@Riot - I believe the Fiora changes may not work like we want them to

Hey Everyone,

So can I first begin by thanking Riot for putting some logical Fiora fixes on the PBE instead of just straight gutting her?

For those who haven't seen them:

Passive: Base Damage down to 2% from 3% Bonus AD Ratio changed to 4% from 2.8% - 4.5% by level E: Slow reduced to 30% at all ranks from 40%/45%/50%/55%/60%

This will mean that Fiora hitting vitals on you at Level 1 and before getting a major AD item will not hit as hard. She will also get a weaker slow - that also won't scale with rank - so she won't stick to you quite so hard. Ideally, this is meant to encourage building higher AD instead of the tanky/"Juggernaut" Fiora build that you all hate so much. Yay!

Except I'm about 99% that won't really happen. Here's why:

Question: "Why are people giving up tons of damage in order to build Fiora tanky currently?"

Answer: Fiora is a melee champ with no reliable ranged poke and absolutely no wave-clear that also has low burst and gets her awesome damage over time by literally dancing around her enemies. If built glass cannon as intended, her one use of Riposte is the only way she has to not get instantly blown up before she can land a single hit. Obviously, most players cannot play glass cannon Fiora because they just die instantly, so they trade damage for the ability to just not die so they can live long enough to eventually kill something.

Question: "If players are already trading lots of damage for the ability to not die, why would taking away a little more damage be worth giving up being an unkillable tank?"

Answer: It won't be. Players will keep building Fiora like a "Juggernaut" and just put up with taking an extra hit to kill stuff. It's not like the items that made tanky Fiora ridiculous were nerfed, they will still make her incredibly tanky. This change might actually make it worse.

Question: "What?! How?!"

Answer: The ratio change increases the bonus AD ratio on Fiora's passive at early levels but is reduced by a good bit at later levels. This makes rushing an AD item at early levels a good choice, but it also means that Fiora is being rewarded less for building full glass cannon.

Let me explain with some math:

Let's say I am playing because that's what I do and I decide to rush...oh...let's say... ...

Guess what? Titanic Hydra gives 50 AD. That's only 15 less AD than for reference.

On Live:

3% + [2.8% per 100 Bonus AD] at 50 Bonus AD = 3% + 1.4% = 4.4% max health

On PBE:

2% + [4% per 100 Bonus AD] at 50 Bonus AD = 2% + 2% = 4% max health

Result: With the changes on the PBE Fiora loses negligible damage for rushing as her first item.

So how would this change affect a mid/late game Fiora? Let's look at some core items for "Glass Cannon" and "Juggernaut" build Fiora.

: 50 AD // : 55 AD // : 55 AD = 160 AD

: 75 AD // : 65 AD // : 75 AD = 215 AD

Juggernaut Fiora

On Live:

3% [4.5% per 100 Bonus AD] at 160 Bonus AD = 3% + 7.2% = 10.2% max health

On PBE:

2% [4% per 100 Bonus AD] at 160 Bonus AD = 2% + 6.4 = 8.4% max health

Glass Cannon Fiora

On Live:

3% [4.5% per 100 Bonus AD] at 215 Bonus AD = 3% + 9.675% = 12.675% max health

On PBE:

2% [4% per 100 Bonus AD] at 215 Bonus AD = 2% + 8.6 = 10.6% max health

Results: Tanky Fiora will lose 1.8% max health damage while Glass Cannon Fiora will lose 2.075% max health damage. So Tanky Fiora loses a little damage but is still incredibly tanky and can easily live long enough to hit another vital or let an ally finish off a target to proc her ult heal, meanwhile Glass Cannon Fiora is losing a greater amount of damage and gaining absolutely nothing. So why bother taking the risk then?

My proposal: Riot, this change is fine for an overall reduction of power, but it seems to be tilted heavily in Tanky Fiora's favor. Her "Juggernaut" build isn't losing as much damage while still getting tons of Health, Armor, Magic Resist, the Health-scaling damage off Titanic Hydra, as well as Armor Penetration and a Magic Damage Shield if she goes for Cleaver and Maw. These changes did nothing to discouraged that build and may have made it even more mandatory. Fiora needs a reason to want to go full-AD despite the risks - otherwise Tanky Fiora will always be superior. I believe that a scaling AD Ratio was the proper solution to this; would it be possible to have the Bonus AD Ratio scale every 100 Bonus AD? This would give a Fiora with only 100 Bonus AD a lower ratio than a Fiora with 200 Bonus AD which would have a lower ratio than a Fiora with 300 Bonus AD. This exponential reward for investing only into damage would also let us drop the floor - the Base Damage really should just be 1% max health before Bonus AD Ratio - which will heavily reward Fiora players that take the risk of building Glass Cannon while punishing Fiora players that wimp out and build Tanky/"Juggernaut" by forcing them into much longer engagements since they chose the coward's way.

Come on Riot, you know you want to.