I'm think I'm done with Kindred.

Shaiyo··4 votes·2,165 views

To start, I like KindredKindred. I like the lore. I love the VO. Everything about the champ aesthetically works. I bought them first day and I have played them ever since.

Gameplay, however, just isn't up to par.

I don't play ranked, so this is coming from a casual player who has played many games as a jungler, top, and ADC in bot lane.

My main concern is simple:

Kindred is simply too easy to get away from.

Their movement speed is too slow, even with boots, to chase down a target with any reliability. I've had so many people run away from me in lane that it just gets frustrating. The slow on E is great, but Kindred's short range and lack of any real closing ability means you have to get the absolute best gank to make it count. Only in the late game with 8-10 stacks is Kindred relevant. I've taken to trying to build Frozen Mallet item 3022 to overcome the disparity.

The only build option that has worked with any consistency is full on-hit (Devoureritem 1403, BotRKitem 3153, Rapid Firecannonitem 3094, Statikk Shivitem 3087, Runaan'sitem 3085, and Berserker Greavesitem 3006. Hell, I've thrown in a Wit's Enditem 3091 from time when I wasn't in the jungle). Even then, you need a tank to keep from getting bursted.

Add that to the fact that in normals you are apt to run into Yi MasterYi, Yasuo Yasuo, and Ekko Ekko nearly every game, with the occasional Riven Riven and Teemo Teemo to spice things up. These champs can chase down ANYONE and Kindred, the fricking AVATAR OF DEATH, has trouble chasing a Rift Scuttler (I'm exaggerating, of course, but have you ever tried to chase a crab with no stacks? It takes forever).

I understand the lack of damage in light of the passive. I understand Riot was trying to avoid creating another Pentakill monster. But Kindred is simply too slow to make their considerable kit really count. If they won't increase her movement speed, increase the leap distance on the Q and/or make it able to be reduced by cooldown reduction, or give them just one form of HARD CC, i just don't see Kindred as a viable pick any more.

19 Comments

Big Lincoln4 votes

if Kindred was difficult to escape from, she would be infuriatingly oppressive

Darius Strada3 votes

Upvoted because of the use of the correct pronoun!

Ser Garland2 votes

Now, I left the game in its current state two weeks ago, but from what I gathered, Kindred was the best duelist marksman in the game. You'd think as a jungler, his early game would be shit but in reality, counter jungling is Kindred's specialty, all they have to do is set down their W and you get this free Skarner aura where you just automatically win trades. A massive aura that boosts your play potential, even if your enemy can walk out of it has massive zoning benefits that effect a game. Otherwise why would Jarvan's Ult still be relevant to this day?

Late game, Kindred's ult, if used skillfully is essentially a massive Kayle/Tryndemere ult for your team. yes, it affects enemies as well, but you have to remember: It's YOUR ability, you use it at YOUR discretion. Which essentially means if used correctly will not benefit the enemy in the slightest. Add a scaling true damage modifier and that damn free trading circle with your W and you have a late game so powerful, it doesn't even matter if you did poorly earlier. Kindred's pretty OP atm .

Shaiyo1 votes

Where do you get True Damage with Kindred? Their kit doesn't have anything that provides it and I don't know any items that use it.

The W is underrated in the jungle, though some people wouldn't agree with that. It scales with attack speed and can spread damage around very quickly if the opponent isn't paying attention. The reason why Jarvan's ult is so relevant is because it LOCKS the enemy within it. Couple that with Jarvan's built in Attack Speed boost, knockup, and all around fighting ability, it's a damn good ult. Kindred's kit doesn't have anything of that caliber.

Like I said, Kin's kit isn't bad, but it has some glaring gaps in it that keep it from being truly good. I understand the restrictions (who wants another Yi, ugh), but Kin just matches up porrly against the usual suspects of ADC, though I've had some moderate success against Lucian amazingly enough, even though he can shrug off the slow with a button press.

The new Graves, however, that's just some bull.

EDIT: I LOVE KIN'S ULT. I love the way it ruins the enemies plan, especially the super bursty ones.

Cherysse2 votes

Use Movement Speed runes or Stormraider's Surge if it is a problem, also just use item 1306 if you are having trouble in chasing down an enemy. You also must take adventage of your range when you are ganking, moving towards the direction in wich they are going to scape before they do and attacking them in the process, I know it because I am currently playing Quinn jungle a lot (and I must say her ganks are better than Kindred's)

Shaiyo1 votes

Playing Kindred has forced me to get REALLY good at kiting and Attack-Move techniques. I even set up my mouse to make it easier. I'm not saying the champ is bad by all means. I have about a roughly 50% winrate with them. I don't use movement speed runes because I have Attack Speed Quints in. Amazingly enough, Kin's attack speed is initially very low, which makes kiting in lane and in the jungle and clearing camps more trouble than it's worth. That little bit of attack speed boost helps out a lot. I start with Armor Pen marks, but occassionally start with attack damage marks.

