How to balance my favorite worst champion, Lucian
Lucian ADC: The answer is pretty simple: give him 525 range, PLEASE! As the release of kai'sa has shown, ADC's with 500 range just aren't viable. Particularly when you have champions like Caitlyn with over 100 more range and more damage. Bot lane is such a straightforward lane that small differences like 25 more range or an additional long sword have a huge impact on trades and all-ins. When Tristana and Kalista have their ranged 'nerfed' to 525 there is a huge uproar that they are "gutted" or "unplayable" meanwhile Lucian is still sitting at 500.
Lucian Mid/Top: I think Riot has made it pretty clear that they don't want Lucian to be bullying in solo lanes. I'm going to specifically talk about mid matchups but I think the ideas still apply to top. Lucian excels in solo lanes because he combines the safety and poke of ranged champions with the all-in potential of champions like Akali, Kassadin, and Talon. Lucians E allows him to kite back vs all-in melee champions or to go forward onto immobile control mages and his Q can be used to all in after AA-E-AA or to harass through minion waves. In the past Riot's solution has been to increase his E cd and increase his mana cost both further hurting his lane presence bottom as well as solo lanes.
Solution: Make Lucian's Q have a minimum cast range similar to Cassiopeia W. This would force Lucian players to be more thoughtful about where to dash since going in too close would mean losing his ability to Q and use his passive to reduce CD on his E. This would reward good Lucian players who reposition well with the dash. In addition, losing the ability to Q a champion in melee range would make Lucian way more vulnerable to all-ins from champions like talon. And in solo lanes Lucian would no longer be able to all-in control mages by simply running at them. Making this change to Lucians Q would allow the balancing team to put more power into his kit without making him oppressive in solo lanes
TL;DR
- Make Lucian's Q have a minimum cast range similar to Cassiopeia W
- Give him 525 range