Fixing botlane and bringing in new classes.
Riot is looking to bring new classes into bot lane, and we are all excited! As it stands, the adc role is one of the most steadfast aspect of league of legends. It is the only position that is rigidly set for one job: Dps. In every other position, there are multiple roles one could fulfill depending on the champion they choose.
To see an example of a lane with variation in roles, let's look at mid.
##THE MID LANE DYNAMIC##
As a mid laner, you are placed in the shortest route to your base. This puts a lot of pressure on what kind of champions you can play, as you will often be dealing with multiple enemies at once, and may find yourself being ganked very often. Because of this, many players choose ranged casters who have strong zoning and aoe damage. Alternatively, many choose assassins and divers who have the potential to kill the squishy mages, and rather than fend off attackers from their own tower will aim to create pressure on other parts of the map by roaming and forcing enemies to follow them to other lanes. Despite there being two primary archetypes in the lane, there are still several outliers such as dps champions that can shred most enemies, and even a few duelists/ skirmishers. While these champion's roles aren't directly connected to the position of holding the mid tower, they often have combat advantages over the traditional mages and assassins allowing them to win lane, or to provide their team with a missing element in the mid game.
##THE BOT LANE DYNAMIC## The bottom lane also has clear reasons to place certain types of champions there. It is very close to the dragon, meaning it is good to have two champions in the area to contest it. As a result of having two champions in one lane, the xp gains are decreased. One champion is likely going to spend the game in deficit and therefore must not be reliant on scaling. Because of this the second champion would prefer to scale off of gold rather than levels, and will be more item reliant for power. Lastly, since it is almost always a duo lane, the champions have the option to be more specialized in their role, and will usually function better in a group than alone. Toward this end, we have the current dynamic of a ranged dps carry, and a support. Notice though, that the support's role is not entirely defined by the position. You can have supports who set up kills, supports who prevent kills, and supports who poke/zone enemies out of lane. All three of these roles meet the criteria of not needing gold or xp to be useful, and working well with allies. In addition, there are clear counters between supports, with the divers/catchers having advantage over the mages, the mages having advantage over the enchanters/wardens, and the enchanters/wardens have advantage over the divers/catchers. The adc role though, is defined mostly by the fact that it scales off of gold, and has a support. They therefore are allowed to be a full on glass cannon, and only have slight advantages over each other in contrast to the variance between supports. Lastly, it has ended up becoming the "objective/tower killer" role, due to being both safe and building raw damage.
What then, are we needing in the bottom lane to allow us to include more roles and classes?
##BURST CHAMPIONS## Firstly, there should be the option to choose champions that prey on adcs, much like how one can choose an assassin/diver in mid. Adcs are weak to burst damage, and certain mages and divers would be capable of functioning as a duo while keeping up their farm.
##OTHER HYPER CARRIES## Champions who stack tears or scale off of raw states like AP, AD, and crit would happily take gold and time over XP if they had to make a choice. These champions tend to lack the sustain or the range to farm in the bottom lane though. If given the opportunity, they would serve as alternative tank shredders.
##WHAT CHAMPIONS NEED TO PLAY IN BOT## Many champions simply don't function due to a lack of sustain. Either they don't have enough mana to deal with two champions, they need to use spells to farm safely, or they are short ranged and find them selves poked off of farm easily. An item that gives more mana without adversely affecting the mid or top lane would be needed. One option is an item that builds into tear of the goddess, locking that champion into the scaling build path at the cost of early damage. Another is an item that only gives bonus mana effects with allies nearby, much like current support items. You would also need to help melee and short ranged champions without hurting top and mid lane. An item that gives an occasional shield like malphite and rakaan's passives, or simply increases healing while farming with an ally could let divers and short ranged hyper carries survive the early levels. Lastly, a new item or rune for letting casters push down towers would let some champions that can already function in the bottom lane fulfill the role of objective taker.
##GOOD CONSEQUENCES OF BRINGING NEW ROLES TO BOT LANE## More players will be drawn to the bot lane role, since they won't be forced to play ranged auto attack champions. New types of team compositions will arise, as you may find yourself more able to put the objective/tank killer in another role such as top or jungle, and players may even come up with ways to not need one altogether. Some champions who are currently only playable in bot lane, will also be more allowed to express strengths other than simply being auto attack based dps characters and can have power shifted toward burst or utility. They may even find themselves being more unique and even more viable in other lanes. Overall, there will be a stronger sense of agency in champion choice, and more experimentation with team compositions.
##BAD CONSEQUENCES OF BRINGING NEW ROLES TO BOT LANE## As it stands right now, the rigidity of the adc role is something of an equalizer in the bottom lane. Sure, some ADCs deal more burst damage, and some deal more dps, but for the most part you will often be able to let the enemy push and farm even if you have a slightly unfavorable matchup between supports, since adcs are often so similar. If you let new classes in though, there will be unbearable lanes. You may find yourself in a situation where you are doubly countered, such as a ranged scaling champion and an enchanter up against a burst mage and a poke support who can easily zone them out and prevent them from gaining gold. You will see lanes where a glass cannon carry and a poke support have no means by which to keep a diver and a catcher from setting up kills over and over again. In addition, some champions who already function differently from traditional adcs may find themselves having new tools that support their play styles better than what they currently have, such as Jhin and Ezreal who are more like casters than adcs. Lastly, the chances of unbalanced team compositions the don't function will go up even further since you don't have the one heavily restricted role.
EDIT: Forgot a point in the good consequences.
