Kassadin Right Now

Kassadin is an assassin but with his numbers his assassination potential is very lackluster. His R is perfectly fine with the range nerf and CD buffs but compare his other abilities.

Kassadin Q: 70/95/120/145/170 (+70% AP) It cancels channels and provides a MAGIC shield 40/70/100/130/160 (+30% AP)

Viktor Q: 40/60/80/100/120 (+20% AP) Provides a shield that blocks ALL damage 30/50/70/90/110 (+20% AP) Next auto attack deals BONUS magic damage equal to 20-210 (+50% AP)

I'm trying to bring two similar abilities and compare then next to each other. They will not be the same and they will not justify that Kassadin is an assassin and anti-mage while Viktor is more suited as a team fight mage. However just comparing the two, Viktor's numbers are slightly better granted that he lands the next auto.

Viktor's Q is also set at a 4 second (no CDR involved) at max rank while granting a shield to ALL damage for 2.5 seconds while Kassadin is set at 9 seconds at all ranks with a 1.5 second shield for magic damage. Kassadin's Q is also more mana consuming (but the W should effectively balance it out I guess). The only upside to Kassadin's Q is the extra 50 range over Viktor's 600 Q range and the ability to cancel channels.

Proposal: Perhaps make Kassadin's Q CD scale with rank or giving it a slight base damage buff.

CD: 9/8.5/8/7.5/7 seconds Q: 70/95/120/145/170 --> 65/95/125/155/185 (+70% AP)

Kassadin's W is unique and is very effective for last hitting and sustaining in lane. It is fine where it is.

Kassadin's E draws power from the spellcasts of other enemies or himself. But it is very limiting for the amount of stacks that needs to be gained the damage is very lacking. The closest spell that could be compared to this would be Annie's W.

Kassadin's E: 80/105/130/155/180 (+70% AP) in a cone [400 RANGE] Provides a 50/60/70/80/90% slow for 1 second.

Annie's W: 70/115/160/205/250 (+85% AP) in a cone [625 RANGE]

Kassadin's E isn't bad, but it can easily be out scaled by other mages. Along with the need to stack and store energy from spell casts, it can be frustrating to cope with Kassadin's E. The worst part is that it still costs mana (in spite of the description of drawing in energy from spell casts in the vicinity).

Proposal: Allow Kassadin to cast E regardless of stacks but to keep the idea of him storing energy from spell casts, allow him to charge up his E (similar to how Yasuo's E can be ramped up or how Jax's E can be ramped up).

CD: 11/10/9/8/7 seconds E: 55/80/105/130/155 (+60% AP) Provides a 50/60/70/80/90% slow for 1 second Kassadin draws energy from his ENEMY'S spell cast dealing 25% bonus BASE damage per a stack up to 4 stacks.

Kassadin's R remains an iconic part of his kit. With the recent changes to the CD, it is fine where it is.

TL;DR: Kassadin's role as an assassin is out scaled by other champion picks. He needs a few minor buffs to tweak him in the right direction without allowing him to completely dominate games.