Thoughts on Spell Vamp and Lifesteal, and defining Sustain's place in League.
Currently, there are six roles that champions fit into within League of Legends: the Tank, who soaks up damage while providing CC for their team to capitalize on; the Fighter, who can deal good damage over time, while also being able to soak up a moderate amount of damage; the Mage, a generally squishy champion that uses spells to lock down and/or deal major damage to an enemy; the Assassin, an opportunistic, highly mobile champion that picks out “high value” targets and deals massive damage to them, the Support, who through spells and abilities aid their teammates, and the Marksman, who deals massive damage from afar with basic attacks. There are a few subclasses that certain champions make up: the loosely defined “Bruiser”, a role that is defined by semi-tanky champions that deal moderate damage in the form of their spells (Darius, Ryze, etc.); the undefined role of melee AD carries, who are squishy, but are insanely mobile champions that burst down enemies via empowered melee attacks, and the recently unused “Sustain” champions, who are characterized as being able to stay alive by continually dealing damage to enemies and gaining health in return. The disappearance of these Sustain champions is a result of a general nerf on sustain items (see Spell Vamp nerfs), as well as turning items that better sustain into items that are damage based, with sustain as an extra perk. It has clouded the purpose of certain roles, causing some roles to be emphasized over others, and thereby reducing the usage of champions that fall within that role. To return these champions to prominence, there is a solution that will refine the definitions of the roles, reverting them to their original intent.
First, there is the matter of Lifesteal. Currently, Lifesteal is guaranteed on many roles, including Marksman. The role of the Marksman, however should not focus on sustain, but rather the ridiculous amount of damage they put out over time. Because of Lifesteal being on high damage items like The Bloodthirster or Essence Reaver, they are used too frequently on Marksman, ruining the definition of a Marksman. Now, at the end of a game, a Marksman can fight any other role 1v1 and win the fight without dying. What should realistically happen is that the Marksman should be able to kill certain enemies, but not enemies with burst. The Marksman needs to rely on his allies to provide peels, heals/shields, and cc on enemies so they can chew through the enemy champions. Instead, they can withstand the onslaught of an enemy assassin by out-sustaining the damage, kill the assassin, and then proceed to the rest of the enemy team.
Second, there is the matter of Spell Vamp. Spell Vamp used to be what Lifesteal is like now, only for the “AP” carries. It used to be that AP assassins used it to be able to withstand the heavy blows because they were out-sustaining the damage, while carrying their team by erasing the enemy's priority targets. Riot, however, overshot it when they nerfed Spell Vamp, reducing the effectiveness of AP sustain mages. Currently, champions that live off of spell vamp (Fiddlesticks, Vladimir, etc.) are suffering from a lack of a major part of their builds.
To answer these problems, there is a simple solution: Lifesteal and Spell Vamp ought to have ratios that are different per champion. For instance, Marksmen and Assassins should not be out-sustaining champions, so the Lifesteal and Spell Vamp on their items will have less of an effect. Sustain Mages and Sustain Fighters, however, need the Lifesteal and Spell Vamp more than anyone else, so the Lifesteal and Spell Vamp on their items will have a greater effect.
The changes detailed here would make for a more well defined game, with more champions used as their utility returns.
