Karma update, take two

Well, it's been a while since I posted a discussion, and I like writing on the boards, but I couldn't think of anything to write about. I combed over the few discussions and I revisited my old concept, and realized that a lot of stuff that I conceptualized could've easily broken karma. So I decided to do yet another update concept for my main champion.

Ok, enough talk onto the discussion Now, I know that riot stated karma would receive more work in 2018, but besides that they didn't really specify any sort of scale. We don't know if this is meant to be a kit tune up like , a soft rework like , or a complete rework like . I'm personally hoping for a soft-rework for karma, one that fleshes out whatever it is riot wants her to be. One of Ionia's main heads, a spiritually powerful and wise person, a firm believer of peace and war as a necessary evil, and the very thing she's named after, KARMA. She's definitely not a badly designed champion she's got tons of strengths like decent kiting potential, reliable poke, hard CC that's easy for allies to follow up on, I could go on and on. But Karma's got a multitude of problems, a majority of which I address here: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/p3XmvjE4-karmas-balancing. But here's a quick TL:DR

1. Her kit is too simple so balancing her tends to be touchy.
2. She lacks a solid game play identity
3. Anything unique in her kit has been patched out
4. Her ultimate doesn't require the decision making it should

My first idea did fix some of these problems, but looking at other concepts for Karma's potential rework, I've been inspired to make another one. Perhaps I'm being defiant for posting two concepts, so if you want to know which one I like better, it's this one hands down. Now before we begin I must be in a state of focused resolve(I'm not sorry).

** Passive: Ionian balance [new]**

• As the figurehead of Ionia Karma must always remain in a state of physical and spiritual balance, and the magic she uses shift in order to do so as well
• Whenever Karma deals damage to enemy champions with abilities she stores (15/20/25/30%)(+5% per 100AP) of the damage dealt as stacks of Ionian balance
• Charges cause Karma’s next champion auto attack to consume all charges stored and grants extra effects to the auto attack.
• Empowered: While Karma is above 50% HP her markings and abilities glow purple, and her abilities gain offensive bonuses
• Karma's next champion auto attack deals bonus magic damage equal to the number of stacks she has.
• If Karma falls below 50% HP and is out of combat she becomes Steadfast
• Steadfast: While Karma is below 50% HP her markings and abilities glow green and her abilities gain defensive bonuses
• Charges cause Karma’s next champion auto to heal her equal to the amount of charges stored
• If Karma is above 50% HP and goes into champion combat she becomes empowered.

So here I gave karma a bit more of an interactive passive. Karma today has an interactive passive, however it's only synergy is with her ultimate, and while yes her ultimate works with her other abilities that doesn't mean her passive should only work through her ultimate. Karma's old passive was more interesting then her passive today, albeit un-tuned as it was. I'd also like to thank silversquid for inspiring this passive as well, it's similar to the one he thought up, having karma have two forms but not nearly the exact same.

Q: Inner flame [reworked/nerf]

• Cooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds; Cost: 50/55/60/65/70>45/50/55/60/65 Mana; Range: 950 range Radius: 150
• Karma fires a burst of spirit energy that detonates upon hitting an enemy dealing at minimum 80/125/170/215/260 (+ 60% AP) 70/100/130/160/190 (+ 50% AP) magic damage in a small area
• Empowered: Inner flame deals an additional .5% bonus damage per 1% bonus HP of the enemy unit and slows by ~~25% ~~20% for 1.5 seconds
• deals a maximum of 105/120/195/240/285 (+75% AP) magic damage
• Steadfast: Inner flame always deals minimum magic damage, but increases slow to 40% for 2 seconds

RQ: Soulflare [rework/nerf]

• Range: 950>800 units; Radius:250>200/250/300/350 units wide
• Karma blasts a location on the ground dealing magic damage to all enemies in small circle, this leaves behind a detonation area that slows enemies and erupts after 1.5 seconds dealing damage again.
• Empowered: Initial blast deals deals Inner Flame’s damage plus an additional 25/75/125/175 (+ 30% AP) 20/60/100/140 (+20%AP) bonus Magic damage to each enemy hit, and deals .5% extra damage for every 1% HP the opponent has and slows for 50% 20/25/30/35%
• Deals up to 30/90/150/210 (+30% AP)
• Steadfast: Initial blast deals Inner Flame’s damage plus 35/85/135/185 (+20%AP) bonus magic damage to each enemy and slows for 40/50/60/70%
• The second eruption deals 50/150/250/350 (+60% AP) in both forms

So, yeah.... I nerfed the base damage, pretty heavily too, especially in the base Q version. Overall the goal was less damage, but more flexibility. Karma's Q did do too much damage, but just nerfing the numbers alone would make her too weak, so an alternative was created. Add some complexity to karma's Q but make it so she's rewarded for playing smart rather than just hitting a simple skillshot. It's still a simple ability however now you need to keep track of your health and the enemies, a full health enemy is easier to burst down than a low health one while empowered, but if you're steadfast, all enemies are going to be harder to kill, but you have better kiting potential thanks to the enhanced slow. On top of that, Soulflare radius scales with level, and has an incredible slow as the game continues making it a more viable option for support karma for a strong AOE kiting ability, and Tank karma for AOE slows

W: Focused resolve [New/buffed]

• Initial Target Range: 675>1200 Damage range:>650 Cost: 50/55/60/65/70>80/85/90/95/100 Mana Cooldown: 12>15/14/13/12/11 seconds
• Karma Focuses her her mind, body, and spirit to connect to a nearby ally or harm a nearby enemy for up to 5 seconds

Enemies

• First cast: Karma attacks the spirit of an nearby enemy champion for up to 5 seconds
• Tether damages them for 20/27/34/41/48 (+25% AP) magic damage per second whenever they are close to her.
• End duration/Second cast: Karma roots the enemy in a for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2>1.5 seconds but losing out on any remaining damage
• Karma must wait at least 2 seconds before she can recast Focused resolve
• If the enemy is more than 650 units from Karma they stop taking damage and are no longer debuffed, but karma can close the gap to gain the effects again as long as the 5 seconds lasts
• Empowered(both):

Allies

• Tether redirects all other positive bonuses to the corresponding ally, with heals, shields, and damage reduction/amplification given at 30/35/40/45/50% efficiency.

