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Here's my take on a Janna rework

Witch of Babylon·8/21/2018, 8:15:13 PM·5 votes·2,709 views

It's been almost a year since Janna's mini-rework, and it honestly feels like she's due for another. Sure, the mini-rework solved Janna's terrible problem of uninteractivity, but it ignored the hidden power of her kit and also created even more problems. Janna's kit is problematic, but not just because it's broken, but because of problems that limit the gameplay, satisfaction, and theme. Janna could be so much more, but these "design flaws" just hurt her.

#Janna's Design Flaws

  1. The 8% movement speed she gives to allies is too subtle and gives too much power without being that noticeable or satisfying.

  2. The charge-damage on Howling Gale unnecessarily gimps Janna's damage, very rarely will you get the full use of the damage in a laning phase fight.

  3. The bonus magic damage on her basic attacks and W is barely noticeable. It’s only useful on W at mid-game.

  4. Nearly all her poking power was moved to her W in her mini-rework/hotfixes, her basic attacks don't feel good enough to use compared to it. When the passive finally starts to get some big numbers, it starts to get too risky to even use them.

  5. 550 range for basic attacking is the general norm for enchanter supports, but it's way too oppressive for a champion like Janna. A big shield and a 0.5 second knockup means enemies can't exactly retaliate. It should be easier for enemies to fight back or it should be harder for Janna to do it safely.

  6. The bonus attack damage on her shield isn’t the best buff to be on a shield. You really only get the full effect on crit ADC's or Master Yi, you get some use on AD casters, but it is literally useless on anything else. The buff the shield gives should be slightly more general.

  7. Her W shouldn’t be allowed to be a viable poke ability in the first place. It was a good direction to make Janna more interactive, but just right-clicking people for 200 damage isn’t the most exciting thing in the world.

  8. Her ultimate has a heal, but it's not primarily used for the heal. It’s really just used to get people off you, and there simply isn’t a good amount of time to make the most of the healing aspect.

#These problems limit what Janna was destined to be. Janna should be a Wind Goddess, not just a top-tier cockblocker.

The rework that I made removes these problems, and pushes Janna's theme more towards the Storm's Fury. Be sure to give constructive feedback so Riot takes community concepts seriously. TL;DR below.

#Janna Rework

Stats:

Base Mana: 350 → 409 Base Attack Damage: 46 → 49 Attack Growth Stat: 1.5 → 2.3 Movement Speed: 315 → 340

Prevailing Air (Passive):
Effect Range: 275

When Janna shields an ally or slows or immobilizes enemy champions, zones of magical air are left behind. The zones last for 6 seconds and grant 15 - 25% (+[2% Ability Power]%) movement speed for 1.5 seconds to allies that pass through them.

Prevailing Air has a 30 second cooldown on damaging abilities but has no cooldown on supportive abilities.

Howling Gale (Q):
Minimum Range: 1100 Width: 60 Cost: 60/75/90/105/120 Mana Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8

Summons a whirlwind which deals 70/115/160/205/250 (+70% Ability Power) magic damage to enemies in its path and knocks them into the air for 0.5 seconds.

The whirlwind can be charged up to 3 seconds. For each second charged it:

  • Knocks up for an additional 0.25 seconds
  • Becomes 50% wider
  • Travel 20% further

Activate again to release the whirlwind early.

Zephyr (W): Effect Range: 150
Cost: 90 Mana
Cooldown: 8

Throws an air elemental that explodes upon enemy contact, dealing 60/85/110/135/160 (+40% Ability Power) magic damage and slowing their movement speed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 1 second.

Hitting an enemy directly with Zephyr grants Janna Cyclone Strike, making Janna’s next two basic attacks deal 10/17.5/25/32.5/40 (+15% Ability Power) bonus magic damage. Cyclone Strike lasts for 5 seconds.

Eye of the Storm (E):
Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 Mana Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12

Grants an allied champion or turret a shield that lasts 2.5 seconds. The shield absorbs up to 80/120/160/200/240 (+70% Ability Power) damage.

If Eye of the Storm is cast while Janna has Cyclone Strike, the shielded ally will be granted the buff as well. Cyclone Strike can also be granted if Janna receives it during the shield duration.

Monsoon (R): Cost: 100 Mana Cooldown: 150/135/120 Effect Range: 725 Summons forth the might of the wind to knock surrounding enemies back and briefly disabling them. Also, Monsoon restores 200/400/600 (+150% Ability Power) Health to nearby allies over 6 seconds.

#TL;DR:

Passive:

  • When Janna shields an ally or slows or immobilizes enemies with her abilities, zones of magical air are left behind at their location that speed up allies.
  • It has a 30 second cooldown on damaging abilities but no cooldown on supportive abilities.

Howling Gale:

  • Howling Gale no longer has charge damage, meaning the damage is always the same regardless of charge time.
  • On first cast, it is much skinner but travels slightly further. Each second the whirlwind is charged, it becomes wider.
  • It has a lower cooldown at later ranks.

