Why is wukong as strong as he is?

deadlychuck·Dec 2, 2016·2 votes·505 views

Let me preface this with the fact that i'm not calling him OP, and i know he isn't that common.

What i'm saying is that while he plays really no differently than Yi, he's given far more versatility and burst damage. Both of which give the player far more agency.

It just seems like a good example of power creep through versatility, which is a far less commonly addressed issue, when compared to mobility or damage creep.

Versatility creep...

Edit: man people are really convinced i'm saying his OP, when i'm not at all saying that.

14 Comments

NosnideDec 3, 20161 votes

I main him. He is balanced. Actually he is countered by some of the most common top laners. And the last change he saw (S5 I think) his Q got nerfed.

deadlychuckDec 3, 20161 votes

I'm not saying he isn't in terms of power, i'm just wondering why his power to complexity ratio is so weird.

CochoDec 3, 20161 votes

Just because a champion is more complex, that doesn't necessarily mean that champion needs to have extra power to compensate for that.

deadlychuckDec 3, 20161 votes

I'm not saying they do, but i would think that a champion who has more versatility with their kit would have their power appropriately adjusted.

420 gramsDec 3, 20161 votes

Because he's balanced

OelykDec 3, 20161 votes

I play a lot of wu(I am not just a "dank memer") So I know he has a lot of initiative power, but he lacks a lot of tools that would make him op.

AKA making his E a skill shot ... making an escape mechanism would break him from his reckless initiations.

FioraWillCarryDec 3, 20161 votes

Wukong is kinda meh overall but his engage is probably the best in the game after Malphite. His godlike ability to single handedly win any team fight is probably why people think he is so strong.

Mecha MaIphiteDec 3, 20161 votes

He plays quite differently from Yi. Yi's melee DPS, Wukong is an offtank diver(?) with decent hard CC.

deadlychuckDec 3, 20161 votes

In terms of how you handle the champion, they're basically identical.

RequiemsfireDec 3, 20161 votes

He's a strong disruptor in team fights during his ultimate, he's at his peak when you're all grouped but Wukong's primary weakness lies in the fact that he relies solely on his spells to be effective and if he doesn't deal damage then he is rather useless outside of stopping channels. He is still vulnerable to being stunned, CC, disengaged etc.

Yi is different in that he is not just a primary damage dealer but can only deal damage in disproportionate amounts due to his sheer lack in utility.

Besides, say versatility on champions was a problem? How do you counter it? Create champions who possess more unique features in their kit who also have their own versatility. It's a whole lot better than what Yi represents which is the epitome of a damage fest or "hit it till it dies" style of gameplay which isn't something people really enjoy.

deadlychuckDec 3, 20161 votes

Except he also has very powerful exchanging power, and burst damage associated with his Q, W, & E, a good player can E, auto, Q, auto, W in a little over a second. Then the bonus atk speed from E, and short CD/armor shred on Q, gives him about the same auto attack potential as yi. The only part of his kit which makes him a disruptor is his R.

You can reduce versatility by adjusting, or adding conditions which need to be met in order to use the skill, or gain any affect. While there are a list of other reasons this skill has issues, namely the fact that it has soooo many effects on it, Ekko's E is actually a good example of a way to gate versatility. You have a skill which has a use, but limit's how or when it is useful, by having a condition which requires you to predict the location of the fight a couple of seconds in advance.

But a champion who riot will probably never nerf, because they're numbers aren't the issue, but really is a massive proponent of this versatility creep is thresh. Literally every single one of his abilities function as engage, disengage, and have relatively high damage. If you want a disruptor, thresh is just about as perfect as you can get.

RequiemsfireDec 3, 20161 votes

Yeah Thresh, certainly not Zyra Nami Braum

Wukong has more burst than Yi, that is 100% true, but the sustained damage over time is in Yi's court with his innate attack speed, Q cooldown reset and his double hit passive.

Thresh has the ability to engage, save an ally, disengage and disupt but overall you skim over his weaknesses and you mention the weakness of Ekko's stun. Ekko doesn't even really need his stun most of the time, he uses it for a shield most of the time or to zone targets and since it is a stun makes it really easy for ekko to overcome a number of melee champions.

Furthermore you're acting like versatility is a bad thing and then talking about a champion who is an extreme example like Ekko when you started the conversation around Wukong who is by far nowhere near the same level of utility.

CrazyBear1987Dec 3, 20161 votes

Any champion played well can be strong, with the right runes and masteries, a great item build and experience.

But Wukong for me is a walking R-bot XD until he gets good items .

deadlychuckDec 3, 20161 votes

Well obviously, my point is mainly that while wukong has the capabilities to be a tanky disruptor, he has almost just as much potential being played like you might play Yi.

I'm willing to bet that a Yi build on him, wouldn't even be all that bad compared to the tankier fighter build he normally goes.