My thoughts on the eventual Akali Rework (Super Detailed Topic)
Hi i'm PhantomGG, and at this point I have had a 50 50 success with the Akali community. 50 percent saying how creative she is and is a depth filled champion the other 50 percent siding with me that she isn't. However regardless of who is right and wrong, riot has already confirmed to us ages ago, that the rework will happen. So how about we stop arguing on how "deep" she is, and just get down to business and discuss what she needs. So here is my rework discussion topic on Akali The Fist of The Shadows.
So first, let's talk about lore and visuals.
Because she is so old, she suffers what many of the older champions suffer from. Super out dated visuals, very lazy bare minimum quotes/lines, and almost no lore written about her at all. Hell even her design, calling you out riot, is nothing more than a rip off from jade from mortal kombat, how you guys never got sued for ripping off jade by nether realm studios is beyond me, my only guess is you paid them to let you or they still to this day some how never noticed.
** THE LORE**
_"The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede the balance." - Akali There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness - all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Akali is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran. A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: "We do that which must be done." When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand. There was no question - she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow. She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable doctrine. She now works with her fellows Shen Shen and Kennen Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran. _
**Who do I feel Akali is? **
Akali to me, and I feel to many others, is a strong woman, who grew up with, a brutally abusive mother who never allowed her to be a child, a die hard woman committed to the cause of balance even if it meant making her daughter absolutely miserable. A woman who had to endure that abuse, and was eventually brainwashed into believing it. However in her hardships she made friends, she founded someone she could trust within the order who made everything worth it. Then out of nowhere, it was all taken from her. Her one source of happiness gone, and thus whatever remained of Akalis inner child was fully given to the Kinkou order. Somewhere along the way she met Zed, perhaps Zed was her special someone who made her happy, and it was his betrayal to the order that pulled her heart into confliction, or perhaps it was Zed who ruined her only source of happiness, so now she dedicates her life for a chance to kill Zed. That is who Akali is to me, that is who I feel Akali is to many others. A poor and innocent girl who was forced into a world of harsh 24 7 border line or most likely abusive training by her mother. A girl who was pushed to her limits, forced to dull her emotions and give herself to the Kinkou order. Now with her order gone, all her friends dead, the only thing that keeps her human is her thirst to kill Zed.
Quote from Wiki Despite (or perhaps in some way due to) all of this, Akali is apparently the least willing of the Kinkou triumvirate to forgive Zed in any way. She believes only death is deserving of him, in contrast to Kennen Kennen believing redemption is still possible and Shen Shen being undecided in lieu of his duty towards exercising emotionless, unbiased judgement.
The direction they should take her lore
My thoughts, this is a fine, base idea for a character, but if this the "final draft", I will have to call it your stereotypical edge lord ninja girl. Nothing special, nothing unique. However Riot does allow the fans to pretty much write the lore on our own, which is somewhat part of the fun in league of legends. They give us a story, give us some hints, and they let us theory craft the rest. For Akali I hope Riot sticks with what they hinted, and what the fans created off of that. What is the fan theories with Akali? And for those who want proof Zed and Akali are most likely connected..http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=2770235&page=9
Akali is either Zeds daughter, or zeds past besty/lover. People from riot, specifically Devan Runaan hints that Zed basically taught Akali some of her moves. It is also said that Akali hates Zed the most out of her colleges. So why is this?
Riot should end the mystery and give us a confirmation on what the true relationship is when her lore is reworked. Akali is also one of the few surviving members of the Kinkou order, so clearly she has been through a lot, losing her home, friends, family. So much can be written about this character. I believe the best place is to begin with her whole "twin disciples" concept. Darkness, and light, chaos and order. When you look at the three Kinkou ninjas.
Kennen-The Chaotic wild one Shen- The balanced calm one
I always felt Akali was suppose to be the champion that meets them in the middle. Tell us more on her age compared to Shen and Zed, tell us more on what Shen and Zed mean to her. You don't have to answer us everything, you can easily leave many mysteries for us to solve. But the character is being held back through a writer perspective by saying "oh she was trained by her mom to be the best and now she is the best" and putting all the lore hints in her abilities.
However I also mentioned in "who akali is to me" that Riot was so insistent when writing her lore, on how much a influence her mother was in her life. when you are a normal kid you are like "COOL" but when you are older and you read the line. "trained the moment she could forma fist". That can be as early as three years old. Even if she was six when she started, starting at six to be the perfect assassin for the kinkou order? uhm i'm sorry, our modern government likes to call that CHILD ABUSE. Riot needs to go deep with this, and talk about how hard and sad this training was and was it that kept her sane in the process.
TLDR -Tell us more about her powers and how they work/why they work -Tell us the relationship between her and Zed or give us some hints at leaste -Tell us what Shen means to her and why she chose to stay with him, or once again give us some hints -Make her personality more developed, make her feel like an actual person -Go deep and i mean TEARS FEELS DEEP on how brutal the training with her mother was
Her Design
Personally I believe the whole Jade rip off costume needs to go. You can keep the theme, but the costume and some of the coloring can use some minor changes. You did it for Shen (you guys literally made fun of yourselves with the frozen shen skin, admitting it). So now it's time you do it for Akali. Give the damn woman some personality for christ sake, her lore is literally "she was trained to be the best since she was a kid by her mom and now she is" nothing more, nothing less, and even her costume is a rip off from Jade. Sometimes I have to ask myself why I love Akali so much. Maybe it's because I enjoy what the fan base turned her into, and I hope that's what riot makes her into.
