Proposed Changes to Defensive/Support Options

An Analysis on early Game Health; Proposed Improvements to Defensive Options

First, let me say that this is quite a lengthy read but I would not have done so if I did not think it necessary. Second, these changes that are proposed are based off of an intention to not only improve gameplay across all levels of skill but also reduce hostile team interactions with a straight-forward answer. This is included because successful teamwork is a method and goal for the game within the scope of Riot’s vision. As such, it would be less than fair to only align changes with respect to professional play.

Your feedback is very much appreciated (especially on certain elements that are bound to cause spaghetti code) so I hope you are able to get through all this.

Let’s start with Observations based on common early game occurrences/environment (Mostly general issues within a game; if you feel you have an awareness of these issues, you may skip ahead):

1. Difficulty in shifting goals/gold between teammates when behind as well as providing meaningful defensive options that truly feel defensive.
2. Too few options outside several optimal choices that heavily restrict the build path of certain roles. Most ADCs susceptible to this trend; extends to certain Divers, Artillery Mages, Burst Mages, and Skirmishers (Read on for supports). Unfortunately translates to undeserved early purchases such as pouring gold into a damage item without some defensive option such as Potions/Boots/Defense in hopes of being able to out-trade opponents.
3. Supports are particularly harmed by this reckless playstyle as they cannot institute proper defensive options with such a low gold income and the glaring problem of vision control. It falls to other laners to participate in rotation or deep-warding, but often this is supplanted by the inability of jungler and support to secure the means of approach or other lanes inability to do so. Additionally, laners that are behind or very even in matchup will be inclined to remain in lane for fear of a quick push or heavy disruption of CS. For Supports, the lack of gold leads to miniscule purchases that contribute minimal influence in lane or teamfights and so they must sacrifice purchase options to fully commit to either gold gain, movement speed, defense, or damage. For Junglers, the purchases for expediting objectives and ganks outweigh the ability to counter-jungle or choose an early defensive option in most cases (Sightstone, Redemption). Only very slightly offset by the purchase of vision wards.
4. Metagolems remain an issue when paired with stat/spell combinations that are fairly imbalanced. Ghost + Skirmisher’s Bloodrazor is fairly unchallengeable and often inescapable in the early game. Exhaust/Ignite/Barrier do little to mitigate the inevitable double (or more) dive which is often shrugged off by healthier divers and mobile/healthy laners.
5. With the change to Abyssal Scepter and the removal of MR aura from Aegis, the selection of MR/HP Regen items for many champions falls to very niche choices: Spirit Visage and Banshee’s Veil. For a majority of supports, neither is ideal and both are very costly in comparison to the current Locket and Banner. For all other champions, the items skew the build path significantly by not providing their completed bonuses sooner. The changes to these two items auras has placed a heavy emphasis on players to be individually skilled rather than have a pseudo-defense simply because of the inability of damage dealers to incorporate effective Magic Resist options into their build bar Banshee’s (only other response for Mages), Maw, Mercurial (AD), or Spirit Visage (Tanks/certain Supports). Zz’Rot is in the vein of tank purchases, Mikael’s is traditionally a Support purchase as is now Athene’s. Wit’s End, Edge of Night, and Death’s Dance are rudimentary purchases that serve Assassins/Skirmishers/Divers more than they serve other classes (and still not bought as often). Death’s Dance can benefit ADCs but significantly disrupts their Attack Speed purchases which could effectively make a large impact on the mid-game. The main point here is that the response to powerful AD or AP carries is very much limited per class due to the heavily-inclined role-specification of defensive options.
6. The use of a burst or artillery mage for a Support is favored every so often for the simple fact that they will outperform the ADC consistently in terms of security by means of trading or pressure. Frost Queen’s Claim active promotes this style of behavior by chasing down opponents for an easy kill. In my own opinion, this is a very unhealthy playstyle that acknowledges the ineffectiveness of the ADC in this pairing and also suggests Supports (Enchanters/Disruptors/Wardens) cannot synchronize an equal of means of effectiveness.
7. Certain champions regularly underperforming or overperforming in what we understand as a Feast-or-Famine playstyle. This sort of occurrence should not jar a player into mediocre contributions and as such those certain champions require small adjustments to accommodate a particular strength without truly changing their particular weaknesses.

