Lux Buffs On PBE
So these changes to Lux on the PBE (thanks to Surrender@20) are interesting. They obviously help Lux in the support role and I can already see that eliminating her w’s cast time, doubling the shield on the first target, giving said target an enhanced auto, and applying Lux’s passive mark with the auto will be a pretty big buff in her support laning phase. In all honesty, I feel like the benefits end outside of he laning phase though, which in RIOT’s defense is support Lux’s worse phase because she scales later than her mid role. This may help Lux as a support but I don’t think it really fixes her problem in the bot lane.
The running joke is that even Annie is a better support than Lux, but Lux’s basic abilities are two cc abilities that are capable of hitting multiple targets and a shield. Her kit seems like it should work amazingly in the support role, but it just doesn’t. Let’s go over why.
Poke - Damage is everywhere this season and even a well skilled Nami, Lulu, or Janna can poke you down while still being considered sustain supports. Her mana costs, high cooldowns, and low damage in the early phases of laning make it seem like a disadvantage to play Lux support on your team. A Lux can’t spam abilities like enchanters and so they are able to out damage her in the early game. The problem with this is that early game is so critical now more than ever because a double kill down bot can loose you first tower and dragon all within 45 seconds. A Lux HAS to land her abilities and HAS to be mindful about when she does it. One e can cost a ton in the early laning phase and can easily be negated by a shield or a heal. While one ability for another may sound like an even trade, Lux spent more mana and has a higher cd than her counter support and thus playing Lux feels like an up hill battle.
Offensive/Defensive Abilities - While some so supports don’t need defensive abilities like Brand or Zyra, some have them as the core to their gameplay. What differs Lux’s w to most defensive abilities on supports is that they have an offensive mechanic to them. Janna and Lulu offer more damage with their shields while Lulu can opt out of her shield entirely and go for a point and click damage ability. Nami has a heal for allies that bounces to damage the nearest enemy or vice versa. Karma almost always uses her shield for the movement speed to get close enough to you for a root. Rakan’s damages an enemy then gets a heal out of it. You see my point. Many supports have this duality in at least one of their abilities that offer an offensive and defensive component. This is why I really like the direction of these changes on the PBE. Giving Lux’s shield some offensive purposes can make the ability actually worth while rather than leveling it up last. I would rather see different changes to her w than the ones on the PBE but I’ll get to that later.
Level 6- Let me start off by saying I love Lux’s ult. It is iconic to her gameplay and is very satisfying to use. That being said, the constant changes to her ult have caused the ability to be overloaded. Regardless of whether or not I aggree, this does help out Lux support in the bot lane. She no longer has to get the kill on a champion to get a reset and that kill can go to the adc. My problem with the direction they are pushing her ult is that I feel like it should be more impactful and less frequent. Hitting level 6 in lane as Lux support doesn’t feel as threatening as it should be. Lux’s ult will probably not be dealing a lot of damage early on due to the lack of ap supports have at lvl 6. I think Lux’s ult needs to be reworked slightly to make her laser feel more impactful and less like a constant annoyance.
Constant Buffs- Ever since I have played league, I have seen Lux become stronger and stronger with every season. Not necessarily in win rates or overall damage, but her kit has been constantly improved. First it was her e, being able to detonate it immediately. Then was her q, the second snare deals same damage and same snare duration as the first. We’ve already seen buffs to her ult to get resets. Finally they’re buffing her w. This is great for me because Lux is my most played champ but I don’t to be on the receiving end of special treatment just because I play a popular champion. You could say it’s because of damage creep or because Lux is weak atm (which is debatable) but RIOT needs to either addres her issues as a whole or stop with the constant buffs because she is feeling more and more clunky.
Solution - Q: stays the same W: remove cast time and add “allies shielded by this ability can consume Lux’s passive with auto attacks” E: maybe change early damage and mana costs but otherwise stays the same R: remove the resets and add “enemies damaged by this ability are blinded for 1/2/3 seconds”
Here we go again, another main thinking their “rework” is the best and RIOT should hire them. No. I’m just trying to offer up suggestions to keep Lux’s gameplay intact while offering her less binary gameplay. The w changes offer more of a team fight presence because Lux can’t proc all of her marks during a team fight and allows an offensive component to her w for laning. The R change might be too much but it’s very thematic and offers more utility while making it more impactful since it’s not up as often.
That’s it, feel free to comment on these suggestions an what you think should be done about these changes on the PBE.
