Another Kassadin - reworked kit slightly (detailed / long)
With the talk of him dropping off lately now that the nerf has had time to settle in I can post this and hopefully it won't be lost in a sea of posts. I've read around a number of ideas that keep a similar kit to what he has now but change a few aspects to allow for a more balanced Kassadin. With those in mind and a few ideas of my own I'll put up the kit that I would see as fairly balanced and avoids lots of arguments I've seen before.
Passive - Void Stone - No change. I like the reduced magic and ignoring minion collision. It fits with the theme of anti-mage champion. Q - Null Sphere / Null Shield - A shared cooldown and two actions with a choice forced. You can attack an enemy, minion etc for damage or if no target is selected you shield yourself. As it's split into two you can adjust figures for both independently if one is overpowered or underpowered. It also forces a choice. Do I use my Q to harass / get that minion or do I keep it for the shield? You could even change Null Sphere to a skill shot if this would appease the nerf Gods. **W - Nether Blade **- The passive part could be increased a little in damage but not massively. Why? The active part will have a vastly increased cooldown, around 14 seconds minimum BUT it deals true damage to the target. It also loses the mana return portion. More damage, less useful for lane sustain and requires cooldown reduction items to lower it. **E - Force Pulse **- No more charge system. It is now a basic ability like the rest but the cone is smaller and damage higher to compensate. Cooldown increased to around 10 seconds and as with Nether Blade it requires cooldown reduction items to lower. R - Rift Walk - The big one. This is where I see a lot of discussion on changes and obviously I prefer a few but the most fair that allows 700 range is probably the following. Force Pulse's charge system is moved to Rift Walk. After a set amount of ability casts Kassadin gains a charge of Rift Walk.
This is a little extra for the Rift Walk change because I don't want to clutter up the short ability list. Kassadin can have a maximum of 4 charges to Rift Walk meaning 4 casts at most. Kassadin gains a charge of Rift Walk over time (1 per 30 seconds, can be tweaked) or via the old Force Pulse mechanic of ability casts nearby. Kills and assists don't grant a new charge. Charges could stack too quickly in team fights so it's limited to one charge every 3 seconds. The charges would need 6 casts of abilities (number can be tweaked) meaning that although he can still be aggressive with Rift Walk it would take 18 seconds with constant ability casts every 3 seconds to gain a charge.
What if he has 2 charges, 6 abilities are used and one charge was about to finish (over time charge)? Then he'd gain 2 stacks very quickly. It's important that smart play gets rewarded right? Timing things like that before going into a fight can change it from a suicidal tower dive into a last gasp escape.
There. Rift Walk has a charge system. At level 6 you gain 1 charge, at level 11 you gain 1 charge, at level 16 you gain 2 charges. You can't go over 4 charges. He has to wait 3 seconds between stacks meaning a minimum of 18 seconds between charges gained via ability casts. The charges over time would be 30 seconds. The important thing to add here is that Rift Walk still uses mana. It isn't quite as massive scaling as the previous version but still adds up.
0x Rift Walk charge = 80 mana 1x Rift Walk charges = 160 mana 2x Rift Walk charges = 260 mana 3x Rift Walk charges = 380 mana 4x Rift Walk charges = 500 mana
The missing mana return from Nether Blade is also a part of Rift Walk. Hitting a champion is the only way to use it though and the gain is reduced from the old Nether Blade mechanic. 10% at rank 1, 15% at rank 2 and 20% at rank 3. I'd also change the damage portion or even remove it entirely and add it elsewhere. It's a chase / escape ability and gaining mana back is reward enough without being over the top.
I know I have thrown a massive amount of things onto one ability, a lot of conditional aspects but without these drawbacks I can't see anyone viewing Rift Walk as fair or balanced. Numbers used can be tweaked but I really do think it could be balanced given some testing and it's far more useful than the changes Riot normally implement. I'd really appreciate some comments, negative or positive but if you're going to be negative at least offer something useful beyond "Kassadin needs to die". Thanks!
