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Akali and her 'levers' - why are so few on the table?

DeathQuaDeath·12/15/2018, 6:41:07 AM·10 votes·4,074 views

So, one of the common threads in discussing champion design is that simple kits have very few 'levers' to move in order to balance a champion. And the overwhelming theme of the Akali debate is over one thing: her shroud. Riot wants the uniqueness, players want to cs under their own tower.

So I have a question that has occurred to me many times reading this ongoing conversation: doesn't Akali have more 'levers' than this? Her shroud is powerful, in the right hands even overwhelming, but its not almighty. Akali's kit is enormously self-reinforcing - it strikes me that there is a lot that can be done to tamp down her frustration without killing her entirely.

  • Her passive: is it not possible to make the circle that Akali has to step out of center on the champion she hits instead of on the terrain? This would mean that its possible to bully Akali by engaging when she pokes.

  • Can you just make her a mana champion? Make her Q heal have its own timer that's de-synchronized from the ability cooldown. Then at least she has to go towards something before straight fighting power.

  • Can riot make her Q not slow so that her poke, sustain, harass, cs, and kiting aren't all on the same ability?

  • Alternatively the Q heal may be an aspect retained from old Akali, but wouldn't it be better to simply remove the Q heal instead of gut the uniqueness? Lots of champions can fight Akali and win trades if they are careful. Few can win the trades so hard that they can win even when her Q sustain is taken into account.

  • What would happen if the shroud no longer returned flat energy, but instead had no cost and while in the shroud, Akali regenerated energy at 3 times her normal rate. That de-synchronizes her kit enough so that her harass, safety net, and resource management aren't all on the same button.

Now I am super low elo, but none of these seem to me to be such overwhelming nerfs that Akali can no longer be played. Indeed, once all her strengths aren't as overwhelmingly mutually reinforcing it should be possible to rebuff some of her numbers so she doesn't end up like Azir and Ryze.

Or maybe I simply have kept poor track of the conversation and all these idea were thrown around already and I simply don't live on the boards so I missed them.

Cheers, DQD

5 Comments

The Ecdysiast12/15/2018, 6:43:54 AM4 votes

These are actually pretty good suggestions.

Pierce The Veal12/15/2018, 11:51:12 PM3 votes

The issue here is Akali isn’t actually strong. The issue is people hate the shroud so much that it doesn’t matter that she’s weak, nobody wants to deal with her.

So let me address your concerns: The passive circle isn’t a bad idea, but you have to remember that hitting this won’t be solving the issue. People will still ban her until and unless she is so bad that she is not worth banning (or until true stealth is gone).

The mana champion thing has been out of the question for a looooong time. Energy is part of her identity, and this same suggestion has come up umpteen times since she was released. Yes, I mean since her release, and not her rework. It really would just make her more obnoxious to play agaisnt as she would be better in extended fights.

The Q heal removal would definitely make her less annoying. However, do remember she’s weak as heck right now. The shroud is rhe only thing actually good about her.

And the energy regain, once again, is unfortunately not the issue.

These ideas are all valid and great, but the problem isn’t that we’re trying to nerf a strong champion. We’re trying to take a weak, but hated champion and make them balanced, but not hated.

What that comes down to is removing the true stealth and buffing her damage, but in that case why did you even rework akali at all? The rework is just impossible to balance and impossible to make not antifun. The issue with old akali was that she “wasn’t complex,” “lacked counterplay,” and “was antifun.” Well if you just look at akali before her pre mini rework, she was garbage early game, and only got strong mid game and stronger towards late game, but at end game fell off.

As opposed to current akali who is just disproportioantely strong early then just garbage at all other times. There’s a reason why r/akalimains is asking for a revert.

ModAcademy Kayn12/16/2018, 12:03:37 AM1 votes

Passive: I dunno what you mean by terrain

Giving her mana champion: She's designed literally around having Energy. Giving her Mana is not a Lever. It's a rework.

Q: There's nothing wrong with this ability. It has additonal effects that are gated by conditions, but they all play into how she plays as a champion. It's her Key ability, just as Zed's Q is, or Shen's Q. Most the other abilities are there to support that ability.

Q heal removed: She's melee. She needs a way to keep herself in lane against competent opponents who know how to harass Melee champions.

Shroud: Not the worst idea, but also extends what is already, a much lengthier kill pattern that Akali has in comparison to other assassins. This may sound good while in Laning phase, but kills her ability to do things in Teamfights.