Syndra: Returning Sovereignty to the Dark Sovereign
http://champion.gg/champion/Syndra
Our favorite queen of limitless power and perfect balance seems to be a little limited in power and over-balanced these days. The following is the rework I would make to bring her back to competitive and fun play again. It basically changes her passive from a skill-specific system to a more generalized "power" system, where she becomes stronger the more she levels skills and the more she casts her Dark Spheres.
PASSIVE - Transcendent Syndra's power feeds itself. The more power she has, the more she gains. She begins play with three permanent dark spheres orbiting around her. She gains an additional permanent Dark Sphere whenever she reaches maximum level in an ability, for a maximum of seven when all skill points are spent. Each of Syndra's abilities gains a transcendent bonus based on the total number of Dark Spheres, permanent and temporary, she currently has in-play.
Q - Dark Sphere - Range 800; Cost 40/50/60/70/80 Mana; Cooldown 4s
- Active: After a brief delay, Syndra summons a dark sphere at target location, dealing 60/95/140/185/230 (+60% AP) magic damage to all enemies in an area around it.
- Transcendent Bonus: Dark Spheres deal 2% additional damage to champions as true damage for each Dark Sphere in play.
W - Force of Will - Range 925/950; Cost 60/70/80/90/100 Mana; Cooldown 12/11/10/9/8s
- Active (First Cast): Syndra grabs a temporary Dark Sphere, enemy minion, or non-epic monster for up to 5 seconds. If a temporary Dark Sphere is grabbed, its duration is refreshed. If a minion or monster is grabbed, it is put in stasis.
- Active (Second Cast): Syndra throws the grasped unit at target area, briefly granting sight around the unit as it lands. All enemy minions and monsters in the area, including the thrown unit, take 80/120/160/200/240 (+70% AP) magic damage and are slowed by 25/30/35/40/45% for 1.2 seconds.
- Transcendent Bonus: The slow duration is increased by 0.1 per Dark Sphere in play.
E - Scatter the Weak - Range 700/1100; Cost 50 Mana; Cooldown 18/16.5/15/13.5/12s
- Active: Syndra blasts a wave of force in a narrow arc in front of her, knocking back enemies and hurling any Dark Spheres hit outward. Enemies hit by either the wave or a dark sphere take 70/115/160/205/250 (+40% AP) magic damage. Enemies struck by a dark sphere are additionally stunned for 1.5s. Enemies struck by both the wave and a dark sphere do not take additional damage, but they are both knocked back and stunned.
- Transcendent Bonus: The radius of the wave of force is increased by 10% per Dark Sphere
R - Unleashed Power - Range 615; Cost 100 Mana; Cooldown 100/90/80s
- Active: Syndra gathers all of her Dark Spheres and hurls them at a single target, dealing 90/110/120 (+15% AP) magic damage per ball.
- Transcendent Bonus: Unleashed Power's range is increased by 15 per Dark Sphere
This new setup basically rewards Syndra for spamming her Q more. Instead of just nailing a poke every now and then, it encourages her to play fast-and-loose with her mana, as the rewards constantly increase. While she will do more damage once she has cast a few Q's, her initial damage will be lower, so she won't just delete a carry at the start of a fight unless she gets a few seconds to build up her power. I did change the passive on her Q and increase the base damage somewhat. During laning, level 1 Q with 4 spheres (typical poke - 3 base +1 cast) would be worth 65 damage, which is still less than her old 70, but more than her current 50.
edit: haters gonna hate!
