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Yasuo's flow mechanic has wasted potential

The Red Warden·1/7/2015, 12:06:16 AM·21 votes·4,151 views

One idea I always thought of as interesting and that could fix many of his annoyances is the rework of his "Flow" so that it effected his gameplay more. Currently all his "flow" does is act as the cooldown of his passive sheild, but what if it was also a resource for his crit chance and Windwall?

Yasuo's flow bar has always seemed to me to be a concept that could have been expanded on so much more. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't his "flow"supposed to represent the wind energy(?) that he collects while moving around? If so why doesn't it effect the usage of Windwall, a technique where he forces a large amount of wind from his body to transform into a semi-solid barrier. I always thought of his double crit chance as him harnessing the wind to surround his blade and cause its slashes to do more damage. It would just make a bit more since thematically if Yas had to accumulate wind energies(?) before being able to use it in his techniques.

One reason many people dislike Yasuo for is that his sheild and Windwall make it feel like abilities and ultimate are wasted to no effect on Yas except for providing him with 2 mildly short cooldowns. This could be mostly fixed though by having the use of these techniques eat up parts of his flow bar, and that with less "flow" Yas would suffer more consequences.

What I am proposing is something upon the lines of this:

  • Yasuo's flow bar goes from 0-100, and increases by 25 with each ability point put into his ultimate. The activation of his shield causes the bar to drain by 75-50% but it can only activate if Yas has over 85-55% of his current flow bar filled. The more "flow" that is absorbed the stronger the shield. (What this is supposed to do is allow for the shield to pop up much more frequently, but each time with less health. This creates a tankier Yasuo that while durable initially can easily be taken down in a drawn out fight). The increased flow recharge and lesser requirements for activation will allow his sheild to recharge every 4+ seconds in the late game.

  • Wind wall would cost around 80-60% of his Flow bar with a decreasing cost for each point put into it. This is to give the Yasuo player more decisions for when to cast it. It will still increase in size with each point but I am not sure about the cooldown.

**new passive effect on W - **the flow regeneration rate while Yasuo is moving increases for each point put into his w.

  • The double-chance would lose the -10% damage but it can only occur while the flow bar is over 50%. The intention here is to make the Yas player think about when he activates his defensive abilities more and allow for more choices between Yas and his opponents (If the enemy casts a powerful projectile Yas has to decide between using Windwall to block it but having to build up more Flow to get back his double crit chance, or hoping that his sheild can absorb it). the interaction with the passive shield is that the more it drains the flow bar the less time his crit boost is active. This wouldn't effect him much late game since he should have built up more crit chance by then.

  • Flow is still collected while moving around, it would take around 16 seconds of walking at base ms to restore the 100 flow bar at level 1, but around 8 seconds to fill the full 175 late game (with fully leveled w and 2nd tier boots)

  • His base stats (and scaling to a lesser degree) in armor and health would be increased to help him in lane where he is much more vulnerable now

  • this is a rough draft of a rework for Yasuo, the numbers are just put in as examples to show what I mean (they are in no means final). All to none of these ideas may be put into the actual game. I know that this has flaws, but I believe in the concept behind it. I tried to keep most of his gameplay patterns the same while still preserving his ability to scale well into late game.

The main focus of this is to limit Yasuo's safety in lane (if he windwalls he won't be able to get the shield up right away, and the activation of either in the early game will take out his double crit for a short time) while buffing his ability to take down tougher enemies (higher base stats in his health and armor and the faster recharge on the shield make it so that Yasuo doesn't have to rely on his ult to engage and can actually enter the melee range of most fighters without instantly dying)

Yes, something like this would change parts of his gameplay-patterns, but it would probably be for the better with how it adds more decisions for both Yas and his opponents while trying to fix many of the things people complain about on him. I also tried to fit more of his theme as a Wind controlling samurai into his kit.

22 Comments

Sightless661/7/2015, 5:40:50 AM4 votes

I don't like this idea, and the reason is because I don't think that Yasuo should have effects that he wants to keep up (the ability to cast windwall, his crit chance) tied to a resource he can't control. I can't completely control getting hit. If I'm in a fight, some amount of damage is going to get me, it will drain my flow bar, and then I won't be able to use my wind wall or do damage with my steroid. It's way too limiting. Particularly if you're talking about the windwall costing 80-60 flow but the shield activating at 55, that's an ungodly small window I'll have for actually casting a spell if I'm in the middle of a fight, particularly in the early and mid game when flow won't charge very fast.

