Champion Adjustment Suggestions For Udyr
Hello Riot Games. I am a long time Udyr player with a couple of suggestions that might help bring my favorite champion out of the current hole he is in. Currently his pick rate is on par with Urgot and Volibear for good reason. Udyr is currently in an unfavorable spot even after his mini rework. As someone who loves this game and feels as though the game is going in the right direction, I would just like to offer advise in order to see my love of this game become on par with other champions. Below are 7 different suggestions that could possibly give Udyr just that little buff in order to see him viable again. I'm not asking you to go out of your way to improve my champion, I would just like to try and save him and if anyone reads this at all I really appreciate you taking your time out of your day to hear my plea.
Give Udyr his base magic damage and AoE burn damage on his R back: Udyr was nerfed for his Phoenix/Runic Echos synergy being very strong. Additionally, at the time of his nerf, Runic Echoesgave champions 10% move speed. After the nerfs to Udyr's ap ratio, base on hit proc, and his AoE magic damage Runic Echos was also nerfed leaving Phoenix in a horrible position. I personally agree with the ap ratio nerf, it allowed the classic Udyr players to continue to play Phoenix while nerfing the Runic Echo Udyr players which was what the problem was. However, nerfing the AoE and the base damage essentially ruined any trading power and jungle clear speeds. Revamping Udyr's phoenix stance base damage without buffing the ap ratio on Phoenix would give Udyr some of that much needed love back into his kit.
Incorporate a mild slow into his kit: As you know, Udyr's bear stance offers a 1 second stun for ganking and utility purposes. However, outside of that stun, there is no ability in Udyr's kit that brings anything to the table during ganks or during teamfights except a mild amount of damage at best. Giving Udyr a mild slow on perhaps his phoenix stance would allow Udyr players to maximize ganks and to carefully choose skill points based on the situation rather than rushing either phoenix or tiger stance for damage. This would incorporate a more tactical approach to the game and give a small boost for Udyr to perhaps become playable again.
Give back the base values to Udyr's turtle stance: Turtle was a stance that with Phoenix was nerfed due to the overpowered nature of runic echos. Not only was the ap ratio nerfed but the base shield as well. I like the direction the mini rework was going for with turtle stance. However, as with phoenix, I felt as if only the ap ratio needed to be nerfed and not the base values as well. Restoring turtle stances base values to their former glory would allow Udyr to compensate for his lack of utility in team fights by adding just a second or two more in survivability. This would do so much good for Udyr's play and win rate.
Rework his passive: With all the new variety of champions coming out and older champions being reworked, passives are becoming essential contributors to champion effectiveness and design. As with Amumu's old passive, gaining a small amount of movement speed and attack speed is a little bland and weak in my opinion, especially given the fact that it can only stack 3 times for a grand total of 15 move speed and 15 attack speed. Perhaps incorporating a new design into Udyr's passive that would allow him to mark champions for bonus damage or effects based on the types of stances he switches between would allow a more thoughtful and effective style of play. For example, lets say you hit a champion with bear stance and stun them, the champ is now officially marked, now you use tiger stance and it does 40 true damage on hit. Or perhaps you use turtle next and it applies a 40% slow for 1 second. A passive with this style would freshen up an old champion and give him a little boost to increase his play rate.
Rework Phoenix into an actual ultimate: Reworking his phoenix into an actual ultimate would allow Udyr players to use all abilities with ultimate effectiveness and revamp the champion into a more interesting and playable product. I understand that with this change his other abilities might need to be toned down just a tad which I am ok with as long as the change would be for the betterment of the champion.
Make tiger stance do magic damage again or make Phoenix do physical damage: This change would allow more effective build paths to maximize his potential rather than forcing Udyr players to pick one style or the other. Being able to focus on one specific type of damage would also allow more fun styles of play rather than just full glass cannon because Udyr does not do a ton of damage at the moment or full tank to be tanky simply because hybrid builds do not provide enough tankiness or damage. This suggestion is probably my least favorite as it might be harder to balance leading to even more nerfs for my favorite champion, however it is still a viable option.
Give Turtle stance armor and magic resist: This change does not need to be a lot of armor and magic resist. I was thinking more along the lines of an Orianna shield where he perhaps starts with maybe 5 armor and magic resist and at max ranks gets 20 armor and magic resist. This would boost survivability in team fights and when clearing jungle camps without increasing the effectiveness of his clears all together.
Overall I really do like the direction that league of legends is going in and I really think Riot Games is trying to improve the game for the betterment of the players. If I was to give one word of advise it would be to not forget about the older, blander champions like Udyr. I'm not even sure if anyone is reading this at this point or if anyone even cares but if you have heard my plea I thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to improve my league experience. Thank you so much.
Sincerely, ItLurksInShadows
