Ekko Balance?!

Viddax·6/16/2015, 2:00:36 AM·37 votes·2,944 views

Riot, are you trying to say Ekko was a little broken? He was obscenely broken. If the solution to dealing with him is to learn how to play against him, then fine. But while I have him pegged (usually), most of the players at my Elo can't help but feed him. I know you're concerned about the state of professional play, but lower-level play is suffering because of this guy.

So what do you do? You concede his brokenness (kind of) and then give him a slap on the wrist? You didn't even touch one of base damages or AP ratios. And if you're worried about his early game, then leave all that the same and just nerf his mid and high ability levels. AND GIVE HIS ULTIMATE A MANA COST. HE HAS A FREE HEAL THAT REWARDS HIM FOR GOING WAY IN OVER HIS HEAD. The amount of freedom he has to dive and tear up back lines with relatively little risk is just insane.

48 Comments

manliestdino6/16/2015, 5:47:34 AM10 votes

Honestly, I used to think Ekko was actually OP. But after playing a few games against and with Ekko, I learned how to play against him. I think the deal with Ekko QQ was people not really learning how to play against him, but after a while, I saw the Ekko QQ threads die down. And, no, I am not an Ekko main. I'm a Rumble main. So don't accuse me of defending my main.

xl Kirito lx6/16/2015, 3:00:25 AM7 votes

You aren't exactly contributing anything here. Just another generic, "Nerf X champion" thread. If you want to look at elo specifically, I remember Tryndamere and Katarina being significantly more annoying, with a streak of Cho'Gath oppression awhile back.

Davy Crockett6/16/2015, 3:29:19 AM6 votes

Chill bro with the rant. If you read the boards you'd know that Ekko will be getting a mana cost on his ulti at 100 mana. The only reason it isn't is because of some code/game problem stuff that they couldnt figure out. I mean, if you want to talk about a "safe" assassin, talk about Zed... Which no one talks about.

Sammystorm6/16/2015, 5:17:23 AM6 votes

He isn't really obscenely broken. He had a bit too much probably but he was in no way as broken as you say he was

SoMNia6/17/2015, 12:12:21 AM3 votes

sigh Are we STILL having this conversation? There's a nerf to his Q AND a mana cost on his ult on the PBE. Even though his winrate is already under 50%. He already doesn't have a lot of success in tearing up back lines in full-blown teamfights. His damage falls off in the late game, and the only reason he's a threat in the mid game is that stacking Lich Bane and Luden's enhances his burst beyond its normally mediocre levels (and he's NOT the only champ who does this). I'm just kind of whatever about it all at this point. I can't believe people are still freaking out about him. He is fun, but unbelievably overrated.

THESuperStuntMan6/16/2015, 2:39:24 PM3 votes

"obscenely broken" is way overstated. Despite all the complaints people have, I actually think he has better tradeoffs then most assassins. He shouldn't win lane unlike most assassins. a lot of his damage is conditional (second part of timewinder and 3 hits for passive) unlike most assassins. he has wave clear, but it costs a lot of mana (unlike zed) all these tradeoffs for the lategame utility of parallel convergence (which has a huge windup time to where it's hard to hit unless it's coming from fog of war) and the damage on his ultimate, which relies on him not using it to escape, and his enemies grouping up around the spot that is clearly marked to be a danger area. After they give his ult a mana cost, my opinion is that he will be one of the better-balanced assassins in the game.

JESUSSAYSNO6/16/2015, 5:55:14 AM3 votes

His kit is really, really bad and unfocused. To nerf him would make him unplayable in high level play. you can't use your W effectively outside of teamfights against players with half a brain. His dash isn't very long without a target, and it doesn't hit hard enough to make anything really count without Luden's and Lich bane. His Q isn't that fantastic, due to the long time it takes before it turns around, you just walk out of it before it does the majority of its damage. His ult is a hot subject, but I'd say giving it a manacost is a really, really bad idea. His lack of burst damage makes it a really lackluster escape for an assassin, and against anyone else with any mobility, he gets screwed.

Leave him be, don't ban him, learn how to play against him. He is a skillshot champ, play against him like you would Diana.

