@Riot - Zilean is too level dependent

I like Zilean. I really do. I have always enjoyed his playstyle, the clutch saves i can do with his ultimate, and the ability to make myself and/or my allies zoom at high speeds. The new bomb and double bomb mechanics have made Zilean more interesting and fun to play for me personally, but have introduced a problem: The way Zilean is right now, he has no true 1 point wonder anymore.

'But Xeno' you say, 'since his W isnt really used for much besides double Q, its become the 1 point wonder right? so what's the issue?'

Well the issue ties into the way Zilean plays, and to do that, we have to compare what he used to do vs what he does now.

Old Zil: Same Passive Targeted Q (Points increases damage/mana cost and reduces cooldown, nothing else) Same W (Points reduces cooldown, nothing else) with the exception being that it affected R Similar E (Duration increased with points, boost/slow/CD remained the same across all points of E, cant remember if mana cost increased per point) R - Healing/Cost increased per point

New Zilean Same passive (Change this Riot) Skillshot Q, double bomb = stun that scales with points (Now damage, stun, cost and cooldown scale with points in Q) W - Same with difference being it no longer affects R (mana cost reduced though). only CD scales with points E - Speed boost/reduction scales with points in E, duration reduced, CD reduced, cost reduced. R - Cooldown now Scales with points in R in addition to healing/cost

Now lets see how the changes affected play:

While Q and E are the more visible elements of how Zilean plays, W is actually the crux of his playstyle. By being able to, in the later stages of the game, break the limitations of cooldown in this ability, Zilean was (and to some extent still is) a very powerful late game support by providing his limited damage and utility quite rapidly over the course of a teamfight. What supplemented this playstyle pre-rework were 2 things:

1 - Since E remained useful and powerful without having more than one point in it (55% movespeed slow/speedup), the player could focus on leveling Q for harass and W to reach that hyper low cooldown stage of the game faster.

2 - Because of the nature of how W and R worked, R didnt need to be leveled, meaning the player could finish leveling W slightly faster to achieve that 'hyper cooldown' state quicker, and therefore be more useful faster.

The problem that now occurs is that Zilean is in a position where all 3 of his abilities scale very well with levels, making his being in a position to gain those levels more quickly a benefit... except for the waste of his aura passive.

Zilean's Q damage and utility both scale with leveling points.

Zilean's E movement speed alteration scales with leveling points

Zilean's W, what allows him to use E and Q more often, scales with leveling points

Zilean's R now is more important to put points into with the loss of the W interaction.

Zilean's lack of a one point wonder like nearly every other support puts him in a weird place where he feels better to go mid, but is currently not optimized for it.

I've seen (and played) Zilean support, leveling E and W with Q being a 1 point wonder. Until E gets strong (and you have enough CDR where you can double E) it feels like you're useless. I've played the opposite, where you level Q and W and left E as a one point wonder, and it feels even more terrible, because once you miss, you're done. Q and E make sense, but that sense of having your abilities up faster, that 'hyper cooldown' state that is Zilean's late game, isnt reached as much when you're support and lower on levels, and the problem is That state is where Zilean feels the strongest. Those moments when you can speed up someone, bomb, someone else, rewind, double bomb for a stun, catching more than one person, slow down a primary target, save an ally and do it all (other than the revive) again 4 or so seconds later is an amazing feeling and why I play Zilean in the first place. But unless the game drags on, i dont get that feeling most of the time when I play support.

TLDR: With the way Zilean's abilities scale with level points now, Zilean is at his strongest when he has maxed them out. He is not, however, currenty in a position where placing him where he can max his abilities maxed out (Mid) is ideal. If he had 1 ability that was a one point wonder (Like E used to be), then it can help him maximize his overall playstyle.

Tell me what you all think, if you agree/disagree. I still stand by the fact that, as popular or unpopular as it might be, Rewind is a core part of Zilean's playstyle still, despite the change that makes it no longer affect his ultimate.