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Duskblade of Draktharr Should do Bonus Damage to Shields

Frosted Tips··8 votes·2,798 views

Everyone hates that item 3147 just gives free guaranteed damage. AD Assassins hate it because it forces them to be balanced around this item and to always have to get it. AP Assassins hate it because they feel it is similar to item 3128 which was removed because it was unhealthy. Everyone else hates it because it just gives assassins free damage. So why not make the item more niche. Make it so the people do more damage to shields. Idk what the numbers would be, but it seems reasonable to make this item a situational item.

Yes I know shields are weak right now so I would suggest that Riot possibly looks at a small revert to the giant nerf they did to shields earlier. I know that shields were busted then trust me I hate Janna just go look at like 30% of my posts and comments, but I honestly think that shield supports are in a spot where they feel helpless(not saying they are just saying they feel that way). I also believe that enchanters need to be looked into as a general class problem, but baby steps.

TL;DR: Remove the bonus damage from item 3147 and add a shield shredding mechanic to it, and also a small revert to the shield nerfs.

21 Comments

Khristophoros5 votes

Fundamentally it's not a very good idea because Duskblade is core to AD assassins. Pretty much all of them build it as a core item, not as a counterbuilding option.

If you want to give assassins some itemization option against enchanters it should not be tacked onto their core item. The biggest problem here is that it reduces assassin build diversity by making their core build cover too many problems by itself. It removes the need to counterbuild.

Frosted Tips3 votes

Fundamentally it's not a very good idea because Duskblade is core to AD assassins. Pretty much all of them build it as a core item, not as a counterbuilding option.

The point is that everyone hates that it is the core item for AD Assassins. Assassins are supposed to be mobile and do alot of single target damage. Duskblade does one of those. I personally liked it alot better when item 3142 was the AD Assassins core item. Most of the community hates that item 3147 just gives free damage and causes AD Assassins to be balanced around the item instead of the other way around.

If you want to give assassins some itemization option against enchanters it should not be tacked onto their core item. The biggest problem here is that it reduces assassin build diversity by making their core build cover too many problems by itself. It removes the need to counterbuild.

So the goal of this change would be to remove item 3147 as a core item and move it to a situational item.

Khristophoros1 votes

Then would you remove other utility like detecting wards? It's already giving them some utility that helps them do their job. So are you saying that utility should no longer be core, or would you move it to another item?

I think it would be better to put a new counterbuilding utility on a different item because Duskblade already works pretty well as a core item. If there is a problem it's just the extra guaranteed damage it has, and that could be reworked somehow while keeping the utility that it already has.

Frosted Tips3 votes

Personally I think the Ultility from the ward clearing mechanic is too strong right now. I would either nerf the cooldown or buff the cooldown, but make it so the wards are disabled, but you can not destroy them. Other than that I would remove the garuenteed damage like I said and increase the damage to shields like I said.

Khristophoros3 votes

IMO anti-vision is more core to assassins than anti-shielding is. There is always vision in every game, but there is not always an enemy enchanter. Vision is just something you always have to deal with so it makes sense to give one class a core strength against it.

Frosted Tips3 votes

The thing is Riot has reduced vision in the game substantially as of recent. Removal of the warding jungle item, removal of purchasing regular wards, removal of sightstone, and quest requirement of new support items. Less wards and more ways to remove wards is destroying vision. Visions is strong and doing it well should be rewarded, but nowadays it is just too easy to clear the few wards we have.

Khristophoros2 votes

Regardless of whether you think vision is too weak, it's a core utility both teams have in every single match. So a core utility for a class of champions can be anti-vision. That helps to give that class a niche in the game because vision is something you can assume will always be there. If anti-shield was their core utility it would only be relevant in a subset of matches because shields are not guaranteed utility for every team.

Frosted Tips3 votes

Again I never said to fully remove that mechanic at most a said alter it or nerf it. I also said that I think moving the core item back to item 3142 would be healthier for the game. Everygame has movement as well so high movespeed is impartant and useful always.

Papuga3 votes

{quoted}

The point is that everyone hates that it is the core item for AD Assassins. Assassins are supposed to be mobile and do alot of single target damage. Duskblade does one of those. I personally liked it alot better when item 3142 was the AD Assassins core item. Most of the community hates that item 3147 just gives free damage and causes AD Assassins to be balanced around the item instead of the other way around.

So the goal of this change would be to remove item 3147 as a core item and move it to a situational item.

I like what you're suggesting. It does a lot for a single item which forces every assassin to build it.

Other commenters argue that the vision control is key for assassins, which may be true, but there is no reason why it should be attached to Duskbalde. Add it to any other assassin item, heck give it to Edge of Night, it might see some gameplay. Plus it's still somwhat thematic with the whole oncoming night thing. I'm all for reducing Duskbaldes capabilities.

With your shield shredding ability, and the right numbers, it could prove more useful to assassins while not being overly powerful. Let's you deal with support interference later in the game better without increasing effectiveness on solo targets.

Frosted Tips1 votes

Yeah I feel like having vision removal as a core item is a little too strong. I wish that item 3142 plus either item 3147 or item 3814 would be picked up based off of the situation.

Also helping enchanters against every class that is AD Assassin would be nice little buff for them.

Metal Janna2 votes

I like this idea. There's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of an anti-shield item for assassins. I just don't like the idea of an item that's already so good at screwing over the enemy support to get another mostly anti-support power. (A few top lane champs have shields, but you dont often see Zed roam top to assassinate the Urgot.)

Move the Super Sweeper effect to a different item and then Duskblade becomes more situational. Add anti-shielding and it becomes even more situational: best used against mid-lane opponents who shield. I imagine Edge of Night's spellshield active would synergize well with the blackout passive too. Pop that spellshield on and see if Janna/Lulu can peel you.

This would make Duskblade the anti-shielding-mid item, and Edge of Night the new "I lost lane so now i'm going to farm bot" item. Get both and you'll be an enchanter support's worst nightmare.

Dasdi963 votes

item 3147 should be fucking removed from the game. That way we can now actually balance assassins.

Frosted Tips3 votes

Did you even read the post? I would like to remove the part of item 3147 that everyone hates and give it a more unique passive. I think this would help balance out the item making it situational instead of core and removing the garuanteed damage.

painkills2 votes

I agree. An item that reduces diversity and makes all assassins build it is not healthy. An item that increases upfront / unavoidable burst and around which assassins and non-assassins who built it are being balanced, is not healthy. This item and stormrazor are just not healthy.

saltran2 votes

Nah, enchanters are already bad we dont need more counters to shields

Frosted Tips3 votes

Did you miss the part where I said to partially revert the huge nerfs to shields? So enchanters would be stronger against all classes and have about equal or maybe a tiny bit less strength against AD Assassins only.

Metal Janna1 votes

item 3147 is already a big "fuck you" to the enemy support with it's stupidly powerful Super Sweeper passive that basically render's his/her warding useless for the rest of the game. The change you're suggesting would make it moreso.

Frosted Tips3 votes

It would make the item more niche. It would be taken fewer times. It also would only hurt supports with shields, and that is only against the champions that purchase the item. I don't know if you missed it, but I said to partially revert the shield nerfs that took place earlier, so in other words shields would be better against everyone except those who purchase item 3147

Gabresol1 votes

Duskblade should remove itself from your items when its bought

CIayman1 votes

How about Statikk crits instead?

Frosted Tips1 votes

What do you mean?

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