Is Blitzcrank in line somewhere for a rework?

John Berserk·Mar 19, 2015·6 votes·5,705 views

I dont think he's top priority by any means, but honestly I think his pull/knockup/silence combo is pretty unhealthy and just unfun to play against.

If he were to get changes, I think his pull should stay in some form (it's too much of his identity to just get rid of or replace), but something thats not just a strictly better Thresh hook. Either that, or don't allow him to follow it up with a knockup and silence.

One idea I had that could be good or bad: Two shorter-range pulls (one for each hand), working on a charge system similar to Vi's E?

25 Comments

RiotMeddlerMar 19, 201510 votes

We don't have any plans for a Blitz rework, we think he's in a good spot overall. Wouldn't mind making his W a little more interesting and giving him a little more interaction with his R passive someday, those are opportunities we might get to sometime rather than problems though.

Balance wise he might be a little strong right now, we're keeping an eye on him but don't have any immediate plans at least.

ItemsGuyMar 19, 20154 votes

I'd say one of the main problems Blitz currently displays is that he can position for his grab (which has a very short wind-up and generally lacks a significant telegraph to balance that out), which can then be followed up immediately by the rest of his hard CC.

I think to put him in a good place design-wise--not just balance-wise--he'd have to either forego his massive mobility/repositioning power (to the point where he can no longer sprint right next to you, knock you up, and then grab you while you try to run away), or the tremendous follow-up he has to that grab.

MasterTheThirdMar 19, 20151 votes

good which champion would you rework next rito?? item 3408

Xela SyabMar 19, 20152 votes

{quoted}

We don't have any plans for a Blitz rework, we think he's in a good spot overall. Wouldn't mind making his W a little more interesting and giving him a little more interaction with his R passive someday, those are opportunities we might get to sometime rather than problems though.

Balance wise he might be a little strong right now, we're keeping an eye on him but don't have any immediate plans at least.

NERF HIS MOBILITY?? He's more mobile than Janna, Sona, Karma, Lulu, and Possibly Rammus.

EvilMerodachMar 20, 20151 votes

{quoted}

We don't have any plans for a Blitz rework, we think he's in a good spot overall. Wouldn't mind making his W a little more interesting and giving him a little more interaction with his R passive someday, those are opportunities we might get to sometime rather than problems though.

Balance wise he might be a little strong right now, we're keeping an eye on him but don't have any immediate plans at least.

If you ever mess with the ulti passive, PLEASE make it in some way toggle-able (other than just blowing the ulti so it's on cooldown,) or not RNG. So frustrating to steal cs just by being in lane or sometimes agroing Baron/Dragon just cause you wanted to ward it.

John BerserkMar 20, 20152 votes

Thank you for the reply Meddler. :)

I don't think he's much of a problem balance-wise, just design-wise, mostly in how much reward he can get for landing a single grab. Thats where I think he should have changes.

I also find it a little silly that you consider some aspects of old champion kits to be unhealthy and unfun ( Veigar ) and nerf/change them accordingly while thinking others aren't when in my personal opinion they are moreso. It's just hard to see the justification in what you (Riot) pick and choose to prioritize sometimes.

edit: One of the other problems I see in his kit, which is due to the "feast or famine"-ness of his grabs and all the power it alone takes up, is it doesn't really allow him to do much else EXCEPT land grabs. Everything else requires he stand relatively close and in danger range of the enemy team to take full advantage of. If he lands a grab, thats all he has to do and his team can get a near-guaranteed kill, at any point in the game. If he doesn't land one, then he's out of commission more or less for 20-10 seconds. There's not a lot of room to do much else other than the basic things any other champion in the game can do.

trial1Mar 20, 20151 votes

How about making his E has effect on his Q ? While E active, his Q pull to his position and its damage increased ( depend on E lvl ) along with able to pull through wall. Without E active, his Q pull around at middle range just like Nautilus and Thresh and unable to pull through wall.

O Shaq HennessyMar 19, 20153 votes

As a blitz main, hes balanced. Easily dodged hooks as its predictable, if you cant dodge em you deserve to be pulled into 5 men. Skill shots are skill shots for a reason, takes skill and those who can or cant hit q's is what makes them good at any champ, nid, naut, thresh, leona, ziggs, etc etc.

PubgamerAUMar 19, 20155 votes

Brb, pressing W, running up to the ADC's face, fisting him into the air, then using hook to trololol to victory.

It's not about 'just dodge the hooks'. Very very often, you can't, as in it's next to impossible without burning a summoner.

Also, nobody is saying blitz shouldn't have a hook. I agree with the OP. A shorter range on the hook(meaning he has to actually take a risk and get close to an enemy team) but on a shorter cooldown, maybe with a 2-charge system.

Right now, blitz is 0% risk, 100% reward.

John BerserkMar 19, 20154 votes

Well I wouldn't say he's 0% risk exactly. His real risk is missing hooks and becoming irrelevant, which honestly is a real risk because 4v5's aren't fun.

PubgamerAUMar 19, 20154 votes

Uh. There's no risk in that. He misses a hook, what happens? His team dance around for another 10-20 seconds.

It's 0% risk. Nothing bad will happen to blitz if he misses a hook. He's still able to scare off squishies with his knockup/ult/general presence.

AbyssphereMar 19, 20153 votes

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Well I wouldn't say he's 0% risk exactly. His real risk is missing hooks and becoming irrelevant, which honestly is a real risk because 4v5's aren't fun.

