Aphelios' permaslow and old Riot design principles.

Disclaimer: this post is not meant to be a complaint to Aphelios in any way.

I have noticed Aphelios' cannon weapon, Gravitum, has an innate on its basic attacks: they apply a 30% decaying slow.

This is effectively a free permaslow on a ranged carry.

If you played this game at least as long as I did, you'll remember the sad story of league of legends permaslows: a mechanic that was deemed extremely powerful and costed many champions their viability for years.

We're talking about Skarner, Olaf, Ashe and Frozen Mallet. Every one of them had their fair share of changes and reworks, often revolving around the power budget and the innate toxicity that a permaslow entails.

At the time of the juggernaut rework, I remember that the main point of friction between Rioters and Skarner community was his permaslow. At the time, Riot was adamant in removing Skarner's permaslow, indicating it as the main reason Skarner had to be made into a non-champion for so long.

Apparently, permaslow on a melee juggernaut was unthinkable for old Riot; new Riot slaps a permaslow on (an overloaded) ranged carry without a thought.

Times have changed, but for the better? I think that the design and balance team have sacrificed important design principles like "power budget and fairness" on the altar of "flashy and sensational".