Ekko - A Positive and Detailed Analysis

I've had a handful of games to play with Ekko on the PBE and have spectated many more. At first glance, Ekko has a fun, well-balanced kit with lots of room for outplay.

Design: Ekko answers the previously unfilled of job of “Utility Assassin.” He is an AP-scaling Champion who wields a high tech club, a time machine, and a slew of other gadgets. His use of technology brings to mind other Piltover/Zaunite champions, especially Jinx with her plethora of weapons that make people go boom. In actual gameplay Ekko&rsquo is the thinking man’s assassin, embodying tricky counterplay.

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Mechanics: Ekko plays like a modern champion: a robust amount of options and decisions to make with significant chances for outplay. He follows the design philosophy that we saw with Gnar and Zed: extra hidden utility if you know where to look for it.

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Passive - Z Drive Resonance Z Drive Resonance is the glue that binds together Ekko's kit. Like Gnar’s W, Ekko’s passive procs after any combination of 3 auto attacks and/or instances of ability damage, dealing damage to an opponent while slowing them (and speeding you up if they were a champion). It has good AP scaling and interacts well with Ekko’s other abilities. The slow/speed up scales in strength and duration with your level, starting at a 40% slow for two seconds and ending as a 80% slow for three seconds.

Tips: An unmentioned cooldown prevents Ekko from proccing Z-drive on the same opponent twice in three seconds. Ekko’s passive oddly triggers Luden’s Echo, unlike other similar abilities.

Q - Timewinder Ekko’s Q, Timewinder acts like a very slow boomerang. Since Ekko must correctly position both the skill shot and himself to get both hits, it feels satisfying when this move works as planned. As an added bonus, Timewinder builds up two stacks of Z Drive Resonance, allowing Ekko to proc his passive with just 1 more AA or his E.

W - Parallel Convergence With Ekko’s release, Parallel Convergence will be the most interesting zoning tool in League of Legends. As a potential 2.25 second AoE stun this ability is Veigar’s Event Horizon built with more clear advantages and drawbacks. A three second cast delay on this ability guarantees it won’t easily be used reactively. Instead, Ekko’s player must predict where his opponents will be.

There is a lot of Ekko’s power budget in this ability. The most subtle use is that it has a very large range and instantly provides vision in the area Ekko targets. This is a built-in Blue Trinket with a shorter (<20 seconds) cooldown.

Parallel Convergence can also reliably provide a strong shield. It has an impressive .8 AP ratio (higher than mids but equal to supports) and he has the gold income to support a larger AP stat than most supports. The drawback is its short duration: two seconds. Good Ekko players will operate comfortably within this small window of opportunity.

Parallel Convergence seems to be a “1 point wonder” ability. The stun/zoning potential is probably the most attractive feature of this ability and doesn’t scale with ranks. The shield already scales well with AP and the cooldown is so high that Ekko won’t be able to cast it often until he has 30%+ CDR.

Ekko also benefits from Zedtech: Parallel Convergences’ additional passive ability deals bonus damage to targets under 30% health. This helps Ekko finish off weakened Champions and last hit.

Tips: Like most assassins Ekko appears to lack siege potential. However, the long range of Parallel Convergence projects Ekko’s zone of control significantly further than other assassins. This creates a large no-go area for enemy carries while allowing Ekko to contribute to damaging a tower or contesting an objective like Baron or Dragon.

E - Phase Drive Phase Drive is fun - really, really fun. Other champion cinematics promise more than they can deliver in-game (the Garen and Katarina duel in a Twist of Fate, anyone?) but Phase Drive plays like it looks in his cinematic.

At base, Ekko’s Phase Drive is a short dash that increases the range of his next autoattack to 600 (six Teemos!) and teleports Ekko to his autoattack target, doing additional magic damage and proccing on hit effects. In practice the short dash is excellent for dodging skill shots. One second you’re dodging a charm or Crystal Arrow, the next second you’re on top of their carry.

Phase Drive also has wonderful synergy with Sidewinder and Parallel Convergence. With skilled play Ekko can use both dashes to guide Sidewinder’s return. Combined with Parallel Convergence, Ekko can use his dashes to more easily choose when to proc his Shield/Stun.

Tips/Oddities: The ‘on-hit’ damage that comes from Phase Drive affects towers and is useful for both clearing tower aggro (using the first step to get away) and then re-engaging the tower. Though the distance of Phase Drive's first hop appears similar to Graves', it feels much more generous when traveling through terrain.

Flash Step Combo - Phase Drive’s first hop easily telegraphs Ekko’s movements with its animation. When assassinating a target, a cool combo is to hop with Phase Drive’s first cast off screen, and then follow with a Flash + second cast/Teleport. This allows Ekko to cross nearly half a screen’s distance almost instantaneously. It’s especially useful if you can start the combo from the fog of war by hopping or flashing over a wall.

