Rakan Changes

Idea for Rakan balance: I understand many Rakan enthusiasts are unhappy with the state of Rakan. I believe much of his power lies inside the iterations of R and W combinations. Upon discussing with a few Rakan enthusiasts I know, I thought of a potential idea for building more Rakan skill expression as well as outplay potential:

One issue I had seen with Rakan is the effectiveness of the R-W combos. In solo queue and professional play, a team allowed to have such safe, reliable engage without significant cost (i.e. Malphite top has similar engage but the team exchanges damage for engage) is extremely valuable for almost any team comp. Rakan's engage contained limited skill expression and small outplay potential. Rakan was limited in skill expression due to R-W being a simple and extremely reliable combo inside and outside the lane. Engaging on Rakan became more about deciding to engage than finding an opportunity to engage. I believe the engage power of Rakan should rely on the skill of the Rakan player than the champion kit.

As for Rakan outplay potential, the enemy team lacks effective methods of dealing with Rakan engage. Rakan engage used to be such a fast engage and far reaching that would not allow for the enemy team to flash, QSS, cleanse, or dodge the impending engage (excluding QSS into Flash out of knock-up). Additionally, Rakan could come out of fog and be on top of the enemy in a blink. I believe allowed the enemy to dodge or outplay the engage in other ways could bring about balance.

These two ideas are the assumptions for which I built my following proposal:

W - Grand Entrance Cast range increase; Total ability start to finish time kept constant; R cannot be casted before W.

The change above should increase the cast time where the Rakan W should allow for the enemy to sidestep the ability but NOT dodge reactively. However, the W could reach ranged targets and the Rakan player should be able to W to predict a sidestep. This change would increase skill expression as the Rakan W begins to function as a skill shot where the ability needs to be aimed accurately: an enemy can predictively sidestep but Rakan could attempt to predict a sidestep or lack thereof.

R - The Quickness

Extend Charm duration by .5s at all ranks; Reduce charm slow significantly (ie 15% slow at all ranks) Can be input buffered for once Grand Entrance has completed; Grand Entrance can be casted with the Quickness after one champion has been contacted.

I believe the change to Rakan R allows for greater skill expression while still maintaining balance. Additionally, the R becomes its own abilities instead of feeling like an extension of the W - Grand Entrance. Rakan could still have engage after contacting one champion with The Quickness active, allowing for powerful engages pending first contacting an enemy with The Quickness. Furthermore, extending the charm duration and reducing the slow allows for The Quickness to be utilized as a method of peel or engage: The Quickness could be utilized to engage first first successfully landing a Grand Entrance (skill in execution), which would allow the R - The Quickness to be input buffered to immediately charm out of Grand Entrance. Upon successfully landing the combination, the Rakan player could utilize the E - Battle Dance on an ally to bring the charmed enemy or enemies to his teammates. Otherwise, the Rakan player could attempt to utilize the Quickness for peel by connecting The Quickness on the enemy team, allowing Rakan to run or dash behind the enemy to charm the enemy away from his teammates. By limiting the combo of Rakan to R after W, Rakan engages would be allowed to have outplay potential from the enemy. The enemy could dash, flash, or sidestep the engage from Rakan. However, if Rakan can be successful at landing his W ability, he can outplay the enemy and successfully engage on the enemy. I believe an iteration of this ultimate allows for skill expression, fair engage potential, and outplay potential.

I have not tested any numbers regarding the changes above, but I believe the principles stand and the numbers could be adjusted to match. I believe Rakan players could be able to show versatility in the usage of the kit while still allowing for competitive play for both Rakan and the enemy. Side note: I believe this change still fits into the persona of Rakan being a charmer while still including the fast paced movements of Rakan into his kit. I would love to discuss any adjustments or answer any questions regarding the proposed changes.