Proposed Champion Changes

1. Talon: Requires another element on his E. This is due to being a pure mobility option (Warwick’s Blood Scent comes to mind) with minimal alternative interaction. My suggestion is to allow a short backwards leap after Q (remains targetable) that will set E on fixed cooldown so that he cannot immediately vault a wall, but can trade relatively safer.
2. Akali: Her biggest weakness has always been AoE. Change her W to a charge system, reduce the slow amount, and have it hold 2 charges on Rank 3. As with Talon, this should provide her a safer early option.
3. Shaco: Feasts a bit more on laners than he should despite Invisibility changes. Needs to donate his ratio from E into his passive to be able to commit more and feel more backstaby than a drive-by.
4. Teemo: The fury of many new players, Teemo has always been criticized for having a weak teamfight contribution in addition to a justified hatred for his personal minefields allowing for relatively unapproachable split-pushes. Increase the size of his Mushrooms (at least 2.5 Teemos), increase the base damage, lower ratio to +10% AP, lower slow amount to 25/35/45. Reduce Blinding Dart ratio to +50% AP and change cooldown to 14/12/10/8/6. Larger mushrooms allow for the opportunity to be disrupted by minions, but also affect a larger amount of units. Scaling on cooldown for Blinding Dart allows several laners to not become overly bullied in the early game but rapid application later on.
5. Kalista: Extremely vulnerable in the early game, Kalista suffers against lane bullies/pushers like Lucian, Caitlyn, and Sivir. Give her Ghosted status to begin with (she is a ghost, after all) and adjust the formula of Sentinel to 10+1 per level for bonus attack speed percentage. This effectively forces her to have her Oathsworn nearby while also being able to avoid slightly more harass than before. Hiding within minions allows her the chance to be protected by minion aggro sooner.
6. Aatrox: Honestly might require a significant rework, but hopefully with the proposed item changes that follow will return to a good spot. His kit is particularly unimpressive so let us add a bit of thematic contributions. Increase base healing that Blood Well uses at all levels to 45-360 (based on level) + 100% of Blood Well’s stored health and allow depletion to begin at 8 seconds rather than 5. Increase Dark Flight range to 750 and give +15 flat movement speed for 2 seconds if knockup connects. Adjust Blades of Torment ratios to +80% AP / + 40% AD. Adjust Massacre ratio to +120% AP, add +20% bonus AD ratio. Massacre should also give +20% Tenacity and Slow Resist for the duration.

