A little insight into why Riot couldn't make Ekko work with numbers
Riot may finally have killed Tank Ekko. That slow was valuable to his disruptor role, but I have a feeling he can still work as a tank and may need some work, but I digress.
It's been months that Riot has been trying to make Ekko work as intended. People play him as a tank, and they want him played as an assassin. Easy enough.
Think of it like this: many champions have an alternate build path (i.e. AP MF, AD Leona, AP Sion) but these buildpaths have something in common: they're somewhat suboptimal from a numbers standpoint. They serve a different role and make use of different parts of the kit that weren't as useful as a regular build (AP Sion is a Poke/Burst mage from a Tanky disruptor). These builds get played because some people find them more fun than the average build, even if the are somewhat suboptimal.
The real problem arises when the unintended buildpath synergizes with the champion's kit BETTER than the regular build, ALONG with the fact that the build isn't suboptimal number-wise.
Think of it like this. AP Sion scales off of the AP ratios on E and W. You can safely nerf the AP ratios if it gets to strong or if Riot doesn't like the playstyle it brings, and it won't affect the regular Sion buildpaths since they don't build AP.
However, it gets hard with tanks. Tanks don't scale off of number ratios, they scale off of items and how well they can abuse their CC or damage while they stay alive.
You can't nerf the items, because that hurts the other champions unnecessarily.
You can't nerf base damages to incentivize building AP, because that hurts the regular Ekko builds and Tank Ekko still has the same amount of CC potential. No amount of base damage nerfs will help you outduel a tank that just doesn't take damage while they weave CC and shields together.
You can't buff AP ratios to incentivize building AP, because it breaks the normal builds while also making the little AP the tank builds even more valuable.
So, what's left? Well, Riot finally figured it out. Why are people building Ekko has a tank in the first place?
It's because he has the CC to be a tank, which is all the justification needed to build tank. High mobility and shields make him even more suited than actual tanks to do the job.
The cherry on top? The bulk of his assassin damage is heavily delayed and can't be applied through skill alone. The enemy team has to screw up to step into Ekko ult range, which isn't something Ekko himself can control. What he can control is passive procs, E damage, W procs, and Q hits. Building AP would make all of the damage components more effective for a single use, but building tank allows him to get multiple damage uses off, as well as multiple uses of the CC. CC cannot be multiplied by AP on Ekko no matter how much AP you build, it can only be increased by using your abilities more. Hence, tank Ekko.
Riot finally did it. They removed one of his CCs. The removed slow barely effects Assassi n Ekko, because enemies die so quickly and within one proc. However, a cumulative 8 seconds of slows taken from Tank Ekko in one fights from multiple procs is a huge hit.
They're onto it. Any other necessary changes would likely follow a similar path, either removing unnecessary CC or shields, or making Ekko's burst damage more reliable and easier to control.
