An AoE That Splits Its Damage Between Targets? @Riot @Meddler @thechampiondesigners

Phoggers·11/30/2016, 9:50:49 PM·1 votes·428 views

The best candidate I can think of for an ability like this would be Evelynn, specifically her ultimate, Agony's Embrace.

To me, Evelynn doesn't feel so much like an assassin anymore. I know she is a hotly controversial champion, and I like playing her As-Is even if I have to build pretty tanky to stay relevant. This idea might not even be good for Evelynn, but I just thought of her ultimate when I was thinking of it.

In FFXIV, there is a boss that has an AoE attack that deals a set amount of damage, but the damage is split based on how many targets it hits.

It would make sense to me, that Evelynn as an assassin, likes to isolate her targets. Would it then be stepping on Kha'Zix's toes (do insects have toes?) to deal increased damage to targets the less there are in the AoE?

Something like this: Agony's Embrace deals 1000 damage (obviously not real number, I am just bad at math and need a number to split easily). This damage is split by everyone in the AoE at the time of casting. So 2 targets would take 500 each, 3 targets would take 333 each, 4 would take 250 each and 5 would take 200 each... etc. Obviously minions don't count (or maybe they do to add a skill cap and counter play to the ability?). As far as I know there are no abilities like this in the game.

My questions to Riot are these, as I am not an expert in champion design by any means.

Would the ability be too confusing to use? Would it need to retain some benefit for hitting multiple targets, such as Agony's Embrace shield mechanic (as in you'd have to choose between higher damage or a higher shield and would that be a choice that would feel like the ability is incapable to be optimally used? Even if I think it is a clear choice, do you want damage for assassination or a hefty mitigation for an impending teamfight?) Are there any abilities like this currently in game (I don't think so, but to err is to be human)? Would there be any potential cases for other players that might seem unfair (perhaps the mechanic could be changed to have a small delay, such as placing a mark and an AoE on a target that will detonate after a brief delay [say 1 second], that means either group up or get nuked)? Could an ability like this be implemented?

Thank you for your time and consideration, I would love to hear your thoughts (or at least read them on this thread! :P ) ~Phog

4 Comments

Risk of Fate11/30/2016, 9:54:40 PM1 votes

Old Fiora had an Ultimate like that which split its damage the more people she hit. So, people would usually cluster up when she went in.

Dolasaur12/1/2016, 12:01:54 AM1 votes

Karthus Q does this to an extent; just binary, but still does double damage if it only hits one person.