Shen's Spirit Blade seems like it would be better on Irelia.

Chaotic Reks·Jan 14, 2016·195 votes·5,778 views

The spirit blade doesn't fit in with Shen at all. Nobody ever really looks at Shen and think "oh this guy looks like he could make spirit swords with his mind or whatever." No, he's a shadowy, bodyguard, ninja. Meanwhile Irelia is someone who actually does wield a blade with her mind and also generates more spiritual blades with her ult. Please reconsider riot, it lacks sense to put the spirit blade on Shen. I also miss his dual ninjato swords, but oh well.

74 Comments

TNHA BaritoneJan 14, 201628 votes

I prefer his rework. His Vorpal Blades were B O R I N G and point click. Although I hope his new Q isn't too hard to him. I just wish his Q sustained him.

Chaotic ReksJan 14, 201650 votes

pretty much what you've said. As boring as vorpal blade was however, I will miss the reliable sustain and poke it provided.

kile147Jan 14, 201613 votes

With grasp of the undying and his new passive his sustain might be comparable now, depending on how strong the shield is.

doombotMECHAJan 14, 201616 votes

also, his dodge field is gonna be incredible for dueling. you're able to outtrade darius since he can't even stack his passive while you deal %health to him

kile147Jan 14, 20164 votes

I don't think he will use it for dueling, since the dodge field will only activate if there's an ally in it too.

BlitzidiousJan 15, 20166 votes

It pops when he enters it as well. The tooltip is confusing when you read it, so it's best to just watch a video on it's demonstration.

Odyssey85Jan 15, 20161 votes

It activates either once an ally enters the field or after 2 seconds, just to clear that

GorantharonJan 15, 20161 votes

or if he moves in himself.

UrPalAlJan 14, 20161 votes

They DID say it has no cooldown late game, so maybe he won't need the sustain. =D

Chaotic ReksJan 14, 20165 votes

No cooldown if you hit enemies with your spirit sword and dash

Auz the RipperJan 14, 20163 votes

It's no cool down if you hit anyone else with any ability.

Refuge an ally? Free shield(ish) Ult? Free shield(ish)

Solidair3Jan 15, 20161 votes

Not to mention they amped up his health regen

WarlordTimJan 14, 20164 votes

Can't source it, but pretty sure I saw a dev mention that his health regen would be tweaked to adjust for it.

CrossetteJan 15, 20161 votes

tbh old shen was one of the tanks that never built damage and still dealt as much as some mages

as someone who used to play shen an alright amount, I never saw an impact from his Q's sustain but I guess that was a thing that he had

new shen is the future (of dodge-ability champions)

Ariel the CruelJan 15, 20161 votes

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/k4VL2nN2-shen-could-really-use-a-rework-riot?comment=000500000000

It's a bit dated, but still relevant. His Q gave a lot of sustain.

99ProbsManaNot1Jan 14, 201617 votes

{quoted}

I prefer his rework. His Vorpal Blades were B O R I N G and point click. Although I hope his new Q isn't too hard to him. I just wish his Q sustained him.

His verbal blades were a great farm/harassment tool.

Very Epic GuyJan 14, 201632 votes

{quoted}

His verbal blades were a great farm/harassment tool.

Lmao, verbal blades. I imagine they just have the words "FUCK YOU" written on them

morris1Jan 14, 201616 votes

Reported for verbal blades.

Very Epic GuyJan 14, 20169 votes

[{quoted}](name=Moraru Maurice,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=AQEWon2N,comment-id=0000000100000000,timestamp=2016-01-14T16:04:20.473+0000)

Reported for verbal blades.

No pls, I'll get banned ;_;

NegusInParisJan 15, 20163 votes

Just mute his Q

Chaotic ReksJan 14, 201622 votes

Lmao, verbal blades. I imagine they just have the words "FUCK YOU" written on them

So if he throws it, would that make it a flying fuck?

Very Epic GuyJan 14, 201612 votes

[{quoted}](name=NyX Reks,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=AQEWon2N,comment-id=0000000100000001,timestamp=2016-01-14T16:33:16.744+0000)

So if he throws it, would that make it a flying fuck?

I guess it could be him LITERALLY giving a flying fuck

DurzakaJan 15, 20162 votes

It isnt really a question of interesting or good/bad.

