Pantheon rework ideas
Pantheon is a bruiser/assassin type champion who is very strong early, but unless he gets fed, falls off hard in midgame. It's like playing old Katarina with old Mejai's. Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but you get my point.
Here's some suggestions that nobody will read (least of all Riot), to maybe make him an awesome Spartan with late-game potential.
Passive - Aegis Protection
After 4 basic attacks, or after 30 seconds (reduced with cooldown), he gains a stack of Aegis Protection (max 2 stacks). Aegis protection: Blocks the next incoming basic attack.
Q - Spear stab: Pantheon makes a jab with his spear that deals physical damage to the first enemy it hits (procs on-hit effects). If his shield is up, he deals less damage, but has a higher critical strike chance.
W - Heartseeker leap: Pantheon jumps to target location, dealing magical damage in an area. If he hits an enemy champion, they are slowed by 30%, and gives Pantheon a stack of Aegis Protection.
E - Raise shield: Pantheon raises his shield in front of him, blocking all basic attacks for 1.5 seconds in a cone in front of himself, and reducing incoming spell damage by 5/10/15/20/25%. If Pantheon jumps on an enemy champion during this time, he smacks the closest one with the shield, dealing physical damage.
R - Grand Skyfall: Pantheon begins channeling, leaping into the air after 2 seconds. He then has 3 seconds to choose a location to land. 2 seconds later, he will crash down at that location, dealing massive amounts of magical damage, increased if you are closer to the epicenter. Enemies can see an outline where Pantheon will land 1 second before he does. Target range reduced from 5500 to 2000.
Grand Skyfall's cooldown is reduced to 30 seconds if it is interrupted and/or cancelled.
Okay, what the idea of this kit is, is to give Pantheon some well deserved warrior style survivability. He must get close and personal to deal his damage, and he doesn't have any other initiation than his ultimate and a short range jump. This is in my opinion what sets him back if he can't get fed. Enemies can just blow him up before he even gets close.
The obvious weakness of the new pantheon, is he's not so good at running away. His shield only blocks in front of him, meaning if he turns around, he is fully exposed. This gives him some much needed counterplay in lane. If you can stun him, you can maybe get behind him and deal some damage.
The benefit of the new Pantheon is he can run towards enemies, leap to them, soak up some damage for the team with his shield and passive stacks, and then stab them to death with his spear. His channeled E is gone, and the spear throw is replaced by a short-ranged stab attack that can miss, but applies on-hit effects. His stun is gone completely, replaced by a slow. It's honestly too much like Taric's old dazzling gem ability. Zero counterplay, zero skill required to use.
The E channel is one of the reasons Pantheon is so bad lategame unless he gets fed. Nobody lets him get it off, and it doesn't deal a truckload of damage without being ahead. That's why it is replaced by damage from the "Raise shield" ability. Easier to get off, but useless unless you hit an enemy champion with the leap, so it does require some skill.
The W not being targeted, but dealing AoE damage and slow, lets him get counterplayed. When he leaps, there is a brief window where someone can flash or leap aside, leaving his shield damage useless, and allowing you to surround him and prevent him from soaking up too much damage with it. It also lets the W be a small area ability, and have a slightly higher range to compensate.
The stab instead of targeted throw also plays on the counterplay side. First of all, it hits minions, so use them to block Pantheon's stab attack. You can also block it if you're the tank by standing in between your team and Pantheon. This lets his stab be a little more powerful than the spear throw, hence why it procs on-hit effects.
The ultimate has much less range, but every other part of it is buffed. It lets you escape into the air with it first, and THEN select a place you want to jump to. It also deals more damage. The range nerf is to make it less of a utility spell, and more of a fight initiation spell. It still has 600 more range than Xerath's Q at max range, so it's not that bad. It still lets you leap into baron pit from a safe distance. The only difference is, now you actually have to be places to participate in the fight, and not be halfway across the map.