Kog needs a rework and this is how we do it
First of all, he needs an identity. An actual identity, I mean. Not a grab-bag of random shit that lacks any semblance of coherence. Riot has made it clear that they despise AP Artillery Kog. See the incoming AP Kog nerfs for details. We've also learned that trying to focus Kog on his long range machine gun gameplay hook is a no-go as well. So what does that leave us with?
Well. He's also the game's only team-focused tank busting Marksmen due to the percentage resist shred on his Q. He's also supposed to be able to function as a low damage high utility team's major (or only) damage source. Okay, cool. So why don't we go with that? Combining those two elements, Kog's identity becomes THE damage amplification Marksmen. So what would that look like Well...
Passive - Eldritch Acid: Kog'Maw's basic attacks and abilities inflict stacks of Eldritch Acid on enemy units for eight seconds, shredding (flat value) resist.
But why? This new passive becomes the corrosive glue that holds the rest of Kog's kit together. Rapidly shredding flat resistance is exceptionally powerful when it comes to destroying targets early and mid game. While Kog's damage alone isn't bad by any means, this new passive gives whoever he's laning with a huge leg up when it comes to wrecking folks.
Q - Caustic Spittle: (Bonus attack speed removed. Cooldown decreased dramatically and damage adjusted) Kog'Maw fires a corrosive projectile that passes through and damages units, stopping at the first enemy champion hit, dealing magic damage and applying the Corroded debuff for eight seconds. Corroded converts stacks of Eldritch Acid to multiplicative percentile resistance shred with the passive value as a minimum. Consecutive applications of Corroded stack, increasing the power of the resist shred.
But why? Not only does this make Q far more interesting to use, it also serves as a means for both flat resist shred and percentile shred to function together in Kog's kit without reducing the effectiveness of each other. Removing the steroid from Kog's Q opens up kit power to be spread around elsewhere.
W - Bio-Arcane Barrage: Passive: Kog'Maw's basic attack range is increased by (amount) Active: For the next (duration) seconds, Kog'maw's passive attack range boost is doubled.
But why? Oh my gosh that's a giant nerf! Yes, probably. But that %HP damage will be coming back, just wait a few moments. The goal here is to focus Kog on his skills early game, in particular his low cooldown Q. Having a spammy nuke to lob at people precludes giving Kog too much stat-check power, and that's precisely what his current W is. If you want a champ that pops a steroid and murders everything, Twitch or Vayne are probably better choices anyway.
E - Void Ooze: Kog'Maw's next basic attack deals bonus magic damage and splashes stacks of Eldritch Acid onto all nearby enemy units in a large cone.
But why? At present, Void Ooze exists to patch one of Kog's weaknesses. Namely, that he doesn't want anything getting close to him. But in this day and age where everyone and their mother has a move-block of some kind, this defense is really just taking up space. That'll be doubly true when the nerfs Riot has lined up for it go live. So instead, we replace it with a new skill that actually helps Kog do his job. Crazy idea, right? So Kog starts stacking stacks on the enemy Tank and then tags them with Void Ooze. Now the whole enemy team is debuffed so whoever Kog's front-liners are can wreak some havoc.
R - Living Artillery: Kog'Maw fires a projectile at long range which lands 0.6 seconds later, dealing minor magic damage and applying the Free Food debuff for 6 seconds to all enemy units hit. Casting Living Artillery does not interrupt Kog'Maw's movement or basic attacks. Free Food reveals targets hit and causes Kog'Maw's basic attacks to deal (percentage) of their current HP as bonus magic damage OnHit. While Bio-Arcane Barrage is active, the OnHit damage is doubled. Targets at or below 25% HP take massively increased damage from the Living Artillery.
But why? For several reasons. One, we already know Riot hates Kog's poke pattern. Adding an OnHit element to Kog's Ult debuff forces him to get into attack range if he wants to take full advantage of it. We're keeping the execute portion, since that's actually pretty neat. Tying Kog's %HP damage to landing his Ult gives him greater skill expression beyond pressing W and watching things die, which is what tends to happen when Kog is over-tuned. The %Current HP damage helps gnaw targets down into execute range, providing further internal skill synergy. Since the poke potential of Kog's Ult is going down the shitter, the ramping mana cost can be completely removed and the skill balanced around its base mana cost (sorry AP Kog).
So there you go.
A champion with an actual theme and purpose for existence.
