Ekko's Ult doesn't quite feel...smart
So I really like Riot Gypsylord's Champion Insights into Ekko. I think, for the most part, it's a success in getting Ekko to play "smart" not "twitch." However, I've got two problems with his kit right now and the relative "smartness" of it.
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Having his Ult always be up means that Ekko can get out of a lot of situations that he puts himself in, but it also means he's got fairly limited control over it. Having to bait an opponent into where you were exactly 4 seconds ago (And only ever 4 seconds ago) is a bit of a nightmare. I'd much rather see something that requires Ekko to balance between reacting to bad stuff happening and setting up plays himself. Namely, I want Chronobreak to operate on a double-active system, where the first active places his clone and then gives him a 5 second duration to bounce back to it for his big AoE blast (which...should probably not be 500 (+130% AP) damage, guys.) Bouncing back would reset all of his basic cooldowns, but after 5 seconds the ability would fail and go on a reduced 10 second cooldown or so.
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Too much of Ekko's damage is tied to him being "smart." I know this sounds like a ridiculous complaint when the stated design goal is making a champion rewarded for skillful positioning and tactical awareness, but too much of his power is locked into that mindset. Things like his Q getting a crazy high AP ratio on the backswing, or his passive getting a 70% AP ratio while his E gets a 20%. These are overly punishing to the Ekko in a bad matchup. He needs some tools to stabilize if he can't trick his opponents into a bad spot.
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As a minor side note, Ekko becomes LUDICROUSLY mana hungry mid game as all of his abilities gain 10 mana cost per rank. Which...is ridiculous. For the king of play-making, Ekko starts to drastically lose wiggle-room in actually making plays when a single Q hits him for 100 mana.
So to do a quick sum up of the changes I'd suggest for Ekko
Passive - AP ratio reduced to 60% AP
Q - Damaged adjusted to 60/80/100/120/140 (+40% AP) both outgoing and incoming. Slow increased to 40/45/50/55/60%. Mana cost reduced to 60/65/70/75/80. Cooldown increased to 12/11/10/9/8 seconds.
W - Shield strength adjusted to 80/120/160/200/240 (+10% maximum Mana) (+80% AP). Mana cost adjusted to 40/45/50/55/60.
E - Damage adjusted to 60/90/120/150/180 (+40% AP). Cooldown increased 16/14/12/10/8 seconds.
Ult - REVISED - [First active] Ekko activates his Z-Drive, setting a holographic clone where he's standing. This clone lasts for up to 5 seconds. After those 5 seconds, Chronobreak cancels and goes on a reduced 10 second cooldown, refunding half of its mana cost.
- [Second active] Ekko blinks back to his holographic clone, dealing 200/300/400 (+100% AP) magic damage to enemies in a large area around himself and resetting the cooldowns on his basic abilities. Ekko heals for 100/150/200 (+50% AP) and an additional heal for 20/25/30% (+1% per 30 AP) of the damage he took over those 5 seconds.
- Cooldown: 120/105/90 seconds
- Cost: 100 mana