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Kindred (VISUALLY AND THEMATICALLY) is what Quinn should have been.

Leafie·10/5/2016, 3:14:33 PM·8 votes·515 views

And it frustrates me.

Quinn is by far my favorite champion and it's kind of aggravating seeing her the way that she is. Remember, I'm not talking about kit. I think Quinn's kit is in a better spot than it was before, if a little buggy still, but that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.

I'm referring strictly to the aesthetic. The way Wolf interacts with Lamb, despite the fact that Lamb is the one that you control, makes you really feel that Wolf is there. Like he's a part of the champion. The way they talk to each other, hum as you move, the way that Wolf follows Lamb around the map so you always know he's there. Lamb is essentially a skilled huntress with an animal companion. And visually, you can see it. All the time.

Quinn seemed to want to embody that "tag-team animal companion" fantasy, but all Valor ends up being is special particles on Quinn's abilities. Kindred delivers on the ranger-archetype fantasy better than Quinn because there's a lot more interaction with Wolf than there is with Valor.

All I'm suggesting is that we see Valor more. We have to know he's there. Perhaps in the Homeguard animation, we see Valor glide along-side her. While passively farming in lane, Valor perches in a nearby tree. Maybe while moving in a straight line for long enough, Valor can fly in and out of view.

These are just my terrible suggestions, but right now Valor mostly just feels... tacked-on to Quinn as opposed to actually being involved in her actions. Let's not forget, their initial champion release title was literally, "Quinn and Valor."

7 Comments

Matezoide10/5/2016, 3:20:42 PM4 votes

Old Quinn was more of a dual champion than Kindred.

IGotScuttleCrabs10/5/2016, 3:33:47 PM3 votes

I complained about this all through her rework. Was mostly down voted. People didn't like her go Valor and turn into a melee assassin mode.

Yet everyone was spamming Melee tank assassin caster etc etc Graves And Quinn is played more like an assassin now than ever anyways. At least old Q&V top or jungle was more likely to build bruiser but why bother now when you're 100% ranged

Mira Arya Enthe10/5/2016, 3:18:44 PM1 votes

Yeah, the fact that valor is basically nothing more than an extra animation is insane. But I don't think Riot cares about lore when it comes to gameplay. After all, Ashe is considered a precise, mobile, talented ranger in lore. In game she is an immobile, machine gun turret with a stun.

Nahui10/5/2016, 3:45:18 PM1 votes

Well I understand what you're saying, definitely, but Valor and Wolf are two different things. Valor is simply an animal companion that Quinn fights with. And she does use Valor well. Thematically, she commands Valor to go for opponents eyes, Valor carries her around, he scouts the area for her and he marks key targets for precision strikes.

I think Riot made them highly interdependent. Although there's less dialogue, that's natural due to one being an animal. Wolf isn't an animal, and isn't simply a companion to Lamb. Lamb and Wolf are the same entity, being the Kindred. Yin-yang, life-death. They talk to each other in a theatrical, poetic theme due to their fantasy.

Idk, I see valor a lot with Quinn. The only thing I'd like to see more is for her Eyes in the Sky (or whatever it's called), I wouldn't mind seeing valor physically flying above instead of simply that burst of light. But, that could possibly give away Quinn since I'd imagine that animation would take longer and be easier to spot than the flash.