It adds a "decision" to Yasuo's kit, but that decision isn't when to use an ability or whether using it is worth spending the resource. The decision is what diety I pray to to give my spamming finger enough speed to let me cast my wall before the damn shield eats my flow again.

It's just too limiting. It's something that I can't really exert enough control over for it to actually be an interesting decision. It would make him the only champion with a resource that can easily be screwed over by the enemy. In order to compensate for that kind of unreliability, his potential power would have to be through the roof. I think he'd need something like an 8 second CD windwall to make this balanced. And that's just for the windwall. Having his primary offensive steroid tied into that kind of unreliability would necessitate some massive power increases just to make up for how easy it would be for his enemy to screw him out of damage, and even then I don't think it would be very fun.

Ultimately, I don't think it would have much value. I mean, what gameplay are we trying to go for? Late game, it seems like the main skill point would be "can you cast Q when the crit is up but before the shield goes off". Same thing with the windwall. I'm just going to go with this basic principle; Yasuo's shield activating should be something I feel good about, not something I'm trying desperately to avoid because of how much it will screw me. I just can't see that being fun to play with. Losing so much just for taking a point of damage just seems like it won't actually let his gameplay patterns work at all.

It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure that the major flaws can be addressed.

chavyy1421/7/2015, 2:07:11 AM2 votes

This idea is great. Hell make q use up flow but lower the cost of everything. I love the mechanic where he only gets his double crit when he has enough flow. That's a great way of giving the player gameplay choices which riot claims to love.

Hibeki1/7/2015, 6:24:33 AM2 votes

Yes lets buff yasuo

Are you kidding me? fuck no.

LankPants1/7/2015, 4:32:49 AM1 votes

I think one of the best ways to implement it would be to have his E have a ramping flow cost so there's actually a gate on his mobility. something like 0/25/50/75/100 at 0/1/2/3/4 stacks on his E.

Obviously after doing this you'd tune his flow gen up a bit.

Blue Collar Bear1/7/2015, 5:50:56 AM1 votes

I enjoyed reading your ideas. As for terms of balance, I'd say just leave that to Riot. The idea is what I think is most important.

Sneak Dog1/7/2015, 2:04:23 PM1 votes

You want to punish Yasuo for having a shield? That's what it feels like to me, I'd never want to have my shield procced in your suggestion because it'd cut my damage by 25% and makes my wind wall uncastable.

Flow would be like Tryndameres rage, but Trynd decides when he gets rid of it and isn't forced to pick between his heal and his mocking shout.

Rockman1/7/2015, 2:18:01 PM1 votes

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Stars Shaper1/7/2015, 2:35:49 PM1 votes

I like this idea and also the fact that can be expanded even more.

Btw, consider that one of the aims of Riot is making champions usage not as hard as differential equations and your numbers and part of your idea might need a small straighten vision.

But I like it even as it is.

Kuroi861/7/2015, 12:39:34 AM1 votes

It could be interesting. I think returning the flow generation from E would be a nice addition as it would really help you know when to avoid Yas. Think of him similar to Darius in a team fight, don't let him hit critical mass or else you're going to die, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Also, if giving wind wall a cost, you could lower the cost, lower the duration, and lower the cool down, give yas a chance to block one in four shots, but he really has to think about what one he wants to block. Granted, that could be a bad idea lol.

Junkο1/7/2015, 8:00:58 PM1 votes

Wow Yasuo change suggestions that are actually good. I semi-main Yasuo(cause he is always banned) and i am all for this idea.

leafboom1/7/2015, 2:41:08 AM1 votes

I made a thread almost identical to this last year, it was shot by downvotes back when he was EVEN STRONGER THEN HE IS NOW. Like, mine was more or less gutting him and beating him with a stick from maokais collection. Heres link: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=4637129&highlight=leafboom Though its a good idea

PL551/7/2015, 4:21:33 AM1 votes

I like Yasuo, but balancing his kit can be hell sometimes. This is probably the best solution I have seen in a while, since people will stop complaining about him having no costs but the Yasuo player will be rewarded more for not playing too safe.