@Morello: What is the long term vision for Lulu?

Lulu’s place in the game has changed since she showed up in solo lanes, but Riot never said what direction they want to take her. Is she a poking support? A utility mid? A lane bully top? All of those options? Whatever you change about Lulu, it would surprise and disappoint a lot of players. At least inform us about your vision for her. Talk to your players and let them know what to expect.

To start the discussion I would like to give my own vision of what Lulu should be. I will try to back up my arguments with general design values or things Riot has said in the past. This how I would describe Lulu in her current state:

This champion uses targeted nukes to harass and bully opponents. Massive slows, speed boosts and a life saving ultimate give a very safe lane, making it difficult to counterattack or gank succesfully. Later in the game this champion has less damage than other mages, but makes up for it in utility. The ultimate keeps allies from dying if a speed boost is not enough. Enemies get kited while they are slowed. Meanwhile this champion still does respectable AOE magic damage.

This place in the game is problematic for a couple of reasons:

• Champion diversity: Being a lane bully with strong disengage and safety shuts down a lot of diversity. A popular Lulu invalidates a lot of champion picks.

• Uniqueness: The description above might as well be for Zilean. Doing the same thing as another champion is bad by itself, but even more if it is a problematic champion like Zilean.

• Lore: Lulu is a yordle with a broad imagination who did not quite fit in. She wants to share her whimsical powers with others. But in game she is a bully who uses her abilities primarily on herself. You might as well rename her E to Nuke, Pix! The gameplay does not fit her personality and story anymore. Champion identities should remain consistent regardless of where you encounter them.

Now what would be a better identity for Lulu? For what healthy aspects should players pick her? This is my answer:

Lulu is at her best when helping high damage allies. She can greatly increase their effectiveness while disrupting the enemy team. She can offer speed, survivability and damage to various teammates. Lulu can knock-up and slow multiple enemies, but is particularly strong against assassins. The key to mastery with Lulu is adaptability. Her abilities have various use cases and can be used on different targets. The best choice depends on the situation. Adaptation to different situations separates the good from the great Lulu players.

I don’t think Riot shares the same vision, because their changes since patch 4.5 went in the opposite direction. For example:

• Adaptability: One way Lulu could adapt to situations was with her flexible skill order. But after nerfs to later levels of E and early levels of W, there is only one viable option left: Q>W>E. Why can’t support Lulu max her shield in difficult lanes? Why can’t W be a one point wonder if you use it primarily for the speed boost? Reward players for adapting their playstyle.

• Meaningful choices: Offensive/defensive use was done perfectly for W and R. You can make a meaningful choice when deciding how to use them. But E has better base values and scaling on the shield in all cases, on top of the added pix damage. Offensive E used to have a 6 second reveal and the option to hit two Q’s. Removing that made the choice between offensive and defensive E almost meaningless.

• Utility ratios: I rarely feel good about building AP on support Lulu. Her only utility ratio is on half of her W. The rest just increases numbers on her abilities. Mage Lulu has access to magic pen, offensive masteries and Deathcap. When AP scaling is balanced on mage Lulu, it will be lackluster for support Lulu. Ideally, you would buy AP on a support to get better at your core job: helping your team. That is missing here in my opinion.

Patch 4.13 already mentioned that Riot thinks Lulu is not in the best situation right now. “As an aside, we know this isn't a great situation where we keep indirectly reducing support Lulu's power to maintain her viability as a mage, so this is something we'll have to really consider for the future.” I hope Riot took the time to discuss that future for Lulu. Players deserve to know what your vision is.

"Let's put on our thinking caps! Hmm... hmmhmm, hmmhmm... Ah, I got it!"