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Abyssal Scepter: What should it be?

Mandang0·5/15/2015, 3:59:06 PM·2 votes·745 views

When you think of Abyssal Scepter, what comes to mind? It's a heavy MR item that packs a good AP punch and brings more damage through an MR reduction aura. Now, Riot's already said they'd be releasing an MR item more geared toward mages than new Abyssal (which they're intending for bruisers), so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt there. With that said, I think the most important identity to maintain for Abyssal is the MR and the reduction aura (we're talking bruisers, so MR reduction is probably more attractive than AP anyway).

How well does new Abyssal Scepter deliver on that identity? Obviously the MR's still there & I think the health is a nice touch if we want this to be a serious defensive item. However, the %reduction stacking isn't going to cut it. Remember, Abyssal used to grant 20 flat MR reduction, and it did so immediately. If new Abyssal stacks to 20% reduction, this only breaks even when the target has 100 MR, which is quite a lot actually. Also, as we're talking about AP champs here, a lot of cooldowns/damage will be blown long before the abyssal is allowed to stack to that point. Instead, Abyssal has been given a flat DoT of sorts, which seems much more like tank itemization (Cinderhulk) than AP bruiser itemization, much less anything a mage would buy.

My suggestion: Seeing as we're already in a tank meta that doesn't appear to be going anywhere, why not just move some of the power budget from that DoT to the %MR reduction aura? It seems to me like penetration is AP's strength (as opposed to scaling with crit or dealing good %HP damage), so why nerf the item there (relative to the 20 flat MR reduction it currently has)? I actually like switching from flat to %MR reduction, as locket just neutralizes the former, but the numbers on the %MR reduction are currently too low imo. New Abyssal still looks OP though, so I'd recommend only buffing the %reduction at the expense of something else (this new flat DoT seems an easy choice).

Discussion is welcome, thanks for the read :)

10 Comments

thePandev5/15/2015, 4:31:31 PM1 votes

The only thing I never like about abyssal scepter is that if APs got to have an item that gave them resistance + power, how come ADs never had one? Many bruiser ADs could use some sort of item, as bruiser APs like Swain and Galio had the same thing. The only thing close to that was Atma's Impaler, which was nerfed pretty hard and now doesn't exist

thePandev5/15/2015, 4:55:17 PM1 votes

I liked the old abyssal because if you were an AP mid against someone like a Leblanc, you could get a negatron cloak and have it build into something still worthwhile.

As of now, the only alternative I see to abyssal is Athene's, which is arguably situational since Morello's provides better stats, and so did abyssal.

cmjh6257/3/2015, 10:29:10 AM1 votes

Only see it on Vladimir and Rumble , or enemy is LeBlanc before.

Duke Anax7/3/2015, 10:50:19 AM1 votes

I really prefer the flat MR reduction, because it does something even when the opponent has 0 MR (Jungle mobs, minions)

Same on the Ryze rework btw.

edit: changed to "flat" MR reduction