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The Reworked Shen - It's Time to Say "Goodbye" to the Spirit Blade

sixths·11/19/2016, 2:06:39 AM·4 votes·864 views

Let me just say this: his rework looked so nice, but the way it plays is just awkward, and I don't know why it hasn't been addressed. The reason for this awkwardness is related to one major change: the Spirit Blade. While the idea of a "Spirit Blade" was pretty cool, whoever was behind the idea of it idly sitting around for extended periods of time had a bad idea, and it's a shame that no one rectified it before it hit live. It is just plain awkward, thematically, visually, and for gameplay.

**TLDR: Get rid of the stupid awkward floating sword and make it not only cooler but feel better to play. **

Does anyone actually enjoy the feeling of this mechanic?

P.S. A lot of people seem to miss the name "Vorpal Blade", even if not the ability itself.

Potential changes:

Theme 1: Shen works with spirits rather than just a spirit blade.

Q: After a brief delay Shen summons a spirit blade from target direction. [During this delay enemies see where the blade will come from so they can dodge] Shen's next 3 autos are empowered... These autos are further empowered for each [optional: if 1] champion hit when drawing the blade.

W: Shen incites the spirits around him, providing a protective barrier in a small radius that causes all auto attacks to miss targets in the radius.

Theme 2: Shen's blade he uses for all purposes is a "spirit" blade, but has to be charged to use Q [and/or other abilities].

Q: Passive: Shen's blade charges over time, auto attacks and taunting increase this rate/add stacks. [Perhaps have stats like damage, health, on hit etc based on # of stacks] Active [option 1]: When Shen's blade reaches X stacks, he can activate its spirit energy to cause his next 3 basic attacks... Active [option 2]: When Shen's blade reaches X stacks he can call spiritual energy from target direction to empower his blade after a brief delay. If the energy passes thru a champion it will further empower... blah blah.

W: Shen marks a small area of the ground around him with his blade, drawing spiritual energy to create a protective barrier around the area for 2 seconds. Allies within the area will dodge all basic attacks.

Other ideas with theme 2: he could have instead of an "energy" bar a "spirit" bar which he uses for his abilities. It could be similar to Shyvana's bar, and then he has to choose which abilities he wants to use his spiritual energy on (empowering autos, creating the barrier, maybe even ulting)

7 Comments

Merbstrom11/19/2016, 2:19:58 AM3 votes

Ehh, at first I thought that it was garbage, but the new Shen (if you can still call him new at this point) definitely has some interesting nuanced mechanics and fills a very powerful role. If anything he just might need some tweaking, because apparently he is very oppressive if you know the matchups and ability windows. Hence why he's been nerfed and in a kinda meh state. f you're not thrilled with him, I'd entourage messing around with your masteries, because some of the new ones might make enough of a difference to match previous playstyles and fill in some holes.

Bhagswag11/19/2016, 2:14:57 AM1 votes

I like his current state, and I liked his old state.

Maybe he could use a few buffs, but I'd like to retain his sword. I've seen the power of Shen, and I am enlightened.

arcDapineapple11/19/2016, 2:27:19 AM1 votes

i'll be honest with you i wish shen get another rework like ryze this time focusing on dual wielding. It funny has a ninja with dual swords he not that cool

Zach Sandwhich11/19/2016, 2:57:33 AM1 votes

I like Shen as he is, the sword takes some getting used too, but I feel like its a fun mechanic at least for me. Might be a bit biased on this opinion though :p

Samakii11/19/2016, 2:59:40 AM1 votes

This new Shen has become one of my favorite champions. I didn't like the old Shen one bit, as a matter of fact I used my last refund on him. The recent nerfs took a lot out of him, but he has a very unique play style for a tank. His itemization could be fleshed out more as he scales a lot with health, a little with AP, a tad with AS.