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A thought on ADCs

RookPusher··1 votes·287 views

I don't play ADC, but I was thinking about why they lack real influence in the game these days and I've come to the conclusion that they can be improved by giving them an elevated (compared to other roles) base movement speed.

For one thing, they're archers, not siege tanks. And I'm aware the game doesn't need to take reality into account, but I wanted to say that. Secondly, they really should be refocused in the existing meta as (literal definition here) skirmishers an not duelists. It makes more sense for them to be mobile darting in and out of the minions and support set ups than it does for them to just stand there. Third, I think this leaves them vulnerable to their current counters (assassins) while giving them more outplay against things like Juggernaughts and mages (in the former to kite, in the latter to escape.)

tl;dr - ADCs haven't evolved much coming out of the old "KDA rules" LoL into the new "push those objectives" meta. You notice this in their lack of subclasses, even though there should be a few. (Siegers, pokers, and Heavy Hitters)

8 Comments

Aterpater3 votes

ADC is a carry, it's even in the name. They shine in late game and they need the protection of their team due to the lack of mobility and tankiness. That's why support starts in bot and roams later, actually. In exchange for the protection ADCs provide unmatched sustain damage in the later phases. This is a MOBA, so it's designed around teamwork and team compositions. Having "one-man-army" champs is unhealthy (though we have many of them already sadly...). Assassins are the counters to ADCs (even mages can count as assassins if they are able to dash in and out the second line and deal burst damage) and the team's duty to shut down these attempts. It's fine imho. If ADCs wouldn't require the team's protection and they could kite anyboy while dealing top damage, they were be out of balance. (I think it's a bigger problem - based on the above principles - that assassins even after a failed assassination can stand and tank a whole team with their silly lifesteal items, making them too much self-sustained and unbalanced...)

RookPusher1 votes

With respect, where did you get "Don't require them to have protection" from me saying "increase their base MS?"

Sp33d Zer02 votes

Increasing their base movespeed makes it easier for them to kite and stay out of harms way.

Aterpater1 votes

What SP33D ZERo said. And somebody with top range, top sustain damage and at the same time higher base MS than the rest would be kind of broken. (As an avid Janna player I'm quite aware how running around with a high MS is an awesome way of disengage) Not to mention that most ADCs already have different forms of engage-disengage, mostly some dashes or temporary speed boosts (Jinx, Sivir...) or Twitch's invisibility... Only the hyper-carry monsters lack mobility, like Ashe or Cait but even they have nice CCs. If you can't position well, can't watch your surroundings and ward smart, and can't even juke a gank with your flash and mobility abilities or don't have somebody there to peel... then you are supposed to get rekt to be honest.

OtterlyLost1 votes

I'd be up for a buff to ADC Base MS. It would make for better kiting, easier chasing, better orb walking... I feel like a buff to base MS would be nice.

coeurloyal1 votes

As an ADC player, this sounds great. However, I don't think that's the right solution. Because ADC's function as the main sustained objective damage, you're giving a free pass to the more mobile ones to out-rotate the rest of the map in any given instance. If for example you were to give Tristana a base MS buff, there would be no reason for her not to split push 100% of every game because she can get there faster than the defense, she can take the tower within a single wave after 20 min, and she has two free escapes. If you send two units to kill her (which would be necessary given her increased MS and escape skills), the rest of the team would then be free to take a 4v3 anywhere else on the map. It's too much pressure in a world where ADC's function as both the 'archer' and the 'siege tank'.

Also, it's worth pointing out that there are in fact subclasses within the ADC role, though they aren't as pronounced as they are in other roles. You can't draw a solid line in the sand because having a high damage + ranged character will always result in a powerful duelist, so their duties become split under that context. We've seen a recent attempt to diversify that structure with Mordekaiser, but without the reliable DPS provided by a ranged carry the team structure in this game fails.

RookPusher1 votes

I'm not saying there aren't subclasses, but in a recent Riot produced chart they were the only role without subclasses listed. (It was in that "Catcher" article).

coeurloyal1 votes

Right. I was indirectly addressing that when I said that you can't draw a solid line in the sand within the class because the basic function of the role is fairly general. At the end of the day, Jhin/ Varus weren't the pick you go with when you want to rotate quickly, but they're still the primary source of siege damage regardless of their individual function/ sublcass. Because you have to have one no matter what, they can't really be generalized past that point.

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