Let's Talk Eve and Hybrid Damage
There's a little bit of controversy sorrounding the exclusions of AD scalings from Eve's kit. Some are saying it restricts creativity while others say it streamlines her kit. Let's talk about that.
Hybrid damage has been largely phased out of the game, and that is because it comes with two typical problems:
- Its hard to build against. Tanks have a hard time building enough items quickly enough to reduce hybrid damage. For this reason it is now primarily on dps champions like Kayle and Jax who are designed to kill tanks.
- It makes itemization and balancing awkward. There arent many items that allow a hybrid champion to build optimally except for Rageblade and Gunblade, both of which are most at home on the DPS champions they were built for. In the past hybrid items have been largely disappointing due to not being optimized for any specific type of champion, while modern ones are more purposed for the few that need them. Meanwhile champions who have more than one build path for damage only build one at a time, either making part of their kit feel un-utilized or having one path be clearly better than the other.
Now let's examine why Riot likely restricted Eve to an AP build. Firstly, if she does manage to deal both types of damage in a satisfactory amount such that she can act as an assassin, tanks will have trouble building against her which is problematic as tanks are meant to counter/ balance assassins.
Secondly, her itemization options are restricted to dps items meaning she is either not functioning as an assassin or will play like a blunt knife. Conversely, if the scalings are high enough to utilize normal items, it won't matter what she builds and she becomes overly versatile as a burst champion. By being just AP, the items excellently support a burst damage play style.
The problem doesn't lie solely with hybrid damage itself, but rather in its interaction with assassins and other burst classes. Assassins have a very singular job: kill the carry. To this end they are granted high burst damage and high mobility with which to engage and to escape. Champions like fizz and alkali have proven that the moment an assassin is able to build hard survivability or dps, they create a toxic play pattern that is quickly removed from the game.
As a player who loves theory crafting and exploring creative playstyles, I understand this is a big part of the champion to many players. Choice is its own type of fun, and it is regrettable when a good thing has to go away. Assassins are a streamlined and fragile class though, and for the future health of the champion, it was deemed the right path to take.