My One Issue with Rakan and Xayah

Legacy Hydralpha··6 votes·7,603 views

#I love the new champions

Thematically, they are amazing and look amazing. They both look fun to play and I wish to have both of them in my champion pool eventually. Then, where's my issue with them.

They function too well with each other.

Now the idea of having champions with synergy is awesome, and it's happened before with champions' kits working well together, such as Lucian and Thresh as well as KogMaw and Lulu, but there may be specific issues with having champions with increased potential and power when they're working with another champion not because of synergy, but because of specific gameplay elements that only work when they are together. So far, when working together Rakan and Xayah gain:

  • A paired recall, which can allow them to recall at the same time and causes one of them to not have to channel their recall. This is HUGE for a lane where the support and ADC may want to go back to lane together, and they can (technically) recall faster if they hop onto someone already recalling.
  • Rakan gains an increased leap distance to Xayah when using his shield dash ability. This is also a really good synergy because it technically lets Rakan be more mobile.
  • Xayah gives her W bonus to Rakan as well, giving the support some damage. This isn't as big a synergy, but I think instead of having it where Xayah's W works only on Rakan, make it so it can be cast on an ally to give her and the ally the bonus.

So because of their synergy Rakan and Xayah may end having problems if they become OP. They could end up only working well together and perform poorly solo, or end up not having a massive synergy with each other. I prefer the latter, while thematically having the champions work together is really cool, I feel that since Rakan's playstyle already benefits Xayah (Rakan can protect Xayah and CC opponents into her line of fire) they don't need massive synergy. I may be wrong about this, but that's just my thoughts on the situation. We'll have to wait until people test them to find out.

TL;DR: Rakan and Xayah's potentially amazing synergy with one another and weaker synergy with other champs may cause them to have balance issues in game. Other than that, love the champs.

13 Comments

Dafckingman3 votes

Exactly! more than the empowered abilities though, I think the recall is easily the most OP part of their kit. It means one of them could dive the enemy team while the other start recalling in the bush. The diver can rush back to the bush and be almost INSTANTLY "teleported" home. That is CRAZY OP!

On a sidenote I'm a little sad about Rakan's kit. I'm a fan of playing off meta picks and playing every champion in every lane but it looks like he can only be played as a support. I mean shield, heal, no-dmg knockup, and a MS boost + charm. He wouldn't be able to 1v1 anyone. The guy has 0 dmg. Even Janna or raka could be made to go mid/top because they at least have SOME dmg. Taric top could even work cuz at least he has his passive and E dmg.

Swollwonder3 votes

Oh no someone fitting in a lane he's designed for

Bard has one damaging ability, his Q, and once upon a time I would play on hit effect bard top and it was so good.

Rakan also has one damage ability.

If you want to play them off meta go ahead but don't complain and say you can't because of their kit. Kits are by definition designed to work with a meta. You don't have an adc with a scaling shield.

Dafckingman1 votes

I agree with "Kits are by definition designed to work with a meta." which is why I am "A little sad." That's very different from "complaining." Don't assume everyone on the internet are whiny kids mate

and "Adc with Scaling shield" made me lol haha. A bit off-meta but Urgot could fit in that category

BladeSteel3 votes

Btw his knockup has damage. his ult has damage. his q has damage. look up some info before you open your mouth XD

just OK jungler2 votes

I think he mean's one High damage ability

A Rotten Orange2 votes

I have to agree. I was really worried when I heard about these champions that there would be mechanics created that only benefit them as a pair, and that is exactly what has happened. In theory, as you said, I love the idea, as it makes these characters really interesting. In practice, I worry that this will make them both impossible to balance and either make them to strong together and/or to weak apart. This would mean that they will be permabanned or that they won't be worth playing desperately. This sucks because, as a support main, I am really looking forward to playing Rakkan, as well as playing other supports with Xayah.

ImJustASuppTwT2 votes

Xayah's W gives Rakan attack speed. Whenever Rakan attack enemy with his spell or AA, the CD on his passive reduce for 1sec, which means it does not only give him a little bit dmg boost, but it boost his survivability by refresh his shield faster.

So basically, when they were together, Rakan can recall faster, attack faster, move further, and survive better.

gemini3331 votes

Agreed. I don't see a lot of people acknowledging this point because they just got revealed, but the built-in synergy seems inherently flawed from a design perspective. It's too early to tell since we don't have numbers yet, but we'll likely end up in 2 scenarios where the synergies aren't noticed enough to warrant putting them into the game, or they make a difference and become too powerful in coordinated play. We could conceivably have a third option, where it makes a difference in play, but not overwhelmingly so, but I'm not too sure this will happen given the info we have so far.

Nordenadler1 votes

I Think this will be another Kalista situation, where she sucks in soloQ but in coordinated play she's broken. Not any more tho, they nerfed her so hard ;(

SirFur Bear1 votes

Don't think Xayah and Rakan synergies really well. Instead I feel both bring clashing playstyles when matched together.

Icathian Creed1 votes

That is kind of true. Rakan is played as a diving, and Xayah is played as a kiter and almost soloist. Kind of like Vayne, Quinn, and Graves.

ncîk1 votes

As an ADC i absolutely hate Rakan and Xayah. They're insanely overpowered together, which is to be expected hen two champions are made for each other. I personally hate them to the point that if i'm playing ADC and there's a Rakan-Xayah pair, I stop playing the game because I absolutely refuse to be pulled into a 0-10-0 situation.

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