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Kassadin; Another Gameplay Update

Stacona··9 votes·973 views

Kassadin is the biggest balance headache right now and whenever he is strong at the current time he is basically permanent banned since no one likes dealing with him, ever. So I will create a concept "rework" of my own below, keeping in mind his main over all theme as the super dedicated mobile melee mage and anti-mage aspects to him; but even add some cool mechanics where if he consciously did absolutely no mobile functions for awhile (which includes Flash, and obviously his own in kit mobility Riftwalk) he can have powerful moments like some kind of hard cc or more damage, even AoE for waveclear / AoEing down a team, at the cost of no mobility; but mostly adding unique decision making rather than being forced into a one-dimensional playstyle.

Something I must add, I have played many games as Kassadin in the past, as well as against Kassadin; so my ideas are to try my best on some main things: Have Kassadin fun to play as, have him fun to play against (very important), try have my ideas reflect on something that can be easily balanced between patches (whether nerfs or buffs), and keep his mobility side intact as League's premiere mobile champion.

Basic Attack Range: 150 units

Void Stone (Passive): Kassadin ignores 15% of all magic damage dealt and ignores all unit collision.

Whenever Kassadin deals damage with Riftwalk to an enemy champion he ignores an additional 15% magic damage dealt for the next 1.5 seconds.

Kassadin's basic attacks deal 20(+10%AP) bonus magic damage on-hit.

Nether Strike (Q): Cooldown: 16/14/12/10/8 seconds; Cost: 90/95/100/105/110 Mana; Range: 400 / 1200 units Passive: If Kassadin has not used Riftwalk or Flash in the last 8 seconds then his next Nether Strike gains triple its range and hits all enemies in its path.

Active: Kassadin sends powerful penetrating void energy in the target direction to deal 80/110/140/170/200(+70%AP) magic damage to the first enemy struck and ignore 20% of its magic resistance. Nether Strike ignores 40% of its target's magic resistance if the target is currently affected by a mark of Riftwalk.

Null Blade (W): Cooldown: 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds; Cost: 40 Mana Passive: If Kassadin has not used Riftwalk or Flash in the last 8 seconds then his next Null Blade will deal double magic damage and silence his target for 1.5 seconds.

Active: Kassadin empowers his next basic attack gaining 50 units bonus range to deal 30/45/60/75/90(+30%AP) bonus magic damage, disrupt channels, and grant himself a 60/90/120/150/180(+50%AP) magic shield for 1.5 seconds.

Force Pulse (E): Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds; Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 Mana + all current charges; Range: 700 units; Cone: 80 degrees Passive: Kassadin absorbs the remaining energy of spells cast within his vicinity [1400 units] from all champions, including his own spells except for Force Pulse, gaining 1 charge per spell cast up to a maximum of 6 charges.

Active: Kassadin releases a pulse of void energy in the target direction to deal 20(+10%AP) magic damage plus 10/15/20/25/30(+10%AP) magic damage for every charge that was expended to all enemies struck and slowing them by 70/75/80/85/90% for 1 second.

Riftwalk (R): Cooldown: 2 seconds; Cost: 75 Mana + 1 Charge; Range: 500 units Passive: Kassadin's basic attacks on-hit lower the cooldown of Riftwalk's next charge by 0.5 second, 2 seconds against champions. Champion kills and assists reduce the cooldown of the next charge by 10 seconds.

Kassadin instantly teleports to the target location to deal 30/60/90/120(+30%AP)(+5%Mana) magic damage upon arrival to nearby enemies and mark struck enemies for the next 4 seconds which multiple marks can be on the same enemy at one time which refreshes the duration of the previous marks. Marked enemies take an additional 15/30/45/60(+15%AP)(+2.5%Mana) magic damage.

Kassadin gains a charge of Riftwalk once every 40/32/24/16 seconds, up to a maximum of 2/3/4/5 charges at one time.

NOTE: Unless directly indicated otherwise, all cooldown/recharge values lower with cooldown reduction.

28 Comments

Niyumi3 votes

I don't like the charge system on Riftwalk, and I don't like how he's rewarded for not using his kit. >.>

That charge system takes Kassadin's identity away, and just turns him into an Ez who can teleport once or twice more. Right now, Kass is the anti-mage guy who teleports all over the place, out-playing and out-smarting people through all the blinking around. Take that away, it's just not the same champion anymore. So, no, you didn't keep his core identity intact.

I think he's fun as he is, and there aren't really any issues with his kit.

Stacona1 votes

He doesn't take his identity away at all - it just adds counter play since you can know how many jumps he can have left if you are keeping track of them. Not to mention he is nothing like Ezreal.

Kassadin has issues out the ass dude, this is why he needs changes to fix those issues so he can be balanced properly. This concept keeps him very mobile and with better ways to play against him can loosen up some of his weaknesses like lack of waveclear. Also the decision making in my kit creates a lot better tools for out smarting your opponent, out-plays and out-smarting is not having a bull shit kit and then calling it an out-play. Where as having tools to be creative to how you play the champion can be, like for example instead of just Riftwalking over a wall you can stand by wall in brush, wait for the silence to trigger and then turn the fight around in a real strategic element with the silence and damage boost and then release the rest of your spell combo.

