What does a Poacher do? (How to fix Poacher's Knife/Scavenging Smite)

I'm sure there are plenty of people who want to see be a relevant, important item for junglers.

First, we have to figure out, "What does it mean to be a poacher/stalker/skirmisher/ranger?"

: A stalker tracks his prey (the enemy champion), while waiting for just the right moment to pounce. In-game, this works exactly as it should.

: A skirmisher is a duelist who favors, well, skirmishes-- a.k.a. 1v1 or 2v1 fights. In game, this means either fighting the enemy jungler to gain an advantage (strong early game) or neutralizing an opponent's advantage (weaker early game). This mostly works, but I feel that the vast majority of champs who pick are tanks (such as or ) who can take the best advantage of the 20% damage reduction.

: A ranger is a character who goes into untamed, wild lands, and makes them habitable for more civilized folk. So how does that translate into the game? By blasting monsters with . Naturally. Still, the gameplay point-- that a character who picks up gains clear speed and sustain in the jungle at the expense of combat effectiveness outside of it-- is a strong one, as it achieves differentiation between farming junglers and ganking junglers.

And so now we come to the . A poacher, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is "one who kills or takes wild animals (as game or fish) illegally". So the idea of rewarding the player for getting in, taking a camp, and getting out is a good one, but the fact that the item offers no other benefits leaves it too weak if counter-jungling is ineffective.

So before we look at what we can add to bring it up to speed, let's look at what a poacher needs to be good at his job.

Vision. A poacher should know where the authorities are (or aren't), so he doesn't get caught. Logistics. A poacher should know the best paths through the wilderness. Nature lore. A poacher should pride himself on knowing more about the creatures he is poaching than the philistines who "own" the creatures do.

Now let's translate that into your standard game on SR.

Vision is the easiest- give a ward, like the old Wriggle's Lantern. While this certainly fits with a what a poacher should know, I feel that the fact that Riot got rid of Wriggle's (and added vision trinkets) indicates pretty clearly where they stand on giving vision items to other slots.

Logistics is partially taken care of, in the speed boost for stealing an enemy's camp with . But why not expand it to your own side of the map? A poacher might not feel the adrenaline rush of illegally taking camps, but he probably knows the paths even better. Let ing your own camps give you a modest, sustained movement speed boost on cast-- say, 20% for 4 or 5 seconds. Not much, but enough to help you get to a lane quickly to aid your ally, or to run away from a counter-jungling enemy. Kind of like a mini- , now that I think about it, but not abusable by laners since it only works on monsters.

My idea for a nature lore effect is probably the most out-there, but also the most fun. So a poacher has more knowledge and respect for wild creatures than other junglers do? Let's give Scavenging Smite the following effect: Does X damage and marks the camp. If you're targeted by an enemy attack, all living monsters in the camp will immediately switch focus to the enemy and heal you for 5% of the damage they do to him. This effect cements as a situationally strong defensive option when it comes to jungle items, while leaving fair and obvious weaknesses (you have to smite early if you want to make the most of the effect, living jungle camps don't give you experience or gold).

I believe all of these options are thematically in-line with what a poacher should be-- defensive, strategic, build small advantages over time, and preferring to harass and annoy instead of fighting directly. (No, I'm not a main, but he would love this item... I think some champions who would normally never choose , like or or even would do well with it too.)

I'm not advocating the addition of ALL of these effects, or even any of them. I just think they would make for more interesting gameplay, and add... what was that phrase you used at the beginning of the season all the time, Riot? Strategic Diversity? Yeah, that was it.

Tl; dr? Just answer this poll.