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Zilean is awesome, but now what is he? (Proposal from a Chronoshifted Zilean player)

Xenotime Gaze·3/3/2015, 9:50:03 PM·12 votes·1,625 views

I really, REALLY enjoy the Zilean changes. As a person who has always been attracted to his theme (and put 'Time' somewhere in all my summoner names to date because of it) what was holding me back was actually the fact that his main source of damage WASNT a skillshot. Now that it is, I'm enjoying him more, even though I wish that his skillshot wasn't as aggravating as it currently is to pull off.

The thing about the changes that I didn't like was that it seems like Zilean is in-between support and mage without necessarily being strong in either category. His damage was nerfed, so he's less viable mid without a specific team setup (and i desperately want him to be viable mid, as a mage player.) As a support he has less reliable tools to bring to the table than a lot of supports, given the current difficulty of landing his stun. While this may be fixed in upcoming patches, he still will bring only a reliable revive and a reliable slow/speed up to the table.

I personally would like him to be viable mid (as annoying as a lot of people find him), but it seems the the large range of the AoE stun is what has prompted them to make it so unreliable, which is entirely understandable. Personally I would prefer that support-mage champions like Zilean/Karma have much less reliable damage (which depends more on the skill of the player) but always reliable utility, and as such, think that Zilean's utility should become more reliable, and his damage stay the same or slightly less difficult to land..

A lot of people have been saying his W feels far less important now that it cannot be used to lower the cooldown of ALL his abilities (ult included), and i sympathize with that approach. It felt far better for me as Zilean to max out his Q and E before his W, because i used W less before later in the game anyway. However, given that Zilean's identity relies on manipulating/rewinding time to allow for double casts, I thought of a set of ideas that might make him more appealing to play as.

Proposed changes:

Remove W. Transition the idea of double casting to a charge system passive connected to new W (to be described later)

Q: Make more damaging, adjust particle speed to make it land slightly easier (not too much though) fix bugs. Double Q only stuns the primary target. Maybe reduce the stun to 1 second? W: New ability: Linked Timeline Passive: Zilean occasionally can rewind time, allowing him to cast a spell twice with X% increased spell cost on the second cast. Works on a charge system, with a maximum of 1/2/2/2/3 charges. Recharge time reduceable by CDR.

  • After a brief delay, Zilean creates a magical sundial, linking all enemies(/allies?) within that area to it for 2(?) seconds or until enemies break the tether linking them to it. Enemies(/allies?) linked to the sundial are Time-linked, making any non ultimate ability that Zilean lands/has landed on an enemy affect all linked enemies. Enemies who are dealt damage by a time bomb through this ability receive 50% damage if they are also hit by the original bomb. Linked Enemies will be stunned if 2 bombs are placed together or seperately on any linked member (Negotiable, depending on how hard it is to land Q after the changes) (Example: If Zilean lands a time bomb on a linked enemy or links other enemies to an enemy with a time bomb, all linked enemies will receive time bomb damage. If Zilean slows a linked enemy, or links a slowed enemy, then other linked enemies will be slowed)

This will allow Zilean (With coordination and a ton of mana) to perform the following when played ideally:

  • Enemy team slow down (Anti-initiation?)
  • Enemy team stun (when a 'doublecast' charge is available)
  • Allied team charge (depending on whether W can also be allowed to affect allies)
  • More reliable damage when cards are played right.
  • Better teamfight damage, worse single target damage.

This would probably be a crazy idea, and who knows, maybe its unnecessary, but I'd love to see Zilean improve and expand his prowess as a Time Mage in the league of legends.

23 Comments

doublelift fg3/3/2015, 10:29:28 PM3 votes

the stun is so awesome, don't nerf it it is so hard to place it anyway

i want to change his E really, make it create a chronosphere allies in the chronosphere has their projectile speed and move speed increased enemies has their projectile speed and move speed decreased

Hupsis3/3/2015, 10:40:39 PM2 votes

The new Zilean is more fun than the previous. But I still can't take him seriously as long as he throws his home made bombs and calls himself a time mage... He's a freaking clocksmith with a jetpack hidden beneath his huge clock! (glad I didn't make a spelling mistake :P)

cough

Anyways, I think his passive needs to be changed. It's quite boring. I like bonus exp idea though (Bard's passive is well done compared to Zilean's imo). His Q hit range could be increased just by a tiny bit when you throw it. When he eventually gets a VU the bomb should be created at the location rather than thrown (similarly how Syndra creates her orbs). W is overall rather boring ability. Could use a passive of some sorts. E is fine and I enjoy it. R... it just needs to be reworked. There's just so much more potential for a time related ultimate. Kunkka "X marks the spot" anyone? ok I'll shut up ._.

kureransu3/3/2015, 10:04:11 PM2 votes

Actually there are three issues I have with new Zil (just picked him up, actually).

  1. The missile speed on his q could be tad bit faster.

  2. the range on time warp be a little larger (current it's 550 which is like 90% of ranged champions AA range). I know they did this so he has to take some damage, but the guy dies in like 3 hits.

  3. 600 range back on his AA :(

I've been spamming Zil in TB for the past few days, and i couldn't figure him out. It clicked kinda yesterday that is more of a utility champ with his E now. His E is super strong, and due to cast range being 40% smaller that the Q cast range, you will almost always land double bomb.

another thing I found out and posted in another thread. the stun triggers when ever the two bombs "magnetic" aoe touches. I've had a champ with a bomb on them, thrown the second one in the path they were running, and when they got into range of the "magnet" it triggered the stun.

I often times find myself denying ccs by just zoning them with bombs.

trial13/4/2015, 5:24:48 AM1 votes

How about a simple buff to allow W to reduce ally basic skills by 10 seconds or lower like 8 ? It refresh his own by 10. This will make him quite a wild card and better support. Well, he is a main support function, not a burst damage dealer. A support which should be around manipulating battlefield type.

shalexade3/3/2015, 11:07:44 PM1 votes

So, they need to remove W due to it's lack lusterness.

Personally, I'd like to see it where you could only use 1 Q to proc the stun.

Maybe it could proc against a wall or against an enemy?

And I spose, without the double cast, his E becomes a little lackluster. Maybe the ability to go through walls would improve it?

And his now redundant W? Let's make it a heal.

Ah, and stuff it, his R can be a team-wide Zhonyas and he can get buffs from walking around the map and also empowered auto attacks.

JevelFaithful3/4/2015, 12:26:19 AM1 votes

I honnestly don't feel like making QE ammo based would keep the feeling of rewinding time. Unless the charge was the ability to recast a spell while it's on cooldown. So that it's possible to use Q with normal cooldown or burn the passive by recasting it.

More importantly, the timelink mecanic doesn't feel timey at all to me. I think they'd keep that idea for another champion. One whose theme fits better.

ADDED :This passive could actually work nicely : Passive : ammo based, 1 charge. Zillean can recast Q or E while they are on cooldown. When doing so, this passive goes on a [current W cooldown] seconds cooldown.

Kitten of Evil3/3/2015, 10:23:04 PM1 votes

Remove W. Transition the idea of double casting to a charge system passive connected to new W (to be described later)

Completely agree. Not rewinding his ult, W is now worthless except to double-bomb. Just let him double-bomb some other way (charges like Vel's Void Rift/Vi's Excessive Force or your charge system) and give him something actually useful in W's place.