Wow Zac changes are even worse than I thought they would be

chabotj1·5/4/2017, 3:12:36 AM·38 votes·3,000 views

Yesterday I made a post about how I thought the changes to zac ult made him completely vulnerable and disrupted his in-fight play style. I was right on all points with one marked exception:

  • they halved the knockup duration on his e so now he is utterly dependent on his ult to disrupt teamfights. Funny, because I don't want to ult even when its up.

But this post isn't about that. This post is about the beautiful brain child changes to his q: Previously his q was a basic short range poke with some slow. It was fine, it was reliable. You shoot it and move on with your life. It was the ability you levelled last for some added value. Now, his q is single target, it casts slower, and to get your fancy little "boop" (which barely even matches the aoe dmg of the original) you not only have to get into range to auto a second person (fyi there MUST be a second target) you have to sit there and watch the quarter second cast animation. And, worst of all you have to AUTO. because zac is known for autoing.

I'll give you a hint, previously I didn't even auto post 6 on zac because the opportunity cost was too high. The champions FUNDAMENTAL mechanic is to kite and farm his blobs. His blobs represent both sustain AND damage. But I'm being hard on Riot. His q now gives him the ability to slightly displace enemies.

I will never play the champion again, nor will anybody else, because they've completely broken the champions core mechanic.

53 Comments

PeepingPeafowl5/4/2017, 3:40:44 AM24 votes

I'm sure you're just over reac- OH MY GOD

Taliyah Rocks5/4/2017, 4:25:51 AM12 votes

Zac's whole kit was reliant on his E landing. Now they made him even more unreliable with his unusable ult, and his awkward Q. His ult doesn't even feel rewarding even when you land it properly and grab a few enemies, which might happen once or twice a game.

As you said he already has to manage his blobs, now with his Q it's a nightmare. The little boop is worse than the old and reliable slow. Damage-wise i can't even 1v1 an adc anymore. I just dive in and mmmaaaaaaaaaayyybbbeeeeee land a CC.

Straight up nerf to his kit, gameplay and fun-factor.

Inkult5/4/2017, 4:34:59 PM8 votes

New ZAC is terrible. From every point of view.

Riot tried to make it more fun, maybe he is, perhaps vs AL or dummies. He is not competitive at all in any way.

They completely destroyed a champion that was perfect and fun. Nerfed to the ground.

Q- weaker. No longer AoE slow. Hurts clear. Useless in team fights.

W- Same thing as always.

E- They even decided to nerf the knock up. Dumb.

R- Ok, so they removed the duration of the knock up in E, and they totally remove the Ultimate multiple knock ups. They just made an utter garbage Ultimate with no point whatsoever. Its impossible to land at least to the point of re position. So is just an insta knock up with no way out. So you need E, do R, and die.

Personally I wish I could get a refund for every Zac skin I bought. You destroyed a perfectly balanced and decent champ for nothing.

Silverjust5/4/2017, 1:00:29 PM7 votes

the q should go through minions (still damage them) and only connect to champs and monster

The Great Divide5/4/2017, 6:08:06 PM5 votes

I always hated zac, with how tanky he was, his ridiculous initiation range, and his decent damage for a tank.

But this really is not fair. I know they said they wanted tanks to do more, but make them a bit less reliable, but this level of that is stupid

Tobias Brackner5/4/2017, 4:51:44 AM5 votes

New Zac is dope as hell. The new Q is crazy OP if you are in the thick of the fight and his new ult has very interesting dynamics too it.

Whatevsman975/4/2017, 4:24:25 AM4 votes

This bites to hear since Zac was my main man in the jungle. Oh well, guess I'mma have to branch out a little (assuming i ever get around to playing again)

GenghisEmo5/4/2017, 5:01:44 AM4 votes

I feel like Riot really messed up. His E is now weaker. Ulti is not NA Solo Q friendly, maybe only in Korea and China will it be viable (KR for being strategic and meticulous, CN because of the teamfight chaos specialist). But in NA... for better or for worse, mostly worse, it will be awful.

