An in-depth analysis of Syndra's Q duration and her R's "windows of power" by a 950k Syndra main

Hello everyone! I've been a Syndra main for several years. Despite not being able to play a lot of rankeds due to personal reasons, i've always been playing, analizing and practicing her for over 1300 games. I'm writing this thread for reasons you'll understand later. I hope Riot will comment, since i'm putting a lot of passion for my Syndra on this! Good reading.

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As you all know, Syndra's R damage depends on how many Dark Spheres you manage to keep on the ground. I'll call these damage opportunities "windows of power". Much has changed, however, since patch 6.9, and i'll analyze these windows of power before and after 6.9

Before 6.9

Spheres duration was always 6 seconds throughout the whole game. This means that a 7 spheres R, the peak of Syndra's burst, wasn't possible until you managed to get at least 30% cdr.

With 30% cdr, the window of power for a 7 spheres R was 0.4 seconds if done perfectly .

Q1 ; Q2 + Q1(2.8s)->W ; Q3 + Q2(2.8s) + Q1(2.8s) ; Q4 + Q3(5.6s) + Q2(5.6s) + Q1(5.6s).

With 40% cdr, the window of power for a 7 spheres R was 1.2 seconds if done perfectly.

Q1 ; Q2 + Q1(2.4s)->W ; Q2 + Q1 ; Q3 + Q2(2.4s) + Q1(2.4s) ; Q4 + Q3(2.4s) + Q2(4.8s) + Q1(4.8s).

This is perfectly fair if you consider that is for a single target nuke of 1.260 + 140% AP. However, reaching this peak wasn't only about the skills of a player, but also about the very stats at his disposal. If you didn't have at least 30% cdr, 7 might as well be not a number. This mechanic has been changed with patch 6.9

After patch 6.9

I'm not gonna mention the W change, as it is gone (thanks god). The new Transcendent passive changed these windows of power drastically. As soon as you reach level 9, a 7 spheres R is possible even with 5% cdr.

With 5% cdr, the window of power is 0.4s if done perfectly.

Q1 ; Q2 + Q1(3.8s)->W ; Q3 + Q2(3.8s) + Q1(3.8s) ; Q4 + Q3(3.8s) + Q2(7.6s) + Q1(7.6s)

With 40% cdr, the window of power is 3.2 seconds if done perfectly.

Q1 ; Q2 + Q1(2.4s)->W ; Q3 + Q2(2.4s) + Q1(2.4s) ; Q4 + Q3(4.8s) + Q2(4.8s) + Q1(4.8s)

One of the key mechanics of Syndra's kit was made much easier to allow her to reach the peaks of her burst much more easily. I totally understand why it needed to be done: 7 spheres Rs were too rare, for good reasons, but too rare. Now they are much easier, and with the right amount of cdr, you can reach them almost randomly. The fact is: how can the rest of her kit have any other source of power added to it, if reaching the peak of her R burst is so much easier now? The +2 seconds duration is a straightforward bonus on her Q with no real proof of skill, no real interaction. This is, in my opinion, one of the reasons why her dps had to be reduced a few patches ago.

And i finally got to the point:

i propose to change it.

Make Qs bonus duration feel like a reward

The duration of dark spheres manipulated by W, E and R is increased by 2 seconds when hitting at least one enemy champion e.g. if a sphere you manipulate with E hits an enemy champion and has only 2 seconds left, it will stay on the ground for 4 seconds instead

Note: this is just an example, and variations of this mechanic would be interesting This would be the only Transcendent bonus affected not by the spell itself, but by Syndra's other spells. It makes sense, since Dark Sphere is the core of her whole kit When you reach level 9, you are able to access Syndra's true burst potential, but you'll have to work for it. Dark sphere's duration would again be 6 throughout the whole game, but it can go up to 8 seconds if you manage to manipulate your spheres with W and E in the right way

This new Transcendent Q passive could potentially open new ways to balance her kit around

And that's all, folks.

I really hope i haven't bored you to death, and i hope to get feedback from Syndra mains and other champion's mains alike

p.s at least one Rioter comment would be appreciated [sg-syndra]

Edit: slightly edited my proposed Transcendent Q passive Edit 2: grammar corrections Edit 3 (03-22-2018) "Make Qs bonus duration feel like a reward" part deleted.