Zephyr:

  • Zephyr is now an area-of-effect skillshot, but does much less damage upon initial cast and has a weaker slow for 1 second.
  • Upon hitting a champion directly with Zephyr, you gain Cyclone Strike, making your next two basic attacks do bonus magic damage.

Eye of the Storm:

  • Attack damage bonus is removed and the cooldown is higher at later ranks, but the base shield is stronger.
  • Janna can grant Cyclone Strike if she has the buff while shielding an ally, but can also grant the buff if she receives Cyclone Strike during the duration of Eye of the Storm.

Monsoon:

  • Monsoon no longer has a channel. Instead, after initial cast allies around Janna are healed for a large amount over 6 seconds.

#Transitioning

Early Game

Janna will have a significantly less reliable early game, but if she needs to fight and can hit her skillshots, she will be very successful.

Mid and Late Game

In mid and late game, Janna's power will mostly come from Janna's tornadoes, as it is more spammable and has a higher chance to knockup more enemies. However, Janna's mana pool will run out much faster due to the lower cooldown. In tight skirmishes, it might be harder to double-click Howling Gale to disrupt enemies. Monsoon can turn the situation around if there is a problem, knocking enemies away and revitalizing your teammates.

Thank you for reading this rework. I hope this gets popular enough that Riot will see it.

10 Comments

Rathar Dashing8/21/2018, 11:39:01 PM3 votes
  1. Janna's passive movement speed exists as a way to encourage her to lead her team where she wants them to be. It's appropriately powerful for how much effort it takes, and not every passive need to be some high impact/high CD nonsense.
  2. If you're using her Q for damage, you're using it wrong. Only time it gets used for damage is pushing, when she has plenty of time to wait 3 seconds for a full charge. Otherwise it rewards good Jannas for predicting enemy movement with a well timed Q.
  3. Bonus magic damage on basic attacks isn't meant to be highly effective early, but it is there to encourage the use of her auto attacks when trading. Her W damage is definitely not-not-noticeable, it's her guaranteed source of poke/CC.
  4. That's... kind of the entire point of her passive. It rewards the riskier use of her auto attacks late without being overbearing in lane.
  5. So wait, 550 range is too much for basic attacks, but her basic attacks don't deal enough damage? Also, in what way does your rework even tackle this problem? You gave her more AD and movement speed, along with an even bigger shield, and a couple Nami-esque super autos.
  6. There's no reason giving bonus AD should be a bad thing. Not every champion should fit well into every team generally. Giving anyone bonus AD is already generally good, but it especially synergizes with champions with great AD scaling. Not to mention swapping it for an on-hit is simply a net-loss, anyone landing auto attacks would already get benefit from bonus AD (not to mention your rework removes the counterplay of remove shield = remove bonus AD).
  7. Wait, so her W isn't a viable poke tool, but it is, but it shouldn't be? What's wrong with a simple, straightforward poking tool? One that, when used, removes her ability to ghost and slows her down for several seconds. W damage could be tuned, sure, but the ability itself is fine the way it works.
  8. This is the dumbest one. It's like saying Yi's W has damage reduction, but it's not used for the damage reduction. Or Tristana's W and R deal damage, but they're not used for the damage. Different situations will call for different uses of these abilities. Janna's R is primarily to keep allies safe, yes, but it's also one of the strongest heals in the game (300 / 450 / 600 (+ 150% AP) over 3 seconds). Even just channeling it for the time enemies are stunned heals everyone for so much it makes a huge difference, and if you're good and positioned well you can keep channeling for even more healing. It also further negates burst because if you use it right, right after someone's engage spell, you can knock them back, and heal off the damage they did before they can finish your teammates off. Furthermore, taking away the channeling requirement allows Janna to heal AND shield at the same time, AND combo her other spells together while healing for massive damage. Your change to her R basically just makes it even worse all around (even on a thematic level of "summoning the might of the wind").
Snugglesnacks8/21/2018, 9:35:01 PM3 votes

Um, no. Janna is the answer to a lot of annoying champions, and that's the only reason people want her 'gone'. Too bad.

BurakkuRozu98/21/2018, 8:18:00 PM2 votes

Doesn't design flaw 7 contradict design flaw 3?

Psyrix8/21/2018, 8:35:29 PM2 votes

Love this

NiamhNyx8/21/2018, 8:19:22 PM2 votes

I see what you want, but I want this. https://i.imgur.com/pEoKlku.png[/img] Who can argue with HP, MS and MANA based on seconds?

GodlyBane8/21/2018, 8:42:24 PM1 votes

deleting her would also be a good rework

BurakkuRozu98/21/2018, 8:24:50 PM1 votes
  1. The bonus magic damage on her basic attacks and W is barely noticeable. It’s only useful on W at mid-game.
  1. Her W shouldn’t be allowed to be a viable poke ability in the first place. It was a good direction to make Janna more interactive, but just right-clicking people for 200 damage isn’t the most exciting thing in the world.

W is barely noticeable? W for 200 damage? I mean I could be misinterpreting this, but my take on it was that janna W does no damage, then her W does damage, but it's a boring interaction.

sorry about the odd area. Was trying to quote from text, just started using board more often.