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Thresh's lantern changes

H3x3n3·5/1/2015, 2:09:21 AM·2 votes·828 views

Is it just me or does it feel like there is 0 counterplay to it? I mean you CAN stand on it, but the area to do that is extremely tiny and it basically comes down to having a champion with a big enough model so that when someone tries to click on it they click on you instead. Even if you can stand on it on a routine basis faster than the enemy you are trying to kill can simply click on it (good luck with that) it then effectively acts like a snare for the duration of the cast as you have to stand ontop of it until its over whereas for thresh's team it's an instant cast. On top of that thresh can move while it's out which increases it's range tremendously, so remember that perfect gank where you landed 5 forms of hard CC on the enemy ADC and got them down to 0.1% HP, yeah good luck with that as they were able to click once and are instantly pulled away to a safe distance (hyperbole much). It also adds a fairly powerful shield ONTOP of this tremendous utility AND allows thresh to safely farm souls from a distance.... I think it's a bit much for offering little in the way of countering it.

So here are 2 potential changes that would introduce more substantive counterplay that I'd like to put out there for your consideration:

  1. Make it clickable by the enemy team. I like this idea first because it makes it less of a, "Oh someone on my team was playing stupid and got caught out of position, here let me reward them for their bad play with a get out of jail free card" and more of a tool for setting up ganks and letting someone who is effectively kiting and escaping get just that little bit more to escape their pursuers. Now the way I envision this functioning is that it either pulls the champion who clicks on it toward thresh, or if the champion clicking on the lantern is an enemy it roots it in place for the duration of the cast, or

  2. Have it function similar to a channel in that if you hard CC (stun, charm, knock-up) thresh while it's out it retracts instantly. I think this is an equally valid option and may even work better for thresh as a support as it keeps the ability entirely intact in terms of functionality but forces the other team to expend valuable CC on a low priority support instead of on that out of position carry.

I do find it to be an incredibly fun and interesting ability, I just also know that it can be very frustrating with the limited options available for dealing with it.

Anyway, those are my suggestions. Thoughts, comments?

Thanks!

3 Comments

Snarflaz5/1/2015, 2:24:57 AM1 votes

Don't make his lantern usable by the enemy. It will literally BREAK thresh. If they nerf him like that he'll be out of the meta before they even make that a change.

Maximum Zilean5/1/2015, 3:01:14 AM1 votes

I would be fine with a small QoL change to more reliably block his lantern, But making it so enemies can use it would be one of the worst balance changes EVER.

Think of it this way, Your carry being chased by XinZhao, You throw the lantern to save them and Xin grabs it. This will result in a double kill for him since you just got yourself killed, and your carry is still right behind him.

H3x3n35/2/2015, 12:29:05 AM1 votes

By "Make it useable by the enemy" I mean I would like it to function in such away that if the enemy clicks on it before an ally does then it would be rooted in place for the duration of the cast. With this approach thresh would actually have to think before just throwing it out into the middle of a fight as a lifeline for a few seconds while the ADC or whoever can dish out damage then just click and be pulled back to safety. It would be a race to reach it. I mean you would STILL get the shield AND it could still be used to effectively save people from chases AND you still get the shield component. If it is too much of a nerf Riot can always buff the shield. I think it's a fair compromise.