Yasuo would actually be really balanced in this current state if there were just a few changes.

Flashes··4 votes·2,479 views

There are two paths Yasuo can take here.

Damage-Support, where his damage isn't overwhelming, but he can still contribute to a teamfight with his ultimate and still wreak havoc in the backline, sort of like Pyke, but with more damage than CC, and more utility instead of stealth.

Assassin-Carry, where his damage is the level it's at right now, but his utility is heavily nerfed.


I know that Yasuo was nerfed, but the current iteration of Conquerer benefits Yasuo much more than it does other skirmishers due to the healing and adaptive damage it provides. It just changed Yasuo from someone who kills Squishies really fast and Tanks fast into someone who kills Tanks fairly fast and absolutely DELETES squishies. There are several reasons for this, like his high mobility, AA + Q + AA damage thanks to his passive's crit multiplier, his shield... the list goes on. Give Yasuo the Latest Irelia treatment by making him more specialized, instead of neutralizing the entire ranged roster with 1 ability, W, while taking on the entire melee roster with 1 ability, Q.

With that in mind, I'm looking at nerfs that make him more specialized, and some nerfs and buffs to make his early game weaker, to give him a defined niche late game.

Damage-Support changes:

Yasuo's Crit damage is 150% instead of 160%. His Q cooldown isn't reduced by attack speed, but has a fixed cooldown that scales and isn't reduced by CDR. His Ult now keeps enemies knocked up for an additional .25 seconds at Rank 3, but is reduced by .25 seconds at Rank 1. His E can be recast on any minion, and the 5 second cap is removed. His E cooldown is changed to 5/4.5/4/3.5/3 seconds. His W now moves forward 600 units, but lasts only for 1 second.

These changes aim to reduce the sheer damage Yasuo can dish out, and instead focus on making sure he can maintain relevant as a niche support, or build as a fighter instead of a straight up assassin that still heals more than fighters do. I honestly do not like this form of Yasuo, but I suppose it's a way Yasuo could be kept down low in terms of sheer power.


Assassin-Carry changes:

These changes aim to make it much more punishing to make mistakes for Yasuo.

Reworked abilities:

E: He keeps all current damage, and his E can now scale past 100% bonus damage up to 250% bonus damage, but the damage is only increased by 10% per dash, until the 6th dash, which increases the bonus damage by 200% instead of 10%.

This change aims to benefit Yasuo players who can cleverly use their E as both a skillshot dodger, and also an engage tool, instead of just using E to get in and out. You can either increase your damage of your E by dashing through all the minions in the wave, or you can leave some unmarked as an escape at the expense of your damage.

W: Either: Windwall now lasts for 0.5/0.55/0.6/0.65/0.75 seconds instead of 4 seconds, and using it will remove 20 Flow. The CD is reduced by 4 seconds at all ranks. It no longer passes through Yasuo's hitbox at the beginning of the cast, instead beginning directly in front of Yasuo's hitbox. It will only drift forward 20 units instead of 50 units.

This change is intended to make Yasuo have to rely solely on reactionary casting at the expense of the free shield, punishing him if he casts it incorrectly. It also forces him to actually build up some resource before using it, and prevents his W from going through his hitbox.

Or: Windwall now has a 0.5/0.45/0.4/0.35/0.3 second delay and no longer passes through Yasuo's hitbox at the beginning of the cast. It lasts 2 seconds instead of 4, and drifts forward 300 units instead of 50.

This change is intended to make Yasuo unable to rely solely on reactionary casting, and makes his windwall drift forward to allow actual positioning changes instead of just walking back and forth between the windwall at the expense of duration.

Optional changes: His R no longer sets the knockup duration to 1 second, but has a faster animation of 0.5 seconds, allowing him to deal damage at the expense of gaining free CC. This change aims to reduce the impact Yasuo has in teamfights, but improves his ability to deal a lot of damage to a single target.


With these changes as a start, I think Yasuo would be much less painful to play against, while also opening up new avenues for Yasuo mains to explore. Of course, these changes might make him undertuned, but Riot can choose to buff number values instead of adding new mechanics. The goal of these changes is to make Yasuo less unbearable to play against while making him less of an all-around perfect champion that's overbearing when overpowered, but underwhelming when heavily nerfed (those few precious hours right after 8.11). Similar to Irelia, making Yasuo easier to balance while making him nicer to play against is potentially a win-win-win situation that has the potential to benefit both Yasuo mains AND Yasuo haters, as well as the balance team.

15 Comments

TheSingularity5 votes

What if we changed windwall to wind slash (like the The climb cinematic?) It is essentially what you've proposed however I feel the name fits better.