Empowered

• Karma gains 4/5/6/7/8% (+2%AP) damage amplification
• Enemies take 4/5/6/7/8% (+2%AP) bonus damage from all sources

Steadfast

• Karma takes 4/5/6/7/8% (+2%AP) reduced damage
• Enemies deal 4/5/6/7/8% (+2%AP) less damage

RW: Renewal [New/changed]

• Radius:400/450/500/550
• First cast: Karma creates a karmatic circle around a target enemy, ally, or herself that buffs and debuffs enemies granting bonus effects depending on Karma’s state
• Second Cast: Karma dispels the circle rooting all enemies inside for 1.5 seconds

Ally effects

• Targeted ally is healed for 20/45/80/105 (+40% AP) HP on both the initial and second cast of the ability
• All positive effects are granted to all allies in the circle with healing,shielding, and damage reduction granted to allies at Focused resolve’s efficiency plus an additional 4/6/8/10%

Enemy effects

• If an enemy is selected they are damaged for 5 seconds dealing Focused resolve’s magic damage plus an additional 30/40/50/60 (+15%AP) bonus magic damage per second
• only the selected enemy takes damage, but all enemies standing in the circle are debuffed

Empowered/Steadfast

• Enemies and allies in the circle gain Focused resolve’s respective buffs/debuffs

Ok a lot of info to cover here. Think of this similar to Charm, but with some differences. Instead of a charm it's a root, and it deals damage as long as karma stays close to the targeted enemy. It also has an ally function where buffs and heals/shields/damage amplification/damage mitigation are carried over to the other ally as well. So, for example, say if karma where to tether to an ally carry and then cast E on herself, the carry would gain the movement speed buff and a small percentage of the shield Karma got, and vice versa if karma cast E on her ally. As for the ult version it's Karma's biggest single-target damage spell, while also being a great team fighting ultimate. The heal has also been drastically reduced because of the new passive heal and the utility this brings already.

E: Inspire [reworked]

• Range:800 units Cost:60/65/70/75/80 mana Cooldown:10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds
• Karma shields herself or a target ally and grants them a movement speed bonus

Empowered

• Grants a 50/55/60/65/70% move speed buff for 2 seconds
• Grants a 80/100/120/140/160 (+50% AP) shield for 1.5 seconds

Steadfast

• grants a 35/40/45/50/55% move speed buff for 1.5 seconds
• shields allies for 80/100/120/140/160 (+50% AP) shield increasing by .5% per 1% missing HP
• grants at max 120/150/180/210/240 (+75%AP) shield for 2 seconds
• (Current: 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+ 50% AP) shield, 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60% speed buff)

RE: Defiance [reworked]

• Damage Range: 400 units
• Karma erupts with energy and shields a target ally for an heavily increased amount. This empowered shield deals damage around the shielded ally
• Deals 50/125/175/250 (+50%AP) to all surrounding enemies

Empowered

• Target Ally gains the Inspire’s shield plus an additional 30/90/150/210 (+50% AP) shield
• Grants a inspire’s move speed buff and an additional 10/15/20/25%

Steadfast

• Target Ally gains the Inspire’s shield plus an additional 30/90/150/210 (+50% AP) shield
• Shield increases by .5% per 1% missing HP up to an additional45/135/225/315 (+ 75%AP) shield
• Ally gains a Inspire’s move speed buff

Pretty easy to explain, If karma's empowered the shield's a little worse but the movement speed buff is better, if she's Steadfast, the shield is extremely powerful, but the movespeed buff is worse. As for the ultimate it's no longer a multi-shield, since RW is now a team fight ultimate in a sense. BUT shieldbomb is back to compensate ever so slightly.

R: Mantra

• Cooldown: 45/42/39/36 > 65/60/55/50; 1 stack> 2 stacks total
• Passive: Karma reduces seconds off of mantra whenever her abilities work well. (don't know how to explain well.)
• Hitting enemies with abilities lowers Mantra’s cooldown by 2/3/4> 1/1/2/3 seconds
• Hitting enemies with auto attacks lowers by 1/1.5/2> .5/.5/1/1.5 second
• Shielding/tethered allies attacked lowers cooldown by .25/.5/.75/1 second
• Active: karma empowers her next ability

And finally the ultimate, the one thing that has stayed on Karma since her conception. I created this kit with the intention of having her ultimate have two charges like Karma's old kit, but I was too fond of the mechanic of correctly hitting abilities and weaving in auto attacks to reduce Mantra's cool down. So I compromised, I nerfed Mantra's overall cool down as well as the Cool down reduction she gets from hitting enemies. But to compensate I added the stack system as well as a reward for Karma when she protects her allies.

And there you have it. My second take on a Karma rework concept. I'm not sure if a rioter will read this, or if anyone cares, but I like putting in work on these concepts, as well as sharing them with the community. Even if not may people get to see it. Welp I'm done, comment below questions, comments, concerns, things I missed, etc...