A few points on the new Vlad update:
I just wanted to start by saying, after I played a vladimir game I got a notification for a quick survey: "Overall (art, thematically, gameplay) the new Vladimir update is Good.
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree." Or something along those lines.
I love that! Riot wants to know how well they've done (or poorly), and that should help quite a bit. I thought it was a really good thing to add.
Anyways, a few things I wanted to say:
-
Everyone on the boards continues to complain about damage, and cooldowns and whatnot - those are NUMBERS TWEAKS, which, like every other champion, will be constantly monitered. He isn't "trash tier" now because you think his Q should have a little more umph. But I digress.
-
After my games as Vlad, I must say his kit feels SO NICE to use. Maybe I'm not speaking for the majority, but (even if his numbers could use a little tweaking) the power spike is noticeable when you have your crimson rush up, and his whole teamfight presence feels quite a bit better now.
-
Lastly, I was just curious if any Rioter's could answer: What was the thinking behind the E not going through targets?
Was there ever a stage where it would go through, but dealing less damage per enemy hit? It might just be me but it took a lot of getting used to, when I would think I'm about to explode a Caitlyn, only to be body blocked by a Graves. I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just different.
LONG EDIT: After a few comments, I think we've come to the conclusion that the main problem (disregarding number tweaks and such) is the slow on his E. At the moment, you're encouraged to buy swifties in order to counteract it, but I don't think that's as rewarding as it might seem, since you're losing the +15 magic pen from sorcs. Honestly, you probably wouldn't have to touch the AP ratios on E too much if Riot removed the slow entirely. Sure, there are ways to counteract it; use W as you start to E for the bonus MS, wait for your Blood Rush to give you a burst of MS so you can land your E, land a Q with Rylais so they're slowed, so you can hit your E. But with a kit that already revolves around waiting for good opportunities to strike (via Q, R, long CD on W, etc...) I think his E should feel a little more reliable than it does.
