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@Meddler @RiotRepertoir The mage update and Xerath: What are Your thoughts?

Predatorator··10 votes·4,846 views

Hello, and thank You for reading this. When it comes to immobile, damage focused mages, Xerath is the one who comes in my mind. He's been my go-to midlaner for almost 2 years, and i still really enjoy him. I find him to be in a decently balanced spot, maybe a little on the strong side, especially after laning phase, where with accurate positioning and self-awareness, he can just nuke the teamfight with his powerful AoEs.

So to begin, here's my opinion on him. His spells almost define his identity as a magic sniper: his passive rewards for getting closer to the enemy, by overcoming his high manacosts, and gives to said enemy the opportunity to engage him. However, generally it looses relevance as the laning phase ends, because then Xerath needs to stay at distance, behind the the backlines, and there's not much he can hit with his aas. Xerath is a being of pure energy, so it's fine that he has a way to self-supply. How it works looks so gated however, but it's for the sake of game balance, so overall it's ok;

Arcanopulse (Q) is his most distinctive spell, his "bread and butter": it allows him to farm or hit then enemy champions when zoned. Reaching full range takes time and slows him down (and you can't cast other spells while charging), making positioning essential, or else enemies can reach you easily and well...you know what happens. It's also telegraphed, with a short dealy, so you can't just shoot it on top of the chmapion, and pretend it hits him. These and high mana costs usually prevent Xerath to spam Qs early on, unless he has easy access to his passive. It refunds part of its manacost if not casted, so you can choose to not cast it if enemies get away somehow. Second best-looking laser of league, beaten only by Vel'Koz's, the sound and charging animation makes it look powerful as it is, fits perfectly Xerath's nature. I personally wish it could be more effective when hitting single targets, rather than multiple ones. But i think people have strong feelings for his waveclear, which has always been good;

Eye of Destruction (W) helps keeping the enemies at bay, helps hitting with Q, E, or R, gives vision, and feels so satisfying to hit in its center. Also a blast of energy coming from the sky and exploding on the ground fits with Xerath's nature. Works fine to me;

Shocking Orb (E) is Xerath's first line of protection from nearby threats, and sometimes can be used as an offensive tool. I find it to highlight alot Xerath strenghts and weaknesses, because hitting at max range rewards you with a 1.75 stun, and getting close kinda...rewards(?) the enemy with a short 0.75 stun, which suallly doesn't do much. This, the realtively high cooldown, and the fact it doesn't go through units, involves some diecsion making. Works fine to me;

last but not least, Rite of the Arcane (R). it's generally intented to be used to get fleeing targets, or when they are cc'ed by your team. You basically got 3 shots, and each one grants a short burst of vision on the area hit, to be sure to followup with the other shots. Its super long range gives it so much tactical importance: you can assist your team, steal objectives, everything from half-map away. However, it locks you down for 10 seconds, and you're visible to everyone during that time. Plus, due to the shots being so well telegraphed, it can be incredibly hard to hit good players, and mobility creep enforces this at least 2x times, so no wonder it feels so awesome to drive someone into your shots, for example. However, to me Rite of The Arcane is what needs to be worked on again on Xerath, not because how hard it is to hit someone (i find it kind of right instead, i mean, hitting with all the three charges deals a pretty good amount of damage, ad it's even nicer that i got to work hard to make it happens), but because the appearance of the projectiles looks so underpowered, same with the impact. The first cast animation looks awesome, it's really like Xerath is freeing himself, but after that, it all looks like splash-splish-splash. And that doesn't feel like the Ultimate ability of the most powerful being of league being finally free.

Overall, as i said earlier, in my opinion i think Xerath is in a pretty balanced spot, maybe a bit more on the strong side, but still has clear strenghts and weaknesses. His damage output, although a bit high, is fair for an immobile champ like him, since he can't bring much else if not putting himself at risk. But if eventual adjustments were to be done, i'd look first at: cast times; cooldowns; base stats.

Aaaaand i think that's it. Don't hesitate to share Your opinion if You got any, and i'd like to thank You again for reading all of this. Kind Regards, Predatorator

30 Comments

RiotRiotRepertoir12 votes

I tend to share most of the opinions you've layed out here, especially on Q, W, E. Passive is nothing spectacular, but functional and provides some decisions in the early game. I'm not sure what to think about R, really. It seems like it provides some really cool tension within the game, both for Xerath and others, though definitely at some costs like being rooted for long periods that your champion can be off screen.

Thanks for sharing this. As with all things Mage Update, we're not really sharing any definitive details at this point, but it's always nice to get an opinion from a champion main, especially one that doesn't boil down to "buff pls."

