I really hope this actually means something but Kassadin 
needs a buff. He really needs more damage and his silence back...and more distance on his ult. I actually feel like crying when I want to play him( due to pure nostalgia). Please Rito you're my only hope!
Delta F5082 votesRevert to season 3!
Axests1 votesI think he's fine rn, i had no troubles playing him after his changes. He definitely doesn't need his silence back, assassins with silences has been proven to be cancer (hence why all assassins had their silences removed).
ChaosThief1 votesYou do NOT want him to have his silence back. Not in the current state of silence.
Anu3isII1 votesWell , I find him a good champion , with an unique play style. Despite the fact that his buff/nerf history tends to say he was gutted , he actually has significant buffs to his core items , and entirely new options of build paths.
Rod of Ages offers more AP and mana at the exchange of a few HPs. Archangel Staff got buffed by a noticeable amount of AP , making his tear build pretty good. Luden's Echo traded AP for more mobility , helping Kassadin to roam more easily without his ult.
AP item's rework gave Kassadin a lot more toys to play with his enemies.
As a side note , has anyone tried going triple Doran's Ring on him , instead of crystalline flask with components of catalyst? Just try it , and you will find that high scaling abilities aren't good only in the late game ;)
All I can say is that as a Kassadin , you should adapt to every situation. You have the choices between scaling into a late game monster ( Rod of Ages rush + Tear of the Goddess ) or a mid game Assassin that has the potential to snowball the whole game ( Doran's Rings + Luden's )
I personally found it great to have two Doran's Rings , then you can easily sneak a Tear if you get ahead , or just build Rod of Ages, and then what you need.
Honorable mentions:
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: sometimes having your combo ready more often can help you more than higher damage in one rotation.
Abyssal Scepter: do you have a hard time vs magical damage dealers . Maybe you need some more penetration(damage)? This item can help you.
Haunting Guise: good for extra penetration and HP. Also , its upgrade can be good vs bruisers .
Rylai's Crystal Scepter: good for chasing targets, gives a big amount of AP and Health , and can be good at helping your teammates kite.
And many more items that every mage buys them , or have synergy with his kit(Sheen items for example).
Dragko1 votesWell , I find him a good champion , with an unique play style. Despite the fact that his buff/nerf history tends to say he was gutted , he actually has significant buffs to his core items , and entirely new options of build paths.
Rod of Ages offers more AP and mana at the exchange of a few HPs. Archangel Staff got buffed by a noticeable amount of AP , making his tear build pretty good. Luden's Echo traded AP for more mobility , helping Kassadin to roam more easily without his ult.
AP item's rework gave Kassadin a lot more toys to play with his enemies.
As a side note , has anyone tried going triple Doran's Ring on him , instead of crystalline flask with components of catalyst? Just try it , and you will find that high scaling abilities aren't good only in the late game ;)
All I can say is that as a Kassadin , you should adapt to every situation. You have the choices between scaling into a late game monster ( Rod of Ages rush + Tear of the Goddess ) or a mid game Assassin that has the potential to snowball the whole game ( Doran's Rings + Luden's )
I personally found it great to have two Doran's Rings , then you can easily sneak a Tear if you get ahead , or just build Rod of Ages, and then what you need.
Honorable mentions:
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: sometimes having your combo ready more often can help you more than higher damage in one rotation.
Abyssal Scepter: do you have a hard time vs magical damage dealers . Maybe you need some more penetration(damage)? This item can help you.
Haunting Guise: good for extra penetration and HP. Also , its upgrade can be good vs bruisers .
Rylai's Crystal Scepter: good for chasing targets, gives a big amount of AP and Health , and can be good at helping your teammates kite.
And many more items that every mage buys them , or have synergy with his kit(Sheen items for example).
It's not about the items imo, its more about the fact that his ult is useless as an engage/disengage...his damage is low...if he is vs anything besides a heavy ap laner he's garbage and the fact that there are already clear restrictions on his abilities such as his high mana consumption and his E have 1. a cooldown 2. is reliable since you have to wait for enemies to spam abilities (or use you own abilities which cost mana). Not to mention this doesn't work well against auto attack based champions that don't really need their abilities.
Anu3isII1 votesI admit his burst is low compared to most of the assassins , but his DPS is considerably higher when he uses his ult to engage. Also :
「 Maximum magic damage: 240 / 300 / 360 (+ 60% AP) (+ 6% maximum mana) 」(with a 6 / 4 / 2 cooldown ).
The only limit his damage has is his mana ,but his W restores mana...「 Mana Restored: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% missing mana 」「 Mana Restored Against Champions: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% missing mana 」 40% of his missing mana is insane , especially when he is low on mana!
Despite the fact that item the changes don't affect the champion's stats, they affect the champion when they are build EVERY single game. The Rod of Ages's changes really gave him a higher amount of damage , while the tear build makes his ult a monstrous ability if he has the patience to scale into the late game( mid game if he snowballs ).
Also , I disagree with your point that he is bad vs non-magical damage-dealing champions... In the solo lanes most of the high physical damage dealers are melee , and Kassadin has much easier time trading with them because of his W( which also rewards him with more mana , so more poke overall ) , and the ranged counterparts are much squishier and easier to burst if they don't build any defensive item (which will cost them the high damage potential).
His E is a tricky ability. While he can't spam it when he is fighting only one champ , in a teamfight it can be used multiple times in a short amount of time because both sides will use their spells to engage/cc the enemy team. Good in important fights and the slow allows him to stick to his target(s).
Don't get me wrong , I don't consider Kassadin the most powerful champion in the world , but a buff to his base damage and he will become just another Leblanc that is more mobile , durable and better in the late game, while a buff to his ratios can lead to a champion that wants to snowball the whole mid-game while deleting his enemies in the late-game.
