Caitlyn Passive Rework

Protroid·5/31/2015, 4:25:57 AM·1 votes·1,566 views

So it was mentioned by riot ricklessabandon here that Caitlyn is about to get a few small changes to her passive. For those of you who don't know, Caitlyn's current passive is as follows;

Caitlyn's basic attacks generate 1 stack of Headshot (doubled when attacking from brush). Attacks against towers will not grant any stacks. At 7 / 6 / 5 stacks, her next basic attack will deal bonus physical damage equal to 50% of her attack damage (tripled against minions and monsters).

All in all, I like what her passive is trying to accomplish, although I also feel that even with her passive, Caitlyns that we see most of the time today don't really take as much advantage of this portion of her passive, simply because in numerous bot lane compositions, it is almost always safer to stay behind or among the minions, even if you have a chance at more damage by shifting into a bush. The damage potential gained by moving into brush is heavily outweighed by her newfound vulnerability to skillshots, a reduction in the number of openings she has to effectively harass, and the transit time of moving into the brush in the first place. Caitlyn, like most ADCs, relies on sustained damage, a sudden burst from the bushes is not particularly useful or desirable, especially as Caitlyn moves out of the laning phase.

With this in mind, I feel the first half of her passive, generating stacks from autoattacks is really neat, although the incentive for moving into a bush has to be higher in order for this portion of the passive to be more effectively utilized. And it should be heavily incentivized, as Caitlyn's kit revolves around being this sweet sniper figure, and most snipers traditionally like to stay out of sight, in brush, in order to line up that perfect shot.

In this regard, I immediately think of the following change;

Caitlyn's basic attacks generate 1 stack of Headshot. Attacks against towers will not grant any stacks. At 7 / 6 / 5 stacks, her next basic attack will deal bonus physical damage equal to 50% of her attack damage (tripled against minions and monsters). Attacking from brush increases basic attack range by X%

That last part is my argument, with a range boost, we give Caitlyn the opportunity to do more of what she does better than any other ADC, poke the ever loving shit out of her enemy laners. While Caitlyn remains more vulnerable in brush than behind minions, she now can more safely farm and harass before worrying about that Thresh hook. She can safely set up ambushes and get off a few extra shots before the enemy champion gets too close. After all, a sniper has to rely on their range for defense should there be no nearby allies.

Of course, I am only a crazy guy in low elo, which is why I posted this thread here. Just how crazy am I? Does Caitlyn need to lose her bonus stacks from brush with this change? What does the community think about this potential change to Caitlyn's passive, and what are some other alternatives that can give her a boost?

TL:DR; Caitlyn loses her bonus stacks in brush, and receives a basic attack range boost in its place.

1 Comments

3TWarrior5/31/2015, 5:04:33 AM2 votes

it would be interesting, but this change would make caitlynn the next preferred ADC because she could outrange all of the rest just by hiding in the brush. if it slowed her movement speed for a bit after she fired, it would make sense, but every part of her kit is part of who she is at the moment. She is one of only 2 carries that can trap their opponent, but jinx outdoes her in this role.

lol, imagine if her sniper ult was global XD