R - Chrono Break Chrono Break is well, what makes Ekko “the boy who shattered time.” At first glance, it offers second chances at fights you feel you should have won. That’s how Riot showcased it in the cinematic. You can do that - but, it’s full power unlocks with creative thinking. Chrono Break has the potential to be one of the most fun and powerful ultimates in League. It is certainly the most versatile, offering both damage in utility in a variety of ways. I can think of 7 uses for Chrono Break off the top of my head and know there to be more:

1. Escape tool.
2. Healing. Either just to cap Ekko off a little bit if no one is around or a ton after a fight (especially with higher AP).
3. A sneaky nuke requiring smart play to set up
4. Teleport instantly back to lane after buying/healing up. Shop quick and put the pressure back on.
5. It can be used in conjunction with Homeguard boots to create engage/gank opportunities without Teleport’s cast time.
6. Gap closer, especially on the re-engage.
7. Because of 6), if opponents know about Ekko his afterimage can be used as a zoning tool.

And the crazy thing? A smart Ekko doesn’t have to pick just one of the above, he can use Chrono Break to take advantage of multiple of the above modes. Which is why he’ll have such a high skill ceiling.

However, despite all the above, My favorite part about Chrono Break is a minor design choice - while your afterimage disappears when Chrono Break is on cooldown, it reappears 4 seconds before your ult comes back up, just in time for Ekko to use his Chrono Break immediately off cooldown if needed.

Tips - You can activate Chrono Shift the moment you rank it up, causing you to heal and nuke at your current location (instead of where you were 4 seconds ago as the afterimage hasn't started yet). Activating Chrono Shift gives you a half second of invulnerability (like Shaco's clone). With proper timing, you can use it to dodge abilities like Karthus and Vladimir's ults. It also resets tower aggro. If you wonder how long you can sit in fountain before you can't teleport back, take a look at the minimap. There's a little dot that represents your afterimage, as long as its traveling towards the fountain you can hit R and appear back where you recalled.

Builds It’s too early to say what the best build for Ekko is. Like many AP Champions he benefits greatly from AP, CDR, and mana. However, Ekko’s kit suggests other item synergies that traditional AP Mages or Assassins don’t have: flask to start, Nashor’s Tooth, Rod of Ages.

Starting and First Items Crystalline Flask is a strong starting item. The extra health regeneration allows him to use Timewinder a few more times and gives Ekko the sustain he needs to survive difficult lanes. Chrono Break’s ability to function as a pseudo-Teleport after level 6 allows Flask to be refilled easily.

Homeguard Boots allow Ekko to recall, fully heal and shop before Ulting back into lane. The huge speed bonus allows better initiation, roaming, and ganks without the Teleport cast time and corresponding map alert.

Ekkos abilities all increase in price as he ranks them up. An early Sheen and/or Rod of Ages can alleviate this burden while providing either more damage or extra tankiness Ekko can utilize to skirmish longer, depending on his lane matchup.

Potential Core Items: Overall, Ekko’s AP scaling is only decent if you take out his unreliable Chronobreak damage. To contribute the amount of damage an assassin needs to bring to a fight, build one or more of: Nashor’s Tooth, Lichbane, Luden’s Echo as your lane matchup or team comp demands.

The attack speed from Nashor’s Tooth allows Ekko to proc Z Drive Resonance more quickly, especially when he holds back or misses his Q. Tooth also provides extra sustained damage and 20% CDR. Lichbane adds a significant amount to Ekko’s sustained burst while helping with his mana issues. Luden’s Echo gives Ekko a small AoE burst, which translates into pushing and roaming power, surprisingly, his passive procs Luden's and while Chrono Break's movement charges it, Phase Drive's Teleport doesn't.

Mid/Late Game Items Like all AP casters and assassins, Ekko will need Death Cap and Void Staff if he wants to deal ‘tons of damage’. More defensively, Zhonya’s Hourglass and Guardian Angel offer Ekko extra chances if Chrono Breaker isn’t enough.

Conclusion Ekko’s design is satisfying both in concept and in practice. With all the utility crammed into his kit, expect Ekko to see significant professional play. And with his flashy moves and outplay potential, he’ll make for one of the most entertaining champions to watch.

He’s exactly what I wanted out of a champion. He modernizes what assassins look like on the Rift. His combat style is tricky and playful yet fast and brutal. He occupies design space that has been previously unexplored. If Ekko is an example of Riot’s 2015 design philosophy, I’m excited. Only time will tell (someone Zilean me now >.>).