Also I made him way more rewarding using his kit, his core spell is Riftwalk which if he uses Riftwalk on someone certain spells get stronger, like more magic damage reduction and penetration for my new Q; I just gave him more options and decision making - you can play him as a mobile assassin mage with low to no wave clear still - but you also have an option to reserve being mobile and try to get them into your melee range to silence them then jump them or have a tool for wave clear at the cost of not using your mobility. Nothing is taken away, better counter play is added and more options are given to Kassadin.

Niyumi1 votes

This would entirely take away his identity. Hide it as much as you want, but you just hate Kassadin (probably play Veigar), and want to see him made into some braindead thing that is incredibly easy to counterplay and predict. Kassadin is all about making fast decisions, performing fast ability combos, and reacting quickly. He is NOT about careful pre-planning and execution of things. So, again, no, this does not preserve his identity -- this turns him into something that he isn't.

Kassadin doesn't really have many issues; the only one I can really think of is that his Q is kind of lackluster -- outside of that, his kit feels fine to me, and is fun to play with / against. Sure, Kass doesn't have the best waveclear, but most of the time you're going to max E first, and you can just throw that on a wave and clean up with autos and W. Many champions don't have the greatest waveclear anyway, but that's fine, because that's not their strength.

Sitting, waiting, that's not what Kass was made to be. You R in, blow your combo on a squishy, and R to the next person or out. You can't always predict what he's going to do, and he poses that same psychological threat that champs like Shaco and Eve do.

All this really does is nerf Kass, make him more predictable, and take away the things that make him unique (while also massively nerfing his R). If you don't like playing against a champ, just watch what they do and learn how to counter their kit -- don't suggest a gut/overhaul on the forums that would entirely destroy what a champion is.

(And, by the way, Kass is a little bit like Azir; if you're good with him, he's very strong. If you're bad or mediocre with him, he's weak. That is NOT a bad thing.)

Stacona3 votes

I play support Veigar, but not right now I don't like playing when he is popular so I am waiting for Veigar's nerfs.

There is zero brain dead aspects, right now it is brain dead to play as Kassadin, but adding more choices and options means there is more you can do and more room to actually outplay your opponent in a healthy way rather than derp blinking everywhere.

I only added another way to play Kassadin, or a hybrid way as well, while keeping his core play style intact with hopefully better counter play - counter play is a requirement to be healthy for the game. His current Q is the problematic ability with the point and click harass, that is not fun to go against.

Where do you see in my kit that does not scream "mobile assassin"? Yes, I gave him alternative play patterns. No, you do not have to play that way, it is an alternative play pattern for a reason and not something forced down your throat, so if you do not want to wait and just want to blink every where then go ahead and do that; but the blinking has to be restricted to a point so the opposition can try to play around it and play around moments of short duration weaknesses where Kassadin does not have a current Riftwalk charge left.

He has a lot less predictability and his late game burst combo is relatively unchanged; I unhooked his Force Pulse meaning you can now choose to wait for the 6 charges for the same thing it does now, or just use it with little to no charges for the slow. Things did not change for Kassadin, just you can do more and do different things on top of the things he can do now in a hopefully healthier fashion.

Again, these are actually buffs for Kassadin, but they are intended to make him better to play against which then can leave room to buff him.

Also these changes make him stronger against Veigar, so I must be the biggest retard making the anti-mage stronger against mages; oh wait Kassadin is an anti-mage premiere mobile champion. You are literally whining because I gave Kassadin more options to play as him rather than have him brain dead one-dimentional play style, that is oddest complaining ever dude.

In retrospect, you be the type of guy that will never have breakfast food for lunch or supper, it is an option to have them for lunch or supper, but you do not have to do it and have breakfast food for breakfast. You are saying that everyone has to play a champion exactly how you want to play the champion and not leave room for people to have alternative play patterns on that champion, while still having the same play pattern; you literally make zero sense and also you do not think of others at all and you think everyone is you.

KONO RUBICK DA2 votes

perfect rework

MCBiggah991 votes

And how would this fix all of Kassadin's current problems?

Stacona2 votes

No point and click range harass, and you can keep track of how many Riftwalks he has left at the current time; for the Kassadin he has more options to do different things and gains range wave clear.

MCBiggah991 votes

Overall, this seems like a nerf, which is bad considering Kassadin's current state (which is quite balanced, mains make him work and his win rate isn't too high)

Stacona2 votes

Kassadin is definitely not balanced; because if he gets popular again then he will get the nerf hammer coming down multiple times

And this is a buff in the right direction - suppose to making him broken it allows him to have things like potential hard cc and wave clear while still allowing him to have Riftwalk's mobility and his late game scaling

ZT Xperimentor1 votes

Hmm, an interesting rework concept; I like the benefits for not tele-fragging someone in an attempt to maintain counterplay, though only holding 5 charges of riftwalk at a time seems weirdly limiting. I could see why if it's range was back up to it's original value (~700) while having a lower max charge (I was thinking 1/2/3 maximum charges per ult rank); though keeping the shorter version of the ultimate, I was expecting 7 max charges. This is the kind of thing I'd expect to be put on yasou & kalista since they're already frustratingly mobile with high damage.

