[Balance] @Riot: Fixing Malzahar Jungle (NOT A NERF PLEASE THREAD)

TL;DR: I'm offering a bunch of changes to reinstate the build diversity Malzahar used to have (pre-s5 jungle) and fix the problems with the current AP Malzahar. The only way Riot can fix the current state of AP Malz is by gutting Malz as a whole to leave AP Malz barely viable- and that destroys the playstyle I hoped to see return, AD Malzahar, the master of voidlings. Have a nice read.

Malzahar has become a menace in ranked play. As someone who loved the champion but didn't feel his more fun AD build was strong enough to play at all after the s5 jungle changes, I was VERY excited to see his rework, particularly the new voidling mechanic. I played him AD on the PBE and found him pretty balanced- for one big reason. I played him FULL AD, not FULL AP. When he hit Live, I was appalled in short order. Players were abusing a POOR DESIGN DECISION meant to make his voidlings feel more relevant to AP Malzahar on DAY ONE!

So, what exactly is the poor design decision? Well, there were actually TWO. -First, SOMEONE at Riot was high enough to not put a cap on voidlings. A major balancing factor of old AD Malzahar was the limited number of voidlings he could put out. NEVER did an AD Malz put out more than 3 voidlings pre-rework. They were able to be strong by the ones because there was a CAP. Soloing dragon was a matter of SKILL and BUILDING AD to make your voidlings stronger, not something you did with one button. -Second, SOMEONE at Riot decided to DESTROY any semblance of diversity by NERFING the AD ratio on voidlings while giving the VERY common 3 voidlings a 30% AP ratio between them- applied even faster. This means there is no real reason to build AD on Malzahar if you want his voidlings to be strong- Riot gave them a free Nashor's Tooth! -These two changes to his Voidling mechanic have made his AP playstyle UNBEARABLY overpowered, and the retaliatory nerfs to voidlings' monster damage have GUTTED his AD playstyle. There is no situation where a Malzahar would ever build over , even if he wants to focus on his voidlings- considering the scaling with his other abilities and the scaling of Runic Echoes (plus the clear speed boost it gives!), Malzahar has no incentive to build anything but AP.

Here I am with proposals to fix the champion for players that used to enjoy him and were counting on Riot to make his AD playstyle relevant again, as promised in several dev teasers!

Step One: REBALANCE Voidlings. NERFS: [-WEAKEN AP VOIDLING CLEARS: -REMOVE AP scaling from voidlings. This is why AP Malzahar players can maintain their lightning clears AND have their abilities remain powerful not just for their utility, but their damage. -OR- -Make their magic damage Champion Only, same effect. ] [-REDUCE THE NUMBERS OF VOIDLINGS: -CAP Voidlings: Hard Limit Style. Void Swarm stops spawning Voidlings after the third/fourth/fifth (at ranks 1/3/5). After that many have spawned, no more spawn- even if one dies. -OR- -CAP Voidlings: Real Swarm Style. Void Swarm spawns 3 voidlings at once. Cooldown reduced ~50%, mana cost reduced ~25%. Voidlings do not spawn more voidlings. -OR- -REDUCE Voidling Rate. Voidlings only spawn another voidling on their SECOND(Or Third) hit. This drastically affects ANY Malzahar first clear, and should bring it in line with most others. -OR- -REDUCE Void Swarm Duration- make it scale with level. 6/8/10/12/14 seconds. Let's see a Malz no-leash now. ]

BUFFS: -INCREASE BASE HP for voidlings. Base health up ~25% [-MAKE VOIDLINGS SURVIVABLE: -Give Voidlings damage reduction VS CHAMPIONS -OR- -Give Voidlings health that scales with BONUS AD (or Bonus Health, but that exists on Rylais and Liandry's.) -OR- -Heal Voidlings when Malzahar takes damage. ] -Increase Voidling AD ratio to reflect cap on voidlings. Flat 50% AD for a hard cap, 40-50% scaling for 'every other hit' reduction, flat 50% for scaling duration with level. -Allow Voidlings to apply on-hit effects, like Lifesteal and Blade of the Ruined King (or even Nashors/Rageblade), but NOT spell effects, like Rylai's Crystal Scepter. Seriously, let's have some build diversity. Black Cleaver was what made the extremely niche original AD Malzahar strong, but it only worked because of how the item is made- 'your physical damage'. For NEW Malz, Rylais makes voidlings WAY too sticky in addition to increasing ALL of your damage. If this change went through, you could get that stickiness from Frozen Mallet- but you aren't also adding 70 damage to your Q, 70 damage to your E, and 1.5% of their max health to your ult. The problem with Malzahar right now is the EFFICIENCY of his AP build path. You've crushed together all the strengths of his AD and his AP build into a disgusting mess. Swapping Voidlings to on-hit application versus spell application shifts a large part of their focus to AD items, while still retaining the utility they offer AP Malzahar (bodyblocking, waveclearing, tanking turrets/camps). The AD on the voidlings is something I personally feel was an important part of Malz's original design, and that is something that should be reinforced. -Increase voidling damage to EPIC monsters to 85%. Soloing dragon is a powerful trick that has ALWAYS been part of AD Malzahar. AP Malzahar should not be able to, he has too much power elsewhere in his kit.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Well- my two dollars.