LONG POST: Vladimir Update Discussion + Rework Concept

Vladimir is a champion I have owned for a long, long time. While I consider no champion to be my main, Vladimir is definitely in my top three favorites thematically and playstyle-wise. Despite being fairly weak early on, he has the tools to survive until he can become the blood-sapping, husk-rendering hemomancer that is the stuff of nightmares. That being said, Vlad’s actual kit is definitely unhealthy and stat-checky in nature, preventing his true epicness to shine. Since Vlad has been selected for the mid-year rework, change is inevitable, and I have chosen to embrace it in hopes to see a staggering new kit and the potential to fulfill Vlad’s fantasy of turning all in his wake into red, streaming essence with which he becomes more powerful with each drop. Being as dedicated to this game as I am, whether through observation/spectating or playing, I have compiled a list of my personal thoughts on what this rework should accomplish. There is also a complete kit overhaul with almost all numbers filled in (things like missile speed, range, etc may be detailed in word description). Base champion stats are not included because I am not familiar enough with League’s full stat system to determine appropriate base and scaling stats, so those could be subject to whatever is necessary. NOTE: I am not, nor do I claim to be a balance professional. Your views may differ from mine so please be courteous and considerate when discussing! Additionally, every number is not perfect, since it is impossible to test them. Not all problems can be fixed, either. Some kits, in order to keep their identity, may keep some problems, but I have tried to work out the large ones. I also may be slightly biased towards Vlad being strong, but everythign here can be tweaked if necessary. Without further adieu, let’s commence:

What is Vlad’s identity? We all well know that he is an aristocratic, Noxian hemomancer who absorbs blood for more power. That’s all I really want to focus on as far as lore goes, since it’s been well-addressed in the past.

Gameplay is a much more interesting topic.Vladimir is a mid-to-late game centric, short-ranged, consistent damage, bulky mage (what a mouthful). His strengths are that he has powerful self-sustain, good pushing capabilities, and is not as squishy as other mages. We want to keep as much of that as possible while making sure his weaknesses, such as poor all-in and controllable early-game stay in check. While I personally don’t like it myself, it should not be absurd to be able to build something like a Spirit Visage or a Sunfire Cape on Vladimir, although I see Vlad as wanting to deal damage and survive by using his gathered blood. Vlad is not intended to be a tank, so I do not believe he should be played as such. Vlad’s defensive capabilities should not come primarily from stats, and should instead come from healing while fighting.

What are Vlad’s current problems?

Undoubtedly, the first major issue with Vladimir is his Transfusion. It has no cost, is very low interaction, and has both a large heal and damage component, and perhaps most of all, abuses spell-vamp to the point that spell-vamp must be balanced mostly around this ability. Crimson Pact. Vladimir’s passive, although there are far less healthy things in the game, is one of the things holding Vlad back. Since it is purely stat oriented, it’s power is literally stat-checked. Passives can be core to the playstyle of the champion, and Vlad’s has the potential to greatly define his. This is something I will explore. Generally low choice-making. EQ, EQ, EQ, maybe throw in an R, W when you get caught, but the primary combo is absent-minded in making a choice of how to use his spells.

What is the goal of this rework?

My goals in this rework are to allow Vlad players to make greater choices on how they want to use their spells, but to have a bigger impact when they have made that choice. Obviously, adding some “counter-play” (use this term loosely) to Vlad’s otherwise zero-interaction kit. We still want to maintain his late-game power and allow for his fantasy of destroying all in his wake. For a more point by point list of goals: -Add spell interaction, mainly to Passive and Q. -Absorb blood for power, not just healing. -Keep laning bearable for both Vlad and his opponent. -Prevent nightmarish abuse of spell-vamp. -Make Vlad feel rewarding. -Making Vlad’s primary reason to be picked is high AoE power in teamfights with strong pushing. -Add some cool new stuff to his kit! He should be fun and look awesome too!

