Possible improvements to Sivir's gameplay (Possible Rework Thread)

Ok, first of all: this rework thread is not caused by Sivir being unbalanced or toxic. There are just some things in the execution of here theme in gameplay that bother me as well the fact that I had some ideas I wanted to share. The following ideas are primarely not for making Sivir more "healthy to the game" or "balanced", but increase the awesomeness and the potential her theme has.

So, who is Sivir? "Ehrm... the girl with that round boomerang thing?" While that is somewhat correct it's not the first association a champions name should cause. I said this in another thread before, but as it is right now Sivir does NOT live up to her theme. She's a brutal mercenary, cold and mercyless, the kind of person who would slice your throat for a bag of gold. Her ingame theme right now feels more like "seemingly harmless wonder woman from the desert"...

At the same time here theme and her current role are... not exactly in sync. Robber and mercenary would be more fitting to a fighter or asassin and not to a marksman in my eyes. And then I thought "fuck it", then she'll just be a marksman/assassin/(squishy)fighter! She is quite close ranged after all, so focusing her strongst source of damage in that low range should turn out quite well...

"It's not stealing when they are dead". Sivir murders people and takes their cash. What does she do right now? Murder people. I think we are missing some part here... ^^ More to that later, but I had a neat idea for a gold-passive here...

My main focus is on shifting the focus of Sivir's abilities on her weapon, as well as the possibilities you have as a player when using and controling it. Her weapon indicates a unusual but highly skilled style of fighting, and that's how her gameplay is supposed to be. Also one should take something in consideration: Sivir is a brutal robber and mercenary - adding something that looks and feels like a dirty and overly brutal move would sound like the right thing to me... but more of that later ^^

And before I get to my ideas, here some other thoughts I have on her weapon:

1.) How can she even use basic attacks of she has used her Q? SHE JUST THREW HER WEAPON. Until it comes back it's absolutely illogical... 2.) Her spellshield seems to be thematically tied to her weapon -> implies that weapon has magical properties 3.) Can we make it fly more like an actual boomerang? Slighty curved and not just forwards-backwards?

Passive: "It's not stealing when they're dead..."

_After killing an enemy Sivir can activate a channel close to a fallen enemy champion (the dead model lying around). If the channel is complete and not interrupted by champion damage, she gets X gold. _ _Also Sivir gets bonus movement speed when using basic attacks on champions, based on the enemy's missing health (the more health missing -> faster) _

The Q: Boomerang Toss:

_Sivir throws her weapon that will return to her short after. Enemies hit by the passing blade take damage every time they have contact with it. The weapon flies curved (One Diana Q until target, and back in a symmetrical fashion). Damage and speed are increased compared to right now, BUT: as the weapon is in the air, Sivir cannot basic attack or use abilities that would require her weapon. While Sivir is not carrying her weapon she gains bonus movement speed. _

The E: Spellshield:

Activation when Q is not active: as normal, shield blocks next ability, Sivir gains mana. Activation while Q IS active: The blade will return IMMEDEATLY to Sivir, damaging all enemies in addition the the damage Q would normally deal, Sivir gains mana for every unit hit. Once the blade reaches her she gets the shield, but does not gain mana for blocking abilities anymore.

The W: Current version -> scrapped and replaced by close combat move New W: Sivir reaches out her blade while rotating it at high speed, effectively slicing through her enemies at close range. Killing an enemy with it reduces the cooldown of this ability This ability is a skillshot, comparable to Maokai's ground slam or Yasuo's Q. I want to make something clear: for that I want the most murderous and brutal vfx you can find. It's basically shredding your enemies with a giant circular saw...

The ULTIMATE: Ok, here is the only point of the kit where I'm still not sure on what to do. Right now her ultimate is used to a) Help her team by speeding them up; b) initiate/hunt or c) Allow a smooth escape. All in all a function I can approve. So, now we have to find a skill that does that while being actually awesome and not just a "press&forget" skill.

Then I did some thinking: Sivir ingame has already met Azir (after all she resurrected him). Maybe she had used the chance to learn the one or the other trick about manipulating sand? Of course she could NEVER summon an object like Azir, much less a moving soldier. First of all bcause she isn't a mage or an ascended. But on the other hand she has an obviously magically enchanted shurima weapon (capable of a powerful spell like a shield that blocks even something like a veigar ult). So, now we had moving sand, but it's not that precise or simple to use...

How about this then?. (I'm terribly sorry for this link)

R: Desert's Veil:

_Sivir uses her weapon to summon a short lasting sandstorm, that does not deal damage but limits the vision of enemies inside. Allies close to Sivir and Sivir herself get a boost of movement speed when moving through the storm. Enemies CANNOT see the area inside the storm (see it as a creating of fog-of war) _

Now I have two possibilities of cast: offensive, line aoe, comparable to nami ult. Or defensive surround, no aiming, affecting a round AoE around her. I couldn't decide on on, so I just picked both: you can aim the direction, but on self-cast it will use the aoe surround variant.

Why do I think that this would be thematically fitting? Multiple reasons actually. In the offensive use it would really fit to her criminal/robber image, using the storm to get close and murder her foes by slicing them apart close range. In defensive options imagine Sivir and he rallies cornered, and then suddenly vanish in a short storm of sand. Vanishing as if the desert had swallowed them...

Offtopic: does anyone remember the story of Ali Baba and the 40 robbers? Why were the robbers so special? They were not that many, their fighting skills were medicore... but no one could track them down because of how their hideout was hidden. Whoever was chasing them would suddenly stand in front of a wall/a dune (dependes on story version) and wonder where the hell they went. Vanishing as if... you know what I'm getting at ^^

On another note it would be quite an awesome looking escape move ^^

Soo, but before you now get mad about the part on the Q with the "cannot attack while Q is in air" part... No other champs blocks his own ability to basic attack so far: but think of it as if you would think of rumble: using abilities can make him silence himself and he gets a bonus out of it. Same thing applies to Sivir who, in this version, would get more power on the abilities themselves as well as the movementspeed-boost when giving away her ability to auto-attack temporarely.

Also this opens up a lot of strategies and possibilites, as well as obvious timeframes of weakness - that can be ALSO used for baiting. Throw Q -> let enemy come close- > Call weapon back, slice through the enemy's back for bonus damage, get mana + shield -> use W to finish him off. And that's just one possibility ^^ Also possible would be: Surpise enemy team with ult -> use vision limiter and speed to get close to enemy -> shred them with a W -> finish them off with a Q+E while running out.

I think this a a good possibility for Sivir to make her as awesome as her theme has the potential to be.

And keep in mind: this is a pure gameplay discussion, Sivir current state of balance is not relevant here now! Feel free to discuss and if there are questions feel free to ask me! :D