Assassin Update [Revised]
Before my opinion is written off as unfound, uneducated, or inexperienced, I'm an ex 2200 ELO assassin main that peaked at Platinum I 96 LP in S3, my first season in League. Subsequent seasons I hit Platinum again yet never surpassed it, due to ceasing ranked play to pursue college, a career, and a relationship. Hence the decayed rank in S5.
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Subsequent to securing kills on the ADC / APC, assassins are utterly useless against the remaining triple tank meta in the late game.
As a result they HAVE to be given some tools that make them even minimally useful against tanks, else they lose by default if their ADC is either dead or inadequate, given that the ADC is generally the only character that has sustained DPS vs the tank meta.
This is not a suggestion that assassins are made so powerful that they melt tanks. This is a suggestion that they are given the tools to actually event REMOTELY dent the health of the insane number of tank builds in the League of Legends late game.
How to make assassins USEFUL against the tank meta:
- True damage.
- Percentage health damage.
- Sustained DPS (not just ability-based).
While assassins have their uses against unorganized, unskilled and often inadequate players who don't know how to gear, they are much less effective, if not even useless against people who know what they are doing, gear properly and know how to group.
AP assassins with 900 AP and full magic penetration can often hardly even dent the health of a dedicated tank build and find themselves useless against them.
Currently, assassins only have a few realistic uses:
- Trashing inexperienced players in solo queue.
- Trashing people who aren't smart enough to get defensive gear.
- Potentially snowballing early game. (Useless unless you have team that knows how to capitalize on leads and close out a match.)
They were hardly picked AT ALL in 2016 Worlds so far. As is, they are very ineffective and weak against competent players in the late game. Because there are only two requirements to countering them, and making them near useless in the late game.
- Defensive gear. Abuse of tank meta. (Spirit Visage, Banshee's Veil, Randuin's Omen, Guardian Angel.)
- Grouping. Sticking together. (I.E. How to not get caught out.)
"Deception and mind games won’t mean much to LeBlanc if she’s killing her opponents before they have the ability to do anything."
You cannot afford to nerf the burst damage of assassins. They are already falling out of popularity due to the triple tank meta. Spirit Visage, Banshee's Veil, Randuin's Omen, Barrier, Heal, the list goes on. It's effortless to buy a couple items and become an un-burstable tank.
"We also want to ensure that when LeBlanc does commit to a kill by dashing in, she has to stay in threat range for slightly longer."
LeBlanc already insta-dies if she stays in threat range for more than ONE SECOND in a grouped teamfight. Assassins are glass cannons. They cannot afford to stick around. If you require them to, they become useless. This is a stupid idea. Don't do it.
Kassadin:
Requires:
**WILL STILL RUN OUT OF MANA IN A FEW SECONDS. **
Fix this, or he remains a joke. The champion is horridly underpowered after recent changes. Including his rework & massively overscaled nerfs.
Kassadin now requires an EXCEPTIONAL amount of gold, twice the gear, and twice the feed of almost any other champion in the game to be either effective or on par with other champions in League of Legends. Simply put, he is now a very poor pick in general, and there will almost ALWAYS be a better alternative, as opposed to picking Kassadin, in his current state. He is now superior to none, and inferior to everyone.
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Note:
In the current meta, the only people who can effectively kill tanks or do sustained damage to them are Marksmans / Attack Damage carries. Standard assassin champions, and particularly AP champions, are virtually useless in the late game against dedicated tank builds.
This means that EVEN IF you do your job as an assassin and effectively manage to burst down the APC & ADC on the enemy team (often difficult due to tanky late game builds) .. If your Marksman / AD Carry is either inadequate or dead, you are left completely helpless against the 2-3 remaining tanks on the enemy team. Because even with a full build and full damage combo, you can hardly even make a stain on the healthbar of the more tanky opponents.
This is a serious balance issue, and this is why I'm proposing more frequent access to true / percentage health damage for assassin builds, particularly AP assassins.
