Add additional levels of Gangplank Abilities to a single ability? (think Ryze, Jayce and Kha'Zix)
tl;dr - Give Gangplank a new level up system where he may choose to level up one basic ability to rank 7 and keep the other two at rank 4. Rank 7 Q gives him bonus crit when Q-ing. Rank 7 W gives him a brief tenacity boost and an empowered auto attack. Rank 7 E lets him hold an extra barrel and they recharge faster.
Hey there, Onwodori here.
So here's the thing: Gangplank is FINE right now. This is just an idea. I actually really like where GP is but it's nice to speculate on how we might change champions, especially now that I've seen Ryze and his '6 levels of Q, 2 levels of R' deal. But also with Kha'Zix, perhaps in ranking an ability up to level 6 or even 7, another ability or two must remain at level 4?
What I would hope to accomplish with this change would be to help GP scale slower but have a bigger reward for him when he gets there. Currently we see GP arriving to power pretty early, if we're being honest - that's because a triforce and a duskblade together put some hurt on his kit. What I'd like to endeavor is to offer GP an incentive to consider going Crit again as well or even AP!
So right to it:
Rank 7 'Parrrley' - Gangplank gains an inherent 30% critical chance when attacking with Q
Rank 1 - 7 Bonus gold (2,3,4,5 => 7,8,9) Silver Serpents gained the gold value + 2. Damage (30,50,70,90 => 120,140,160) (+100 AD)
Rank 7 'Remove Scurvy' - Gangplank gains and additional 50% tenacity for 1 second and his next auto attack deals (10-180) (+25 AP) (+3% max health) magic damage.
Rank 1 - 7 healing (40,70,100,130 => 170,200,230) (+90AP) (+15% missing health)
Rank 7 'Powder Keg' - Gangplank's E recharges 30% faster, you can now hold 4 barrels.
Rank 1 - 7 bonus damage (30,60,90,120 => 170,200,230 bonus physical damage) slow (10,20,30,40 => 65,75,85)
The idea here is to have GP not as strong early but have a noticeable power spike in an ability as soon as he commits to ranking that ability up to level 7, meaning that the other two will remain at level 4 values. Obviously getting to level 7 should be rewarded, meaning that each of them, while being stronger by quite a lot than GP's current rank 5's, have additional bonuses that solidify the Gangplank you want to play that game. Q gets additional critical chance when you are level 7 and it nets you more gold because for a critical hit build, you need it. A lot.
(100% Crit Build When Qing a target or Barrel, max CDR)
W lets you sustain super hard and become less impacted by CC after you hit rank 7, as well as gaining some of that lovely on hit magic damage. Q's with a W proc and Lich Bane proc do 75% AP - that's lovely for a tank. Your ultimates become game changers to a new level.
or full damage 
Finally, for the current armor pen build that doesn't desire quite AS much gold as the old Crit build, having more barrels and barrels more often, as well as them just doing more damage ranks 5-7, are what that build truly desire.
Thanks for reading and I hope you like some of these ideas or are at least amused by them!
