Rework Idea for Akali

So, I've recently decided to play Akali again after an extended period of mostly playing the "new style" of gameplay (windows of opportunity, etc etc) and realized that Akali felt very... stiff compared to the current generation of toolkits.

Sure, she may be a boulder once she gets it rolling, but only then. Right now, I feel that Akali lacks that dynamic feel of gameplay; the chances of either coming through even if you’re behind or messing up even if you’re ahead. She's superb at picking off the lone squishy, but falls off when facing a tankier target or when contributing to a teamfight; if she can't take out that ADC or APC with one combo, she doesn't have a reliable escape to reposition herself for the next attack. Sure she has Twilight Shroud, but there are currently too many ways to get around it (Vision Wards, Upgraded Trinkets, AoE, skill shots) to justify it as a proper escape and/or reloading tool.

Long story short, she lacks that excitement in playing an assassin champion, a type that is now heavily associated to skirmishing.

Before I continue on, I'd like to reiterate what is already stated in this section’s rules; that this is purely my opinion. I fully accept any form of disagreement as long as you're civil about it. I honestly would like to hear opposing arguments; a second voice is always a good thing. Also, I realize that there are other champion with similar, if not worse, issues as Akali, but I've only recently managed to get a good look at Akali, and so I’m writing about her.

Okay, now for the actual discussion. Firstly I'd like to establish a focus, a theme for Akali to follow.

Gameplay Focus

Akali is a ninja character that is primarily played as an AP assassin. From the bold'd words, we can pull the assumption that Akali would excel at killing a chosen target in a short period of time (assassin) while remaining untargetable (ninja) to a certain degree, and obviously her primary stat would be Ability Power.

Toolkit

Passive, Twin Disciplines:

• Discipline of Force: Akali's basic attacks deal extra physical damage that scales with her bonus Ability Power (5/7/10% of bonus Ability Power, scales on level 9 and 16) on hit. The extra damage is increased (50/75/100%, scales on level 9 and 16) when the target is within her Twilight Shroud.

• Discipline of Might: Basic attacks increase the damage Akali’s next ability will deal by 10%. Stacks up to 3 times.

Discussion: Akali’s current passive may not be the most exciting, but it offers a lot of laning advantage; helping in last hitting and sustain. But, this rework is to focus on her role as an assassin, not a high sustain fighter, so I decided that a bit of a risk jump was needed. This new passive still gives her lane dominance, but in a different way. This Discipline of Force still helps her last hitting and now gives Twilight Shroud a bit more zoning quality, whilst Discipline of Might helps in harassing.

Skill 1, Mark of the Assassin: Akali passively marks an (targetable) enemy champion with the least maximum health. Akali’s basic attacks and abilities trigger the mark to deal the attack’s damage plus (35/55/75/95/115 + 50% of Ability Power) as Magic Damage. An enemy cannot be marked for 3 seconds after its mark is triggered.

Discussion: Her bread and butter damage ability. I wanted to emphasize her strength against champions, so I decided to make it a passive targeting system. I pulled this idea from the Fiora rework; losing her jungling capabilities while giver her more defined powers against enemy champions. Auto targeting a champion both helps and forces her to focus on her role of picking out the squishiest champion, while giving the enemy a chance to counter an upcoming onslaught.

Skill 2, Twilight Shroud, energy cost 50: Akali shrouds a target area in smoke for 5 seconds. While inside the shroud she is stealthed and can move through units. While attacking within the shroud, Akali is revealed for 0.8 seconds. Akali can hold a maximum of 2 charges at once, she gains 1 charge every 15 seconds.

Discussion: I made Twilight Shroud to work around charged rather than a standard cooldown to allow for more versatile uses. I removed the speed bonus and slow so that it can’t be abused too much as an easy escape tool.

Skill 3, Waning Moon, cooldown 8/8/7/7/6 seconds, energy cost 50:

• Passive: While stealthed, Akali’s next basic attack or ability slows by 20% for 0.7 seconds on hit, increased to 40% against a target marked by Mark of The Assassin.

• Active: Akali strikes around her dealing (50/75/100/125/175 + 30% of Ability Power) plus 5/7.5/10/12.5/15% (+ 0.1% per 10 Ability Power) of the target’s missing health (max 200 against monsters). The passive is lost while Waning Moon is on Cooldown.

Discussion: This skill took me awhile to tweak out. Crescent Slash used to be about getting the quick Q execution, with that lost I feel it’s current damage is too insignificant with the awkward AD ratio. I reworked it giving Akali an execution quality, helping her isolate that her target while playing around her stealth gimmick. The cooldown and losing the passive effect forces it to be used as an execution rather than a spammable damage dealer.

Ultimate, Shadow Dance, cooldown 5 seconds, energy cost 100:

• Passive: Akali gains significantly increased energy regeneration while stealthed.

• Active: Akali dashes a short distance to a target location, dealing her Attack Damage as Magic Damage and applying on hit effects to every enemy she hits. If activated while stealthed Shadow Dance’s range is greatly increased. If Akali is stealthed at the end of Shadow Dance the cooldown is decreased to 1 second.

Akali can hold a maximum of 3/4/5 charges of Shadow Dance, 1 charge every 20 seconds or upon Champion kill or assist.

Akali can use abilities while using Shadow Dance and Mark of the Assassin activated while using Shadow Dance are not removed from the target.

Discussion: This is where it gets exciting. This reworked ultimate allows her to work the way a ninja should; a hit and run. It also gives more incentive to play her around the stealth theme. The main idea is to use Shadow Dance from the shadows, get that initial hit in, placing herself in a brush or quickly putting out a Twilight Shroud, and then get ready to continue her attack. The energy regeneration and considerable cooldown is to give more focus on her strength of attacking from the shadows instead staying in clear sight. It’s worth noting that Akali is targetable and can still be hit by crowd control while using Shadow Dance.

Conlusion

To wrap things up, I arranged this rework idea to give redefine Akali as “The Fist of Shadow”. I wanted her to be rewarded for sticking to the shadows while being punished for trying to take the enemy head on. The aspects I added/changed to better fit that focus are the increased energy costs, Waning Moon’s passive, and Shadow Dance’s cooldown and several stealth bonuses.

Thanks for taking the time to read my suggestion. My ratios and calculations might be a bit off, since you actually need some decent experience plus trial and error to makes those numbers just right, but I did my best. Please tell me what you think!