Ekko Has Among the Worst Late Game Assassin Win Rates - IDEAS

Despite being a champion frequently used by one-tricks, Ekko's Diamond+ late game win rate is at a measly 46%. Unlike most assassins, such as Talon (highest First Blood rate), Zed or Katarina, Ekko is weak early. His mid game is good (a necessity for an assassin) but it's nothing out of the ordinary. There are plenty of assassins with a stronger early, stronger mid game and stronger late game. Outside of the assassin class, there are even more examples of this. Even in terms of roaming, there are better options, such as Aurelion Sol or Talon.

Some other late game assassin winrates from Diamond+: Fizz - 49% (already stronger than Ekko after level 3) Diana - 52% LeBlanc - 51% Ahri - 50% (very well rounded) Zed - 52% with a whopping 12% play rate Katarina - 51% (insane snowball potential early to mid game) Talon - 47% (not too far from Ekko but he has among the strongest early games and has a better mid game on top of it too) Kassadin (he is weaker early and mid game though so he deserves it) - 51% (thought this would be higher tbh)

While not the hardest to pick up and play to a basic level, Ekko's an extremely difficult champion to play truly well. The way his kit meshes together and interacts with itself, terrain, positioning and other kits makes the path to mastery never ending. He also has to plan ahead of time, know all the dash locations, all the escape routes, always keep track of his R, predict enemy movements etc. Ekko also has a lot of strategic options he needs to consider (when to split, when to group, when to flank and how etc.). He's very enjoyable for me to play but I don't feel rewarded in the same way as when I picked up other champions, such as Fizz.

With all the effort needed to play Ekko to a high level, I think he deserves a late game at least on par with other assassins. His late game used to be far better and with more utility (slow on his passive) but tank Ekko led to nerf after nerf. I understand the reasoning behind this to an extent. Tank Ekko should be a viable option but not dominant. Either build has its pros and cons but even the existence of tank Ekko highlights some problems with Ekko's kit. You don't see tank Zed or tank Talon. Ekko's damage is not reliable (or as high as something like Diana) and his abilities are rather telegraphed. Tank Ekko takes this and says "I'll probably rarely land W if they're smart and my kit lacks the burst or DPS of a traditional assassin so I may as well be at least a bit useful in a more reliable way with my utility and frontlining ability." This style exists to reduce some of the issues Ekko has and trades damage for it. In his current iteration, that's fair and far from being overly strong but late game buffs should probably not incentivize tank Ekko. As a melee skirmisher, Ekko does need some defense to function but he should be a carry first.

Current late game issues:

• His split push is ineffectual vs the current crop of Conqueror top laners such as Jax, Camille, Irelia, Yasuo etc.
• His teamfight contribution is really hit or miss and depends more on his opponents making serious mistakes than Ekko's own ability. Making the right predictions and playing around teamfights well is part of the skill to Ekko so I am not saying his reliability should be improved. However, his high points probably do need a little help.
• His DPS is actually quite low for how much damage he tends to build. His burst is fine if you land everything but after that you're just done and for other assassins such as Diana or Fizz, you can still do quite a lot just with your kit's inherent DPS. This is one of his biggest problems and part of it isn't even about hitting abilities. His animations are so long on everything. While your Q's floating, another champion may have used 2 abilities during that animation.
• CC ruins him and denies him the most important parts of his kit. He can't deal with bruisers and other tanky champions well and this goes back to his lack of good DPS.

Solutions/Ideas: I think if AP Ekko's able to isolate a target and stick to them, he should have more DPS.

The first thing to try is to raise the AP ratio on his % missing HP damage for W. Change it from 3% to 5%. This will let him more effectively finish off bruisers and tanks when he builds like a carry. Vs squishies, it actually doesn't matter almost at all because he tends to overkill them late game (especially at those HP levels). They also don't build as much HP so % missing HP damage is not as important. This indirectly buffs his split pushing (though not enough to make him competitive vs most tops) and makes his teamfighting a tiny bit more reliable & versatile since now it will not be as large of a mistake to try to finish off a tanky champion. Ekko's not a true assassin. He's more of a skirmishing champion and this kind of change lets him be more useful when he's in the thick of things.

Alternative idea (my favorite but needs more testing than the first): Buff the ratio on Phase Drive with R levels. Why not Q? Q is a good waveclear tool and a buff would encourage a safer more poke oriented style. I want him to be more rewarded for when he goes in with a high AP build, not when he sits on the sidelines.

The way the E change would work is that he would get 5% more AP per R level but instead of starting at 40% AP, it would start at 35%. For example, at level 6, Phase Drive would get a 40% AP ratio, 45% at level 11 and 50% by level 16. After all, the technology that makes him move through time is also what lets him dash so it makes sense that they'd get better together. :)

In terms of balance, I don't want him to get a +10% ratio right away since I'm trying to gate that power to mid and late game. AP ratio bumps always weight power more towards late game but I think this makes the distinction even clearer and makes his transition into late game smoother. It's still a relatively minor change but it's a start and can be tweaked as needed. For example, maybe Riot finds that this is not enough and they want to shift power differently. They could make it start at 25%, go to 35% at level 6, 45% at level 11 and 55% at level 16. It's a nice balance lever.

BTW: I realize that his overall win rate is average right now but this is not a good sign. It's a pretty good meta for Ekko since team comps aren't very tanky overall and games rarely reach a true late game. Given this meta, it's actually surprising that his win rate isn't a lot better. Some of his biggest issues don't come to light right now. This doesn't mean they shouldn't be addressed. Considering the state of his early game (somewhat safe but weak), he should feel more impactful late game.

In general, I think Ekko's the type of champion which shouldn't fall off. He's all about outsmarting opponents and pulling off flashy plays. The idea that you become a liability just because the game hits a certain point doesn't sit well with me for a champion with Ekko's style, lore and gameplay pattern.