At this point, I only want one little tweak to Vlad.

WoonStruck·May 29, 2016·52 votes·1,768 views

Make Crimson Rush apply 'ghosting' for its duration.

No, I don't mean the summoner spell Ghost. That would be stupid lol.

Ghosting is a status that allows you to ignore unit collision.

Due to the extremely short duration of Crimson Rush (cut even shorter if you Q), the times it would help it could likely hurt as well, since you could end up trapped out of position in front of minions.

Adds more to his 'risk/reward' pattern, while also making his Q more usable, so the possibility of AP builds being a thing again is another benefit.

23 Comments

Over InnsmouthMay 29, 201617 votes

This is fair, I'm totally down for this. Lord knows the MS buff isnt useful enough on its own.

And this way, it'll ensure that the zone for Rush Q isnt artificially altered due to the impassable wall of caster minions that decided to fuck you.

XeroKimoMay 29, 20161 votes

How long is the movement speed supposed to last anyways? Because whenever I play him I look at my movement speed on 3rd Q, it only lasted like half a second

Over InnsmouthMay 29, 20161 votes

It decays I believe, so any meaningful speed buff you get barely lasts.

WoonStruckMay 29, 20162 votes

Its ~10% MS for half a second.

JMoormannMay 29, 20166 votes

Upon activating Crimson Rush, Vlad gains the ability to check his opponent's Twitch stream for 5 seconds to see the position of all enemies and read their chat.

Seems a little OP.

Baron of BreadMay 29, 20165 votes

I'm not really convinced of this adding to the risk/reward pattern, but I do think it would be a nice utility buff since you don't want to be in front of your minions until you have the Q ready to go.

WoonStruckMay 29, 20166 votes

Its very easy to over-extend when trying to hit that empowered Q. A way to move through minions that doesn't let you move back?

I could see a lot of situations not being in Vlad's favor from that when he'd normally be blocked by minions, forcing him to use pool in order to not be out of position during the sometimes 2-3 seconds it takes to walk around minions, which would mitigate what he just got from Q.

Blood MagicksMay 29, 20162 votes

Another thing - I seem to have Q denied mid-cast far too often. Just for the sake of player enjoyment, can you make it instant?

WoonStruckMay 29, 20164 votes

I suggested this in my "Vlad feels bad due to usability issues, not numbers" threads.

Vlad having significant cast delays is what helped keep the old one in check. With all of the new 'counterplay' in his kit, its not necessary anymore, and only serves to prevent him from functioning in areas he should excel (low Hp, close fights).

The cast delay on Q: A)prevents clutch heals at low HP before you die B)Causes W to cancel Q (still goes on CD) C) causes there to be a massive delay after you're vulnerable post-pool before you get healing.

It just doesn't feel good.

However, Rioters didn't respond, despite getting nearly 150 upvotes.

So I'm trying other approaches that directly target frustration in some of his worst areas.

BloodyTomponMay 29, 20161 votes

That would make it much much easier for him to get off his third proc. It reduces the amount of forward thinking with regard to position for both Vlad and his opponent. With that minions don't save you and neither has to think about it and it can be used to circumvent his e being blocked.

Why exactly would you add it? What is the problem with Vlad that you're trying to solve? Can it be solved with the numbers he already has? There is no reason to add it. It's complexity for the sake of complexity.

OneSmoothDudeMay 29, 20163 votes

It's about reducing frustration. Vlad getting off his Crimson Rush'd Q should be a high point of play, given that it is his newfangled window of power. But sometimes, Vlad gets minion blocked, which is pretty frustrating.

It's a decent suggestion. If Riot feels that CR isn't feeling as good as it should, and they don't want to increase the movement speed or duration of CR, this is a good idea. It's not even complex. lol

BloodyTomponMay 29, 20161 votes

Minion block is not unique to Vlad, almost everybody has to deal with it. By complexity, I mean it's an addition to something for the sake of adding to something in that there is no gameplay driven need to add it to Vlad. Is he struggling to get to his opponent? Movement speed or duration changes achieve the same result. I can almost guarantee this would be Riots take on it too.

WoonStruckMay 29, 20163 votes

What other champion has extremely short duration/cd gated windows based on a stacking system, though?

There's not a single other champion that's gated like Vlad.

BloodyTomponMay 30, 20161 votes

What's that got to do with the price of eggs?

OneSmoothDudeJun 12, 20161 votes

By complexity, I mean it's an addition to something for the sake of adding to something in that there is no gameplay driven need to add it to Vlad.

