Irelia Rework Concept
"Better nerf Irelia" is a joke that has been running since her release, primarily because she received several nerfs upon release for being what is known as a stat-stick champion. This means that, when ahead, enemies have little counterplay options to best her because they simply cannot beat her stats. Her current kit is as follows: her passive gives her stats when outnumbered, her Q is her engage/CS tool (arguably the best-designed ability she has), her W gives her CC when losing, her E gives her stats plus more stats when activated, and her R is the only avoidable damage in her entire kit, giving her additional sustain if she hits it. My goal with this rework is to improve upon her telekinetic blade fantasy while incorporating healthier counterplay into her kit. As a result, my concept pushes irelia more toward the skirmisher classification rather than remaining a diver.
Hiten Style (P): Irelia has a living blade whose basic attacks can be controlled by alt-clicking enemies. The living blade has the same attack speed and attack damage as irelia, applies any applicable on-hit effects with each attack and has a 250 attack range. If a living blade strikes a target attacked by Irelia or another living blade within the last 1.5 seconds, it only deals 25% damage.
Design Philosophy: This new passive reinvents Irelia's telekinetic powers by allowing players to give her blade a mind of its own. I removed Irelia's innate durability while outnumbered, but gave her a second basic attack timer to literally fight 2 enemies at once, or become a deadlier threat in a 1v1 duel. It also indirectly increases her durability by increasing the effectiveness of on-hit effects such as lifesteal, meaning she is at her best while fighting the opposition instead of running from it.
Bladesurge (Q): Irelia dashes to a target enemy, dealing physical damage. If Bladesurge kills its target, is cast on a living blade (see W), or if Irelia scores a champion kill or assist, its cooldown is reset and Irelia gains 30 mana.
Design Philosophy: This ability was arguably the most well-designed one in Irelia's previous kit, so I kept it mostly intact. Because I made Irelia's positioning more integral to the rest of her kit, I added more opportunities to refresh its cooldown to allow for more daring plays. The mana refresh is slightly reduced to compensate.
Dancing Steel (W): Irelia sends her living blade to a target location, dealing true damage to enemies along the way. It will remain at the location for up to 3 seconds, and can be commanded to attack surrounding enemies. After the duration, or if Irelia walks over it, the living blade will return to her.
Design Philosophy: This ability replaces Irelia's old Hiten Style to improve upon the telekinetic blade fantasy. For a short duration, it allows Irelia to essentially have ranged attacks to finish off escaping foes or harass enemies from safety. The true damage was kept to maintain the theme of her blades being extensions of her transcended power. In exchange for ranged power, it makes Irelia more vulnerable until the blade returns to her, allowing enemies to capitalize on her misuse of this ability and avoid a lot of incoming damage.
Equilibrium Strike (E): Irelia pierces a target enemy to deal magic damage and slow them by 20/30/40/50/60% for 1.5 seconds. If Irelia has a higher health % than the target, the slow is increased by 1% per 1% health difference between them. If Irelia has a lower health % than the target, the slow is increased by 2% per 1% health difference between them. If the slow would reach 100%, the target is stunned instead for the duration. (Irelia sees a visual marker appears above the head of all enemies who would be stunned by Equilibrium Strike).
Design Philosophy: Equilibrium Strike was always very good thematically at portraying Irelia's sheer willpower to fight a losing battle, but it was also always very frustrating to play against due to the mechanics of the stun. This is simply an attempt to balance the ability better. At rank 1, Irelia needs to have 80% more health or 40% less health than the target to stun them, and the stun lasts longer than the current live version. At rank 5, Irelia only needs to have 40% more health or 20% less health than the target to stun them, and the stun is shorter than the current live version.
Transcendent Blades (R): For the next 10 seconds, Irelia splits her living blade into 4 separate blades. During this time, each blade will automatically attack nearby enemies, prioritizing Irelia's alt-click targets and champions. Additionally, Dancing Steel (W) gains 3 additional charges while Transcendent Blades is active. When this effect ends, all living blades will automatically return to Irelia and fuse back into a single blade.
Design Philosophy: This ability completely revamps Irelia's fantasy of wielding multiple blades. It quadruples the effectiveness of her passive, Dancing Steel (W) an on-hit effects, and can create 4 zones of threat around her simultaneously. Additionally, it allows Irelia multiple options to use Bladesurge to reposition to pick the right moments to attack, and allows Irelia to attack up to 5 enemies at once.