I do think it will be viable under certain conditions in pro play even in NA, but it will be "spam Sejuani non-stop" as Riot made Sejuani too strong. And im a Sejuani main when in Jg. I miss the old Sejuani, at least there was counter play when her ult was down... that is until she is nerfed. Can't wait for it.

Back to Zac, his Q is quite cool, but it is not reliable. And with the new changes to Hp or tank items, Zac feels for the most part useless as you are not able to survive aas long. While Sejuani seems to have received more beneficial huge changes that are OP buffs, while Zac seems to have mostly been nerfed, while giving him some interesting fantasy that thus far is just that, a fantasy (and will take a few patches to get him right).

I don't feel it is a God Awful rework. But it is starting off bad.

Arakadia5/4/2017, 6:34:18 AM3 votes

Speak for yourself. I've heard people say they love new Zac.

Dynamiku Entry5/4/2017, 5:28:06 AM3 votes

You guys act like you're suprised? I've been watching fuck every single thing up the past two years.

J Eevo5/4/2017, 2:08:09 PM3 votes

While numerically his kit sucks, it's actually really funy smacking a guy with another guy, and the Q is fun(although really clunky) to use. If he gets some QOL on his Q(faster animation, better signaling for how long your aa range is after Q) AND numbers reevaluation(Seriously, his most damaging skill is now his W which is the most boring skill in his kit, numbers on his Q are fucking garbage) then I can see him being very fun to use.

His ult however... Not only are you still getting wailed on while loading R(and he didn't get any buffs to his resilience, on the other hand his E cc went DOWN) it's pretty much impossible to use efficiently without someone ccing them beforehand, and then you have to bring them somewhere useful(like YET ANOTHER teammate who can efficiently AOE, like wukong or nunu). Seems like a lot of trouble to set up something, where you could just have the guy who helps you set up the R, just set up something simpler.

Don't get me wrong, the playstyle is fun, scooping people is flavorful, but his damage on q and R is now garbage and E is straight up worse, he might not need kit changed but number buffs are in order.

Starboyˇ5/4/2017, 10:54:45 PM2 votes

i don't like the rework... his q looks stupid with the fucking goo sticking out of him and his ult isn't the same incredible ability that made him so fun to play

Chromatic Eagle5/4/2017, 1:46:49 PM2 votes

I get the feeling that this rework is more divisive which probably means it's bad.

Profirix5/4/2017, 6:10:45 PM2 votes

His Q interaction is really, REALLY wonky. They need to clean up the animation and cast time on the Q+auto because my champion ends up flailing around trying to find the right auto...at least make it reset the auto attack.

EDIT: And guys, stop freaking out. Based on what I saw, Zac will most definitely get buffs or fixes in the next couple of patches. He is not in a good spot right now.

LawUrDepravdHart5/4/2017, 7:35:35 PM2 votes

I personally really like Zac's new Q. It actually gives him an extra form of hard cc during a gank. Yesterday I e'd into a lane but failed to connect with the slingshot. I q'd the enemy orianna and auto attacked a minion to cc her long enough for my laner to kill her. With the old Q the slow would have allowed her to escape. The new Q is especially good in team fights as it disrupts enemy positioning. It does feel clunkier to cast than the old Q, but I think it's a massive improvement.

The new ult is difficult to use with the halved knock up on the slingshot. However, when you do pull an enemy adc back into your team with it and you win the game off of it then it feels extremely satisfying. It's definitely more difficult to use than the previous ult, but it makes for some really cool moments.

WinTheWarOnPants5/4/2017, 9:26:18 PM1 votes

Maokai is the only decent rework of the update. Sejuani kit is SO insanely unbalanced. She is either complete trash or she is a god.

Meep Man5/4/2017, 8:25:10 PM1 votes

New Zac needs to be made more interesting. My suggestions:

Passive Health Healing: 4% at all levels -> 4/5/6% (at levels 1/6/18)

Q

  • Now increases basic attack range to 450 (or so) and increases the AA animation speed by 75% (or so)

E

  • Knock-Up Duration increased to 0.75 seconds from 0.5 seconds

I think that would remove some clunkiness and make him better overall.