It is a question of theme, and it absolutely makes no sense for his theme at all. It looks like a great mechanic that should be on a different champion.

TallyZrgJan 15, 20161 votes

Remember that Shen got a new passive as well that gives him a shield whenever he uses an ability. Shields are preventative sustain and when used correctly are often better than life steal.

SpoofghoulJan 14, 201619 votes

now i will surely pick shen into irelia every single time if only to taunt that ive actually got a real spirit blade hahaha

junglerboy16Jan 14, 20168 votes

Even LeeSin saw what you did there.

GreenLoreJan 14, 201611 votes

Overall Irelia needs a bigger rework. Her most unique feature is her having these flying blades,yet most of her kit is a rather general bruiser kit that could be applied to almost any other bruiser.

Slapping a vorpal blade on her kit would simply not be enough(also I'm pretty sure that her ult is supposed to fire some of her floating blades and not create blades with her mind,its just that her model and ability effects are rather outdated)

Dominick DestineJan 14, 20164 votes

Original Irelia splash forever.

DrCyanideJan 14, 20169 votes

I know the floating sword will probably grow on me... but why is there a tether? That's what looks the most out of place.

BijornJan 14, 20167 votes

{quoted}

I know the floating sword will probably grow on me... but why is there a tether? That's what looks the most out of place.

I kind of agree that it looks a bit out of place. But. Without the teather there it would be very difficult to hit your Q on an enemy. If you use quickcasting it would be extremely hard to do. I believe that is why/it shows you where exactly the blade is going to hit allowing you to actually use it.

DemiluniSJan 14, 20163 votes

Probably gonna be explained with his new extended lore

MrBuffingtonJan 14, 20165 votes

On the contrary, now that they have this tech, they probably have something even cooler in store for Irelia. Seriously, imagine bladesurge, but she drops a blade wherever she dashes to (up to 4), and hiten style draws all of them in towards her, giving her an AA steroid. With her ult she throws out her blades, and again, hiten style draws them back into her.

I agree it's not 100% thematic (you have to stretch things a bit. Then again, Shen never really made a whole lot of sense as a champion, as everyone points out, tank-ninja, wut), but it does make for some really cool gameplay (EQW = taunt, but you take no damage from the people you taunted). It's not like this kind of stuff is foreign to ninja anyways, all sorts of illusion shenanigans in Naruto, etc.

Sire HippingtonJan 14, 20162 votes

they adctually had that tech since orianna...

SociopathFriendJan 14, 20164 votes

Eh, bodyguard ninja made a bit of sense, and his kit was formed around that. He is the ninja that appears from the shadows to save the day. He in the ninja hero that charges the enemy to draw their attention away from his VIP.

Gotta give Riot credit, he's probably the most interesting version of "Ninja appearing from nowhere" the game currently offers since: Zed Has no stealth whatsoever and just throws shadows at you. Kennen Also has no stealth and is instead emulating Pikachu. Akali Does have a stealth, but otherwise has the solo purpose of just jumping in your face to carve you up. Shen When compared to his brethren, he really is decently close to a ninja.

MrBuffingtonJan 14, 20162 votes

Hero ninja? Absolutely. Bodyguard? Sort of. Pure tank? Things start to get stretched. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing Shen at all, I'm just saying it's an unconventional pairing (which Riot also acknowledged in the update page)

The SoulforgedJan 14, 20165 votes

Yes, they added a unique mechanic to him that makes no sense on that champ and doesn't add to his original kit. Riot yet again adding uniqueness for the sake of it.

Gnart Even CloseJan 15, 20164 votes

i kind of like old shen better except for his w. honestly, they could have just changed some scalings (like his W scaling with health) and made his Q melee and Shen would have been completely fine with just a VU. he was the only champion in the game to have the life tap mechanic, which is now sadly gone. his passive was really cool, and was a great last hitting tool. i feel like shen will have a much worse laning phase now, since he won't have any harass or tools to last hit reliably and safely. idk about you guys, but the efforts were honestly not worth the time, and it makes no sense thematically to have a giant floating sword, especially when it would fit much better on irelia, like you said. they should have just put their efforts on a different champion that actually needed it. shen wasn't even a boring champion at all. he had unique, interesting mechanics and his presence made every fight more tense.

