How to Solve The Cooldown and Itemization Problem.

Posts on the boards that complain about CDR in the game generally have a positive consensus. Whether it's Fizz throwing his ult out every time someone walks into lane or Aatrox still existing, few seem to dispute the fact that there is a CDR problem in League. Those that do hardly ever have any arguments at all, let alone well-articulated ones. I haven't, however, seen a lot of proposed solutions. One item here, a general idea there. I'm going to throw a set of ideas that I think would solve the problem.

is too good of an item. It provides everything a bruiser or a fighter needs outside of sustain, which conqueror provides. 20% CDR, a strong move speed passive, and armor shred that is good both against squishies and late game tanks alike. So much so that even assassins like Zed and blue-form Kayn are rushing the item second if not first. So let's nerf the CDR down to 10%, have it build out of and a , have its armor shred proc only on bonus CDR and bring the item's cost down to around to 2750. This would still make it a solid item for bruisers, especially into tanks, but lower its effectiveness on those like Zed and Kayn unless they are responding to a tanky threat. Allow it to still function as a late-game armor shred while giving the top laners that don't rush it some room to breathe in the early game.

these are both part of the same problem. They give a ton of mana, CDR, and damage. All AP champions (outside of junglers, mind you) are rushing one or the other. So for someone like Fizz or Leblanc, itemizing into CDR runes and rushing + results in them having their full burst combo up with full 45% cdr. With no more mana problems and CDR in full swing by two items, this leaves almost no room for counterplay or weaknesses to be exposed. This also makes other mage items horrifically inefficient by comparison. So, let's lower the CDR on them both down to 10%, but also lower the cost by around 300 gold. Mages have recently been complaining about itemization and this would have the benefit of allowing them to get more items online sooner, while early game lane bullies will be less oppressive.

Brief side note while we're talking about mage items, this one sucks. sits at 1000 gold and sits at 800. These are relatively cheap items with strong trade-offs designed to counter sustain threats. Mages should have a response to sustain threats as well. should build out of another item that sits at around 1000 gold and provides brief grievous wounds. The total completion cost can remain unchanged. With a more comfortable and effective build path, this item would do far better.

Many might be surprised to see this here, but it deserves a mention, primarily for champions like Ezreal and Viktor. The item is far too gold efficient for non-tanks while providing almost nothing for the tanks and juggernauts who were meant to wield it. There needs to be a stronger damage trade-off for carry type champions that itemize into it. Either the CDR needs to drop to 10%, or the bonus damage passive needs to scale off of base armor instead of base damage. Perhaps 125% of a champions base armor + the slow. This would decrease the likelihood of it being abused by a squishy but still make it viable on tanks and bruisers that pick it up.

Last but not least we need to talk about defense itemization in general. It should be that full AD teams should fear the late game since they will struggle to burn down the enemy once armor comes into place. That certainly is -not- the case currently. Even assassins are bursting down tanks, the class meant to counter them. Fall behind in lane against someone like Aatrox, Darius, or Irelia? Good luck, even rushing a thornmail isn't going to do anything for you. The main problem is that Conqueror provides alot of damage. Between the AD stacks and the true damage it's outright oppressive, especially since it's most prominent user's are already lane bullies to begin with. The true damage needs removed, plain and simple. Keep the sustain to give bruisers the survivability they need to push through fights in the mid game but don't allow them to simultaneously burst down those who have itemized against them. Nerfing Black Cleaver in the way I described above would help, but this also needs to come through.

Grasp of the Undying needs a buff as well. Compared to the healing given by both fleet footwork and conqueror, it's vastly outclassed. Not to mention the bonus HP that it gives is absolutely abysmal. It needs to be in a position that the user of it understands they may lose the trade in the end, but that this stone will help them scale into late game. Double the bonus HP passive on the keystone OR have it offer a brief window of reduced damage taken after it's proc. If we go with option two, we have to make sure that it doesn't overshadow aftershock (as it shouldn't) in damage reduction, but provides the heal and bonus damage as a trade-off.

Finally, i'd remove the CDR per level rune and add in a health regen rune. Give an option to help deal with lane bullies or simply to help sustain through lane and reduce the over-all CDR in the game. Probably around 25% base hp regen. Half of a rejuv beed. Nothing too oppressive that's gonna make it a must-take rune, but enough to fit comfortably in the slot.

If anyone has any better suggestions or reasons why these ideas wouldn't work please post -thoughtful- replies below.