Predatorator2 votes

Thank You to coming by =), and nice work on the boards =)

Yes it does, i get super excited when i hit people with my R. It's a skill that takes alot of efforts, and some heavy decision making (for example "should i stay 10 seconds to land these, or could i help more by joining my teammates during that time?") to land, and if you manage to, you can see their health melt, and this is something i really like. Plus is something the enemy can play around, but wisely =)

I got nothing much to complain about the root, sure doens't contribute at making xerath dynamic, but it adds a bit into the "decision making" part i pointed out earlier, and the range makes up for it; the offscreen thing, as mentioned by ZeontheStoic, gives the enemy/ies opportunities to go far away to assassinate me (instead of helping his/their teammates), while i'm not looking at my xerath.

Maybe the only annoying thing is when you've done with your ult, and you try to join your teammates, from half map away. An idea would be to give xerath a short burst of movespeed upon shooting all of the three charges of his ult. That way it can't be abused as an escape tool, and makes the journey to your team less painful, at least this comes to my mind...but it's not that relevant, it should be only a QoL change: as i said earlier, i can get along with the root as it works on live.

My biggest concern are the visuals, the projectiles and the explosions don't match the fantasy of using the true power of Xerath finally breaking free, Especially since the improvements You all did with vfx, and the new missile system =)

GwingMaster2 votes

{quoted}

Thank You to coming by =), and nice work on the boards =)

Yes it does, i get super excited when i hit people with my R. It's a skill that takes alot of efforts, and some heavy decision making (for example "should i stay 10 seconds to land these, or could i help more by joining my teammates during that time?") to land, and if you manage to, you can see their health melt, and this is something i really like. Plus is something the enemy can play around, but wisely =)

I got nothing much to complain about the root, sure doens't contribute at making xerath dynamic, but it adds a bit into the "decision making" part i pointed out earlier, and the range makes up for it; the offscreen thing, as mentioned by ZeontheStoic, gives the enemy/ies opportunities to go far away to assassinate me (instead of helping his/their teammates), while i'm not looking at my xerath.

Maybe the only annoying thing is when you've done with your ult, and you try to join your teammates, from half map away. An idea would be to give xerath a short burst of movespeed upon shooting all of the three charges of his ult. That way it can't be abused as an escape tool, and makes the journey to your team less painful, at least this comes to my mind...but it's not that relevant, it should be only a QoL change: as i said earlier, i can get along with the root as it works on live.

My biggest concern are the visuals, the projectiles and the explosions don't match the fantasy of using the true power of Xerath finally breaking free, Especially since the improvements You all did with vfx, and the new missile system =)

Oh man, I don't even care that much about Xerath in general but MY GOD do the visuals on his R feel so underwhelming. You're so right about this, it's been a pet peeve of mine since they reworked him. PEW PEW PEW does not feel like the ultimate of a being made of pure energy. Too true man, too true

Predatorator1 votes

Yeah, after all the first cast looks good, with his coffin shattering, and energy bursting everywhere. Hopefully we'll know more about this as the time goes on =)

Edit: a mastery that triggers for casting spells from afar would be nice too, maybe adding a new mechanic, or something else rather than just raw damage =)

Stars Shaper4 votes

I only have one request about Xerath. Please look at Keystones, right now both TLD and DFT are terrible choices on him and I feel like I'm always choosing the "less worse".

Also we were promised a new visual for his R because the current one was a placeholder from a previous Xerath iteration where his ultimate was a constant firing mortar of bubbles >.>

Predatorator1 votes

I'm going 12/18/0, and i find it to work well on xerath. The mpen x lvl, plus a full scaling ap runepage, works well actually.

Thanks to that, i'm recently trying out build morello, graal, boots, voidstaff, lyandris, and then an item of my choice between Zhonya's or Rabadons, and i still manage to deal a respectable amount of damage, plus you almost never go oom, and you get 40% cdr.

Thundelords then gives free damage, that you can proc with 3 Qs from saftey, and i find it to be more effective than dft...what would be a an idea for a mastery that suits him?

Stars Shaper2 votes

It's not that easy to land 3 close spells unless you are against an immobile mage too and you are also trying to farm and not getting the enemy minionwave under your turret. But I got to test it.

An idea for a keystone suiting him and other longrange AoE mages is not easy to do for sure... all that comes to my mind is to add a scaling in damage proportinal to the distance of the cast from the player. I don't have the slightest idea of it's implementation though. Or either getting any sort of boost to the next cast skill after hitting an enemy at high range.

