An Attempt to Improve/Fix Plants

Foremost Disclaimer: I'm not good at the game. I do, however, like playing armchair designer and trying to improve on the concepts I feel don't quite hit the mark. One of the hottest debated topics right now is Plants and for good reason. I've looked around, gathered player information and more. So far, here's the consensus (SUPER ROUGHLY) on how/why plants aren't hitting the mark:

• Plants are too much RNG.
• Smite buffs were cleaner and more efficient when it comes to jungler buffs.
• Plants affect combat situations (THIS is a big one.)
• Plants can affect lanes just as much, if not more, than the jungle (Honey fruit for example)
• It adds too much clutter all over the map. (Several new spawns to keep track of!)

What's interesting is that, out of all the plants, nobody/few people seem to have a problem with the scryer bloom. It got me thinking why that buff, out of all of them, was so ignored when it came to criticism. It came to me that people don't mind plants as a utility tool for junglers. With this in mind, I'd like to propose a new design idea for plants.

#Part 1: New Spawns http://i.imgur.com/vKZiTVf.png

Red are particularly where I think plants would be good while blue could be a different and/or alternative spot. Couple things you'll notice about these spawn points:

• Red points are surrounded by 2-3 bushes yet also have a place to hop over the wall and/or dash past it.
• Blue points are safer for your own team but aren't as accessible for bot or top lane.
• Only two-to-four spawns but I'll get more into that.
• Contesting these points REQUIRES an invade rather than the safety of the river.

Second in this rundown: Plants would always spawn in pairs, mimicking the colors. A Red Doodleboop would spawn in both red points at the same time. Times can be altered but (generally) I'd wish for them to be on a consistent point.

#Part 2: New Plants Foremost, I'd scrap almost everything we have right now when it comes to the plants themselves. Instead of raw, combat power or instant gratification? I'd recommend that instead, plants are out-of-combat but useful utility spells. Some examples of what COULD work are listed below:

• Scryer's Carrot: Grants an oracles effect for a short time, revealing wards nearby. (Would spawn on blue, making it less about clearing bot lane.)
• Coffee Bean: Gives a out-of-combat MS boost. Expires once you enter combat. (Perfect roaming tool, if it happens to spawn.)
• The Banana of Glory: Greatly increases regeneration outside of combat. Expires once you enter combat. (NOT an insta-heal.)
• A Durian: Leaves an trail behind you for a short time. Enemies who pass over this trail are revealed.

While these are just theories, note the effects: None have an instant, obvious, impact that can turn the tide or stop a call. Any passive effect, from MS to regeneration, will only get value for a one-time gank or keeping hidden. "But Cap" you argue, "Won't this just make your laners take the plants instead? What about just trading buffs over and over?"

#Part 3: New Plant Mechanics The biggest problem these new plants would have is the disparity between junglers and laners. Even if they're harder to take, it's only a five second roam to grab the plant. As such, there would have to be system changes to accommodate this altered system:

• Plants have a five second channel to collect the effect. (Picking the fruit.)
• Enemy plants CANNOT be taken. Instead, "collecting" them destroys the plant. (Prevents buff trading.)
• Junglers can smite plants to instantly collect them. (Would need another smite CD reduction.)
• Alternatively, junglers reduce the channel to three seconds.

To further iterate this change, here's a concept for an item that could be included to further improve jungler wants for the new plants.

##Distilled Potion of Plants Cost: 400 (250) Active: Consume a charge to restore 50 HP and 30 mana over 8 seconds. Max 3 Charges. Passive: Collecting a plant stores the plant in this bottle, refilling it and allowing the user to use the planet at any time. (Collecting another plant will destroy the previous one.)

This item isn't as strong as hunter's potion but it does allow you to store plants for the future when they could be better used. It can also be used for a strong fake-out, keeping a plant ready so when your enemy tries to destroy yours, they get a surprise. Also further plays into assistance for junglers who struggle with resources, as it lets them replenish bottles without further wasting resources on camps. (Alternatively, it might be too weak. Either way, the idea is to allow for buff storage/collection if you wish to play that way.)

#Wrap-Up Looking at my post history you'll find that I don't like plants as they are. However, I'm not opposed to the idea one-hundred-percent. There is DEFINITELY a chance that these systems and ideas can work. As they are now, I don't feel too strongly on them. They feel too strong in combat and impactful RNG in combat may be entertaining for a viewer but, for the player, they feel awful. (At least one of them does anyways.)

The theory I propose isn't an end-all-be-all solution. It's an attempt at improving the system and not simply demanding Riot scrap it. Is it perfect? Hell no, I'm terrible at League, I just like designing things. But maybe this can be a jumping off point for the playerbase or Riot to look at solutions to plants rather than simply killing them or forcing them upon anyone.

I'll reserve the bottom of this for an FAQ, in case people have repeat/obvious questions or comments.