Malzahar E Needs to be Examined

Currently I am finding that I am having much greater difficulties as of recent patches getting Malzahar E to have a sustained transmission that successfully refunds mana until I have substantial AP built or I am running an AD build and have a voilding ready prior to E cast. I think the solution to this, if it is actually a problem, would be a very slight buff to E in some way, or a reduction on base mana costs on Malzahar's kit.

One way to do this would be to slightly buff the transmission mana refund, though this becomes very unecessary at later levels or once Malzahar has sufficient AP. Another method could be to increase the base damage per tick by 1-2 damage on all ranks (I did say very slight buff, it would not take much to fix this problem). Another method, which would potentially cause problems in making Malzahar too powerful, would be to add 1 extra second to his E duration, while retaining the same overall damage (giving Malzahar more time to ensure the minion dies before E wears off, but significantly buffing Liandry's Torment on him). Reduce the mana cost on E to make it refund its cost at 1 transfer less (too much mana for too little skill late game) would also solve the problem in lane. Increasing the mana refund on E to be fully refunded at 1 less transfer (same mana problem late game).

Based on this, if a change is indeed necessary, the best change to make would be a very small buff to E base numbers to provide 1-2 more damage per tick. This extra damage should not overly increase the threat that Malzahar E presents in lane to his opponents, but if a substantial threat increase does exist, toying with the mana on E can smooth that out.