Rift Heralds theme is weak in terms of the mechanical buff it will give.

Rift Heralds theme is weak in terms of the mechanical buff it will give.

Here is why I think so.

(I've included the link to the PBE feedback thread as a reference to what I'm talking about)

Herald is supposed to be a "warped" Rift Scuttler. On it's back there is a giant eyeball, which currently acts as it's weak point. These two facts point towards an erroneous benefit to killing it. That is, a "warped" much enhanced scuttler buff.

Alright. What does the rift scuttler give when killed? Well, it provides vision. Specifically, the scuttler provides vision of the river (the most common path used to roam) around one of the two major jungle objectives, baron and dragon. it also gives a speed boost that enables faster roaming and the ability to disengage from the before mentioned objectives easier. it also gives some gold.

The herald (currently) provides a buff similar to a baron buff, but for a singular champion, the one who kills it. This buff confers a faster recall, 10% buff to damage other than true damage, and enhances nearby minions offensive power, same as Baron buff, with an additional attack speed increase. (like dragon and baron it will also provide team wide gold.)

These two buffs are in no way similar. They are completely unrelated. I find this lack of solid theme frustrating. In League history many would-be champions have been scrapped for less. Why should the changes to the rift be exempt?

I think Riot could either change the Heralds visual theme and origin to fit it's buff (Riot could easily remove the eye in favor of a scar, and make the herald more like baron visually), or, in my opinion the more interesting option, Riot could change the buff to fit the current theme. That is, make it a "warped" much enhanced scuttler buff.

With the other changes coming in season six (specifically the changes to vision) this type of buff would be incredibly relevant and in keeping with its current theme.

I'm not sure exactly what this advanced vision buff could be. I'm open to suggestions by the community. But, I do feel really strongly about this. I want to know if others may be thinking the same thing, so I've included a small poll. Don't forget to post a comment with your reasoning as well.

The preseason is already coming, and unfortunately the Rift Herald will most likely ship as is, with a theme that doesn't match the concept. Any chance for my thoughts to be noticed and to make a difference will be gone. Honestly my highest hope is that a rioter will notice and simply comment that they noticed, because anything more is unlikely. and I find that saddening.