[Theorycraft] On wings of fury... (A true flight mechanic for League)

I remember seeing a Riot post a while ago that discussed a mechanic they had previously tossed around called True Flight. Even though it never ended up being implemented or discussed further, I thought I would theorycraft what would happen if it was actually put into League of Legends.

From how the Rioter described it, this is how True Flight would have worked:

True Flight-Mechanics

• While in True Flight, champions can path through units and terrain. They may NOT path through terrain that borders the edge of the map, nor may they go to areas that are always considered impassible (like the canyon on the sides of Howling Abyss).
• True Flight does not affect targeting or damage, with the exception of flying units who are currently over walls being immune to Olaf's Undertow and Nautilus' Anchor Toss (for obvious reasons).
• If limited duration True Flight ends while over an impassable area, the flying character moves to the nearest playable terrain.

So with that in mind, here's how I'd implement True Flight onto existing Champions in League of Legends, as well as on a certain existing item. Please keep in mind that the value of any particular implementation will vary in the perceptions of different people; please treat these as "possibilities" instead of "demands".

##Individual Implementations

Could gain True Flight for 3 seconds after emerging from Rebirth. I'd also give it to her while she channels Glacial Storm, in order to allow her to get it more often while still forcing her to pay some cost for it.

Could gain True Flight while Valkyrie is not on cooldown. Alternatively, Valkyrie could be changed to a dedicated True Flight spell that grants movement speed and True Flight, possibly allowing other buffs due to Corki losing a lot of lane safety for that change.

Probably the best way to implement it on Galio is to give him True Flight for 3 seconds after moving through his Righteous Gust.

Janna already has a bonus movement speed mechanic that is lost on cast of her W. Adding True Flight to this buff not only gives True Flight a tradeoff on her, but also gives her an additional niche as one of the most mobile support champions, perfect for a pseudo-roaming role.

Should probably get True Flight because her model has her flying in game; I'd put it on her E active so we get the visual of an angel flying at you over walls with a flaming sword.

Kha'Zix is an interesting case because of his evolution mechanic. I would grant him True Flight as a passive on evolved Leap that is disabled whenever Leap is on cooldown, granting him a little extra utility and putting his focus more on his mobility then on his ability to gib people.

Nocturne is probably not the first champion who pops into your head when you think flight. That's good. True flight just fits so well with Nocturne's Duskbringer trail that I wouldn't be able to resist giving him True Flight while on Duskbringer. Duskbringer allowing pathing through walls would give Nocturne greater ganking options before level 6, allowing him to come in from almost anywhere even before he gets Paranoia.

Unfortunately, this website doesn't have a square picture for Valor. Valor, of course, is the one who should get True Flight during Tag Team. I'd argue that he should get True Flight for the ENTIRE duration of Tag Team, allowing for some awesome flying over 3 walls to hunt you down type moves.

A dragon who can't fly? Not anymore. I'd implement this by allowing Shyvana to reactivate Dragon's Descent while already in Dragon Form to gain True Flight for 2 seconds or until she autoattacks an enemy. This would greatly increase her post-6 mobility and make her ganks somewhat more palatable as a jungler.

Vel'koz is already visually flying, so this just makes sense. He's the only case where I'd argue that passive continuous True Flight is a good idea, because there's really no place to put True Flight on his kit. Granting him permanent True Flight would give him an important niche not available to other mid laners.

Zephyr is a item which isn't quite slot efficient enough to be picked up. Granting it a 5-10 second True Flight active would make thematic sense and give it a better defined niche against Phantom Dancer/Statikk Shiv by allowing champions who don't normally have True Flight to purchase it in order to obtain it.

##This is a lot of work. Why actually do this?

At the moment, champions visually flying doesn't actually have any gameplay effect. It doesn't take time to get used to, but it is sort of an odd case of gameplay and story segregation. True Flight would serve to integrate these characters' appearances with their gameplay, granting these flying champions who logically appear to have increased mobility actual increased mobility.

It also doesn't hurt that a lot of these champions are not frequently picked at the moment, so giving them True Flight would better separate their niche from that of their competitors, helping them to get more play if True Flight is deemed useful.

##Potential Metagame effects

I don't think that adding this mechanic would be a metagame breaker, but I do think that it would have a definite effect on the play patterns of the champions who gain it, and it would definitely increase their viability.

In bottom lane, Corki is the only AD carry to gain True Flight. This gives his mobility an extra dimension compared to that of other mobile caster-carries like Graves, Ezreal, and Lucian. Unlike them, Corki can easily use his missiles and wall pathing ability to get around the map and kite enemies, greatly increasing both his roaming potential and giving him greater safety in jungle-based teamfights. I would expect Corki to become more viable with this change, although whether it would be enough to make him a consistent pick could only be seen by actually implementing the changes.

Along with Corki comes the only true support to gain True Flight, Janna. Janna's previous niche is that of being the BEST peeler in the game, bar none; only Thresh's lantern can match her ability to get a single target out of a fight, and she's known for being able to get entire TEAMS out of bad fights alive. True Flight would greatly improve Janna's ability to roam the map either warding or assisting teammates, greatly increasing her strength. It might even open up the possibility of Roaming Janna, who provides assistance wherever the team needs her and gets most of her experience and farm via ganks.

Mid lane gets a few new True Flight picks, most notably Anivia and Vel'koz. Both of the previously immobile mids gain a lot of roaming potential with True Flight, although with my specific implementation Anivia's would be heavily mana-gated. I don't think that them gaining true flight would have a large effect on their viability, but it would widen their niches a little bit. Kha'zix's isn't as interesting since he doesn't get access to it (with normal evolution patterns) until mid to late game, limiting the use he gets out of it.

Jungle is possibly the most game breaking of True Flight's applications. Nocturne and Shyvana's implementations both greatly increase their ganking and invading potential, making them threats that have to be accounted for throughout a game instead of only in teamfights.

##Final Words

I spent a lot of time putting together this post, and it's a long one. Apologies to all those who gave up in the middle. The closest thing to a TL;DR is probably the brief summary at the top.

Let's try to start a discussion here.