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Lissandra could use a tweak...

Meepian·10/27/2017, 7:29:16 AM·1 votes·407 views

So, I am a Support Main, and I'd like to think I'm getting pretty good at it. I play Soraka (Mastery 7) more than any other champ, but I like to use other champs, and sometimes I experiment with Champs that aren't really designed to be Supports. I've been playing a fair amount of Lissandra support lately. This seems to work pretty well, and I've changed some minds of people who thought I was trolling. I am finding a few things about the champ that I think need an adjustment.

Lissandra has a serious Mana issue in the early game. I'm comparing this to other champs I've used in the support role. Before I hit level 6 and put a get a few items with Regen, I spend a fair amount of time wishing my Mana bar wasn't empty. Lissandra's passive gives her a free cast every 15 (or is it 18?) seconds, and this drops 3 seconds every time you increase her Ult level. Of course, by the time this passive drops, you generally don't care -you've got your mana managed with regen item(s). ...I realize that she's probably intended to be in the Mid Lane and using a Doran's Ring (where I use a Spell Thief's Edge) but I've played other champs Mid Lane without the need to use Doran's Ring. I think it would be comparable; if Lissandra's mana pool vs. mana regen is too low in a Support role with a support item, it's probably too low in a Mid Role with a Mid Item. I'd like to see either her mana costs or her passive adjusted to make her mana use less arduous.

The other thing I'm a little disappointed with, is her Ice-Claw (E) ability. Once you've got your Tier 2 boots (I usually use Mercury Treads) the claw moves only slightly faster than her normal movement. It's still faster (barely) and you can still use it to cross walls and get out of some "traps" (I'm not sure which roots and snares specifically it works on). And also, as an escape... it's always aggravating to be hit with stuns, get unstunned long enough to throw out the claw... but stunned again before you can re-activated it for the movement. I think both of these issues would be fixed by making the claw move faster.

2 Comments

RougePixle10/27/2017, 9:55:57 AM2 votes

Since Lissandra is balanced around being a solo lane mage, you are going to run into issues with her being clunky as a support. Her mana costs are less of a problem in a solo lane where she is farming because you are spending more time last hitting minions and less time harassing the enemy. But when you play support, harassing is all you really need to do, so you will run out of mana faster of you are not careful. Also, solo lane lissandra has better build options for mana than support lissandra. I think if you just try to be more careful of your mana usage early on and just harass with auto attacks when your passive is down you should have an easier time in lane. As for her E, it needs to be a little bit slow and telegraphed because once she is in a fight, she has an aoe root and a point click stun that is really strong if she has built full ap. So it may seem a little weak for a support lissandra who doesn't have as much damage as a mid laner, but if it was any faster, it would make a mid lane lissandra really difficult to deal with. But if you use her E creatively, it can still be a strong way to make plays as support lissandra. Although, I would agree that she does feel a little awkward to play because of how slow she is, but she needs to be that way because of how strong her ult and W are. Try playing her mid or top and see if you prefer to play her there.

Meepian10/27/2017, 8:37:20 PM1 votes

I am finding that the ice-claw engage and frost aura root to be really valuable in a Support role. "Hey, ADC... how would you like a free kill?" "Don't mind if I do..." But it still feels to me like it should be faster.

And I'm still thinking that her mana issues is a thing. In comparison... I have played Soraka both Bot and Mid lane. When I'm Bot I go Ancient Coin and when I'm mid I go Dark Seal; in both cases I'm usually spamming Q and while I can run myself out of mana, I don't notice that drought Lissandra has. And I still thinking there's an issue with her passive. Free spell casts is nice, but by the time I hit level 6 it's not even a concern; I've got my regen online and I don't really care how often I'm getting free spell casts at all. I'd really like to see this replaced by something that's, you know, actually useful.