What was the team targeting with Ezreal's Arcane Shift buff?

Zeenic·Sep 5, 2015·3 votes·1,385 views

Ezreal was my first non-450 ip champ and as such, my favorite champ in the game (shout out to yasuo though).

I am very curious as to why the balancing team decided to buff Arcane Shift with a pretty substantial AD ratio. As an avid Ezreal player, I love the Potential synergy with his trinity force build along side standard adc builds, BUT my concern is this buff is EXTREMELY situational. In the lanning phase, the buff increase his all-in capabilities and dueling prowess, should he find himself in that situation, while improving his mid-late game, where minions do not interfere. But it is a buff to a non-choice, targeting spell Primarily used as an escape, and secondarily used as an all-in damaging spell (considering its high mana cost and long cool-down).

SOOOO, I would quick tidbit on why the team decided to target this spell in such a way?

PS: Thanks for improving Pulse Fire Ezreal!!

13 Comments

KougaSep 5, 20152 votes

{quoted}

The intent with the E buff is to add some more power to Ezreal's kit in a way that encourages some risk taking to take full advantage of it (using E more offensively at times, rather than almost always sitting on it as an escape).

That does still leave AD Ezreal's W feeling pretty underwhelming, our primary focus for 5.18 though is balance (Worlds patch), rather than addressing other issues like satisfaction.

Source

ZeenicSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Source

TY man! I guess I can't use the search function very well cause I did look for an explanation.

If this is the case, then reverting the cool-down nerf (+2 seconds) seems pretty appropriate considering it still leaves a large window of vulnerability after using his E.

I get the risk-taking aspect, but you have minimal control over what you are hitting with your E so I still find the 'balance' part of the buff confusing given the nature of the spell.

Anyone have thoughts?

KougaSep 5, 20151 votes

I have a lot of thoughts. I've gone into them before Here in more depth but the short version is that he has lost some of his identity (originally a "high mobility kiting" ADC) with the rise of mobility creep in general. 100% of his "safety" and "mobility" are into his E, but if they are making E stronger as an offensive option I think it further undermines its use as a mobility tool.

The other issue is late-game scaling, which Ezreal lacks since he doesn't benefit as much from Crit and doesn't scale as well as typical late game carries. He has a very strong mid game but it will always fall off in comparison to standard ADCs.

ZeenicSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I have a lot of thoughts. I've gone into them before Here in more depth but the short version is that he has lost some of his identity (originally a "high mobility kiting" ADC) with the rise of mobility creep in general. 100% of his "safety" and "mobility" are into his E, but if they are making E stronger as an offensive option I think it further undermines its use as a mobility tool.

The other issue is late-game scaling, which Ezreal lacks since he doesn't benefit as much from Crit and doesn't scale as well as typical late game carries. He has a very strong mid game but it will always fall off in comparison to standard ADCs.

I took a look at your previous post and thought it was a pretty good analysis.

I tend to agree that his his identity has been smothered but the general trend of mobility creep which is why my favorite way to play him is blue build with IBG since this high-lights his mobility and kiting, especially mid and late game with high CDR. The problem is to accent his identity you sacrifice too much damage, and if you want damage you weaken his identity (thanks to the lack of CDR).

Still think he 100% needs his AS steroid, especially given his weak scaling, if one is to build him like a traditional adc or caster ADC.

I like the Idea of giving him movespeed but not after using E, since like you stated, it ties his mobility to one spell. Maybe reward Ezreal players with a decaying movespeed buff after landing/using a W (similar to Ahri) to cement his mobility and use of Essence Flux as his utility Spell? The extra MS should allow him to build standard adc while using his E offensively (even though my concern still is that the damage is not reliable), and keep his identity as a hypermobile champion.

But as it stands, I agree that buffing E offensively undermines his identity as it takes away from his mobility for unguaranteed damage. I'm really drilling this idea of unreliable damage on his E because he is a skill shot champion yet you have very little control over a large amount of damage (given the buff).

KougaSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Still think he 100% needs his AS steroid, especially given his weak scaling, if one is to build him like a traditional adc or caster ADC.