He's hardly irrelevant. He still has a single target knockup and a team-wide silence which does a lot of damage for a support. His hook is a lot of his power but Blitz is far from useless in a team fight, if nothing else his ult allows him to disengage and with the cooldown being so short his team can just wait for a hook to land again.

Raja ChachkiMar 19, 20152 votes

lol......if you are letting Blitz run in and fist your ADC, you are doing something wrong. Blitz takes a risk walking into your enemy, either that or he risks pulling a tank into him and his team(a bad initiation). He risks whenever he spends 100 mana on his game changing hook, the same as most ultimates. He risks whenever he is picked, because he depends on the enemy team being bad at dodging. Whenever I play him, I either get over 30 assists, including first blood because invading with Blitz OP, or I become irrelevant and get raged at because I can't hit hooks(the enemy is good at dodging them).

John BerserkMar 19, 20156 votes

if you cant dodge em you deserve to be pulled into 5 men.

So unsuccessfully dodging a single non-ultimate skillshot should result in me being put instantly into a 5v1? I don't know, that doesn't sit that well with me.

I totally think Blitz should have a pull, and I definitely believe he should be rewarded for landing his skillshots and the person he's pulling should be punished accordingly, but Blitz's 925 range instant 5v1 pull is a bit much, especially when it could be instantly followed up with a knockup and a silence, keeping you in place for 2.5 seconds.

WarlockLawMar 19, 20151 votes

If blitz is next to his whole team then so should you, and if you are next to your team then your tank should get pulled not your carry. If blitz pills any tank into his team then he loses a teamfight

Krys StarMar 19, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Not Blitzcrank,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ZBgsJx0j,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-03-19T10:43:06.766+0000)

As a blitz main, hes balanced. Easily dodged hooks as its predictable, if you cant dodge em you deserve to be pulled into 5 men. Skill shots are skill shots for a reason, takes skill and those who can or cant hit q's is what makes them good at any champ, nid, naut, thresh, leona, ziggs, etc etc.

That must explain his extremely high win rate AND pick rate. No, he is not balanced. As a matter of fact, he's a very unhealthy champion. He shuts out so many champion picks in bot lane, both adc and supports. A champion that can pull you with minimal risks and costs, other than 100 mana cost and a fairly long cd ( although you typically build cdr and mana on him), and then guarantee your death is stupid. You get pulled, chance are you're dead. You're very unlikely to survive, and if you do, you're out of the fight and that hurts an entire team instead of hurting one player.

DivewingMar 19, 20152 votes

Blitz's kit is toxic. He's useless if he misses and godmode if he hits, that kind of spectrum all because of 1 ability is just broken. I feel the same about pantheon, he takes: "Strong early fall off late" to the next level, he has obscene and completely obnoxious damage early, and proceeds to fall off a cliff at level 13, doesn't strike me as healthy champion design for either....

BeatzBoyFTWMar 19, 20152 votes

Or, you can just stand behind a minion, or juke his pulls?

ItemsGuyMar 19, 20151 votes

Yeah, that's all you'll ever have to do against a Blitzcrank, hence why he only has a 56% win rate and is one of the most frequently-banned champs in NA.

Honestly, I think he's a little UP. He has such a hard time positioning for that hook with that 8-second-long 16% movespeed boost at rank 1 (especially early on in the game where nobody has boots yet), it's almost unfair for him!

WydiwygMar 19, 20152 votes

A typical reply, but we all know that it isn't that easy. You can't hide behind minions (or your tank) for 30+ min straight, you just can't. So..you are ultimately bound to be at risk of getting pulled, especially if you can't account for his whereabouts 24/7. And getting grabbed is - more often than not - your almost certain death since you're too CC-locked to even have the time to Flash or activate Zhonya's.

BTW: This is not a "bronze problem". Blitz' winrate in Plat is ~56% and only slightly less in Diamond and Master/Challenger while maintaining a pick-/banrate that rivals Lee Sin's. That is higher than his winrate in Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Yes, it is possible to avoid most of Blitz' hooks, but all he needs to do is land a handful of successful ones over the course of the game to let it all snowball from there. I don't think that's healthy.

Blue KaoziMar 19, 20151 votes

I just think they should reintroduce the negative effect of his w. The reduced movespeed after it wore off was a punishment for failing an engage. If he landed the knockup/hook the reduced speed didnt matter. If he missed it let you retaliate. At the very least make it so he slows himself at rank one and the slow reduces in strength and duration with each rank, to live where he doesn't. Buff something to compensate, preferably his mana costs.

StrawberrycocoaMar 19, 20151 votes

If "unfun to play against" was a motivation to nerf or rework someone, all the Assassins would be gutted and dead.

...Meddler pls.

LoRdJeSuS6969420Mar 19, 20151 votes

I think he's fine...his hook and knockup combo is what makes him what he is. If he is changed at all it should be in other ways. Not to mention the silence isn't really a silence (lasts .5 s); it's really only useful for interrupting channeled abilities.

AbyssphereMar 19, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I think he's fine...his hook and knockup combo is what makes him what he is. If he is changed at all it should be in other ways. Not to mention the silence isn't really a silence (lasts .5 s); it's really only useful for interrupting channeled abilities.

The silence's main use seems to be acting as another link in a CC chain. It just gives everyone around another half second to land some CC, as well as denying flashes. The silence does a lot more than cancelling channels.