Emperor Time6/16/2015, 2:46:18 PM3 votes

Ekko's kit is fine, all it needs is some number tuning.

Sexy Chazz6/16/2015, 2:23:16 AM2 votes

They like ecko, everyone likes ecko same with the broken LB Champ,nobody cares about balance anymore,just look at Elise now or better...Taric from 3 seasons ago

Lordofthepittt6/16/2015, 4:18:59 AM2 votes

Dodge obvious, slow moving abilities like any competent player?!

Rinky Dinky6/16/2015, 1:16:59 PM2 votes

People misusing the term broken again.

Excellent

MrButtermancer6/17/2015, 12:14:16 AM2 votes

...the great majority of his garbage happens in one of two mostly avoidable situations.

He gets his third passive proc. This is huge. Enormous movespeed swing and a spell's worth of damage. But you DID just eat any combination of three spells and autoattacks. When you have two stacks, you are in SERIOUS danger. People respect Annie when she has her stun up, but they don't treat Ekko the same way yet. That's wrong, and that gets punished.
You eat the shield stun. Also huge. HP shield with over a two second stun. That can be gg on a squishy easily. But his wind-up is a distinct "baseball swing," a loud chime plays when he's setting up, and the area the shield stun hits is visible a moment before it lands. If Ekko can get to it, it is not okay to be there. Again, many people don't respect this. Don't stand in Dark Matter or Null Sphere, don't stand in that.

I've played a considerable amount of Ekko and the majority of my kills are from people simply not respecting any part of the kit. The majority of my deaths are from R denial via CC, and burst damage.

I feel like Ekko's strong because he's complicated. People didn't bother to learn what he does and how he does it, when they do know they don't respect it like they do for established champions (my favorite example is Annie).

Like a lot of champions, there are criteria that must be met in most circumstances to engage Ekko successfully. If Brand lands his stun Q, you're in trouble. If Ahri lands Charm, you're in trouble. Understand Ekko's power spikes are his third passive stack and the shield stun and things will go a lot more smoothly.

edit: Timewinder (Q) also hits way harder returning to Ekko than going out.

LankPants6/16/2015, 5:03:49 PM1 votes

The thing I hate is that in competitive play he's played Jungle/Top/Mid as a Bruiser/Assassin. His kit's so stuffed with effects he can flex into a ton of different roles, probably as many as champs who don't excel at all of the roles they flex into like Kayle.

Celeste Benal6/16/2015, 6:51:06 PM1 votes

http://www.surrenderat20.net

chipi996/16/2015, 9:06:39 PM1 votes

I dont mind his damage, his movespeed is too high for the core itmes he gets and his mobility.

Mamiamato246/16/2015, 9:41:43 PM1 votes

I find that his R ap ratio is a bit too high right now. I do not like how it can be used to escape from a bad situation or deal massive damage. At least reduce the ratio to 1, which is still pretty high. IT CAN'T EVEN BE INTERRUPTED like Death Lotus which also makes slapping a huge amount of damage onto it too strong.

Another idea is having the ap ratio scale throughout the game. It could start at .9 at rank 1, 1.0 at rank 2 and 1.1 at rank 3.

*Edit: How about a ring around Ekko's clone that shows the area in which his ult is going to apply damage?

H0riz0n2346/16/2015, 6:48:25 AM1 votes

Its stupid because he can build tanky and still do dmg.

DrNova6/19/2015, 12:17:47 AM1 votes

Oh stop.

Ekko just requires you to play better. He has (admittidley) a heavy kit with lots of options, unless he is absolutely useless he will always be strong. Instead of complaining about it learn to play against him. And wait for everyone else to learn to play against him.

BeatinWarDrumz6/17/2015, 2:39:13 AM1 votes

OP doesnt look @winrates i guess...

Aych Pii6/16/2015, 3:53:00 PM1 votes

There's like fifteen champions that people can't help but feed in low elo, Ekko's the least oppressive of them. And his ult already has a mana cost on PBE. And nobody is rewarded for diving in recklessly, one CC skill and one decent damage dealer will kill him in seconds since he can't ult while so much as CC'd.