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If Zilean bombs were geared towards supporting

glovetheglove·9/1/2015, 9:00:29 PM·30 votes·3,268 views

So this is an idea I've thought about ever since Riot made Zilean's double-bombing stun enemies in patch 5.4. I thought updating his champion identity and making the bomb a skill shot was something really incredible to reward the good Zilean players and introduce a level of counterplay for the enemy team that previously didn't really exist when it was single target and instant.

I wanted to suggest a neat change to Zilean that would slightly alter what his bombs do in laning phase, which early game Zilean somewhat struggles with. His bombs deal damage in an area, which unfortunately has the side effect of sometimes killing minions and pushing the wave when you/your marksman don't want to.

What I'm proposing is that when your ally last hits a minion (or a champion) with a time bomb attached and that bomb kills any minions surrounding the target, the ally would receive all gold from the last hits.

This is to aid in helping your allies get their items faster (and Zilean would still receive support mastery gold from the minions dying) and it would serve to make the bomb clearing the wave a little less frustrating to his allies. This would not apply to Zilean placing a bomb on allied champions or minions because only he would receive the following last hit gold (you can't last hit your own allies, after all.)

Of course, this doesn't apply to mid Zilean , because he's on his own and his passive is basically useless with no one around. Him getting full gold from his bombs killing minions is entirely necessary there. I'm suggesting this change specifically to help Support Zilean out because I feel that's where his identity shines and where he should feel like he's really helping his allies out instead of himself.

The bomb is an amazing skill, but it should be used to help instead of accidentally hinder your allies. Please let me know what you think in the comments if there's any feedback you have, or if there's another way this suggestion could be altered (ex:maybe the gold is split between his ally and himself, since they both put in work to receive the gold), I appreciate any and all response!

33 Comments

2nMdDVW9Nu9/1/2015, 9:17:22 PM7 votes

Really cool idea that would definitely help give him a better identity but could cause some balance issues around lane control over other supports. Otherwise the idea sounds great on paper. would enjoy seeing the idea entertained by rito.

Decrit9/1/2015, 9:08:51 PM2 votes

It would be damn powerful, since it would allow pushing power to characters that have none and a lot of farming power too.

But then again, that would be a really cool thing that Zilean could bring to the party. I would say it makes no sense for a time mage to allow bomb esplosions for a carry, but then again time bombs don't make sense since always :P

Stacona9/2/2015, 12:57:15 AM2 votes

make the stun 1.5 seconds at all ranks if you want a support zilean buff, mid zilean maxes timebomb first so the stun buff at earlier ranks does not affect him much, only helps support zilean who maxes timebomb last

giving last hits for detonating your timebomb is too trol, as in screws over mid zilean completely

Mongoose9/2/2015, 6:12:41 AM2 votes

zilean+tristana would be a waveclear nightmare

Nekusen9/1/2015, 10:01:13 PM1 votes

this does nothing to help Zilean , he needs a passive thats actually useful and lower cooldowns. bombs taking cs increase the decision making involved. if any kind of buff should be applied to bombs, is:

  • lower cooldown
  • the second one prioritizing the target with he first one attached
  • faster throw speed
  • slightly larger stick area
diamondlight9/2/2015, 12:18:40 AM1 votes

A la Kalista W, Make Zilean have a TimeSworn ally! item 3070

WhiskerWow9/2/2015, 12:55:55 AM1 votes

Interesting. It gives adcs with bad waveclear decent waveclear.

Quort9/2/2015, 1:28:07 AM1 votes

I'd just like his bombs to be a little more reliable. Landing the first one isn't too hard, but getting the second on the same target is crazy. If there's a lot going on it rarely happens... :/

MAN OF INTELLECT9/2/2015, 2:30:07 AM1 votes

Good suggestion. This does push lanes though, but would be a very effective means of helping an ally farm.

BuzzinTate9/2/2015, 2:36:13 AM1 votes

I kinda wish they implemented a "every third bomb will be a big one" on zillean. but instead of more damage, it has an increased stun.

You'd have to land the big one on the stun though, you cant use it to stun someone as the first bomb

Demacry9/2/2015, 7:09:47 AM1 votes

I think it'd be a neat touch to Zil if it was balanced out by nerfing the bases on his Q slightly and giving a QoL update to the "sticky" detection part of his Q. Way too many times do I feel like I'm narrowly walking around the bomb on the ground when it'll just latch onto my champ even though I didn't touch the center. Honestly even if they buffed the travel time a bit to compensate, I'd be okay with it because nothing feels worse than knowing you've dodged something only to get screwed by finicky hitboxes in the end.

Ipols9/2/2015, 11:41:02 AM1 votes

Also make Zilean warp his bombs instead of throwing them. What kind of time mage has a sac of bombs to throw?

ReQnosis9/2/2015, 5:51:36 PM1 votes

Point of Reference: Zilean (support) is my main.

Personally, I think your suggestion is a relatively good idea.. though I'd hope this would be a passive exclusive to his bomb (Q) and not replace his "actual" passive.

IE: People have been wanting to revamp his actual passive because it's not really all that useful.

Sidenote: Lets say you place a bomb on your ally and they die before the bomb goes off, thus triggering the bomb to go off themselves..

Possible unintended side effects:

  1. Your ally gets gold for the bomb killing any enemy players/minions upon their death?
  2. The enemy getting "deny" gold for your bomb killing their own minions?

~

That being said, if this was implemented AND Zileans current (actual) passive remained. This would be a sizable buff to Botlane Morde.

IE: It would give him wave-clear along with the added bonus of extra XP along with his own unique passive.

This would also prompt Support Zileans to max out your bombs (Q) first (for the extra dmg), rather than your (E).

~

**Sidenote: **This could go a long way into helping push more bot lane melee champions.. though it might end up being a bit of a gimmick (rather than a legit way to play him).

~

A bit off topic, but I'm curious what you think would be a better passive (to replace his bonus XP passive)?

~

For anyone interested, Point of Reference continued: *You can see a typical game build here: http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1927003262/229756867?tab=builds

*I'm still leveling up my account and playing in matches where people don't build sightstones, nor do my ADC's actually know how to "last hit". Thus I typically build AP and max my bombs (Q) first.

*Typical combo I use as a support: Q + E + W + Q + E = Perma slow + aoe stun + burst (The slow also allows you to land your bombs much easier).

The first time you do this combo, the enemies always blow both their summoners (flash/heal or flash/barrier). Thus making them play more "secure" for the next five minutes (allowing you to zone them).. and if they don't, then you often can get a double kill.

*You can pull this combo off as early as lv3.

Xedrek9/1/2015, 9:03:04 PM1 votes

i like it

Conturbatio9/3/2015, 12:10:42 AM1 votes

Counterplay isn't just "dodge", counterbuilding & shields are a thing too. Also the Q was never instant, it had a 4 seconds delay before exploding unless the zilean placed another bomb on the first.... This change screwed up solo lane zilean but kinda buffed his support counterpart.

Binxy Prime9/1/2015, 9:09:25 PM1 votes

I think it would be great for support, It would def hurt mid zil a bit though, he already has a tough time getting farm late game because of the time limit on the bombs. If I could get all the cs just by killing his minions if I was adc I probably would.

1000angrybees9/1/2015, 9:40:30 PM1 votes

That's very imbalanced, even if it does kind of help/fit him.

Catastrop9/1/2015, 9:45:14 PM1 votes

That's actually quite nice.