Aurelion Sol- Gameplay Problems. @Riot Meddler

So, I got attention from Riot Meddler in my Aurelion Sol thread, but the replies stopped coming when it dropped off the front page. Some dev communication is always great, and I feel like I should condense my experience and frustration with and against Sol into one page. I do suggest some changes that I feel will end up leaving Sol balanced, most of them being power neutral- nerfs in some situations, while buffs in others. They address the frustration of playing Sol, and of playing AGAINST Sol.

Power points: Sol is a paragon of a zone control champion. He doesn't have windows of power, however- his primary strength is his always-where-needed W. This is being NERFED in 6.10 (W cooldown)

For a zone control champ, Sol has a huge amount of burst potential too. This is being NERFED in 6.10 (ult damage) and this is just a flat nerf I agree with- somewhat, because hey- he's my favorite champ, why would I complain about him being a bit strong?

Frustrating Areas: His kit feels inconsistent, especially when played against things like Braum's shield. I feel these are bugs/poor design decisions that put him in an unhealthy place in these matchups.

Braum: Any part of the animation clipping Braum's shield will sometimes block Q, not just the core touching. Blocking Q doesn't stun Braum. -Riot Meddler is on the ball with this, responded that it's coded to be consistent with Anivia's Q but that changes will be made so this interaction DOES stun Braum.

Yasuo: Wind Wall will sometimes block Q without touching the core, as with Braum. Gameplay Bugs- Q: Q seems to randomly 'miss', applying damage, CC, or spell effects but never all 3. This is a bizarre bug, but pretty rare and not really game-breaking.

Gameplay (Design)- Q: Double tapping Q needs to happen. Another big factor to Sol being such a rare champion is how clunky he feels when someone gets on top of him. If he doesn't have flash or ult, Sol is OUT OF ANSWERS. I cannot think of a single other champion I have played that has such a common situation that can render them completely helpless. That would be like if Singed had half the movespeed of other champions and someone got in front of him. The delay on Q was a design mistake to excuse loading more power onto his passive/W; the problem is that this makes it almost a 'win more' ability, because the place you'd most urgently need a stun is when someone is right on top of you. Unless you've already got your advantage in a 1v1 (enemy champ is outside your inner limit), Q isn't helpful to any degree. I think anyone would agree an ability with its power loaded on 'winning more' isn't healthy for a kit, as it makes almost every fight binary- for both Sol and his opponent. W nerfs are a perfect excuse to rebalance some utility into this ability to bring Sol into a less binary position.

Gameplay (Design)- E: Another place to look at Sol's utility is his E. Again, it makes him INTENSELY anti-fun because of how its power and utility are distributed. Its cooldown and effect are both fine- but the way it stacks isn't. Essentially at max rank, the speed and active stack up VERY quickly, making Sol completely inescapable. At the same time, one tiny chunk of damage and it flops to uselessness. You have the code snippet in Malzahar's passive- use it. I have a suggestion that could make the ability more dynamic for both Sol and any opponents he might be chasing. -Suggestion: At FULL STACKS of Escape Velocity, upon taking damage there is a 1.5 second delay before losing stacks or being knocked to the ground. Stacks now build 25% more slowly. Cooldown and cost unchanged.

Gameplay (Design)- Ult: Aurelion Sol's Ultimate feels clunky sometimes. I have missed point blank ults before; it seems that his ult targets either A: Where you mouse is after the cast time or B: Where the R key is released. I'm not sure which, but this is a super clunky mechanic and is devastating in plays where I want to turn away and run immediately after ulting. I severely doubt it's simply me moving my mouse in 50ms, as it happens fairly often.

Last, but not least... There's one more issue with Sol that might need to be addressed.

Gameplay (Design)- Catalyst and Upgrades: Spending Mana restores X% of cost as health, up to Y amount? I can't believe noone spotted the design flaw here. Again, this is a feast or famine item. It's oppressive, or hardly noticeable depending on how much mana you can pump out. I think some changes would not only level out Sol's power with this item, but make it more accessible to other champions. -Suggestion: Spending mana generates 1 stack per 3 mana spent. At 100 stacks, gain a permanent shield for (15% of max health or 10% of Mana, whichever is higher), and do not gain stacks while you have this shield. -Mana restore passive unchanged.