I think it's pretty clear by now you can't balance Rylai's for two groups of champions at once
As a Brand main, I absolutely LOVE the concept of mana+CDR Rylais. I'm ready to sacrifice any amount of AP and/or health for it, as that single item makes my kit work for my team instead of just being an AP equivalent of Master Yi ball of damage with no utility in it. Yet the idea of changing the stats is met with great deal controversy for a good reason - it would absolutely wreck Mordekaiser. He's reliant on that item more than anyone else.
Let's have a look on who uses that item right now.
- Viktor is, according to LoLKing, the primary user of the item. Its main use is making sure his ultimate, Chaos Storm, sticks to the target. It also provides him with a handy chunk of health, as he already gets AP+Mana from the Hex Core. Paradoxally changing Rylais to AP+Mana would make it slightly less attractive for Viktor, as he'd no longer have that chunk of health on demand. If that was paired with less AP on the item, this would be a straight out nerf to Viktor.
- Brand is unsurprisingly the second one. Considering Blaze is a 4-second DoT, Rylais gives every ability he casts a slow. It changes drastically his teamfight presence and gives him power besides mindless damage. People tend to rush RoA on him right now, so an AP+mana Rylais might be just perfect for him. He'd still have some HP from Liandrys Torment.
- Elise is the third. Thanks to Hunter's Talisman, her mana costs aren't THAT much of a problem, so just like with Viktor, she might actually consider a Mana version worse. Especially since she's melee and that Health chunk is what made her a mage bruiser.
- Kennen, similarily, builds Protobelt and Rylai's. Now he's obviously not enjoying Mana Rylai's at all, and drops the item entirely. He might be interested in any rendition of Mordekaiser's alternative Health Rylai's.
- Syndra is the fifth champion. Poster child of "Everyone builds Rylais now", arguably an abuse case. She's a burst mage that can use the extra slow to ensure landing a perfect combo. considering Morellonomicon is her core item now, she would possibly consider switching to a Mana rylai's over it.
- Nidalee is on the list, too. Almost every single pro player will build the item, for similar reasons to Elise.
- Cassiopeia would behave similarly to Viktor here. Just like Viktor gets mana from Hex Core, Cassio tends to stack Tear, and even though a Mana Rylai's would counts towards the Archangel's passive, without Health from Rylai's she'd become considerably more squishy.
- Malzahar is eigth, but that's perhaps because he's not that popular of a champion. Build-wise, it's definitely a powerful item, and his E DoT makes it almost as strong as on Brand. He still goes for stuff like RoA or Liandry's first, but
- Rumble, just like Kennen, is a manaless user of Rylai's. He's not 100% reliant on the item (pros tend to go Zhonyas and Liandrys first), but would still see a drop in winrate without it.
- Orianna might be the best example of Rylai's being too strong right now. She's arguably the most balanced, fair to playa and to play against mages, and she's alreay got excellent utility in her kit. If she's building Rylai's - it might be too strong.
To sum it up, nerfing Rylais by changing it to a Mana+(lower)AP item probably means:
- Most likely a Brand buff
- Quite likely a Zyra and Karma buff
- Probably a Malzahar buff
- Possibly no change to Syndra, Ahri and Orianna
- Slight nerf to Viktor and Cassiopeia
- Rather a nerf to Elise and Nidalee
- Nerf to Kennen, Rumble and Vladimir
- Mordekaiser becomes unplayable.
So while nerfing Rylais using the AP lever (60-80 is enough, really) might reduce the item abuse cases -
#Mordekaiser absolutely needs an item with slow on abilities
The only way to change Rylai's into a mana+cdr item is to not leave Mordekaiser behind. Splitting the item in two is the best choice. The Last Whisper treatment.
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
- Recipe: Blasting Wand + 750g = 1600g
- +50 AP
- Unique Passive - Icy: Damaging abilities slow affected units based on their type:
- Single Target: 30% for 1 second.
- Area of effect: 20% for 1 second.
- Damage over time, Multi-Hit and Pet attacks: 10% for 1 second.
I put it at 1600g to make it equivalent with Haunting Guise. Slows are nerfed across the board.
Maiden's Hood
- Recipe: Rylai's Crystal Scepter + Glacial Shroud + 600g = 3200g
- +70 AP, +20 armor, +300 mana, +10% CDR
- Unique Passive - Icy: Damaging abilities slow affected units based on their type:
- Single Target: 30% for 1.5 seconds. (nerfed from 40)
- Area of effect: 30% for 1 second.
- Damage over time, Multi-Hit and Pet attacks: 15% for 1 second. (nerfed from 20%)
The Glacial Shroud component makes it similar to Iceborn Gauntlet, just with laughable armor. The alternative would be using something like Lost Chapter here, but that could make too strong of a laning item. I believe using armor here would definitely ensure it's not a foolproof purchase every time on every champion, unless you're laning against AD. That would add a "do I REALLY need this item" layer to the decision. Brand would definitely still buy it all the time, Viktor probably too, but Orianna and Syndra might reconsider it.
Heavy Metal Rod
- Recipe: Rylai's Crystal Scepter + Jaurim's Fist + 400g = 3200g
- +50 AP, +20 AD, +500 health
- Unique Passive - Icy: Damaging abilities slow affected units based on their type:
- Single Target: 30% for 1.5 seconds.
- Area of effect: 30% for 1 second.
- Damage over time, Multi-Hit and Pet attacks: 15% for 1 second. (nerfed from 20%)
Let's be real, as long as a pure AP+Health Rylai's exists, it will always be hard to balance. And there's an extremely limited set of champions other than Mordekaiser who would even consider such a bizarre set of stats - high health, mid-tier AP, and some AD.
Ignoring the item fanfiction - is splitting Rylai's into two items a good idea?