Here is some fan art that I feel really embodies Akali http://forums.eune.leagueoflegends.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=65416 http://pre14.deviantart.net/6381/th/pre/f/2016/030/4/1/412081c7e322ba34b9badcc39499f854-d9pv688.jpg
Akali is a woman who has gone through hardships, a woman who had to endure, a woman who was robbed of her child hood wrongfully by her mother. "for the greater good" and her looks should reflect that and give her dignity. She should be more than a jade rip. She deserves her own unqiue color pallet, her own individual costume. I'm pretty sure me and many others wish her blood moon skin was her classic, for it truley does embody her spirit far better. I was reviewing Akalis concept art today and I must say what you guys drew was far better then what you gave us. Was it not implimented because you didn't have the skill or tools at the time to make it a reality? Or did you guys just legitimately enjoyed the final draft more that came into the game? I want to say please review your orignal concept art ideas for her, with her leg paddings and her no shoes concept was pretty cool, Especially the one in the middle and left Honestly they were all supperior. The belt on the far left is awsome. The no shoes concept was cool, the metal like plates on her legs in all thre, the pants in picture 1. Why were these all ditched? Even the costume was more dignifying and I feel if you went with this, people would of never compared her with Jade.
For everyone else to see: http://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/champion/akali/?mv=image-gallery
Akali is a strong character, make her embody that.
Akalis voice
For her voice, gonna keep this short and simple, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE re hire the original voice actress if she's still available or at least someone who sounds like her
Akali is a calm, disciplined, soft spoken woman, however it's hinted from the wiki that she is the one who is quick and prone to violence. Kill first ask questions later. Are you on her hit list? Well sucks to be you.
Her voice actress should have the spirit of someone who is calm, but will raise hell the moment she is given the chance. As the saying goes from one of our USA presidents.
"speak softly, but with a very big stick" I feel Akali nails this ideal, and her voice should show that. but in her case
"speak softly but with two very big sickles"
**THE SKILLS What we have now? **
Now onto the harder part, nailing a character in lore and design is one thing, but can you do it in game play? My answer, I think will please people. But first let's talk about what she has now. with simplified explanations
Passive Twin Disciplines: Akalis sickles glow green and red, green for heals, red for damage. First auto will heal you, second auto does more burst damage. You typically want to go in for trades when you have your passive up, for you miss out on a lot of opportunity when you don't. (not go in in when you have it, but I mean when you chose to fight, you should wait for the passive to be up first. for the heal will give you back some health you lost, and the damage will help you burst thus helping you win the trade)
Do I like this skill?: Honestly yes I do, do I like how it currently functions? No not really, I feel riot can come up with a more creative way to make this idea work better.
Q Mark of the Assassin: Akali throws a sickle at you, and you the victim go boom when she hits you while your marked. It's also single target and can't be dodged. Or as I like to call it "lock on ability"
Do I like this ability: I mean i use to, but now I don't I feel this skill is becoming her core problem as a champion in why she can't lane anymore. It's single target, it offers no wave clear, if you max it first, you won't be able to clear minions under turret or at all, for E helps you out greatly in that concept. The idea of using a sickle to fight is fine, throwing it is fine, but how it functions, needs to change greatly. So no, I currently don't like this ability, it's out dated.
W Twilight Shroud: Akali does a small dash, and is now in stealth in a AOE circle field, while in it she is faster, while her opponents are in it, they are slower. Oh and it can hop small cracks in walls.
Do I like this ability; I love the idea, I sorta like how it works, but it has room to grow. So much room.
E Crescent Slash: JUST BEY BLADEEEEEEEE, JUST BEY BLADEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N74cnBa_Bmc i'm so sorry i had a moment of weakness and I gave in.. Eh hehm..Akali spins in a aoe circle and does damage to people around her.. oh and it scales with both ad/ap
R~~ lol where you going?~~ Shadow Dance: Akali locks and jumps onto her target doing damage, this has 3 charges, it's her prime and butter, and a large reason why she is so helpless pre six. It's 90 percent of her ability, it's what allows her to get onto long range champions and mark them with her abilitys, without it she is bullied, she has a hard time getting onto targets, pre 6 Akali is just misery.
Do I like this ability: Yeah I do, but I would rather her p-e be given more tools to work with, I rather have a weaker ultimate if it allows me to lane better with my main skills.
2 Gun blade: Yeah i'm including this as her ability, for this item has unfortunately become almost core to her identity. It gives her that tiny bit of AD to help her AD scalings, and it gives tankyness with how strong the healing scales with her abilities.
Do I like this: No I don't, a champion being so brutally reliant on a single item to the point your not even a champion till you get it, is just a terrible idea. I don't know if Riot knew this when they invented her, but they know it now. Riot needs to fix this.