The only changes that can help him(in my opinion) are tweaks to his defensive stats , giving him more durability in the late game while leaving his early game barely changed( something like a nerf to his base health and armor , but a buff to per level scaling so after level 6 he becomes more durable) .
Dragko2 votesI admit his burst is low compared to most of the assassins , but his DPS is considerably higher when he uses his ult to engage. Also :
「 Maximum magic damage: 240 / 300 / 360 (+ 60% AP) (+ 6% maximum mana) 」(with a 6 / 4 / 2 cooldown ).
The only limit his damage has is his mana ,but his W restores mana...「 Mana Restored: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% missing mana 」「 Mana Restored Against Champions: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% missing mana 」 40% of his missing mana is insane , especially when he is low on mana!
Despite the fact that item the changes don't affect the champion's stats, they affect the champion when they are build EVERY single game. The Rod of Ages's changes really gave him a higher amount of damage , while the tear build makes his ult a monstrous ability if he has the patience to scale into the late game( mid game if he snowballs ).
Also , I disagree with your point that he is bad vs non-magical damage-dealing champions... In the solo lanes most of the high physical damage dealers are melee , and Kassadin has much easier time trading with them because of his W( which also rewards him with more mana , so more poke overall ) , and the ranged counterparts are much squishier and easier to burst if they don't build any defensive item (which will cost them the high damage potential).
His E is a tricky ability. While he can't spam it when he is fighting only one champ , in a teamfight it can be used multiple times in a short amount of time because both sides will use their spells to engage/cc the enemy team. Good in important fights and the slow allows him to stick to his target(s).
Don't get me wrong , I don't consider Kassadin the most powerful champion in the world , but a buff to his base damage and he will become just another Leblanc that is more mobile , durable and better in the late game, while a buff to his ratios can lead to a champion that wants to snowball the whole mid-game while deleting his enemies in the late-game.
The only changes that can help him(in my opinion) are tweaks to his defensive stats , giving him more durability in the late game while leaving his early game barely changed( something like a nerf to his base health and armor , but a buff to per level scaling so after level 6 he becomes more durable) .
true...then maybe its not his damage that needs to be changed. Maybe his abilities such as his R really being no significant distance. Or his Q having poor range but being able to stop channels(which most champs don't have) (also morgs ult should count as a channel) I just think he atm is too situationl of a champ, and underperforming.
Anu3isII1 votesYes , he is situational. And yes , he is not worth picking over some mages/assassins in some situations. He doesn't shine until he gets his items ready and has his ult maxed , which means a lot of time spending with a weaker/barely good champion. He is kind of high risk-high reward because the game may be finished before he gets a chance , or he will destroy anyone who gave him a little "help".
The thing that I have seen in general when I was playing Kassadin is that when he gets a few early kills , he can destroy his opposite laner by just poking him/her. Also , if Kassadin's team is significantly ahead ( maybe he roamed to help his team or things like that) his team tends to win the game. I know that every team has this higher chance , but when I play Kassadin , it feels that the game's win is already secured.
His Q range buff can be an option,or (as you said) he may need some more utility than just a shield and an interrupt for a rare channel. Unfortunately people hated and still hate the old silence... So we kinda need a new idea of CC/utility that can work with his Q.
As I have seen , Riot kinda finished with his ult. I mean they buffed every part of it at the exchange of the lower range , and then buffed his range a bit too after that. So I doubt they will change it again . If not , then people will complain about his overnerf or how overbearing he is (out of nowhere?).
PS: Morgana lives to be annoying , there is no real way in the world to destroy her xD
Dragko1 votesYes , he is situational. And yes , he is not worth picking over some mages/assassins in some situations. He doesn't shine until he gets his items ready and has his ult maxed , which means a lot of time spending with a weaker/barely good champion. He is kind of high risk-high reward because the game may be finished before he gets a chance , or he will destroy anyone who gave him a little "help".
The thing that I have seen in general when I was playing Kassadin is that when he gets a few early kills , he can destroy his opposite laner by just poking him/her. Also , if Kassadin's team issignificantly ahead ( maybe he roamed to help his team or things like that) his team tends to win the game. I know that every team has this higher chance , but when I play Kassadin , it feels that the game's win is already secured.
His Q range buff can be an option,or (as you said) he may need some more utility than just a shield and an interrupt for a rare channel. Unfortunately people hated and still hate the old silence... So we kinda need a new idea of CC/utility that can work with his Q.
As I have seen , Riot kinda finished with his ult. I mean they buffed every part of it at the exchange of the lower range , and then buffed his range a bit too after that. So I doubt they will change it again . If not , then people will complain about his overnerf or how overbearing he is (out of nowhere?).
PS: Morgana lives to be annoying , there is no real way in the world to destroy her xD
Very true thanks for the input.
Anu3isII1 votesIt was my pleasure :D
I respect any person that takes his/her time to argue and to observe from a different perspective , and I really thank you for this discussion :)
Everytime I play him , I feel like I still have something to learn about him, which kinda confuses and makes me feel better at the same time xD
For me , it is a lot of fun to play Kassadin with one of my "jungler main" friends , because we can coordinate in my roams and , practically , shut down a lane in multiple 3v1's or 4v2's fights.
Also , since the craziness of the top lane champions with teleport , I have started to use Teleport with Ignite on him. You will have a lot of pressure in pretty much every lane with this combo ;) (But be careful until level 6)
Anu3isII1 votesNew tentative changes for Kassadin in PBE !
Nether Blade [ W ]
Cooldown decreased from 9 seconds to 7 AP ratio on active increased from 0.6 to 0.7