Instead of starting in front of his hitbox, it starts slightly away from him (providing a gap, preventing panic W's from removing skillshots that are about to hit him). Instead of drifting forward it will have a curved hitbox going from his left hand to his right (the direction of his slash) as it would likely be more satisfying to cut skillshots than to shove them

Optional changes: His R no longer sets the knockup duration to 1 second, but has a faster animation of 0.5 seconds, allowing him to deal damage at the expense of gaining free CC. This change aims to reduce the impact Yasuo has in teamfights, but improves his ability to deal a lot of damage to a single target.

I would remove the turret safety mechanic placing him outside of turret range. If he wants to ult someone hiding under tower, then he has to get in there with them

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

What if we changed windwall to wind slash (like the The climb cinematic?) It is essentially what you've proposed however I feel the name fits better.

Instead of starting in front of his hitbox, it starts slightly away from him (providing a gap, preventing panic W's from removing skillshots that are about to hit him). Instead of drifting forward it will have a curved hitbox going from his left hand to his right (the direction of his slash) as it would likely be more satisfying to cut skillshots than to shove them

I would remove the turret safety mechanic placing him outside of turret range. If he wants to ult someone hiding under tower, then he has to get in there with them

amen to remove training wheels!

I think there are a lot of things that could be done with his mechanics so they feel more fair to play against, someone suggested changing his double crit passive so it starts out at 12% and ramps up to 50% as he lvls up.

MarcusaTjZi2 votes

Or just tune his numbers. Aim to make better posts.

cabbysb1 votes

Make the windwall appear farther from him. Get rid of the passive shield.

ZephyrDrake1 votes

{quoted}

Make the windwall appear farther from him. Get rid of the passive shield.

and then he gets a damage buff and destroys you even faster

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

Make the windwall appear farther from him. Get rid of the passive shield.

agree with getting rid of the passive shield if we are going the assassin route, because assassin usually only get one SAVE me tool

Chizzah1 votes

I stopped reading at 1 second Wind Wall. Why not just petition to Riot that you want Yasuo deleted from the game. Cause it is obvious that's actually what you want.

FlameHalbrdOkido2 votes

{quoted}

I stopped reading at 1 second Wind Wall. Why not just petition to Riot that you want Yasuo deleted from the game. Cause it is obvious that's actually what you want.

pls don't be deconstructive like that, instead offer why u think its a bad idea so we can all gain some perspective

honestly i think Yasuo should have to deal with the same relatively short damage negation abilities that other skirmisher has, plus he also has as an additional damage negation ability when others normally have just one.

Honestly I like this type of boards post because its more positive and constructive. I hope it gains some traction and the deconstructive people don't tear it down

Jg Gank or AFK1 votes

{quoted}

I stopped reading at 1 second Wind Wall. Why not just petition to Riot that you want Yasuo deleted from the game. Cause it is obvious that's actually what you want.

ummm.... then i wonder how long does fiora parry last for? should they remove it because the player has to time it right for 1second rather then like yasuo can baindead cast windwall for 4second long.

Flashes1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Jg Gank or AFK,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=YEvggFhP,comment-id=00010001,timestamp=2019-02-26T09:26:40.180+0000)

ummm.... then i wonder how long does fiora parry last for? should they remove it because the player has to time it right for 1second rather then like yasuo can baindead cast windwall for 4second long.

Fiora's W also only blocks self directed damage and CC, meaning you can't actually use it in teamfights to create something that'll benefit your entire team.

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

{quoted}

Fiora's W also only blocks self directed damage and CC, meaning you can't actually use it in teamfights to create something that'll benefit your entire team.

I like the idea someone mentioned in one of my posts: W lasts a short duration but each time it negates dmg its duration increases up 2 a cap

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes

Im not sure how many people consider Yasuo a niche support, i think more people see him as a skirmisher, so I think it would do him justice to have him play as such without any unnecessary advantages tho

If you don't mind I have some suggested changes of my own

Passive - RESOLVE: It should have a cooldown like most other shield passives in the game that are not on tanks such as Camille, Malz and Rakan Wind Wall's CDR and width is increased based on current Flow at cast up to 7.5% and 500 units. At 「 100 stacks 」the CDR remains for the next cast. Yasuo reduces the CD each time he damages an enemy up to x seconds reduced. The shield now acts like a normal shield that lasts for 1.25 seconds and is consumed by damage as its dealt like normal

