Anyone else think Essence Reaver is a bit too strong?
I don't mean it's completely overpowered like other items have been in the past (League of Cleavers/Mogs was pretty terrible) but for the champions who do use it (I'm looking at you 
and 
, among others) I think it offers just a bit too much. Champions like Lucian and Sivir, who were balanced around mana costs, essentially become resourceless champions. I mean, when's the last time you ever saw a Lucian or Sivir oom after Essence Reaver + Zeal? I sure haven't.
There are two big issues with the Essence Reaver as it currently stands.
First: at 30% CDR, 
is the most efficient CDR item in game, given that anyone who buys it is going to be making use of the additional CDR from crit by the next major item purchase.
I think perhaps the bigger problem is restoring 3% of your max mana per crit, especially when 40-70% of your attacks crit. The closest equivalent item mages have is Athene's, but that requires getting kills/assists to get the mana restoration payout. Throw in a little lifesteal (or a red elixir) and essence reaver champs literally never need to worry about running low on mana/hp. By just attacking things they gain both resources necessary to stay on the rift. If there was a single mage item which granted this much CDR and staying power (even if it required purchase of a second item as Essence Reaver does) people would be flipping out at how broken item X is. Essence Reaver is (to a lesser extent) this item for ADC's. While it isn't optimal on all of them, it benefits all of them (except maybe this guy: 
)
So how do we fix these issues?
First, I would love to see an Essence Reaver which granted either a flat 20% CDR (like a normal item) or having it capped at 20% CDR total (10% from passive, 10% from additional crit chance)
However, as the infinite staying power thanks to infinite mana is the bigger issue, a change I would like is for the essence reaver to refund 5% of the critical strike damage dealt (doubled against champions), rather than a flat 3% of max (actual number might need slight adjusting).
The idea behind this change is that Essence Reaver champions are rewarded less for simply AFK pushing a wave up, but aren't punished during teamfights which quick spell cycles tend to drain their mana, for which they have no other viable mana regen items. It also places a greater emphasis on the relationship between Essence Reaver and other Crit items, as more crit damage 
(or conversely for enemies 
) means more (or less) mana restored
