Let's Talk Succubus

So here's the thing. Eve is problematic because of her ability (if she's not nerfed into the ground at the moment) dominate gank-heavy jungle style by virtue of her capability to circumvent wards entirely, making it very difficult to anticipate her ganks. As a result, in her current state, she is inherently unbalanceable (barring gimmicky weirdness like the new ward idea). That means Evelynn isn't allowed to play. Riot has always alternately allowed her to be a thing, in which case she's nigh unstoppable, or simply removed her from the game. So I have a proposition for you guys. What if she didn't have permanent stealth anymore? Now, I know, y'all are gonna say "it's central to her playstyle," and "without it, Evelynn's not Evelynn.” That's fine, but I disagree. Here's why. The strength of Evelynn's ganks is dramatically enhanced by their ability to simply drop out of nowhere with her permanent stealth. However, the core of it comes from her w, the ability to pursue or escape nearly instantaneously. As a result, I would like to see her run alternatively, and in a way Riot can balance without modeling certain counterplay styles uniquely to address her. In this rework, I’ve changed her passive to “Torment,” gaining further consistency with her central theme as a violent seductress. Torment provides an effective method by which her abilities can gain increased power and crowd control effects, but must be used with careful consideration to maximize their potential. With the addition of the Torment effect on Dark Frenzy, Evelynn retains the element of surprise, so long as she plans and position’s carefully. Additionally, if she uses the mobility afforded by Dark Frenzy’s passive effect, which now provides her with up to 45% movement speed entering the fight, which decays throughout the time she spends in combat, she can even potentially utilize the invisibility afforded by Dark Frenzy’s Torment effect to escape a fight that isn’t going her way. She even regains her previous ability to actually drop some hard cc on a target with Ravage’s new effect. Because she is now so capable of dashing into a fight unnoticed, her ultimate now builds on her central theme of the diabolic tormentor, draining the strength from her opponents to augment her own, and making her a terrible destructive force for a short period of time. Another thing to note is that Evelynn is now required to decide whether or not she wants to initiate a fight, or wait to maximize the strength of her combat prowess. Like the cunning seductress she is, she must choose precisely the right time to strike at the weakest point. If she is ready to do it, the results are terrifying. She also has lost the mana generation ability of her passive, so I have raised her mana regen slightly, and lowered the cost of Hate Spike. Additionally, she is now squishier, emphasizing the importance of striking the opponents’ vulnerabilities above all else, rather than simply being able to dash in and sustain a prolonged duel.

With these changes, Evelynn retains her core identity, she adds versatility and calculation to her playstyle, and her bag of tricks gains some marked uniqueness, beyond simply “semi-invisible halfass tank assassin.” Or “she who must always be nerfed.” So here’s the actual meat and potatoes, folks. I hope you like this as much as I liked trying to put it together!

Armor: 32.5-100.7 Magic Resist: 22.5-76.5 Health: 492-1932 Mana: 285-1257 Mana Regen: 9.1-19.6

PASSIVE: Torment: After not damaging or being damaged by another champion for six seconds, Evelynn gains one charge of Torment every 15 seconds (Affected by CDR). She also gains one stack of Torment on kill or assist. Evelynn can store 2/3/4 charges of Torment. Torment gives a special effect to each of Evelynn's abilities.

Q: Hate Spike: RANGE: 500 COST: 8 / 13 / 18 / 23 / 28 MANA COOLDOWN: 1, Missile Speed Decay removed. ACTIVE: Evelynn fires a line of spikes through a nearby enemy, dealing 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130 (+25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 % AP) (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 % bonus AD) magic damage to all enemy units in its path. A charge of Torment is used the first time this ability hits an enemy champion, slowing all targets hit by 25/30/35/40/45% Max Health for 2 seconds and dealing 10/15/20/25/30(+3/6/9/12/15% AP)(+4/8/12/16/20% AD) additional Magic Damage. A charge of Torment cannot be used with Hate Spike on the same target more than once per 6 seconds.

W: Dark Frenzy: COOLDOWN: 16 seconds PASSIVE: (Range 1200) Evelynn gains a percentage bonus to speed when moving towards targets with less than 50% health for every 6 seconds she is out of combat. decays 1 stack per 3 seconds in combat. This effect stacks up to 3 times, and one stack is gained with each autoattack on a champion. FLAT MOVEMENT SPEED PER STACK: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 ACTIVE: Evelynn removes all slows affecting her, gains 50/60/70/80/90% increased movement speed for 8 seconds and ignores unit collision. Champion kills and assists refresh Dark Frenzy's cooldown. A charge of Torment causes Evelynn to become invisible for the duration of the ability, until another ability is used or Evelynn deals damage to a target. If used in combat, this effect takes 1 second to activate (delayed up to 3 seconds when taking damage).

E: Ravage: RANGE: 175 COST: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 70 MANA COOLDOWN: 9 ACTIVE: Evelynn slashes a target twice, dealing 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+ 60% AP) (+ 70% bonus AD) magic damage and gaining 10/15/20/25/30(+.5% AP) health per hit. Evelynn then gains 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120% bonus attack speed for 3 seconds. A charge of Torment causes the target to be stunned for .2/.4/.6/.8/1 seconds.

R: Dark Sacrament: COST: 100 Mana RANGE: 175 COOLDOWN: 120 / 90 / 60 Evelynn gains a bonus 50% tenacity for up to 6 seconds or until the ability is activated again. Activating this ability a second time causes Evelynn to cling to a target, channeling and suppressing the target for 1 second. Following this, Evelynn deals 50/100/150 damage(+80% AP) to the target, and gains that much health. For 2 seconds after the suppress ends, Evelynn is immune to CC, the target's AD, and AP are lowered by 20/25/30%, and Evelynn gains a bonus equal to the amount of each attribute lowered in this way. This persists for 4 seconds. A charge of Torment empowers Dark Sacrament, increasing the amount drained to 30/35/40% and adding 2 seconds to the length of the effect.

Obviously, the numbers would likely need to be tweaked in PBE. However, I truly believe that this would resolve many of the reasons Evelynn has been problematic in the past. I would love to see her returned to legitimate play, and I don't want to wait for Riot to come up with the proper gimmicks to make that possible. So what do you guys think? Let me know in the comments! I really want to hear your opinions.