Kassadin: Thoughts and Discussion
General thoughts with Kassadin:
~ When he is strong, he becomes perma-pick/ban status. When he feels more of a balanced-ish spot he becomes a dust collector. Being in two extremes is not really what we want out of champions (there will always be someone maining each and every champion in the game). This is not to open Kassadin to be main stream and super popular, just move him into a place where he is not in an extreme realm and can be played at any moment, but never feel worthless or dominating.
~ I do like Kassadin as League's main hyper assassin-mage, someone who has a weaker early game, but scales insanely well.
~ Kassadin being fun to play as is important, and this is very easy to accomplish, but we really need to focus on great counter play for Kassadin and making it fun for the opponent as well. The main thing to do this is make his blinks super telegraphed since blinks have the worst form of counter play - so imagine Lissandra claw as a good form of a blink where the claw telegraphs where Lissandra can be at granting a fairness for the opponent and grants tricks of mind gaming for Lissandra. Kassadin will not get Lissandra's claw obviously, but should have that level of telegraphed play for his blinks.
~ Kassadin is this super mobile anti-mage for his uniqueness. To have assassins better for League of Legends specifically they should have low burst to balance out their mobility, this is currently not the case for the class but should be, so instead of damage it be better to move them into neutralizers - a way for assassins to thrive in any meta without being dominant (the utility makes them more unique than reskinned and renamed versions of each other - all of the assassins are too much the same right now, so it comes down to whoever does assassin the best rather than picked for an uniqueness that only that champion can give).
~ Kassadin probably should not be useless pre-6. There is a better way to balance him out than make him dead weight before his ultimate; this could include moving Riftwalk to another ability slot.
EXAMPLE CONCEPT KIT! NUMBERS DO NOT MEAN A WHOLE LOT FOR THE LONG TERM AND ARE THERE FOR A BETTER PICTURE. TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!
Basic Attack Range: 150 units [reminder]
Void Stone (Passive): Whenever Kassadin casts an ability he gains 80% damage reduction from magic damage for 0.5 second.
If Kassadin absorbs magic damage during this time then his next two basic attacks within 2 seconds gain capped attack speed and deal 30(+5 per level)(+50%AD)(+30%AP) magic damage.
Null Sphere (Q): Cooldown: 4/3.5/3/2.5/2 seconds; Cost: 35/40/45/50/55 mana; Range: 800 units Kassadin blasts a ball of void energy to the target location dealing 60/80/100/120/140(+40%AP) magic damage and remains at the location for the next 2 seconds.
If Kassadin picks up a Null Sphere then his next basic attack within 2 seconds will silence his target for 0.75 second.
Nether Blade (W): Cooldown: 8 seconds; Cost: 60 mana; Range: 500 units Kassadin extends his blade and stabs in the target direction dealing 70/100/130/160/190(+60%AP) magic damage and granting 150 bonus attack range for 2 seconds.
Nether Blade will collect Null Spheres that it passes through, in doing so doubles Riftwalk's teleport range for the next 2 seconds.
Riftwalk (E): Cooldown: 17 seconds; Cost: 60 mana; Range: 900 / 200 units Kassadin instantly teleports to the target Null Sphere while dealing 60/100/140/180/220(+80%AP) magic damage upon arrival.
Kassadin can teleport to any location a very short distance away [300 units], dealing the same damage upon arrival.
Force Pulse (R): Cooldown: 12 seconds; Cost: 75 mana + All Charges; Range: 650 units / 90 degrees Passive: Enemy spells cast within Kassadin's vicinity grants him 1 charge, 3 charges if he absorbs a spell during Void Stone, up to a maximum of 10. Riftwalk's base cooldown is reduced to 12/7/2 seconds and cost increased to 90/120/150 mana.
Active: Kassadin pulses out void energy slowing enemies down by 99% for 1/1.25/1.5 seconds. This void energy deals 15/25/35(+10%AP) magic damage per charge consumed.