This way there is some downtime on his defense (This is assuming its good idea to keep the shield passive at all). The 2nd part encourages smart management of Flow to NOT waste it. The third part encourages Yasuo to get in and deal some damage before waiting for his shield passive to come back up, like Rakan's shield passive. This last part fixes one of the busted aspects

Q - Steel Tempest EFFECT RADIUS: 200 THIRD CAST - GATHERING STORM: Yasuo consumes all stacks to unleash a whirlwind that travels an increased distance in the target direction, dealing the same damage and knocking airborne the first enemies hit based on distance. Steel Tempest does not gain increased range when cast during Sweeping Blade. Landspout (<455): no knock up Dirt Devil (455-700): 0.5 sec knock up Twister (700-900): 1.25 sec knock up

A big change is that this now only knocks up the 1st group of enemies hit like Poppy's ult this is because Skirmishers are supposed to have short-ish engage ranges compared to Divers, Yasuo's Q and Ult gives him the longest engage range out of any skirmisher and that is just too far when u consider that enemies can't body block Yasuo like they can other Skirmishers The knock up range change solves issues where Yasuo can unload a full set of abilities on a target and blow them up. Riot has stated before that melee champions unloading their full damage within melee range can be toxic, and thats why they have given some melee champions abilities that incentivizes them putting distance between themselves and the target for outplay and breathing room. Yasuo shouldn't be able to knock up targets within melee range, sure he could still unload his dmg in melee form but he would have to give up the additional knock up because getting melted with Q and AA, and then knocked up and ulted isn't fun. Yasuo can use E while in right in front of an enemy to gain the needed range for a knock up. At a minimum there should be a knock up on target CD like Rek'sai has. There's no way he should be potentially knocking up targets every 4 seconds. But i've also balanced out the changes by buffing the knock up duration at max range to reward Players for landing full length Q's

W - Wind Wall TARGET RANGE: 400 COOLDOWN: 28 / 25 / 22 / 20 / 19 COST: 100% current Flow Yasuo pauses for 0.5 sec to create a gust of wind that travels in the target direction over 0.25 seconds to form a wall in front of him. The wall slowly drifts forward 50 units over 1 second, the duration increased by 1 second if it absorbs damage once, increasing 0.5 seconds after that up to 3 seconds.

CD increased based on the Passive CDR. Now uses flow so Yasuo can't double dip between defenses anymore as much. One damage negation ability at a time like every other skirmisher. Use Windwall for ranged opponents, save the Shield for melee opponents. Unlike other skirmisher Yasuo's DPS doesn't have to drop while using a defense ability, this updated W solves that a bit. The duration has been decreased a lot but it can increase if the enemy damages it. Yay counterplay for both sides.

R - Last Breath Passive - Fall Damage: Yasuo deals additional DoT for every 0.25 sec the affected enemies are Airborne. ACTIVE: Yasuo blinks behind their location, instantly generating Flow stacks for distance traveled but resetting Steel Tempest. Upon arrival, he Suspends all nearby airborne enemies for 1 additional second, dealing physical DoT thereafter until they hit the ground. TOTAL MINIMUM PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 150 / 175 / 200 (+ 150% bonus AD) TOTAL MAX PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 300 / 400 / 500 (+ 150% bonus AD)

If Yasuo missed he holds out his sheath which pulls the sword back with wind,

it shouldnt be that hard to aim at immobilized enemies anyways The changes here ensure that yasuo preferes to use his own knock up vs allied knock up since they will not be as useful as his own at max distance which rewards skillful play for Yasuo. The Ult now deals DoT instead of a flat rate. And Yasuo no longer instantly gains full flow rewarding those who figure out the distance needed to fill the flow meter (Honestly its like they were trying to make Yasuo part skirmisher part diver). he would also lose his Armor Pen, if he wants to melt tank he should itemize for it like everyone else.

An experiemental suggestion is that Yasuo's increased Crit is based on his Flow Meter from 12%-50%, and at 100% Flow the shield is delayed shield by 1.5-2 seconds so he doesnt't instantly lose his full bonus Crit.

This would give him windows of power and weakness that he and opponents can play around so he isn't always fully strong.

FlameHalbrdOkido1 votes
EB Aeron1 votes

Personally, I like the idea of flow being some sort of energy/mana type thing for Yasuo Would be something like W would cost 50 flow, Q 10, E 5, and R with no cost but instead resetting the flow bar, however I am not sure how this would work with the shield.

ORB1TS1 votes

make his dashing 3 seconds? there is a reason people feed on him and that's because they jump into a fight and don't know how to get out (not to mention Yasuo breaks like glass late game) making his e have a higher cd would just gut the champ completely.

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