General Item Changes These changes are designed to lengthen the transition of the early game into the mid-game and improve the health of effective early game decisions as well as improve viability to alternatives. • Health Potion/Biscuit: Too easily abused by a lane that is dominant, increase gold cost by 10. • Refillable Potion: Usually outperformed by biscuits, would add small +5% Mana Regen stat for benefit. • Hunter’s Potion: Too costly a purchase that impedes on jungler smite item, and now fulfilled by nectar fruits + Smite heal. Provide a stat bonus/mechanic to compensate, lower cost, or remove. Recommend change to 3 charges + 3 damage block from monsters as a stat. • Elixir of Wrath: Add 8% Attack Speed, lower Bloodlust heal to 6%, stacks up to 8%/10/12%/15% on champion kills. Sorcery and Ruin are excellent choices in lieu of the inability to purchase other things. Wrath was always less impactful so we make it meaningful for AD champions. • Sweeping Lens: Decrease CD by 10s on all levels; change radius from 450-575 to 550-775. Makes the trinket a defensive scouting option with reliability without Oracle’s Alteration being a straight improvement. • Cull: Increase on-hit heal to 6 health, reduce Attack Damage to 6, increase passive payout by 150g for max of 500g, increase cost by 50g. Designed to be more gold efficient and an early game option to offset early bullying. • The Dark Seal: Reduce stacks lost to 3 (-9 AP). Much less punishment for making a mistake for a “skill/snowball” item. • Mejai’s Soulstealer: Reduce stacks lost to 8 (-40 AP). Same reason as Dark Seal. • Doran’s Blade: Increase Health to 100, increase Life Steal to 5%, increase cost by 50g. This change is designed to have ADCs feel more secure in their capabilities. As they improve their AD, their lifesteal will benefit them more and (for all the Doran’s set) will retain effectiveness into the game longer until selling seems the adequate choice. • Doran’s Ring: Increase passive mana restore to 5, Health to 70, increase cost by 40g. A small adjustment since Chalice is no longer a valid choice for AP carries. Slightly improved survivability from ganks and allows the purchase of a Potion/Biscuit. • Doran’s Shield: Increase passive block to 10 damage, add +5 armor and +5 magic resistance, increase cost by 50g. Shield has always been an extremely unpopular pick except by those that are regen monsters (Mundo/Shen/Lee). Allows for more risk between top lane trades and the defensive stats allow for staying longer in lane rather than wasting Teleport or blatantly choosing Doran’s Blade/Ring or Corrupting for starting purchases. • Skirmisher’s Sabre: Change Challenging Smite damage reduction to 15%. Simply too powerful in combination with certain champions (Olaf/Shyv/Yi/Sion) and Bloodrazor. • Stalker’s Blade: Increase Chilling Smite on target true damage to 30-170. Small buff. • Tracker’s Knife: Set active to only 1 vision ward; new skill – Hunting Smite: Can be cast on enemy champions revealing them for 10 seconds and gives you 20 bonus movespeed toward the marked champion when unseen, persists through Invisibility/Camouflage. Causes invisible enemies/traps to shimmer once upon approaching a certain (large) radius, even through FoW (A bit smaller than Rek’Sai tremor range). Creates a form of pressure without having to dive or take too many risks and allowing a form of detection without resolving stealth champions mechanics. Allows for effective vision control to compete with other two jungle items. Can be great spotters for globals. • Abyssal Scepter: New Active – Debilitate: Cast on single-target to reduce Magic Resistance by 45-65% (based on level) for 5 seconds, removes unique aura while on cooldown (120s). Delivers a means of dealing with certain tanks as a mage at the cost of improved AP presence as a team. Can also be used to pressure squishier targets. • Ruby Crystal: Reduce cost by 50g (350g, Subsequent items gain 50g more). A step towards another early defensive option and hindering champions with % health damage or simply surviving early longer. All other items (aside Sightstone) are slightly more expensive as consequence. • Youmuu’s Ghostblade: A popular rush choice for AD casters/marksmen. Delivers too much pressure too early. These changes orient the item more towards slayers/all marksmen by providing a slight DPS boost, but also a more reliable means of escape as well as a clear intention of when to use the active. Also delivers a form of Tenacity outside of Elixir of Ruin and Mercury’s Treads. o Recipe Change: Serrated Dirk + Stinger + 700g (2900g Cost Unchanged) o New Stats: +35 Attack Damage, + 40% Attack Speed, +10% CDR o Active Change: Additionally gain +20% Tenacity for the 6s. • Athene’s Unholy Grail: I appreciated the old Athene’s ability to change the momentum of regeneration, but I agree in combination with Rod of Ages was too powerful (Aurelion, TF, Annie). While retaining the item as a support purchase, there is situational benefit to a mid-laner picking this up now and provides another means of Mana Regen outside Morello’s and Tear. I can understand that the mechanic may cause some spaghetti code, but Athene’s needs more viability than simply another option for enchanters. o Additional Passive: Expends Blood Charges to Curse on autoattack to freeze an opponent’s cooldowns for 1.5-4s (based on level). • Phantom Dancer: Lament passive reduced to 8% damage reduction against target, but gains 45% cripple resistance from all sources (Cripple from abilities, Exhaust, Warden’s Mail, Frozen Heart, Randuin’s). A small change, again, designed to benefit slayers/all marksmen a little bit more than become gimped by things such as many tanks or many Exhausts. • NEW ITEM: Shroud of the Lunari: Designed as new defensive item, it is quite expensive but brings a new disruption mechanic. Naturally, this is an alternative to Locket/Banshee’s or Thornmail for dealing with extremely powerful burst champions, but is mostly tailored for supports. o Recipe: Seeker’s Armguard + Spectre’s Cowl + 600 g (3000g) o Stats: +45 Armor, +35 Ability Power, + 250 Health, +30 Magic Resistance o Passive: Unique - Grants 200% base health regeneration for 10 seconds after taking damage from an enemy champion. o Passive: Unique – Gains stacks of Eclipse on abilities used around the champion. After 20 stacks of Eclipse, the next damaging ability or autoattack on an enemy champion will silence the target for 2s (can be eliminated by QSS). Can affect multiple units. 90 second cooldown after proc.

