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Riot, what's happening to hybrid champions?

ToughFluffs·2/9/2015, 3:09:22 PM·3 votes·920 views

I don't think this will get seen, but I felt this was a really important issue to bring up with the changes brought to hextech gunblade. I know people have probably mentioned hybrid champions and the weird place they are in before, but the fact is, we still don't really know what's going on.

While I won't say that hybrid champions aren't viable anymore, they are getting very close to it. There's really only a handful of them that can be built as such (Jax, Poppy, Kayle are the only three good ones, Evelynn and Ezreal CAN be built as such, but are far less viable than the former), and even that select handful can be stronger when built just ap or ad.

Guinsoo's in particular is one of the least purchased items in the game now as the 124th most purchased item, right above Zeke's Herald (nobody gets Zeke's Herald anymore, you should probably look into that too).

Of course, maybe it's just me who thinks this, or maybe the reason it feels like hybrid champions are lacking in love is because not many people play them anymore, but it feels like it's a bit more than that. For example, Jax's kit basically shoves hybrid in your face, but the recommended items for him are almost purely ad and don't synergize with him nearly as well as Guinsoo's and Hextech (which I believe WERE once on his recommended list, but have been replaced by solely AD items?).

I'm not saying "Give hybrid champions full rework and new items now rito" or anything, but hybrid champions are definitely something of a black sheep right now, and they're in a really weird place that probably needs to be looked into.

Just my two cents.

3 Comments

Teridax682/9/2015, 5:01:19 PM2 votes

The main problems that need to be solved with hybrid champions and builds are A) how to build against them consistently in a manner that doesn't just involve counter-everything defenses, and B) how hybrid builds stand out from full AD or full AP builds in their own right, instead of being a diluted mix of both.

On top of this, I think hybrid items are holding those champions down, instead of helping them: unlike full AD or AP items, which cater to either full AD or AP champions and hybrids, who can make use of both stats, hybrid items only work for the handful of hybrid champions in the game, and nobody else. Because hybrid champions and items are so closely linked, the end result is that a hybrid item can be so good on a champion that they end up being nerfed just to account for it, to the point where purchasing the item becomes necessary (e.g. Akali and item 3146 ), or it just becomes undesirable even to champions who'd usually accomodate it (e.g. item 3124 , which isn't particularly good even on Kayle).

I'm also starting to think armor/magic penetration and reduction aren't really a good idea, since they work by just devaluing tanky builds. Perhaps there should still be some way of amplifying physical or magic damage in the game (physical/magic damage amplification as a stat, maybe?), but removing penetration items (item 3035 and item 3135 especially) from the game would indirectly benefit hybrid champions, who would no longer be as inefficient at increasing their damage.

Ironclad Dragon2/9/2015, 3:10:06 PM1 votes

Hybrid champions are evil. Thus far, they have been evil.

Kitten of Evil2/9/2015, 8:37:55 PM1 votes

I would say, hybrid champions insofar as AP/AS is a "hybrid" can work okay -- Varus, Kog'Maw, Kayle, Teemo, and of course Azir all enjoy this kind of play.

Corki's a weird hybrid too -- he scales with AD but almost all his moves (including his ultimate) deal magic damage, so he often builds Mpen/AD.