Kassadin Gameplay Update
What I want to do with Kassadin:
~ Try to preserve his anti-mage mage-assassin identity, but also want to have him feel fair for his opponent ~ Try to place Kassadin in a balance-able state, so he is not overpowered perma-picked/banned or a dust collector, and is always there to be viable and never oppressive with ways to deal with him and feel good attributes for the player as well to always feel useful for his team ~ Do want to try to preserve his hyper scaling as kassadin is not only the only mage-assassin with this but he is the only hyper-assassin in the game, this means a weak early game for a strong late game (if he wasn't the only hyper scaling assassin in the game this wouldn't be an uniqueness to focus on) ~ Change Riftwalk to always be fair to play against, of course this means trying to keep him as a super mobile champion, but emphasizing this ability for counter play since mobility spells are always fun for the user and thus do not need to worry about making the ability fun for Kassadin ~ Give Kassadin dynamic ways to play with his kit and make sure he does not have a one-dimensional play pattern / remove a one dimensional play pattern. Some more utility strapped to his kit rather than raw damage would help with this and work towards the anti-mage theme Kassadin has.
Straight up I hate blinks, but there is a way to have blinks in the game with proper counter play, right now I feel there are only really two which are Lissandra's claw since the claw indicates where she can potentially blink to and Ekko's E since he has to do a short dash first and then his blink can only jump to a nearby enemy giving a fair telegraph of what is going on.
So for Riftwalk I am think of something that emphasis Kassadin walking all around the rift, Bard style. MINI GAME TIME! Before you get out the stones let me explain. Pretty much giving Kassadin less control over where he can Riftwalk to (there is still full control of whether he chooses to Riftwalk or not) can allow Kassadin to gain more shiny and cool effects for his abilities, and do more with his ability as well. Basically magic orbs will randomly spawn all over the map for Kassadin's new passive and Riftwalk (fixes Kassadin's useless pre-6 and super oppressive post-6) every so often, pretty much using the same type of formula as Bard's chimes allowing Kassadin to spam blink all over the map to get to his location faster. Unlike Bard chimes the enemy can see the magic orbs (but only Kassadin can interact with them) to give the opposition fairness to know possible teleport locations Kassadin can take and a heads-up rather than giving them zero read of what Riftwalk can go.
These magic orbs won't have a timer to them, but each is an one-time use. So there is strategy for letting them build up and then roam super fast to a side lane to collect them juicy kills for either yourself or your allies. Even though they may be random like Bard's chimes, they still have a somewhat reliable placement of where they spawn, like in/near the river for roaming and near Kassadin so he can actually use them. This magic orb element makes it easier to balance Kassadin's Riftwalk mobility as well since Riot can adjust their spawn rate at all stages of the game and help Kassadin out with their spawn locations if he is ever struggling (or take away some location or decrease the spawn rate at certain stages of the game if Kassadin is ever too dominant).
Basic Attack Range: 175 units Movement: 340 units per second
Riftwalk (Passive): Range: 800 units Unstable Void Energies periodically spawns through-out locations on the map, prioritizing locations near Kassadin and prime roaming opportunities. Unstable Void Energy can be seen by the enemy if they gain vision of it.
Kassadin can right-click a nearby Unstable Void Energy to consume it and instantly teleport to its location.
Additionally, 20% of magic damage that Kassadin deals grant him a shield that absorbs magic damage for 1.5 seconds.
Dark Energy (Q): Cooldown: 9/7.5/6/4.5/3 seconds; Cost: 30/45/60/75/90 Mana; Range: 1000 / 600 units Kassadin unleashes an orb in the target direction dealing 80/100/120/140/160(+75%AP) magic damage to the first enemy struck. This orb can be consumed by an Unstable Void Energy making it go out of control, if Kassadin teleports to it then he deals 80/100/120/140/160(+75%AP) magic damage in a large area around him.
Minions are dealt an additional 40/55/70/85/100(+15%AP) magic damage from Dark Energy.
Null Strike (W): Cooldown: 8/7/6/5/4 seconds; Cost: 50 Mana Passive: Kassadin deals 10/20/30/40/50(+30%AP) bonus magic damage on-hit, doubled against silenced enemies.
Active: Within the next 3 seconds, Kassadin grants himself 75 bonus range to his next basic attack and causes it to silence his target for 1.5 seconds.
Spell Corruption (E) Cooldown: 10 seconds; Cost: 80 Mana + 6 Charges; Range: 600 units Passive: Kassadin absorbs all spells cast within his vicinity [1400 units] turning them into charges, up to a maximum of 6 charges. Kassadin does not gain a charge for casting Spell Corruption.
Active: Kassadin grants himself 40/45/50/55/60% magic damage reduction for 2 seconds and creates an Unstable Void Energy at the target location.
Force Pulse (R): Cooldown: 110/80/50 seconds; Cost: 100 Mana; Range: 2500 / 800 units / 120 degrees Passive: Spell Corruption's base cooldown is reduced to 8/6/4 seconds.
1st Cast: Kassadin targets an Unstable Void Energy.
2nd Cast: Kassadin creates a powerful force from the Unstable Void Energy in the target direction pushing enemies with the force, dealing 150/225/300(+70%AP) magic damage, and slowing them down by 50/60/70% for 2 seconds.