Predatorator2 votes

agreed, it's doesn't happen always, but basically your Q is going to have a 3 sec cd, and you get the mana back almost in the blink of an eye, so there's always room for another try. Try it out, i'm eager to hear what You think of it =).

It's not easy for sure...i'm not really excited about someting that gives more damage, unless you have to take some risks to gain said free damage, because long range mages can already deal a fine amount of it, having their range to put them to safety (in an average scenario).

Stars Shaper1 votes

I wanted to add, TLD gets really unreliable after the initial laning phase:

When Teamfights start or when you are going for ganks/help lanes you'r job as Xerath is to bypass the tanky frontliners in order to hit the carries behind. This makes TLD totally uncontrolled burst because it's more likely you'll end up hitting the tanks more often anyway.

Predatorator2 votes

You're right on both these points. however i find the damage on dft almost unnoticeable, so would be rather interested in something that increases their survivability if an enemy gets close. So the first requirement should be to be in combat, with your opponent being almost on top of you. If you manage to hit him a few times with aas/spells/both, you get something that would extend your survivability. As You can see tho, the first problem about this, is that i don't have a very clear idea either =)

Stars Shaper1 votes

DFT doing nearly no damage is the reason why I think we need another, brand new, keystone. I do believe though that it must emphasize offensive utility rather than defensive because removing weaknesses brings in nerfs more than likely.

Maybe an execute dot (damage over time scaling with missing hp) would be a more wise choice and also help mages against tanks.

Predatorator2 votes

remember the kinds of malzahar and brand tho, i don't know how it would turn out with them using with iteration of dft. maybe it could be triggered by hitting the target from the range that defines the kind of xerath, ziggs or lux.

i definitely like the fact that said keystone triggers only if hitting a champion from far far away =)

Stars Shaper1 votes

{quoted}

i definitely like the fact that said keystone triggers only if hitting a champion from far far away =)

That's what I intended to do.

Predatorator1 votes

Sooooo, pratically it should be something like this....

[name] when hitting a champion from 1200(example) units away/while being unseen/both, [insert benefit here (mechanic, indirect damage, whatever)] (20 (example) sec cooldown)

i like the being unseen part, because generally long range mages have no problem at hitting from the FoW or covered places, but also it shouldn't become an exclusive =)

Stars Shaper1 votes

The unseen part could be used by stealth champions because Xerath needs to have no minions around (aka exposed or lane pushed) and not being in ultimate (he gets revealed when entering R).

Also I would like to keep the "missing hp" damage too because right now mages like Xerath have no way to deal against tanks.

I've come from an ARAM match where we mages dominated for a freaking lot fo the match, then tanks built 3 items (can't instagib towers when you are mage) and all they needed to do was walking towards us to win: http://matchhistory.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/EUW1/2471924624/42013767?tab=overview

ItsStout2 votes

Try Stormbringers.

It helps a TON with repositioning, which is super useful.

CrazedPorcupine8 votes

I think what he was asking for was good solid VFX for Xerath's Ult that make his ult feel better than just "Pew pew pew, little splashy lasers". The current VFX were left over from a previous iteration of his Ult that was meant to have lots of little rapid fire grenade bombs, but ended up being scrapped. There wasn't time to get new VFX so they said "Eventually, we'd like to update the VFX" but it's been years, and it still feels bad.

Titanium703 votes

I guess the real problem with Xerath Ult is the design. DMG and Range are good. It is a [semi]unique (Hi Jhin) ability. Devestating in Teamfights.

BUT it fells like.. pew pew pew... really: Compare old and new Ult! That's horrible! x'D Compare it to Jhin! Once again horrible! (Sorry ^^)

I'll be honest I liked old Xerath. Not because of his indeed toxic E-RRR 100-0 lock. I liked him because of his lightning theme and the W (which both got removed) q.q (and 350 Armor out of nowhere were funny as well =P)

I got used to the new one. He does not feel unique in any way, but he is fine. Problem is, every time I ult with him I notice a small tear in my eyes...

Predatorator3 votes

To me, the champion that looks the most like Xerath is Ziggs. They almost share the same "long range mage identity", with ziggs having more safety tools, pushing power, and an ult that's easier to manage. Xerath on the othe hand brings damage more effectively, and is a premier wave clearer =)

DrNova1 votes

{quoted}

I tend to share most of the opinions you've layed out here, especially on Q, W, E. Passive is nothing spectacular, but functional and provides some decisions in the early game. I'm not sure what to think about R, really. It seems like it provides some really cool tension within the game, both for Xerath and others, though definitely at some costs like being rooted for long periods that your champion can be off screen.

Thanks for sharing this. As with all things Mage Update, we're not really sharing any definitive details at this point, but it's always nice to get an opinion from a champion main, especially one that doesn't boil down to "buff pls."

