Pantheon rework suggestion

Mortum·12/23/2016, 8:38:35 PM·2 votes·1,008 views

After seeing the confirmation that Pantheon is in the priority list for a full VGU I decided to revisit my ideas for an eventual rework. I already made some posts before about it, with different kits and ideas, but after some feedback, suggestions from other players and friends plus seeing another abilities from another champions I think I finally arrived to a final concept that can work well.

Context: I love Pantheon, he is the champion that has everything I really want in a champion, by this I mean he has poke, gap-closer, CC, AoE, map presence, good duelist with strong early game, but despite all this I can still see room for improvement, due to his simple kit, I would like to see something a bit more interactive where you can do more than spamm Q and then do the Q>W>aa>E>aa>Q combo (or any other variant of it) over and over again while retaining all that I like about him. At the same time I would also like to target two other porblems I see in him:

  • His oppressiveness in lane with the Q spamm in which the only way to avoid is by staying out or range, because it is a point and click poke with decent dmg that you can't simply avoid if you want to farm;
  • His late game uselesness, late game against a team with half a brain he becomes little more than a stun bot.

So my proposal is as follows:

Changing the Q into a skillshot projectile would be a good way to start, and after several ideas and suggestions I came up with something that works in a similar way to Yasuo's Q but with a different utility, so as Yasuo's Q it would be a thrust in a line that deals damage and adds a stack of Targon's Might, with 2 stacks the ability changes. This is where it differs from the original, Pantheon has a short channel (while still being able to move) to throw the spear in a line damaging all enemies hit but stopping at the first enemy champion hit knocking him back, and if he hits a wall gets stunned (like Vayne's E), but if the channel is canceled Pantheon only damages and stuns the enemy champion in front of him (in meele range, working a bit like Poppy's ult), this way the Q is still a poke but more interactive, less oppressive but still retaining the same early game power, now just requires more skill to use it. Due to the Q now having hard CC I decided to remove the stun from W and instead give it a slow, and also make the location where Pantheon lands work like Katarina's new Shunpo, landing around the target depending on where your cursor is, useful to position for a wall pin with Q. As far as the E goes I think it is fine so no need to change. The R I decided to bring something new to help with his late game, and also to make it something more than a teleport, so I removed the slow and now instead Pantheon marks the enemy with the best KDA that is inside the impact area, and if two or more champions share the higher KDA, the one with the most recent kill is the one marked, the marked champion will recieve bonus damage (maybe in the form of %bonus damage, idk... Something that works in a balanced way) from Pantheon for X seconds. This way he can be more of a threath late game than he is now, versus a fed champion.

It would look something like this:

Passive - Aegis Protection - After applying 4 basic attacks or abilities that hit a target, Pantheon blocks the next incoming basic attack from an enemy champion, large minion, large monster or turret.

Q - Spear Thrust Range: 475(thrust)/600(hurl)/400(knockback); Cost: X mana; Cooldown: 4

Active: Pantheon thrusts his spear forward dealing physical damage to all enemies in a line. Spear thrust can critically strike for 50% bonus damage. Hitting an enemy grants Targon's Might for 10 seconds. At 2 stacks Pantheon's next Spear Thrust is empowered and will consume all stacks.

Empowered: First cast: Pantheon channels for up to 3 seconds (aquires max range after 1 second since the start of the channel), retaining the ability to move. Second cast: Pantheon hurls his spear in a straight line dealing physical damage to all enemies in the spear's path and stopping at the first champion hit knocking it back, if the target is knocked into a wall they are stunned for 1 second. Releasing the ability instantly cancels the channel damaging and stunning the first champion in front of Pantheon.

W - Aegis of Zeonia Range: 600; Cost: 55 Mana; Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9

Active: Pantheon dashes to the target location around the target enemy, dealing them magic damage, slowing them for 30% for 1 second, and activating Aegis Protection.

E - Heartseeker Strike Range: 600; Cost: 45/50/55/60/65; Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6

Passive - Certain Death: Pantheon's basic attacks and Spear Thrust critically strike all enemies below 15% maximum health.

Active: Pantheon channels for 0.75 seconds, dealing physical damage to all enemies in a cone in front of him (reduced to 60% against non-champions) at 0.25 seconds intervals.

R - Grand Skyfall Range: 5500/700; Cost: 100 Mana; Cooldown: 150/135/120

Active: Pantheon begins channeling and, after 2 seconds, leaps into the air and becomes untargetable. He then blinks to the target location and plummets down, striking after 1.5 seconds and becoming targetable once more.

Enemies within the impact zone take magic damage, increased by up to 100% based on their proximity to the epicenter. The enemy champion with the highest KDA within the impact zone his marked as Worthy Opponent, taking extra damage from Pantheon for X seconds. If two or more enemy champions within the impact zone share equal KDA the one who got the most recent kill is the marked target.

Grand Skyfall's cooldown is reduced to 30 seconds if the channel is interrupted and/or canceled.

Bonus: An interaction with Nocturne's ult could also be created, when Nocturne uses his ult Pantheon says "Today we fight in the shade" and laughts, similar to what the Spartans say in the 300 movie when the arrows block the Sun.

So, what do you guys think? I would especially like feedback from some rioter, would mean a lot. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

P.S. This post is a copy of the one I posted on the EUW boards, also posted here for more visibility.

2 Comments

thecowley12/23/2016, 8:50:02 PM2 votes

not gonna lie, at the begging, by saying he had everything, i thought you wanted him to be stronger. I like the Change to his q. I actually think it might be one of the healthier kit suggestions i have seen on the boards