If you wish to see accurate numbers and descriptions on her skills then here is a link to the wiki: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Akali/Abilities
Changes I want to see in Akalis new abilities
First I want to say, youtuber Jermey Curious did a amazing job on his beilefs on Akali and I want to share that here for other people to see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X84SpgPA0wM
Secondly: What happens to Akali is 100 percent up to riot, guessing what they do to her in lore and designs, imo is easy to do. Guessing what will happen to her in a rework, well, that's nearly impossible to do. So while I post my own ideas, like them, hate them, I really want you guys to share your thoughts on what will happen with Akali. For like it or not, it's going to happen eventually.
So here are some bullet points
-Better tools to lane A: basically a skill shot that allows her to either A clear minions, or B harrass the enemy laner
- less toxic ultimate A: i'm sorry, this play style of "i'm ontop of you, and even if you run away I can just do this two more times" play style is just toxic, this is coming from the Akali lover B: BUT BUT AHRI AND DIANA. No shut up kid, Ahri's ultimate is on a 60+cooldown, and Diana only gets the refresh if she lands her Q and hits the target that was hit by Q. -Not so bloody item reliant A: self explanatory
Her Auto attacks: Why am I mentioning this? For compare it to Zed, or fizz, akalis auto attacks vs other assasins, just feels clunky, it feels off, please make these smoother.
For her Passive: I like the idea, I said it, I really do, however like jermey said, I hope riot implements in some way mark of the assassin into her passive or with all of her abilities to interact with it in some way. I also hope riot restores her self healing identity so she isn't so reliant on gun blade to do it for her. I feel the idea of this passive can stay, but I hope riot improves how it functions. Currently with Akalis toolkit she feels clunky. This is a passive that feels like it should shine with champions who have very smoothe combo rotations. Prime example Zed and Riven. Akali does not feel as smoothe as they do, to properly abuse her passive.
Her Q: Honestly I had this fun little idea, of what if, they turned Akalis sickles into twin chain sickles? To go further with this idea, what if she throws her q in a liner skillshot and it could go through and damage minions, and then hook onto a target, however make it like Shyvanas E, where it stops after hitting the first champion. That target can then be marked while being minorly slowed. This would help her out so much in farming, and in laning. This is going even further, but what if we made the mark last longer, so if she hits you a second time with Q, it can proc the mark? So basically first q implant the mark, second q ignite it. However keep the theme of her also being able to do so with a auto attack.
W: How about we softly increase the range, but make it so enemy champions who are marked by her Q become slowed to a mediocre amount while in it, or they take damage while in it while being minorly slowed. When a ninja uses a smoke bomb in real life, you are suppose to be in deap shit while inside the smoke bomb, however akalis current W sorta feels silly. For you know where Akali is, AOE and skill shots still works on her while shes in it. The whole point of a smoke bomb is to hide your location while blinding the enemy. While I find the current W cool, the current W however doesn't live up to that fantasy, and their are easily ways we can balance/rework it to make it do so.
THE CRAZY IDEA: Switch out W and R while fusing R with E so that way we can completely open a new slot for either w or E for a new ability but like I said this is just a "crazy idea"
E: Frankly I have no idea if this should, stay, go, or be fused with another ability. it's not a bad ability, but should it stay in favor of something else? Perhaps we can find a way to incorperate it with my belief Akali should be given chain sickles. perhaps she spins, and when she procs mark of the assassin, they are stunned for a very short time, because she wrapped you in chains. Or would this be copying rengar to much? Like I said i'm very lost with this ability
R: I have many ideas in what her ultimate could be, perhaps like I said early, they give her a mega smoke bomb, or perhaps they can give her something similar to fioras old ultimate. it is called "shadow dance" after all. Frankly the current ultimate is a fairly toxic play style, and change MUST happen, for it's also her greatest weakness, for she is so ultimate reliant.
Her abilities and her Lore should be linked together
So i'm going to keep this part fairly short, Akali is a champion who meets the lines of shadows and light, she was trained as a child to be the perfect assassin, so she should reflect that deadly shadow assassin tone in the same way Zed does. However it's also clearly especially from the fact her ability is called twilight shroud, that Shen or someone in the Kinkou order taught her shen like abilities. So Akali should be this harmony between shadows and twilight. Regardless if my ideas are shit or not, what I think we all can agree on, is akalis abilities hint who she is, they hint how she came to be.
"Twin Disciples"-Her two biggest teachers "mark of the assassin"-her mother "twilight Shroud"-Shen "Shadow Dance"-Zed "Crescent strike"-herself
I want this theme to be kept, but this time, I want it clear, that she is a person with two polar opposite fighting styles that were fused together.
Conclusion
Honestly this is all I have to say on Akali, I can go into more detail about her problems or her strengths, but the topic is long enough as is. I am Akali fan, she is one of my all time favorite champion concepts, and I wrote this topic with a lot of love and I hope it shows through. I am PhantomGG and this is my topic on the Akali rework and my hopes for her future. Please discuss on how you feel about Akali and her future below. 
Some random stuff
Special interactions with: 
Special interactions with: 
saves the day.