Anyway, I quite like the flexibility of being able to use force pulse almost whenever you like, with it's damage & slow scaling with how many charges you collect.

I'm guessing you're changing his Q to a skill-shot/AOE based on the riftwalk disuse?

Also glad you'd put his silence on his melee buff, as it makes more sense and significantly more fair than before; as well as reinstating his anti-mage status.

Stacona2 votes

Because it is an instant teleport it has to be low range, more charges means he can do a renekton trade where he can jump in and then jump out; I also want to avoid coming out of no where to kill someone, there needs to be time to react to Kassadin- i also did a rank 4 ultimate giving him a free point at level 1, pre 6 is too short a window to be meaningful anyways and i feel it is lazy balancing; doing it this way feel like you can balance riftwalk better, plus make Kassadin feel not completely dead weight before 5 minutes

Also at level 16 with 40% cdr kills and assists will grant 'resets' meaning you get 1 charge of Riftwalk to allow Kassadin to clean up won fights in the late game; but having lower range and not as high as 7 initial quick succession Riftwalks allows the opposition to keep track of Kassadin and fight back accordingly- on top of trying to force Riftwalk to reduce the melee threat of the silence and increased damage as well as reduce his safe harass and wave clear of the much longer range Q; in the reverse section he has more advanced gameplay and play patterns so a good Kassadin will be super good, but a mediocre or worse Kassadin will be weaker turning him into the skill champion he is meant to be, rather than mindless blinking and BS (because currently Kassadin will either be perma banned when good or useless with cobwebs when not good)

I just did the charges affecting the damage, the slow is the same- so you can decide to wait for the charges for the damage or use it for the slow- 6 charge Force Pulse is unchanged; but allowing it to be used whenever off cooldown creates more awareness for when you want use it and how you want to use it- whether wait for damage and slow, or use for just a slow; creating both a cool decision making and adding skill to the spell

current Q being a point and click is super anti-fun to go against and offers no interaction or counter play; by making it a skill shot can allow for things like potential wave clear and have it ignore some magic resist

Silence puts Kassadin in a threatening position if you get too close to him; since hard cc cannot be on mobile champions I did it in a way that forces Kassadin to be immobile in order to have hard cc and it can only be melee range--- to avoid exploits i made sure you cannot get around having a mobile hard cc by using Flash, which is why I say Riftwalk and Flash removes the buff, but still interrupts channels... i basically combined Q and W together and made a new Q

tl;dr : i want to open up ways to play against kassadin and have him healthy for the game plus balance-able; while having kassadin with more skill to play, and grant him new and more ways to play him increasing his mastery level so that even in the highest tier of competition Kassadin can be strong without being broken and perma-banned

ZT Xperimentor2 votes

Oh I missed that getting kills/assists speed up his recharging, my bad. Though I agree he should be a skillful champion to play, and it's disappointing to see him only at the extremes.

Ah ok, I thought you left the slow as scaling by rank from the notation, thanks for clearing that up.

I agree there, it's a good compensation that makes sense while being fair. I was initially going to question the inclusion of flash, but then I remembered why it's blocked on kench. And it's part of why I find yasou & ekko so frustrating, they're highly mobile with a.o.e. crowd control, on top of anti-poke mechanics; but that's for another forum.

I'm hoping riot reads through this when they rework him, this sounds more fun for both sides than the shadow of him we have now.

Stacona2 votes

Well yea, I try to consider both sides of the coin when I do my gameplay update concepts; since I have played a lot of Kassadin in the past and played against him I can know his fun elements and anti-fun elements as and against.

Right now I do not like his infinite Mana supply his W grants, which is why I removed it so Mana costs are meaningful; another thing I thought about was removing home guard teleport exploits with stack Riftwalk damage and then one shoting someone - both being charge based and the extra damage is now a stack-able debuff mark both can fix this exploit (because I like the increasing Riftwalk damage in short durations, but I do not like cheap exploit cases)

Force Pulse I think it would be cool to either hold on to it for the 6 charges for the burst damage or just use it as a utility spell for an AoE slow- besides this it is the same spell

And overall I wanted to fix Kassadin's issues so he can be played without having to be either completely useless or a must pick/ban; and patch to patch can be tweaked with simple number nerfs or buffs like other champions that are in a good spot gameplay wise

One thing I am iffy on is Thresh lantern - in one element can grant good team synergy with delivering Kassadin for the extra damage and silence, which is something I like is the team play- but another element is maybe Thresh lantern should disable the bonus effects as well as it might make Kassadin a little too strong with Thresh on the team (of course there can be pick or ban Thresh being an option too)

the only problem with Ekko is his immunity blink ultimate, not the heal or damage, only the immunity blink that it has; basically the same reason Fizz is not fun to go against which his troll pole offers

Stacona1 votes

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