Ideas for Ezreal's new W (Open to suggestions)
Heyo everybody. Recently I posted a topic discussing the target priority of Ezreal's Arcane Shift (E). While commenting on said topic, RiotRepertoir brought up a pretty decent point on how stale Ezreal's Essence Flux (W) is. As an ADC main who avidly supports discussion & unique creativity when developing & playing down in the bottom lane, I found Rep's point extremely valid & worth discussing. This is why I'd like to use this as an opportunity to brainstorm new ideas for adding some unique gameplay to the Prodigal Explorer's kit (namely his W) during the upcoming "Marksmen update" I've been excited & looking forward to since the end of Season four.
Okay, so let's take a look at the identity which has been established for Ezreal over the years. He's a mobile castor marksman based around skillshots, something incredibly unique champions in his position (whether it be as a mid or bottom laner. Due to his short cooldowns, which are further reduced by his Mystic Shot (Q), he is primarily known for rapidly firing skillshots at enemies while kiting them for days. That being said, it's important we keep & focus heavily on these core qualities & characteristics.
Originally, I had the idea of reworking Essence Flux into a toggled ability similar to Ashe's old Frost Shot (Q). It would allow Ezreal to, whenever toggled 'on', deal magic damage on auto attacks & mystic shots. Obviously, like other toggled abilities, each auto would drain a flat amount of mana from Ezreal, as a trade-off. Though this would retain the on-hit concept & importance of Ezreal's Mystic Shot while also increasing the importance of auto attacking, I felt this wouldn't be appealing enough, so I decided to think of an idea where he retained the passthrough skillshot nature of his live Essence Flux, added an effect where he gained movement speed whenever the ability would hit a target, as well as granting allies attack speed & movement speed if the ability went through them. This would enforce his 'kitey' nature as well as retain his skillshot dynamic & the previous ability to grand allies attack speed. Of course, the difference would be the buff to ally movement speed. In addition to these changes, I'd planned on incorporating my first idea by adding 'on-hit' magic damage for each auto/mystic shot as a passive to Essense Flux, adding a bit more depth.
Unfortunately, I'm still not that convinced that these are that great of ideas & still find them to be missing something, so I figured I'd ask the community what their opinions would be on what Ezreal's new Essence Flux (W) should be. Provide some thoughts & suggestions in the comments below & try to fuel some healthy discussion with creativity & thought. I love marksmen & am extremely passionate about bringing some "oomph" into Ezreal's kit.
Who knows? Maybe Repertoir will see this & be inspired! Cheers! :)