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Opinion on Darius nerf

homerthefatso·1/13/2017, 2:09:54 AM·7 votes·1,995 views

First off, I'll fess up and say that I am a level 7 darius main. I do not really care about the passive nerf, because 30 bonus ad early game is still hella high.

However, I do not agree with the Q nerf. Some people are saying that the q nerfs will only affect a bad darius and a darius that is bad at timing q's. I do not know what type of opponents they are laning against but this is only the case in certain match ups vs champs without sudden mobility such as Nautilus Garen Nasus . However many of the most popular top laners right now such as Riven Poppy Jayce Renekton and Yasuo go in as Darius winds up his Q. They use their sudden gap closers to get some damage off while only getting hit with the handle, taking 50% reduced damage, no bleed stacks, and of course putting his q (his main damage source early) on cd. Any smart player who is playing one of these champs and not either dangerously low on health or very behind will counter darius' q by going in right as he winds it up, taking minimal damage.

While I agree that Darius should be punished for not hitting his opponent with the blade, I think that 35% damage is going too far. Currently, hitting a champion with the handle does 50% less damage, does not apply a bleed stack (which is actually a very big deal), and does not heal him. There is no need to go even further and make it do next to no damage. As it stands, a handle hit from a 250 AD darius will do 255 damage not counting resistances. After the nerf it will only do 179 not yet counting resistances, which is just pitiful for a max ranked ability on a full build champion (especially when that ability is his main source of damage other than ult). As I said earlier, hitting champions with the blade is not as easy as it seems in many match ups. many good top laners with mobility engage right as Darius is winding up his q, making it much harder to hit them with the blade. Currently the 3 top laners with the highest play rates (not including Darius obviously) are Riven Yasuo and Poppy who all use this strategy effectively against Darius so he should not be punished so severely for not hitting them with the blade.

Another reason why I have a problem with this nerf is because top lane is so irrelevant right now and Darius is one of the viable top laners that is something other than a cc bot or some dude with insane mobility (looking at you Riven Yasuo ) Darius is one of the only if not the only juggernaut doing well top lane right now. However, there is a major drawback to him: his mobility. As a result, Darius is forced to take ghost basically every game, giving up teleport. At the same time, right now is the era of the 4 and 5 man gank bot every single game, putting the team with a Darius at a severe disadvantage early game. Toplane is just completely irrelevant. Many games, including the one I just played today, I completely crush lane as Darius, going 4-0 in lane and getting first turret, only to lose because bot lane was just far too behind.

I would be fine with all of these Darius nerfs if Riot found a way to make top lane relevant again. But until then, I think these nerfs are too severe because about 80% of the games are decided before I can even move from top lane. Darius is one of the only top laners that can actually carry a game by winning lane, and by nerfing him, we are just making top lane even more irrelevant. Many junglers these days don't even really gank top lane because it is so irrelevant, which may be one of the reasons why Darius does so well in lane. Darius is very vulnerable to ganks and that is one of his big weaknesses, but since all of the junglers are focusing on bot lane nowadays, he is free to terrorize many top laners. If you disagree feel free to post your arguments below.

15 Comments

RivetAce1/13/2017, 4:51:18 AM2 votes

Because it's not okay for a champion to have counterplay by melees.

Joseph Gladstone1/13/2017, 2:21:48 AM1 votes

Ikr. But it's always fun to cancel a 3rd Riven Q with your pull

DatTwo21/13/2017, 2:53:15 AM1 votes

I feel like they should have the weak hit of his Q the same damage it is now and revert the change, but I'd rather have them slightly reduce the blade width on the inside of the circle. I play a decent bit of Darius and sometimes I feel like I'm hitting it just SLIGHTLY too easily. I feel like people should be rewarded for outplaying his Q by dashing in the center at the right time, and sometimes it's shaky if they actually get the outplay and are very, very slightly too far away from the center. This is just my two cents though. This would mostly just be adding counterplay while keeping his OVERALL damage, although I do believe Darius is in a fairly healthy spot at the moment.

lumanachi1/13/2017, 2:14:46 AM1 votes

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SquashCannon1/13/2017, 4:51:55 AM1 votes

Also as a M7 darius main (this is a smurf) I wholeheartedly disagree. I'd rather the Q nerf than the passive nerf.

Troll for Trump1/13/2017, 5:26:33 AM1 votes

The 7 dmg on Draven early is huge. 10 AD is even larger.

While 10 AD might not seem a lot lategame, it will hurt a lot more early game than you think. It only evens out at lvl 13-14 ish.

For the first 3 lvls, when you're doing the cheese, he will lose out a lot more dmg than you think. Alot of the early trades end up with the opponent flashing out, and the bleed finishing them off + AAs with Noxian Might.

I would prefer if they nerfed his 5 stack steroid and gave back power to the DoT itself. He should be a bully, and he's not doing that anymore, except against immobile nonflashy picks.

R181/13/2017, 1:06:57 PM1 votes

I personally think that he needed the nerf. This is because Darius is a VERY popular pick and has a winrate over 52% over the last dozen patches. While the nerf may seem big, his winrate is still over 51% and I think he's in a much better position. Darius will still be one of the strongest toplaners and this nerf is defunitedly justified. He was so easy to play and do well with.

*Please don't complain about Riven and Yasuo when Darius counters them. (STATISTICALLY)