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I think it's time to update Brand.

Yfrappefort··3 votes·810 views

Most of what I'm going to talk here is taken from this video : http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-rundown-416

Riot's talk about what makes a champion unique in two ways :

Input : The champion feels unique to play. Output : The champion has unique effects on the game.

Now, does Brand bring any unique input or output to the game? Let's see...

So why do people play Brand :

  • He is a fire mage, fire mage are hot. Yeah, but so is Annie , and she was released before him.
  • He is the king of AoE damage. Well, his damage is very good, but champions like Orianna , Ziggs and Malzahar can do as much damage as him, but they got more CC and utility.
  • He can shred tanks very well with his passive. Well, again, Malzahar do this better then him, and Syndra can even blow a tank up with her combo.
  • He brings a stun. Sadly, Xerath , Veigar ,TwistedFate just to name a few all got more reliable hard CC.

So not only does Brand brings nothing unique to the game, but he is also outclassed by many other mages atm in damage, CC and utility (the new Cassiopeia will also probably beat him in every way as well).

My question to Riot is, do you have any plans to add something unique to Brand? There is a reason he is almost never played. I would love to see him have something really unique to make him stand out.

6 Comments

HigeR1 votes

no ._. Brand is the combo-ing mage, no other champion can chain spells like he does

Yfrappefort1 votes

He is. But what part of the combo mage feels good about him?

The E + Q stun? That's about it. And it's very hard to land mind you.

His ultimate also feels terrible to use in 1v1 unless tons of minions are around and it's easy to cancel (hourglass) or deny (the distance for the bounces is short) in team fights.

HigeR1 votes

well in that you're right, his most satisfying combo is E+Q, the others aren't as interesting gameplay-wise. Do you think it's because combo Q has CC? what if he had CC in his other skills? I wouldn't go for stuns but perhaps a blind or silence would be cool to have. As for the ult yeah it's hard to pull off but take in account that a "perfect" brand ult has a LOT of dmg, like not even Kat can compare to how much this thing hurts if it bounces on you 3 times, if they made it more reliable they'd have to lower its dmg accordingly.

C13Magnum1 votes

The problem with more cc is then he just combos cc after cc after cc. But I feel his identity is as a combo mage and a mage who can shred a tank but his combos don't really feel satisfying to pull off and 8% max health over 4 seconds doesn't take down a tank too quickly.

He has no slow and just one single target skillshot cc spell. That, quite frankly, sucks. His ult should always prioritize champs (but prioritize un-hit champs to avoid his max case ult, which is ridiculous damage).

Perhaps what he needs is a passive stack. Basically his burn does less damage on first stack, but can stack 3 times added on to increased bonuses on his abilities. Give his q an automatic .5 sec stun but add .5 seconds per stack. His w should do % health damage as a bonus rather than flat % increase, making him even better against tanks. His e bonus should be that it spreads the current amount of stacks on the target to others (but doesn't conflagrate them).

As for his ult, imagine if it used that 3 stack combo system and gained a bonus for every stack on the target. If the target has 1 stack it acts like 1 stack of his q (1 sec stun), 2 stacks acts like his 2 stack of w (let's just say an extra 10% max health damage) and 3 stacks acts like his 3 stack of e (spreading that triple stack to everyone close).

If you ult a target who has 3 stacks of your passive already on them, you are guaranteed to get the first two bonuses on every single target, but against an assassin you might not have time for that and your best option is to e and ult immediately to get a quick, guaranteed stun that you can combo with a w-q for 3 seconds of cc (mind you a banshee's veil completely nullifies this cc chain). Lots to think about when doing his combos for him and for his opponents (if you have 3 stacks and he hasn't ulted, don't be near your team!)

Zarkkast1 votes

I think that making his ultimate prioritize nearby enemy champions (so frustrating when you're in the middle of a fight and the ultimate jumps to every nearby minion possible) would be enough of a buff for him. Maybe also augment his E range.

zlÒwÓlz1 votes

still waiting for that sion VO imho summoner 4

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