The compromise that could fix the AP item changes
So yeah, this planned change has sparked an outrage, and expectedly so. Here's the main complaints I've gathered:
- AP mids are gonna be dead
- Zhonya nerf too hard
- Mages are going to die of mana thirst
- Hextech Rocket Belt is gonna break the game
#AP vs AD
Let's late a look at two core items in this matchup, Hexdrinker and Seeker's Armguard.
|Item||Cost|Offensive|Defensive|Passive|Gold value|Value with passive
|-|-|-|-|-|-|
| Hexdrinker | 
| 1300g | +20 AD | +35 MR | 110-280 shield (160 at level 6) | 1330g | 1830g (lvl6)
| Seeker's Armguard | 
| 1200g | +20 AP | +30 armor | +15 AP and +15 armor after stacking up | 1035g | 1661g
So yeah, Hexdrinker costs 100g more. But unlike Armguard, which starts out with 200g deficit, it's outright cost efficient - and more, sicne its passive is available at every moment. Moreover, even fully stacked Armguard is barely a match for Hexdrinker, which will only continue scaling its shield's value. 30 minions is 5 full waves, so at least 3 minutes of farming.
Armguard is just underpowered. I'm not even mentioning the fact that AD champions can farm and trade very well with just their basic attacks, while mages are often held back by their mana budget. Sure, Armguard is not underpowered on Lissandra, who has her own mana management on the side. But for Lux, Brand, Vel'Koz? That's 1200 dumped solely towards being able to survive the lane against an AD champion.
Another issue is the function of health as a stat. Health counters AP champions way more than AD ones, I don't think I need to explain that. Many items - Doran starters, HG, Rylai's, Catalyst - contain Health. But it's nearly useless against ADs (I'm not even touching the issue of %hp damage in some kits). AD champions can counter mages with both health and MR (we don't see many Phage purchases in the mid lane, but Triforce users such as Corki continue to exist). AP champions need pure armor to stay alive.
Seeker's Armguard is not enough. It's being held back by the gamechanging nature of Zhonya's. See, I don't think it's agreat diea to make Zhonya's cost efficient for every mage against every AD champion. Hell, many times the Stasis active isn't all that great against continuous damage. What needs to happen is:
- buff to Armguard (perhaps not in raw stats, but a new passive, blocking autoattacks from enemy champions)
- alternative Armguard upgrade, preferrably with mana (Lost Chapter?)
- alternative AP armor item, possibly upgrading from Glacial Shroud
The current anti-AD options are insufficient. We need to catch up with the idea that midlane is no longer a mage-only territory.
#Zhonya's
This is the part where I go against the crowd and say: the Zhonya change is actually perfectly fine. First, that item was all always about the active anyway. Second, having CDR on core items is really, really good. Look at how broken are Kennen and Katarina going to be with 20% CDR out of nowhere on their core items (Abyssal and Zhonya).
Any problems with AD-AP lie with Armguard, not Zhonyas. By the time teamfights start AD champions are supposed to be able to single out and murder mages.
#Mana thirst
I'd give some benefit of the doubt to new passives. I'm all for new, more interactive mechanics. We certainly don't need poke wars.
What's REALLY worrying, however, is the lategame problem. Mages are supposed to spam spells in the lategame. Not even poking, but just fighting, siegeing, defending towers. It's complete bullshit when the class whose power fantasy is casting spells left and right doesn't get do do it in the end phase of the game.
Just look at the bloody Essence Reaver. That single rushable item makes all mana problems negilible for ADCs. If these were some distinct, different character classes, then okay. But ADCS are already reigning supreme in all fucking lanes, jungle included. And some of them do have waveclear and siegeing potential (and for those who don't, there are two items that do that for them). It's a sad world where Lucian, Corki or Quinn gets to spam their spells 24/7 with free 40% CDR from two items, while mages are denied mana regen in the lategame.
I'd consider putting some solid mana regen in either lategame items or game mechanics. Stuff I'd consider is:
- a Void Staff upgrade (after LW treatment) with mana regen (preferrably building out of Forbidden Idol)
- some mana/regen in Rylai's Crystal Scepter or Liandry's Torment (in place of excessive health)
- increasing base mana regen champions have at level 18
- giving one of Dragon buffs mana regen.
Also it's worrying that Chalice of Harmony is no longer a viable item in the mid lane, with Athene's becoming a support item. That leaves us just with Catalyst, Lost Chapter, and Tear.
#Hextech Madness
300 units isn't that much, it's Vayne's Tumble. But for the likes of Annie it's absolutely insane. The thing I'm most afraid of is that for champions whose power is all about getting to a place and casting their shit, no matter what the damage is, the Health tax is not going to be any setback at all.
I feel like the community is overreacting about this item. There will be some abuse cases, but once those get taken care of, it's going to be yet another Righteous Glory.
So all we need is:
- buff to AP-armor lane options
- some alternative item to Zhonyas that could still be a nice stat stick compared to Maw of Malmortius
- a way to make sure mages aren't the most mana-starved class in the lategame which would be total bullshit
- a promise from Riot that they will tune or even hotfix the Rocket Belt when neccessary (the true kind of promise, not "Solo Queue will be up in one week after Dynamic Queue" promise)
That is all.