Support Item Changes: Why change support items? In the current game, there is a very telling reason for players not queuing for the Support position. They do not find it enjoyable. Why is this? Often, you simply do not have the tools to deal with the situation on-hand which makes it tedious and stressful. It is a long matter of waiting to buy all the support items, but also desiring to do something with your inherent kit. For most supports, their effectiveness becomes apparent in the late mid-game. We can argue that utility is the bulk of what a support should provide, but I believe we should also be able to ensure all our teammates security and collaboration through intelligent and affordable means. By allowing more gold income and more options available to supports (but not only supports), we give the entire team the ability to make informed decisions and affect the gameplay for the better. This sort of coordination will mitigate periods where the team cannot advance because they are unaware of what is happening or because there is a lack of wards.

(For the Support Line items, the g/min is an average estimation based on maximum use of its gold gain abilities e.g. 2 average minion waves, opponents to harass for Knife, masteries/runes excluded)

• Ancient Coin: (currently 48g/min, 0g/min reliable) Reduce cost by 30 g, give 2g/min reliable stat; Becomes 72g/min avg. Makes coin a relatively safe purchase while not having to compete as much with Knife or Relic. Cost reduction by 30g on all these starting items to accommodate change to Potion/Biscuit to 60g. • Nomad’s Medallion: (currently 72g/min) Remains same (6g Tribute) in addition to 2g/min reliable, becomes 108g/min. • Talisman of Ascension: (currently 72g/min) Same as Nomad’s, reduce combine cost to 2200. • Spellthief’s Edge: (currently 60g/min assuming max harass, 12g/min reliable) Reduce cost by 30g, reduce on-hit damage to 8. Required to offset the absolutely huge advantage that mage supports have over the other two support items in terms of harass/pushing.
• Frostfang: (currently 102g/min) Reduce on-hit damage to 12. • Frost Queen’s Claim: (currently 102g/min) Reduce on-hit damage to 12. o MAJOR ACTIVE CHANGE – Frozen Wastes: Summons 3 ghosts that rotate swiftly around the caster, if enemies come within a certain radius, the ghosts chase a target and apply an AoE slow radius equivalent to IBG zone scaling off AP, lasts 3 seconds. This change is intended to return FQC to a defensive support item rather than an aggressive one that promotes chasing. • Relic Shield: (currently 43.5g/min, 12g/min reliable) Reduce cost by 30g. Relatively stable. • Targon’s Brace: (currently 54g/min) Reduce recharge rate by 10s – total 20s recharge, becomes 108g/min avg. • Face of the Mountain: (currently 54g/min) Same as Targon’s Brace. • Sightstone: Cost reduced by 300 (500g total), introduce new line of boot items that incorporate Sightstone. This is simply paramount to the role of Support. Reducing the cost of this item for first back purchases allows for early game survivability to be a bit more viable and provides a means for jungler (or top, and you’ll see why) to jump in on vision control for relatively cheap if he so wishes. • Ruby Sightstone: Cost reduced by 300g (1300g total). Follows Sightstone logic. • NEW ITEM: Vanguard’s March: Slightly more expensive boots overall, but affordable for an early purchase that provides a very effective means of contesting and protecting an ally. Certainly provides more stats than Ninja Tabi outside of its unique passive, but implements Sightstone to save inventory space and generally be an accommodating first item. o Recipe: Sightstone + Cloth Armor + Boots of Speed + 250g (1350g total) o Stats: +20 Armor, +150 Health o Passive: Enhanced Movement: +45 flat movement speed; Steadfast: After standing still for 4 seconds within 1100 range of enemy units, the next autoattack performed will stun the target for 1 second (not expended on structures or wards); Warding • NEW ITEM: Warden’s Patrol: As above, this new item is designed as a defensive choice to answer a response to mages and allow for effective roaming but does not provide the Tenacity of Mercury’s Treads. o Recipe: Sightstone + Null-Magic Mantle + Boots of Speed + 100g (1350g total) o Stats: +25 Magic Resistance, +150 Health o Passive: Enhanced Movement: +45 flat movement speed; Mire Mission: +30 flat movement speed when traveling in river; Warding

Alternatively, I thought to implement the Eye items into boots but found that adding gold gain, health, and relatively minor stats to boots are still out-valued by Mercs, Ninja Tabi, Lucidity or other choices. It would be my suggestion to replace them for these two new boots.

EDIT: Will clean-up/highlight items for clarity. There's a reddit thread by the same title which has a cleaner-looking table but not sure if I can link it.