Mage Update: Brand
Hi, Brand main here. I've been playing immobile mages exclusively on midlane since Season 2, and I want to give my personal opinion on how Brand should be looked at and treated if he is to be reworked,what should be changed/remain the same as well as emphasise on the key things which make up for his identity.
Warning: A lot of text walls below
TL;DR : Pillarof Flame, Brand's AOE damage and lore should remain; Other spells should be changed/removed, abilities should interact with each other rather than with the passive
I also included an image in the end just to confirm that I know what I'm talking about and that my opinion is based on true and prolonged game experience.
Things that should remain/be very slightly changed:
-
AOE damage dealer mage - what I've always been associating
with is the ability to blow up entire enemy compilations with all your spells. This potential is what really shows his identity as a champion - Burning Vengeance, fury and hatred alive, wishing to destroy and obliterate everything in his way ferociously and mercilessly, showing no wortheless pity to anyone. -
Pillar of Flame - this. This ability is
's bread and butter. It is his niche, it's unique, it looks awesome, it is very satisfying and comfortable to use it, kill with it, harass with it, overall - to have it. It takes time and practise to learn landing it effectively because of it's small radius and cast dealy but that's what defines good Brand's from bad ones. When it is off cooldown, you know have the power, it makes you feel powerful, ready to unleash all the fury of fire on your foes. Definitely the best ability has. It should absolutely stay as it marks out his explosive personality and shows his fire theme very clearly. -
Lore - I love
's lore. One thing I consider when I want to keep playing a champion is his story, how he/she ended up as a champion on the Fields of Justice and why. 's lore signifies it very well logically and somewhat mysteriously: he is a spirit posessing a man who previously was a cruel pirate. Abusing Kegan Rodhe's inability to contain curiosity, set himself free, somehow managing to get back to Runeterra and then being captured by forces of Demacia, where he was eventually forced to fight on Summoner's Rift under the threat of being contained forever again or even ultimately destroyed. The story answers main spectre of questions which people would usually ask when reading a champion's lore - who is and how he ended fighting on Summoner's Rift, meanwhile leaving a lot of space for story - how was created, who contained him (even though it is slightly mentioned in his judgement that he was locked by vikings, it still leaves some space to add stuff), how he got back to Runeterra, what's his true potential and etc.
Things that should be adressed/changed completely:
-
Combos - the main thing about
, what makes him unique and what I think what defines him from the likes of other mages is his ability to perfrom combos. But even so his abilities do have somewhat combo-y thing in them, the only real combo most players use is E-Q-W-R as it is most effective. Other variables, especially the AOE ones, R-E-W-Q, Q-E-W-R and such are harder to perform without third-party CC or having 
in your inventory but even THEN to perform combos requires something else - Cooldown reduction. And hard. Without it, he's just a one-spell-rotation mage and definitely not a combo one. It is impossible to think of combos when it comes to huge cooldowns. To give you an example what combo feels like: when I get 40% CDR as , I can STACK my stun. Sear comes off cooldown fast enough before the Blaze effect on enemy ends, allowing me to continue casting it on already ablazed targets. Now THAT is combos. Unfortunately, it's the only one that's somewhat close to combo performance. I believe in synergy with cooldowns and something like this stun staggering spells should be considered and thought about - maybe you could make his different abilities to stagger in a way like the stun I mentioned? -
Blaze - while I don't think it should be really changed, I still included it in this list just for the sake of "might be thought about". Setting people on fire is definitely
's way of doing things and Blaze clearly shows that something is burning but consider the following - could it be something else? are there any ways we can change his passive in the way that maintains it's origins but also has more interactivity with his abilities? -
Sear - a very mediocre spell. Landing it is rewarding but tough unless it's not being dodged,you are in point-blank range or the enemy is CC'ed. But that's the problem -
has no CC except his 2-second stun, leaving him very prone if he ever misses it/has it on coldown. This lack of CC of course is compensated by his immense damage output but I think Sear could be something else for sure, a more interactive ability but still a skillshot -
Conflagration - it seems as a very poor ability. The bonus it provides it almost never useful except for wave clear purposes and people usually consider it fine to sacrifice it for the sake of other more profitable abilities. Even though it is distinct clear that it is just a point-and-click ability, it could be so much more than "you click and set people on fire with this and that's it" it is now. Personally, I think it should be replaced for something else completely.
-
Pyroclasm - even though the ability has it's AOE effect
wants to have, it's mostly hard to pull off to achieve it's full potential. I think the problem is with the nature of Pyroclasm itself. It's a slow projectile with a bounce effect but with all the movement and dash champions we see today, people seem to spread off really fast and you can just pray that Pyroclasm bounces at least 2+ times to champion(s) you want to hit with it. Another thing to say is that Pyroclasm seems to lack effectiveness when hitting multiple different enemies but is great in short skirmishes where only 2-3 enemy champions are being involved. The bounce effect just seems lackluster in most cases. That being said, 's ultimate should be replaced with another ability that maintains AOE hit potential on multiple enemies, the same Pyroclasm has, but with a different way of using. -
Ability bonuses (shouldn't be relied on blaze effect; synergise with themselves rather than with passive) - one thing that really bothers me when playing
is his abilities' reliance on his passive, Blaze, to be effective. Comparing to other mages, only 
and 
abilities require status effect being on enemy already to CC them and even then on those champions it is easier to have that status effect applied. While this "reliance" does provide weaknesses and windows of opportunities for enemies, I think 's abilites rely on Blaze effect too much. Instead, you could make it that so his abilities interact and synergise with each other rather than his passive and the passive itself is just a slight bonus for performing combos and landing skills. -
Second name - something should be done about the "Burning Vengeance". I think it is not really fitting as it is now.
is all about fire, what does vengeance has to do here? Vengeance for what? Lore doesn't specify that apart from the lines "It is a creature of olden times—perhaps even a casualty of the Rune Wars. It is known in ancient texts as the Burning Vengeance.". [zombie-brand-mindblown] definitely could be given a better fitting second name.
Moving a little aside from alone, another thing to mention is that, in my opinion, after the rework immobile mages should be seen played on mid lane. EXCLUSIVELY on that lane. I honestly find it really weird and disgusting when a champion I was playing for so long and thought to be fit on one particular lane goes away to become something else, in my particular case - support,thus causing imbalance and subsequent nerfs: for me,this "immigration" kills the champion's identity and default belonging,and not only for those who have spent time mastering the champion, but for everybody overall.
Please, please consider this. I really tried to put in as much information as possible in the most informative way. Everything above is based on genuine experience and feelings for a champion which I adore and love deeply and I've been waiting for ages for a slightest chance to put this information on public so that it can be viewed by the community and Riot as well. Hope this will get attention.
http://i.imgur.com/VcntN9p.png
Upvotes are heavily appreciated. Thanks for reading![slayer-jinx-wink]
