Question regarding Kha'Zix's Evolved Claws: Why are they again reliant on isolation?

darkdill·Aug 25, 2014·2 votes·147 views

When you first gave Kha'Zix a bunch of changes, you changed his Q (which was his least-taken evolution) so it was less reliant on isolating targets. But then when you gave his more-recent changes, you went back on that decision.

Can you explain the logic? Were the first set of changes too good for him?

Additionally, and this is just me talking, I think it'd be cool if by evolving your claws, you made it easier to isolate targets. As in, if you Evolve Claws, the isolation radius becomes smaller, and thus your enemies need to huddle closer to not be isolated.

3 Comments

Serpents EmbraceAug 25, 20142 votes

So, basically, the idea behind each champion is that they need something that makes them stand out. Whether it be an archetype that they fill, or a niche that they fit in to or a mechanic that's unique to them. Kha fits in to the latter - his isolation mechanic is his big draw. It's unique to him, in name and function, and it's something that Kha'Zix players can feel they've mastered as they get better at him. Being able to recognize when I champion is isolated or soon to be isolated is something that should feel good and be good on Kha'Zix.

The changes that made him LESS reliant on that take that away from him. Since he did't need to think about isolation as much, his skill floor went way up. He stopped having bad cases and at worst was just "normal cases". Opponents who try to counter play isolation by standing in minions or near other champion allies were then also punished - because once Q was evolved it didn't really matter as much You still took really heavy damage on really low cooldown.

Being isolation dependent is good for Kha from a balance standpoint and from a player standpoint. He's way less punishing for opponents in his worst case scenarios, and just as rewarding for the Kha players in his best case scenario.

darkdillAug 25, 20142 votes

Fair enough.

Serpents EmbraceAug 25, 20141 votes

Also important to point out: Kha'Zix opponents don't get an indicator for when they are isolated - they just have to guess.