ArakadiaJan 15, 20161 votes

Yeah I liked him having ranged poke. His passive was nothing special and you didn't really interact withit like say.... scarner or sion does. I liked the life tap 2 :(. Hes a little more intersting now tho. His sword doesn't make since, but neither does Annie's ult. It would fit better on Irelia tho. His old form had alot of good stuff. He had alot pro's that he lost. Its sad....

Gnart Even CloseJan 15, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Yeah I liked him having ranged poke. His passive was nothing special and you didn't really interact withit like say.... scarner or sion does. I liked the life tap 2 :(. Hes a little more intersting now tho. His sword doesn't make since, but neither does Annie's ult. It would fit better on Irelia tho. His old form had alot of good stuff. He had alot pro's that he lost. Its sad....

it is sad. vorpal blades will be missed... i liked his old passive because it made more stats strong on him (namely attack speed), it helped with last hitting, and it had a nice sound effect and animation, both of which could have been improved further. hopefully the new lore will explain the sword

ArakadiaJan 16, 20161 votes

Yeah I agree witht the passive. They took AP shen and Attack Speed shen away with the new update. I mean you could literally build anything and it be viable (as long as your following one role like dps and tank but not full movement speed and AP and attack speed all at once): Attack Speed shen, Tank shen, Support shen, AP shen, Damage shen, Life Steal Shen, etc. It did help with last hitting and it was nice, gave him some burst too, they kinda kept it with his new Q.

The new shen is like when your dog dies. You'll miss him and he was good, but your know hes going to a better place.

Gnart Even CloseJan 17, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Yeah I agree witht the passive. They took AP shen and Attack Speed shen away with the new update. I mean you could literally build anything and it be viable (as long as your following one role like dps and tank but not full movement speed and AP and attack speed all at once): Attack Speed shen, Tank shen, Support shen, AP shen, Damage shen, Life Steal Shen, etc. It did help with last hitting and it was nice, gave him some burst too, they kinda kept it with his new Q.

The new shen is like when your dog dies. You'll miss him and he was good, but your know hes going to a better place.

yeah. he will definitely be missed. at least he'll still have grasp instead of his passive

Noctius28Jan 14, 20163 votes

spirit blade =/= floating knifes

It's Ki that shapes like a blade and serves mainly defensive reasons That's as Shen as you can get

Chaotic ReksJan 14, 20163 votes

because nothing more screams protective ninja like a giant-ass sword floating around with him

QchanJan 15, 20163 votes

To be fair, nothing screams ninja like someone that slams his face into his enemies, no stealth involved.

ModKnightsKemplarJan 14, 20163 votes

I guess... it's definitely a new direction for him, but I don't mind it. It's kind of a cool concept. Also, if you notice, his spirit blade is very similar to the blade he isn't using on his back, perhaps implying that the second blade is the template for the spirit blade, and he still needs to have it on his person?

I think it's cool. Irelia's fantasy is a separate issue for me, I guess. Even if it wasn't, summoning a spirit blade seems wrong for her, and the mechanics of this blade are wrong for her. She needs s different kind of manipulation, so this doesn't feel at all like overlap to me, except in the sense that Shen now also manipulates an object with his mind. Except he kind of doesn't. It clearly requires certain triggers and ninjutsu to move around. So... I think it isn't too similar to Irelia. There are now two characters that have "melee" weapons not attached to their bodies. That's a small overlap, imo.

Jet SettJan 14, 20163 votes

I believe they did this because other than his ult, there wasn't anything that mystical involving the "Eye of Twilight" which definitely sounds like something a bit magical, though I agree it fits Irelia more thematically. They could probably think of something similar without it feeling like something Irelia should have, but I can't really think of anything.

Sire HippingtonJan 14, 20162 votes

Agree, but some more detailed thoughts on his rework: http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/x5OFnXsQ-shens-rework-is-really-dissapointing

SettDownShutUpJan 14, 20162 votes

I agree, the blade is an odd sight but I like it. I wish it was a bit more visceral when it passed through targets after dashing but hey, that's just me.

CasterGilgameshJan 14, 20162 votes

Irelia is more of an "Unlimited blade works" Sorta character but yah i guess the spirit blade would fit her better then shen.It's still a decent thing to add