First off, thanks for reading my other post. Been trying to get a Red's take on it for a while without success but I think there is a direction to go there.

See the issue with his AS steroid is that he isn't a traditional ADC. He doesn't build like one because he goes the TF route rather than a crit-focused one. So even with an AS steroid, in an AA-based duel he should lose against a Crit ADC every time. They've purposefully and deliberately weakened his dueling capability, putting him further into a kiting/caster based play pattern. However that now conflicts with his passive, which encourages him to get within that dueling/AA range.

Losing it would certainly further reduce his dueling but Riot is all about "reinforcing strengths & weaknesses" so I think giving him stronger mobility, weaker 1v1 dueling, but better late game damage output via his spells or some combination of spells/AAs (similar to my "X damage every few spells" idea) would fit right into this new philosophy.

DrNovaSep 5, 20151 votes

Probably as more incentive to go ad ez? Just a guess

1000angrybeesSep 5, 20151 votes

It's funny because it's actually a buff to AP ezreal too. Not a huge one, but a buff none the less. Especially if you build his masteries accordingly.

KougaSep 5, 20154 votes

Since it is Bonus AD, it isn't much of one.

1000angrybeesSep 5, 20151 votes

Oh wait, bonus? Well, never mind, I'd get like 5 extra damage lol

ofartSep 5, 20151 votes

I don't think it'll help too much since E is a very risky ability to use and also doesn't prioritize champions. He probably needs some AD ratio on W too.

ZeenicSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

I don't think it'll help too much since E is a very risky ability to use and also doesn't prioritize champions. He probably needs some AD ratio on W too.

Yea that's my concern also, its a really situational buff. Ad ratio on his W would be awesome, Trinity Force build would do TONS OF DAMAGE.

ZeenicSep 5, 20151 votes

Np, always glad to read others perspective's, especially since we obviously really enjoy playing Ez.

I agree, he is not a traditional adc, but, he can build like one Because of his passive. This is one of the reasons I enjoy Ezreal, because I can choose what path to take in champ select (ap or ad), and then again in game. I can chose which ad path to take: caster style (trinity into bork/ blu trinity/ blu IBG) or traditional adc depending on both team compositions. He is one of the few Adc allowed this flexibility and it stems from his passive so I'm wary on touching it.

I also agree he loses dues to crit based carries, but only late game when the stat is valuable, otherwise he a strong duelist early game, and moderate duelist mid game, falling off late game unless fed.

Yea they have weakened his dueling threat with past buffs which is why I don't understand the AD ratio on his E, an all in dueling buff. Why else would you blow 90 mana when you could get 2 Q's off and lower your cool downs at the same time?

If riot is to improve his late game scaling I like your idea akin to Diana's passive, but it would inevitably buff his dueling at all stages of the game, accented late game where ratios are more important. I like that it focuses on his casting. I know in your other post you said don't give his abilities the augmented damage, but maybe it isn't such a bad idea considering it would reinforce his AD caster strength and synergies with his q passive pretty well.

What do you think of adding a mobility passive to his W?

KougaSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Np, always glad to read others perspective's, especially since we obviously really enjoy playing Ez.

What do you think of adding a mobility passive to his W?

Definitely, Ez has been my favorite Champ and my main since he was released.

As for his mobility.. overall I still think it would be most appropriate as a Passive change to MS instead of AS but I do see your point about losing some of his flexibility. Personally I'm more okay with that because I want Ezreal to be stronger in his niche rather than weaker across multiple roles, but that's a topic for debate.

Mobility on his W.. could work. Not sure what to give him to still make him feel unique in his own respect. So I wouldn't want to give him Ahri's same kind of "Cast Spell, Run Fast." If it were any other Champion I think the obvious choice would be a slow, but I also like that Ezreal relies on his strengths and still having 0 CC.

What if W marked enemies hit, if he proc'd the mark via AA/Q, he got some kind of burst of speed? Feels a little.. gimmicky, and maybe too similar to Lucian.

Not really even sure what I want to do with his W as a whole, in the long run. It is fairly problematic for AD Ezreal.