Kit Rework

A lot of thought was put into this kit, and despite any outrageous-looking numbers, it was done with consideration. This kit aims to hit most of the goals just stated.

Passive) Crimson Pact: Vladimir’s Blood Ball is filled by using Scarlet Blossom and Universal Receiver, capped based on Vladimir’s level. When Vladimir’s blood ball is full, his next Scarlet Blossom or Universal Receiver will gain an additional effect. After 8 seconds out of combat, the blood ball drains over 5 seconds. Max Capacity: 140/230/310/390/480/580 (Levels 1/4/7/10/13/16/18) Q) Scarlet Fountain: Vladimir deals 35% bonus damage and increases the healing component by 15/25/35/45/55% plus 15/25/35/45/55% of the stacks stored in the blood ball. E) Universal Donor: Vladimir expels 30/45/50/65/80% stored stacks as bonus damage (+35%) AP. If this spell is cast while Scarlet Fountain is active, it will consume the stacks and unempower Scarlet Blossom. Additionally, Vladimir’s basic attacks deal 8/16/24/32/40/48% (Levels 1/4/7/10/13/16/18) of his stacks as bonus magic damage, transforming his attacks into a blood whip at max stacks.

Yes, this is a lot to digest, but let’s break it down. This is similar to Aatrox’s passive, but with key differences; it is filled by Vlad using his spells on enemies. You must use this spell on enemies or neutrals, so it is a combat-oriented spell whether in lane or in fights. The big aspect of the passive is, however, the choice of whether to use empowered Q or E. You’ll see quite clearly, here and down below, that Q is now primarily the sustain spell and E is the primary damage spell. This is the case with the current kit to an extent, but this is designed to heavily emphasize that you must make a choice. As Vladimir drains the blood of his foes one way or the other, he grows more powerful. Once he has achieved his maximum power, Vlad players must then choose to either use this stored power to heal themselves or deal tons of damage. The extra magic damage on hit is to give him a little bit of fighting power in his spell down-time, since he should be slightly more bruiser-y than the standard control mage. It’s not very much, but it could possibly warrant Nashor’s Tooth builds if you decide build slightly squishier. The whip visual is there as a throwback to Castlevania. Note: I have seen and considered the idea of making the well heal Vlad after a certain time out of combat, but I believe Vlad to be a combat-focused mage, whether versus minions or champions. Perhaps the biggest change here is the fact that Vlad no longer gets free health. I think this could easily be made up for in base/per level stats and should not warrant much concern. Seriously, the healing/damage from Q/E would be quite noticeable in exchange.

Q) Scarlet Blossom: No Cost (Do NOT panic) 13/11.5/10/8.5/7 second Cooldown Vladimir unleashes his orb at target location for 3 seconds, dealing 100/145/190/235/310 (+65% AP) magic damage and slowing enemies by 30% in the orb’s area. At the end of the duration, the orb returns and heals him based on how many enemies were affected for how long. Vladimir’s blood ball is filled equal to how much health was restored. Additionally, if Universal Receiver is cast while the orb is active, it will be cast within the orb’s radius. Vladimir heals 80% against lane minions. MATH for HP Restore: 4/6/9/12/15 Health per unit affected + 5/8/13/19/24 Health per second per unit + 25% AP.

This, along with Vlad’s passive is one of the two biggest changes to the kit. What exactly does this spell do? Allows a spell with interaction (aiming to try to get full duration/most targets, dodging from opponents, etc). Prevents abuse of spell-vamp, since it is AoE and DoT. Forces Vlad to wait a bit for his sustain, but with greater payoff if appropriately used. This spell would probably still remain Vlad’s bread-n’-butter spell, but E could be maxed (we’ll get there). The E interaction is actually a great point to touch on, but I must explain a little bit first to understand it. The Q flies from Vladimir about 50% faster than Orianna’s Q, and flies back at the same speed with the health. The orb’s effective radius is ~75% of Orianna’s W. This is also the radius in which Vlad’s E would be effective, so it has a far smaller area than the one cast around himself, for those worrying about sniper drains. Note, that while I say it is more healing-oriented, and you may look at E damage and find it much lower, consider that Q is now a DoT spell, and the empowered E deals quite literally, tons of damage. Overall, this spell is meant to be the more utility/healing component of Vlad’s kit. Early on, it retains its high cooldown in exchange for almost non-stop orbs later on. It allows enemies to play around it, since Vlad gets virtually no healing from it in a team fight if everyone can move away from its fairly small range. Moreover, this skill is much more balanceable than Transfusion while still providing all the sustain you need. I did choose to keep the spell at no cost because I feel that resourcelessness was the most minor of the issues regarding Q. I felt that the spammability, point-click, and spell vamp abuse were far more offensive issues.

