Riots new crit thoughts are behind the times and regressive, can we please stay modern?
https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/c2GnEAEe-aside-from-vaynes-pbe-buffs-the-marksmen-buffs-are-great-but-they-dont-hit-the-right-nail? A thread of mine from a month ago that is still relevant.
https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/developer-corner/FGhIHTj3-crit-item-explorations-part-2 Riots thread in case anyone wants to take a look.
Riots current thoughts, as shown by their second crit exploration thread, are all about regressive item changes which draw us closer to a slightly weaker marksman itemization iteration that is still full of game health problems. There are solutions that go in line with what people want, however, and im going to outline a few;
Riots regressive thought is to make this core crit item have 25% crit and 225% crit damage; this is a terrible idea for game health and puts them in a "same but weaker" spot they seem so keen on doing lately. The playerbase is split between "we want old IE back" and "we like doubled crit" - thats a tall order, but the answer is quite simple.
Rework IE from 10% of crit damage as true damage into overcrit is converted into crit damage.
With this change, IE becomes the scaling core item its meant to be while being weak enough that it cant be purchased as a two item core;
70AD
Unique passive: Doubles your critical strike chance
Unique passive: Overcrit: Your critical strike chance over 100% is transformed into critical strike damage
With no other changes to basic crit items (zeal items), this means that it is no longer a bad idea to go two zeal items or even all in on three zeal items as it still amps up your damage and keeps your gold efficient.
Riot wants to make this item a marksman item again by basically reverting it to 70AD, 20% CDR, 20% crit, and 1.5 of your missing mana returned on hit.
This is actually a really nice idea, and im for it. Instead of having a flat 20% CDR though can we make it so you get 5% CDR per 20% crit chance? So at 100% chance to crit you have 20%?
Riots zeal item changes are badly thought out and just... zeal items are actually in a really nice place right now as supporting itemization. Crit itemization needs changes from the AD perspective, not the ASP one.
While not mentioned in riots post this time, as i said in the above linked thread of mine storm razor needs to be reworked slightly so that it is less of a transitional item and more of a marksman oriented phage.
Making the item have 40AD, 20% crit, 25% attack speed, and critical strikes grant 20% movement speed for 0.5 seconds is still the best option for transforming storm razor into a true and effective part of a marksman 3 item core with early game power.
And one last point; Marksman are not in a bad place. They feel awful to play however because they have a 4 item core to complete before they reach their stride. As a class who is meant to dominate the lategame by utilizing their multiple kinds of multiplicative scaling they should be hitting their stride in the mid game with 3 completed items not counting boots. You do this by giving them AD+crit itemization that pairs with zeal items to make 50% crit chance, which is then topped off with an IE for 100% crit chance and more AD. With that three item core, it leaves marksmen with TWO situational items that DO NOT detract from their core strength, unlike now where in order to have flexibility you have to give something up from your core or only have one flex slot. By giving marksmen a 3 item core of (AD+20% crit), a zeal item, and IE they WILL feel much better to play without becoming universal lane bullies who hyperscale like they were several seasons ago before the last round of crit itemization changes.
