@Riot, @Meddler. Hi! A Discussion About Burst Mages; Do We Really Need This Subclass?
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Hi! I'd like to talk a bit about Burst Mages! When thinking of Subclasses for mages the one that jumps forward right away is "Burst Mage", honestly. It makes intuitive sense that BURST is a thing some mages do.
However! Does that really automatically mean "Burst Mage" merits being a subclass? I really think it should be discussed whether that's automatically true or not. Perhaps some mages having burst might not automatically mean that it should be a subclass?
Here's the short definition of "Burst Mage"
Burst Mages aim to single out vulnerable targets by locking them down and following up with a devastating barrage of damage from range. Burst Mages struggle heavily against beefier targets who can shrug off their initial spike of damage.
Listed Burst Mage's include:
(Hybrid Artillery)
(Hybrid Battle Mage)
That's the starting point. Now, let's first discuss the definition!
Burst Mages aim to single out vulnerable targets by locking them down and following up with a devastating barrage of damage from range.
This makes sense, but there's one problem with it, in my opinion: That could describe some Battle Mages, Artillery, Assassins and Disruptors equally well!
, etc.
All of the above play this exact way to some extent!
So to me this subclass feature doesn't seem very unique or defining, which also makes sense intuitively; a combination of Damage and Hard CC isn't an uncommon feature in LoL, across classes.
Now, the second part.
Burst Mages struggle heavily against beefier targets who can shrug off their initial spike of damage.
This also makes sense, but here's an issue with it; Riot's champion design always strives to give champions a fallback pattern, to rightfully avoid them being too feast-or-famine.
Champions have over time gotten more and more sustained threat patterns so there's always SOMETHING they can do, whether or not they also have a burst-pattern to bring to the table. I'd argue every Burst Mage champion now can still be useful even if their initial spell-rotation fails to kill someone, or even if they blow their ult. They all have good damage and utility even if they don't 100-to-0 someone right away.
Finally, all Burst mages do have SOME way of saving themselves if they're in trouble, or if their burst-attempts fails. At least to some extent.
Lastly, one thing that jumps out to me is that it isn't hard to place champions defined as Burst Mage into other Subclasses in a way that makes sense. Battle Mages obviously don't exclude primarily squishy champions (Karthus, Malzahar, Cassiopeia) Disruptors also like to catch opponents out, and obviously doesn't exclude high damage or high burst champions (Anivia, Orianna, Taliyah)
So, here's just some examples of where the Burst Mages also could fit in.
- Battle Mage or Disruptor
- Disruptor
- Battle Mage
- Assassin (Hybrid Marksman?)
- Assassin (Hybrid Battle Mage)
- Disruptor (Hybrid Battle Mage)
- Battle Mage
- Disruptor (Hybrid Artillery)
- Battle Mage
So should Burst Mages be a Subclass? I'm not convinced either way, honestly. But, I think it's a really good discussion to have; the subclasses are still a work in progress, after all. Even if Burst Mage should stay, perhaps the definition of what they do needs to be improved? Please share your thoughts and discuss, comment on what you agree or disagree with!
TL;DR - Burst Mage may or may not be a very useful Subclass category. Instead, perhaps champions with "burst" can be categorized equally well with other Subclasses?