Huh. So you're just going to ignore the gameplay-related needs brought up by me and OP and then say there are no gameplay-related needs...interesting technique.

Is he struggling to get to his opponent? Movement speed or duration changes achieve the same result.

Not necessarily.

First, higher movement speed would be a stronger buff than ignorming minion block because MS is useful all the time. OP's suggestion, to ignore minion block, would be selectively more useful in certain circumstances, but not ALL circumstances like an MS buff would be. Which is kind of his point: to buff Vlad not with the goal of making him more powerful, per se, but less frustrating. Similar, but not identical principles. Which is why I think this is a clever solution because it gets around such issues.

And second, that wouldn't even achieve the same result. Minion blocking can slow movement significantly more than the value that would be brought upon by an additional 30 MS (or whatever MS buff you think would be less complicated).

BloodyTomponJun 12, 20161 votes

No, I'm saying there is no gameplay related need that extant things cannot deal with. There is no need for vlad and only vlad to circumvent minion block. Sure, it makes him less frustrating to play as, but it would make him a hell of a lot more frustrating to play against. He's not exactly teeming with counterplay as is, so to reduce the counterplay by removing a mechanic that enables both to play around is not at all a good idea. It does not add more risk/reward, it actually reduces it because he can Q3 more frequently and easily (It increases the likelihood of success without an increase in risk) and because vlad has no risk in Q3. None. And again, risk/reward can be altered using already existing systems so why add a new mechanic when existing that can target the same thing are already there?

If you're going to talk about power, both are buffs. Both make him more powerful, which is hardly needs to be right now.

OneSmoothDudeJun 12, 20161 votes

There is no need for vlad and only vlad to circumvent minion block.

This is not a need. It's a clever suggestion to avoid frustration during what can only be assumed to be a "high point" of a reworked character's playstyle.

Sure, it makes him less frustrating to play as, but it would make him a hell of a lot more frustrating to play against. He's not exactly teeming with counterplay as is, so to reduce the counterplay by removing a mechanic that enables both to play around is not at all a good idea.

You cannot seriously be telling me that you purposefully minion block Vlad when his empowered Q comes up. That is not "counterplay" from the opponent, and as such taking it away would not be considered lowering Vlad's opponents' counterplay.

It does not add more risk/reward, it actually reduces it because he can Q3 more frequently and easily (It increases the likelihood of success without an increase in risk) and because vlad has no risk in Q3. None.

OP didn't think of adding Ghosting to CD because they thought Vlad should be riskier to play. ?

And again, risk/reward can be altered using already existing systems so why add a new mechanic when existing that can target the same thing are already there?

Well, Ghosting is an already existing system. It's not new to the game... And as for your question, I already told you. Twice.

If Riot feels that CR isn't feeling as good as it should, and they don't want to increase the movement speed or duration of CR, this is a good idea.

and

First, higher movement speed would be a stronger buff than ignorming minion block because MS is useful all the time. OP's suggestion, to ignore minion block, would be selectively more useful in certain circumstances, but not ALL circumstances like an MS buff would be. Which is kind of his point: to buff Vlad not with the goal of making him more powerful, per se, but less frustrating. Similar, but not identical principles. Which is why I think this is a clever solution because it gets around such issues.

And second, that wouldn't even achieve the same result. Minion blocking can slow movement significantly more than the value that would be brought upon by an additional 30 MS (or whatever MS buff you think would be less complicated).

If you aren't even going to consider my responses before commenting then you are a waste of time and I'm done here.

HaestroMay 29, 20161 votes

He's already drawing bans in China, so I don't think riot is thinking of buffing him again just yet.

XIII VanitasMay 29, 20162 votes

He has only 48% win rate though.

CynikaMay 29, 20161 votes

That's the thing about his design though. He's very feast or famine right now. Either he's so strong you can't go near him, or he's so weak that it's easy to kite him out/ignore him and kill him last a la Mundo

WoonStruckMay 30, 20161 votes

That's mostly due to counter-picks and his his ability to not get shut down when played well. Ever.

I realize he's been making a showing, but QoL buffs such as this would hardly affect pro play I believe, unlike the other QoL buffs I've suggested. This one mostly targets the lower end of the spectrum, which is good considering Vlad's ability to impact a non-snowballed game is not straightforward at all now.

Again, I don't disagree, I just believe it would hardly affect pro play, as they already work around the issue that this solves.