with this rune with several other toplane champions not being viable since they cannot use it. The access of true damage to champions balanced around the idea they won't have access to it is the absurdity of the situation.
For example, Fiora is currently a top-tier pick in toplane. Her true damage was kept low for a reason but now Conqueror exists, her "dueling" is less mechanical and more of a braindead burst mechanic. Her hypermobility, tankiness, immunity to CC, DPS, and burst coupled with the dramatic true damage increase with Conqueror makes her a star pupil in the Conqueror abuse case.
Yet, it is to everyone's knowledge that her kit was actually balanced. With fervor, she was still fairing well in toplane. She is supposed to be a very item-reliant champion who is weak in lane until she gets her 2 core items. Now she spikes ahead of everyone with 1 even when behind due to the rune itself.
But this is one case. So let me give you others in terms of large scales(not giving small abuse cases). Different reasons for abuses but still it's not their kits but access to true damage:
- Yi
- Draven
- Miss Fortune
- Lucian
Also, notice how the Conqueror, despite being dedicated to bruisers and top laners, is hardly ever used because the champions it's designed for can't use it well enough or aren't doing as they should:
- Riven
- Irelia (despite being broken)
- Olaf
- Tryndamere
- Gnar
- Sion
- Camille (Uses PTA)
- Urgot
In addition, champions doing fairly well with it are not actually using the rune in its intended cases or get to use the rune properly. They either never get access to it when necessary or start the fight with it. Those who usually start the fight with it are typically the abuse cases listed above. Those who want to use it can't use it effectively in teamfight since their damage amp starts too late:
- Darius
- Jax
Conqueror also stops tanks from being reasonably viable - the counter to burst lane bullies such as:
- Quinn
- Jayce
The access to true damage has made most of the ADC and tank class obsolete and shield supports to be null. You willingly brought back Warlord's through its reiteration: Fleet Footwork. Keeping the game fresh, doesn't mean to get rid of good qualities. Fervor was equally as transparent and understandable as Conqueror but much more balanced, more useful to champions in general, and fairer.
You stated true damage is "easier" for players to understand - but that doesn't mean everyone should have access to it. Anybody with cognitive function, which is all humans, can understand Fervor. It's not a hard, out-of-scope, abstract concept. You weren't hesitant to bring back Grasp and Warlord's either.
TL;DR - Conqueror is a failure of a rune for the above reasons. A re-iteration of Fervor would be better. If you want the true damage, change the incremental damage increase from Fervor to small stacks of %true damage and remove the flat AD.
And if you feel Fervor is abusable in itself, I have my own argument on why it's easy to fix/why it's fairer.