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Buff Xerath's E, and i'll negotiate with a nerf to something else.

La Spork··4 votes·1,047 views

Hello all, this is your resident Xerath player here. Xerath needs some help with certain matchups, and i'm willing to sacrifice to attain that goal.

Credibility: I have been playing Xerath since season 4, on various different accounts. My name used to be Feel My Xerath, in which I literally only played him in tournaments and what not and was very much known for it. I ended last season Diamond 5, 64 LP. I only play midlane mages, so I know where Xerath stands in comparison to other champions over here.

The Issue: The main issue with Xerath is that, for a champion with no mobility, he has 0 reliable defensive abilities. His E's stun duration is greatly shortened when used on closer up targets. This concept is normally cool; You get rewarded for sniping someone with the skillshot, and can likely one shot them if you have enough items. The issue here is that, Xerath's counters counter him a little too vigorously. Champions such as talon and zed never actually have to risk getting longrange E'd because they can get up to you before the animation has time to travel. Xerath is forced to save his E to get that talon/ zed behind him, which currently only stuns for .75 seconds and is not nearly enough time to make a meaningful differense in Xerath's fate.

Solutions:

Proposed Buffs: -Make Xerath's stun duration uniform, meaning 1.75 seconds no matter how far the E travels. -Make Xerath's E a shockwave instead of a skillshot, working as an AoE with a certain radius around him that immobilizes all enemies within it for X amount of time, or something along those lines. -Go back to the classics, and make Xerath's E give him extra defenses/ ranges/ movement speed boost in exchange for not being able to move around. Why don't we just do this already? It made the champ more unique.

Some Nerfs in exchange, if necessary: -Lower Xerath's Q range slightly -Get rid of Xerath's ability to have vision on target solely off ulting them. -Decrease E's damage (probably the best option, make it more of a utility spell against assassins then a damage addon).

Thank you guys. Xerath needs help in the midlane. Hes very strong against alot of the pool, but counterpicking him is so easy that I never get to play him mid unless i'm picking after the enemy mid. With Zed's popularity, it's hard for Xerath to exist right now.

11 Comments

DrNova4 votes

I disagree as a fellow xerath player.

He already can avoid mist other mids through sheer range, it would be un fair to make it easier to play against his counters.

He can still stay away from those two. Like any countered lane just play more cautiously.

FooDang1 votes

I agree, Xerath is my main mid in ranked. His team fighting is godly if he has peel. I'm surprised not many people have picked up on him. Even if your bot lane fails you can get then fed by poke/burst squishies and they can clean up even if they are behind in items.

To the OP, Xerath has strong aoe poke and if played right can kite like a G. Would I like to see buffs? Of course :) Is it needed? Not really. Against Zed, I haven't played that match up in awhile but like any lane as Xerath, land your skills shots and win lane. And get Zhonyas vs Zed.

Saianna3 votes

Some Nerfs in exchange, if necessary: -Lower Xerath's Q range slightly -Get rid of Xerath's ability to have vision on target solely off ulting them. -Decrease E's damage (probably the best option, make it more of a utility spell against assassins then a damage addon).

That seems totally one-sided trade.

Xerath has godlike safe poke. And you want to make him even safer? The fk?

chutlu2 votes

I agree, I've had a considerable amount of games on Xerath as well and I always felt he was somewhat missing something.

The shockwave idea would be pretty awesome, kind of like a Rammus ultimate I imagine?

I don't understand what they were going for with his Stun, I imagine it was a pitiful attempt to make him a little more safe, but it really is only good for peeling your team, or kiting, not really 1v1, which really destroys him in Assassin match-ups.

I don't think the right call would be to make it a point-and-click, but it definately should be reworked altogether.

DrNova1 votes

{quoted}

I agree, I've had a considerable amount of games on Xerath as well and I always felt he was somewhat missing something.

The shockwave idea would be pretty awesome, kind of like a Rammus ultimate I imagine?

I don't understand what they were going for with his Stun, I imagine it was a pitiful attempt to make him a little more safe, but it really is only good for peeling your team, or kiting, not really 1v1, which really destroys him in Assassin match-ups.

I don't think the right call would be to make it a point-and-click, but it definately should be reworked altogether.

His stun is actually pretty good. If you are properly warded you can see and nail that stun at range and get the full duration, not to mention throwing it at range in the pile during team fights gives whoever is in that pile on your team an edge.

Xerath weakness to offset his range and power is the fact that if you DO get in his fave you can jack him up. The limited stun duration in close still gives him a shot at an escape but also doesn't remove the danger and counterplay of getting in his face.

MunchCrunchLunch2 votes

any lane bully should not be buffed. unless they nerf the retarded range and increase his mana cost.

Stars Shaper1 votes

I'd rather have a more defined strenght as a long range damage dealer and keep E as it is. Xerath is currently my main and has been for a real lot (Middle of S3), I've been through his rework, liked him before and after it, mastered after it.

Xerath needs this weakness because otherwise he would lose even more identity and space form some juicy addition to his kit (Riot is talking about adressing Artillery Mages after the immobile ones).

Right now what he is suffering a lot from is that there is no real Keystone for him:

  • TLD is fine if you mean to save your CDs (which are considerable long early game) so you can E-W-Q-AA hoping for a oneshot combo, but that's totally out of character (thought it's pretty sweet when it happens).
  • DFT doesn't deal any noticeable damage before you get fed, plus even there is not enough to finish off squishies running away at low health and becomes worth only in large scale teamfights.

Also he needs a new Visual for his Ultimate, being an immobile bubble blower isn't cool.

Edit: Sorry but most of your nerfs would break the character by a whole lot.

ZT Xperimentor1 votes

I mostly agree, because the old xerath was much more fun to play as.

Troiann1 votes

Why don't we buff Ahri, I think you owe her some love.

La Spork1 votes

bump

La Spork1 votes

/b/ump

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