Don't you dare touch xerath. He has literally zero problems, don't create them.

Tengrichan2 votes

I suggest looking at old xerath kit before he got reworked and start from there.I feel he was fine before the rework.

Idea for new ultimate: Xerath starts to channel and roots himself until the channel is going.While he is channeling he is shooting a laser from the "sky" to a target area which laser can be moved with cursor.(It would be basically USA superweapon from C&C:Generals game) Also it might be global as well with enough warning beforehand. Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WOYZby1Seg

VictoryDance963 votes

Xerath is definitely a very strong champion, but he can be out played very easily if you do not have experience with him, or the opponent has good experience against him. His ultimate will terrorize anyone who escapes the battle with >10% health. When I play against Xerath, they tend to charge up his Q too long, and then they try to aim for me, not the minions. However, this is a mistake which, as I said before, generally goes away with experience.

Predatorator1 votes

i agree, it's not a champion you can faceroll with, the player has definitively to take practice on xerath, and then there's not much he can be worried about. I like the fact his ult has a tremendous psycholgical value too, especially in teamfights, when opponents have commited an engage and got no more tools to retailate, or your team has locked'em down. they get confused and start falling one by one usually. or you can get the carries easily, because they're not minding you usually. During laning phase, i like to alternate between minion clears, and poking enemy laners, beacuse it makes stuffs more spicey =p, and i like more to interact with (play around) live players rather than minions =p. it usually goes well, you can take alot of your laner's health, and the jungler may come to finish him off =). However yes, the first matches i played with xerath after his rework, i needed alot to accept how does his new Q work =)

Sire Hippington2 votes

I agree that his base kit is really great(though sometimes i'd like to have even more power on W, to match the great visuals, clearly my favourit spell in his kit)

And totally agree on his ult. It isn't exactlee weak, but it doesn't feel good, mostly cause visuals and soud just don't deliver. On top of that i think it's a bit to much hit or miss, the damage if you land all 3 is really high, but the chance to miss all of them vs good players is also rather high if they don't get cced. I propose two ideas for changeing his ult:

Increase the number of shots to 6, reduce the damage to 80% of now. Any hit beyond the first on the same target deals 50% damage, so at max you will deal 350% with 6 hits, which would be ~7% less damage than his current ult at max hits. However, the chance to atleast hit 1or two would be rather high and one could decide to spreat out the ult on multiple targets. But mostly, shooting 6 ults would feel more like an magic artillerie bombarding an area and the visuals would kinda match the power of each single shot. 6 shots woud mean he has to root him self longer, so maybe compensate for that with a short speedburst upon canceling the ult, like his old W.

The other idea would be a bigger aoe woth damage fall-off towards the edges with way more powerfull sound and visuals. i'd go for ~80% of the current aoe as 'sweet spot' that deals full damage, and twice of that with the damage gradually getting reduced to 25% at the edges. This would make it harder to get full damage vs a not cced target, but easier to deal some damage, the followup on cc would stay the same, and it would be more effective vs grouped enemies. Though it would be a bit similar to his W...

Blackmage92 votes

I made a post regarding Xerath in the mega thread by Repertoir but didn't get a response. I want him to be immobile mage and have a nice mix of his old kit from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v5MmuMJ2qU and his new kit. I really liked the idea of him making himself a siege cannon and making himself stronger at the cost of leaving him vulnerable.

Predatorator1 votes

I think that's because most of what you said earlier goes against the objectives of his first rework. What would you want exactly from his old kit to be implemented in his new one? The siege cannon idea is nice, but it was clarified that Xerath was meant to be more of a sniper, than an artillery gun. Plus, his old kit was truly powerful, and this was at in the times when kassadin was permabanned, for example.

Yma S1 votes

I play a lot of Xerath

he really doesn't have much gameplay other than "aim your skillshots". The passive provides really basic and lackluster gameplay too. However I do enjoy the long range sniper role.

It's fun to press R once and make the enemy team dance around for up to 10 seconds proving some sort of conceptual CC gameplay without firing a single shot.

I suggest for Riot to give Xerath this passive http://www.wowhead.com/spell=76659/mastery-sniper-training.

Predatorator1 votes

That gameplay however gets more and more interesting as you opponents get good at doging them. You then have to figure out how to drive them into your skillshots, and so on (and there are lots of variables into play). The passive could be more excting yeah, but it has a solid role, and fits well, so i don't find it to be a first priority task to work on, for now.

Predatorator1 votes

That could be a nice starting point to make a keystone suited for long range mages, because i find his passive to have a solid role in his kit, and works well =)

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