Illaoi's E Actually Isn't That Bad
Okay, I know we've all had our fair share of pain against Illaoi's, getting taken out in 3 seconds flat when she's 4 levels behind, getting chased to base by tentacles with barely any health, etc. etc. But, while everyone has their own experiences with it, I would like to say that Illaoi's E actually is not that bad.
First, let's start with the counterplay. You either back off and kill 3 tentacles, or you fight her so that you don't become a vessel. While the former would cause you to lose farm and the latter is quite impossible in anything except a 1v1, there's the counterplay. Her Q, while not as sluggish as Sion's, is fairly telegraphed and you can dodge it if you see it coming or have a dash, unless of course you're minion blocked. ( I believe Riot fixed that though... we'll see.) Her W is simple, and I don't think I've really heard anyone complain about it. Her ult, while of course doing absolutely massive damage and healing, is avoidable, especially if you can hold her off from engaging.
No, the real problem, the main problem I see with Illaoi is-- the magic word of Riot-- CLARITY! I'm not talking about telling exactly who got hit by her E what to do if they're new against Illaoi's, but more so the effect of it. Illaoi's Vessel debuff will end if you kill 3 of the tentacles that spawn to attack you. However, YOU have to do the last hit on them for it to count towards the counter to end the debuff. This is the clarity I'm speaking of. If you are near anyone or in a teamfight or such, or playing ARAM or any other similar thing where you'd be around others, people's first instinct is to kill the tentacles on sight, because why let something survive that's hurting you?
Unfortunately, since it doesn't count towards ending the debuff if an ally kills the tentacle (or even if you do the first hit and they do the second), this causes in most cases for vessels to be stuck spawning tentacles to kill them for the full minute or so that the debuff lands, because if you're in anything except a voice chat with your team,** there is almost no possible way they would know specifically which tentacles to kill and which to leave alone, or pay attention to which ones are spawned by you so they don't kill them.**
Aside from saying "You have to kill the tentacles," there is absolutely no tooltip or clarity in game, or even on the champion page in the client, that says that your allies are not allowed to kill the tentacles you spawn. This leaves practically anyone who gets Vessel'd in a teamfight or gathering to helplessly not be able to do anything about the debuff if they're anything less than a tank and can't rush into the front lines to fight Illaoi in the middle of 4 other enemy champions.
I'm not saying that Riot should go and make it so that allies can count towards the counter or anything or any other such nerf like that, but I do really, really believe Riot should either make the tentacles spawned by a Vessel invulnerable to allies of the Vessel, or state specifically somehow in game every time someone becomes a Vessel that allies cannot be the ones to kill the tentacles.
Of course, it's doubtful that Riot will see this post as most end up getting Necro'd in a matter of hours, but this is something that really needs to be done in the best interest of the game, especially since everyone will want to play the newest champion. I'm not going to upvote hog or anything and ask everyone to make sure this gets to the front page, but it would be really helpful if maybe you guys could spread the idea around if you see a Rioter posting on the boards. Thanks everyone.
TL:DR- You really shouldn't need these but: Illaoi's E lacks clarity on that allies can't kill the tentacles you spawn for the debuff to end. This is rather unfortunate for anyone that becomes a vessel and is nearly impossible to stop unless you're in a voice chat with your team. Hopefully Riot will notice this post or the aforementioned problem and do something about it.