Of course, I have a weird start item in lane. I actually start with Dagger item 1042 in lane. There is a strange little delay in Kin's AA animation that makes me miss a lot of CS that is almost completely eliminated with the small attack speed boost from runes, masteries, and the dagger. But that's what works for me, others may have more success.

Shaiyo1 votes

I've been meaning to give Stormraider's Surge a try. Thanks for the reminder.

MakeThemBleed2 votes

I think kindred is more of a team oriented champion rather than solo q because they do require alot Of communication when it comes to acquiring stacks which ofc is important on them. I think that's the reasoning behind the bans in IEM Atm because she can get stacks easier with communication from the team. Those stacks really are important on kindreds damage output.

Shaiyo1 votes

{quoted}

I think kindred is more of a team oriented champion rather than solo q because they do require alot Of communication when it comes to acquiring stacks which ofc is important on them. I think that's the reasoning behind the bans in IEM Atm because she can get stacks easier with communication from the team. Those stacks really are important on kindreds damage output.

I haven't kept up with IEM, but that is interesting to note. With verbal commands and teamplay, Kindred can rack up stacks very quickly. Thanks for the notice.

celcius041 votes

i mean IEM is played in patch 5.21, they were nerfed after the patch that IEM is being played on.

The Patriachy2 votes

The problem is her ad scaling is shit and she relied on 30 armor pen from runes and old warrior + old last whisper. She just lost all her armor pen so is now terrible.

That is the problem with this bloody patch. Riot only cares about crit based ad champions. They completely forgot about wukong, zed, riven, kha, kindred, kallista etc who relied on old last whisper + stacking a ton of ad.

YCitizenSnipsY2 votes

Well Kindred isn't really a champion that tries to chase down a secure kills. She's all about zone control and objectives. You have to force a fight over an objective whether it be a jungle camp thats marked or dragon/herald and the enemies fight in your area or give up objectives. Play to the strengths of the champions.

Shaiyo1 votes

You're absolutely right. Kin excels in zone and objective control, especially using their Ult to delay baron and dragon kills. I've never had trouble in jungle clearing and objective kills. But those 1v1 and ganking faults almost break the character for me.

I guess this a problem that is seen more in normals than ranked. Everyone expects Kindred to have the highest kill count and you know how Blind Pick is sometimes. So many people will ignore towers and objectives because they are chasing kills, even if it means walking into an enemy ambush over and over and _ over _ again.

YCitizenSnipsY2 votes

Yeah Lane help is really big for Kindred when she tries to gank, because one slow isn't enough to secure ganks. It can be frustrating when trying to play her in solo que because she is a very team oriented champion since Riot is making it more of a team oriented game, and not having good teammates.

If you have put a considerable amount of time in trying to learn the champion I wouldn't quit just because of bad teammates. Kindred is a good pick but not a solo que star to carry by yourself with.

NoPaxt1 votes

Amen!

Kãtãrinã1 votes

i think kindred is fine, you just have to learn how to play her. I for one go item 3006 item 1408 item 3153 item 3142 item 3036 and last item is optional and so is item 3036 . I'm mostly playing around with builds but with this one alone i have had great success. But at the same time i'm level 5 on her and am trying to somewhat main her. so far i have gone 25/4/9, 8/4/6, 6/4/9 with this build last night. I honestly think you just need 2 learn the champion a bit better cause she has good sustain damage and outplay potential.

Shaiyo1 votes

I've been Mastery V with Kindred for a while now, 80.4k points. I've only played Jayce more. I've pretty much got Kindred figured out, but this glaring weakness just keep rearing it's head and I can't get past it with out a serious support, especially one with hard CC.

My best game I went 29/9, with the above build as a matter of fact. My worst was 3/9, I believe. In lane, it really matters what support I get. Supports who with Hard CC are the best, because they set up the E so nicely. Soraka is the worst support for Kindred I've seen so far (not that Soraka is a bad support, just doesn't mesh well).

SleepyLionCub1 votes

i feel like kindred is simply in need of a better underfarmed game.

she snowballs SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fucking hard. but if she is just a little bit behind she becomes completely useless.

Bronzoid1 votes

Windred is the most broken jungler in the game right now.

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