Riot, what would be really cool in the future is more "battleship" mages

shijkOYDWq·3/12/2017, 2:11:32 AM·21 votes·1,686 views

What I call a "battleship mage" is an AP mage that is

Immobile, but has
High damage, with
Little disincentive to stay far from the enemy team

Examples include Anivia, Karthus, and Aurelion Sol. Basically the opposite of something like Ahri: a mage that has a natural "presence" on the rift. If you know what I mean? These champions all deal a ton of AoE damage, stack health really well, and basically really encourage people to back off of them. Basically an AP bruiser but I like my terminology better.

These champions are cool and could use some love.

23 Comments

Irelia Bot3/12/2017, 2:17:20 AM18 votes

And is vulnerable to getting sunk by aircraft attacks like Bismarck, Yamato and Arizona.

Variks the Loyal3/12/2017, 2:19:31 AM15 votes

Riot calls these champions 'Battle Mages.'

AurelionSol Cassiopeia Karthus Malzahar Rumble Ryze

Although Anivia is a Disruptor, not a Battle Mage.

MeBuffULongTime3/12/2017, 7:35:57 PM5 votes

Why not just have an actual battleship?

Alex h87213/12/2017, 2:36:30 AM4 votes

Was expecting to see something about Xerath and was disappointed :(.

Asayake 5150glow3/12/2017, 2:27:48 AM3 votes

Fuck you Swain.

But seriously, what you're asking for is a ranged juggernaut. And being a mage, they usually have hard CC.

Make them slow, no CC, and then they'll be fine. The no CC is to compensate for being ranged - most melee juggernauts have some form of soft CC or small speed boost to get in.

Shikigami3/12/2017, 2:16:09 AM3 votes

That sounds a LOT like Ryze. And you've seen him reworked 3 times. Those champions are super hard to balance. They will either be OP for competitive and balanced in soloqueue, or balanced in competitive and trash in soloqueue. The common balance point then is to make him complex so that he has a good power curve in the right hand, but like below diamond you'll never get consistent success on champs that difficult (Hello Azir), and putting the barrier to entry that high alienates a lot of players.

Paroe3/12/2017, 5:17:27 AM3 votes

@thread I think artillery mages would be better for this archetype - battleships are historically long-range artillery. Champions like Xerath Ziggs Lux are artillery mages; champions who clear waves from far away.

Right now Artillery mages are in a very bad spot (sans lux) because they cant single-ability clear a wave with one ability like they used to when they were powerful.
Compared to other champions, artillery mages dont bring anything to the table which defeats their purpose.

fuffychan3/12/2017, 3:49:08 AM2 votes

Swain Vladimir Mordekaiser

TheI3igDaddy3/13/2017, 2:07:47 AM1 votes

Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath Chogath

Handy Sandy 3/12/2017, 3:23:47 AM1 votes

Vladimir Swain