W) Sanguine Pool: Costs 15% of current Health 26/23/20/17/14 second Cooldown Vladimir sacrifices current health to become a pool of blood for 2.5 seconds, becoming untargetable and reducing slows by 50%. Enemies standing in the pool take 50/100/150/200/250 (total) + 4% (each second) of their max health as magic damage.

One significant change, one minor change. Pool is one of the most unique abilities in the game, and I feel that its current power is very appropriate: it’s beneficial when used properly and detrimental when used poorly. I like to think of the pool to serve a similar function to Fiora’s Riposte, while still having its clear differences (such as actually having a consequence when used willy-nilly). The slow reduction might look odd, but consider that it should be harder to slow a pool of liquid than a man. For those of you who play Vladimir, it can be quite frustrating to get slowed, use pool to avoid damage, but still be within hugging distance of Udyr.Think of it as a safety cushion for if you fall victim to a constant Rylai's slow. Pool should not only let you dodge the damage, but also give you a little bit of assistance in getting away. It’s not a full reduction, and it can be removed if necessary. Max HP damage is there to compensate for Crimson Pact no longer granting health.

E) Universal Receiver: Costs 40/50/60/70/80 Health 8/7/7/6/6 second Cooldown Vladimir draws blood from all nearby enemies, dealing 80/95/120/160/200 (+50% AP) magic damage. He then fills his blood ball equal to 30/40/50/60/70% of the total damage dealt. Additionally, if Scarlet Blossom is currently active, this spell will be cast around the orb as well.

Boy do I love this spell. As much fun as designing the new Q was, I think this has to be my favorite. Not only is it a nice little joke referring to blood transfusions, this thing deals tons of damage. Its cooldown has been slightly increased to slow down how quickly it can be ramped up in the early game, and the cost increased to compensate the no-longer-increasing cost per stack. It may not stack by itself anymore, but after a few levels are put into it, the damage will very quickly fill the blood ball and allow for huge chunks of damage. While on paper it may seem very similar to Tides of Blood, it is much more cohesive with the rest of his kit, focusing on gathering blood and then using it for a massive explosion. To continue on the Q interaction stated above… Both casts will go through, so kind of like how Zed’s shadows use his abilities. However, the area around the orb will only be as big as the orb’s radius. This is so the area around Vlad is big enough to let him hit a clustered group of minions or chase, but prevents Vlad from having any sort of ridiculous range. As far as the empowered E and Q simultaneously… Regardless, empowered Q will deal 30% extra damage, not that much unless it’s all three ticks. The primary benefit of empowered Q is the healing. However, if Universal Donor is cast while the orb is active, it will have its same empowered effect both around Vlad and the orb. This won’t cancel the rather minute damage increase of Q, but it will revert the health gained back to its standard values. Visual note: Cute little blood swords no longer fly out from the ball held aloft, rather torrents of blood stream from Vlad’s victims into it. When empowered, a violent explosion of blood will occur, hence the very ironic Universal Donor.

R) Hemoplague: Vladimir infects all enemies in an area for 5 seconds, causing them to take 5/10/15% increased damage + 3/4/5% per champion afflicted from himself and his allies. At the end of the duration, enemies take 150/250/350 (+70% AP) magic damage and fill 50% of Vladimir’s blood ball again.

Perhaps the most unchanged spell since it honestly isn’t one of Vlad’s major problems. The change in how % increased works provides greater incentive to save his ultimate for skirmishes and teamfights as opposed to using it just for his lane opponent. I could definitely take suggestions on a cooler ult, but I felt this ultimate didn’t need to be changed very much and was workable to synergize with the rest easily enough.

What is the vision with this new kit?

Now that we’ve explored the kit, it’ll be easier to visualize the first sections. The main goal of the kit was to create a fantasy of “drain blood, store blood, choose crazy healing or crazy damage.” -Passive, being the crux of that fantasy, obviously sets Vlad up to use the blood he drains from his enemies. Not much to say here. -Q, being DoT, prevents the damage from being too high unless the player lands it properly or the opponent mispositions, as well as allowing MR to resist each tick. This cements the spell as being the healing spell. The boost provided by Passive prevents the Q from being TOO strong on its own (up to 55% of blood ball) but also gives the healing amount a cushion as the game progresses (% of blood ball) MATH NOTE: I have done calculations for a couple situatuons! Rank 1, Level 1, 3 minions hit for 3 seconds (typical use of Q if passively healing): 57 Health unempowered, 86.55 empowered. Note that the spell would have a 13 second cooldown, limiting how many times the blood ball can be filled. Rank 5, Level 18, 600 AP, 3 Champions hit for 3 seconds: 411 Health unempowered, 956 empowered. Yes, that’s a LOT. But, bear in mind that you must have ⅗ of the enemy team confined to an area smaller than Ori W for 3 seconds straight while you are empowered, at level 18, with 600 AP. You MUST survive to late-game for these numbers to even be close to reaching. -E, plays off a similar fantasy, only it uses the blood for crazy damage. The the base damage is slightly increased to compensate for the original stacking mechanic loss, but the power still lies in the empowered version. Again for those who want math... Rank 1, Level 2 (still has same stack value), ~20 AP: 137 empowered Rank 5, Level 18, 600 AP: 1174 damage empowered. Woah. Might be a little high, but again, all late-game scenarios where ball must be stacked, MR must be taken into account, etc. Overall something I’m happy with. It may seem outrageously huge, which it kinda is, but the lack of early power, being a shrimpy ~137 for all of the time it takes to stack early on justifies the crazy damage late. It might be better to slightly raise the floor and lower the ceiling, but that can be determined later. Overall, I’m pleased with these numbers and these intentions working towards Vlad’s end goal of being a blood-sapping, husk-rendering destroyer.

As far as a more general view, something that is very apparent is the low ratios early, high ratios later. This is still to preserve Vlad’s early weakness, however I felt that higher numerical bases, such as in the case of E, would be better to keep him relevant. Vlad’s Q makes his interaction in lane far greater than that of before, which was definitely the most restraining issue. It still allows Vlad to sustain off of minions if he can’t catch a champion in the ball, but with diminishing returns to ensure that more serious damage will still stick. The E change cements his true damage (not the Vayne kind) threat as coming from his empowered E later in the game. In tandem, the changes allow Vlad’s opponents more opportunity to avoid being sapped of their health and retaliate in return (dodging around Q mostly), but gives Vlad far more power if he is able to collect the blood he needs. His W and R remain fairly similar since they have never been major issues to Vlad’s game health or his uniqueness; they’ve just received some minor changes to define their niches a bit more (W being a survival/avoidance tool, and R being a skirmish and teamfight tool).

Well, that’s about it. If you made it all the way here, thank you and congratulations for making it. I would love discussion from fellow Vlad/mage players, but please consider the opinions of myself and others and be respectful. Vladimir is one of my ultimate favorite champs in the league, and I would definitely love to hear any Rioter opinions on the viability of the kit. If there is an issue that you expected to see addressed or if there is any confusion, please let me know and I will do my best to clear it up.

Thank you for reading and Leaguing,

-Poppy’s Father