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Shaco and the Assassin Update

QjTHqo3RTq·7/7/2016, 3:37:08 AM·4 votes·3,642 views

So Riot has said they're updating assassins, and Shaco was said he's going to be receiving some changes in the update, and I'm seriously wondering how you would change shaco without basically making him into a new champion, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts on what defines him as a champion for me, and see what you guys think. http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/8/83/Shaco_OriginalLoading.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/110?cb=20160526025914 "Camping Mid from your own jungle"

Passive http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/7/7a/Backstab.png/revision/latest?cb=20160608033432&format=webp: I think if they were going to change an ability, it would be this one, it's hard to tell when he's actually backstabbing and it feels unreliable. But this is also, in a weird way, the core of shacos kit. If he isnt backstabbing, he isnt going to be effective when ganking. This passive is why new players have trouble with Shaco the most in my opinion, they dont know how god damn important that extra 20 damage is to Shaco.

Q http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/3/38/Deceive.png/revision/latest?cb=20160608033455&format=webp: This is **THE **reason I play Shaco, and I think a lot of other people will agree, this is a really strong ability, but also presents counterplay, because it has a large early mana cost, and 3.5 seconds isnt as long you think when you dont have a plan for using this ability. While I think this ability presents game health issues, I think that's a result of stealth lacking interaction, either completely negated or always effective. I'm not sure what I would do to fix this ability. Maybe increase the length of the dash and give him a significant speed boost if his E is up, at the cost of losing the stealth.

W http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/b/b8/Jack_In_The_Box.png/revision/latest?cb=20160608033612&format=webp: The definition of top lane Shaco, this is the ability I wouldnt mind losing the most, but removing it would also lose the entire identity of ap shaco as he is. When you're playing ad shaco, this ability feels out of place in his "Burst the Carry" playstyle. It will likely used just to dodge a skillshot, and thats if youre lucky. But if you remove Shaco W, then the iconic top shaco will be forever lost, because it's entirely based of his boxes. That means a niche of a champion will be lost, and that's never the ideal solution, unless theyre a tank assassin, then nerf it into the ground please.

E http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/3/3b/Two-Shiv_Poison.png/revision/latest?cb=20160608033643&format=webp: The most healthy part of shaco's kit I think. It's a point click ranged damage for a champion that would entirely focused on all ins without it. The range is also short enough so he cant spam it from safety during teamfights or without windows of opportunity. If I did have a complaint, it feels unfair when he's building ap, because its a nuke point and click but he also probably has a safe area with boxes around so turning around to try to kill him is probably what he wants.

R http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/8/8c/Hallucinate.png/revision/latest?cb=20160608033548&format=webp: The coolest of part Shaco's kit by far, the potential of the clone is awesome, but it can also feel lame if you failed in your all in because the clone itself lacks offense capability, as Shaco is reliant on his q to teamfight, but the clone cant do that so it usually walk around like a chicken without a head if you dont have a well detailed plan for it. I think this ability is definitely going to receive small changes, there's so many ways to find out the real Shaco, it's practically not even fair.

That's just my take on it, as someone who enjoys a good shaco game, I'm curious what you guys think or hope will be changed about Shaco

33 Comments

MrEnder7/7/2016, 4:05:48 AM2 votes

TOUCH MY SHACO AND I KILL YOU!

Filthy Rank7/10/2016, 2:45:46 PM2 votes

Shaco is the biggest reason i play this game his kit is amazing and so diverse , i love the strategy ,trapping and mind games coming with him, furthermore i don't think stealth is that much toxic, a smart enough adc/support will take red trinket, G-A ,or pink ward which makes shaco extremely easy to kill since he is mostly build squishy, i think they should make him more viable as a occasional support (box frostfang interaction) or top laner (box-liandry interaction) ,because he is a really fun champ to play and him being jungle only makes him not so accesible

MrEnder7/7/2016, 5:31:11 AM1 votes

Then you happily farm and let them waste their gold on pink wards what not ^.^ There is no way to freely stop shaco. They leave lane to deal with you they lose XP and CS. They buy pink wards it costs them gold. Everything they do will cost them. So if they communicate to stop you. change your play style from aggressive to passive and get objectives rather than kills. Shaco is all about quickly adapting to the situation and choosing the role that best fits the game at the current time.

DrugsForRobots7/12/2016, 6:33:43 PM1 votes

Very solid analysis. I'm surprised you didn't give us your thoughts as to how he should be updated.

Personally, I'd love to see Riot play up his utility and push him into a sort of support role, and I imagine they could do it without destroying Shaco's ability to be an assassin, all while being more fair and more powerful in return.

P: Killing Joke:

  • Shaco's AA on enemies below X% health stuns them - forcing them to laugh uncontrollably for X seconds.

Rational: Move his Backstab functionality onto his E as E's passive to give him the ability to make enemies laugh. Makes him a powerful ganker / assassin and a decent support. Also, best execute in the game. You can't spell slaughter without laughter. ;^)

Q: Deceive:

  • Make the puff of smoke larger / more colorful / more animated.

  • Enemies can now hear Shaco laugh within 2K range. The laugh should be very quiet / subtle.

  • Shaco must AA from stealth in order to make the next allied AA (including his) critically strike. This critical strike window should be very short. (~1.5s)

  • AA'ing from stealth interrupts his opponent's basic attack animation.

Rational: More counterplay with tell-tale signs and clues for player's to pick up on. Also, the ability to mindgame them. Letting allies crit would be useful for supporting and ganking, and is currently something no other champ does. Interrupting the enemies basic attack enhances the surprise factor. ;^)

W: Jack In The Box:

  • Duration scales 50/60/70/80/90 seconds per rank.

  • Stealths quicker, but must count down before springing (~2-3 seconds).

  • Enemies within its sight range can hear a faint music, alerting the wary.

Rational: Tell-tales and clues for counterplay and the psychological factor. Longer duration on Boxes is great for map / vision control and his teamfight presence.

E: Two-Shiv Poison:

  • Passively, two consecutive backstabs and / or TSP will cause all subsequent backstabs and / or TSP to deal 20% bonus damage for 2 seconds.

  • He can reactive TSP to throw a second dagger within X seconds. Adjust values / ratios appropriately. Slow lowered to 20% at all ranks.

Rational: Slightly better at farming / harassing in lane. More utility in teamfights. Puts the 'two' in 'Two-Shiv Poison'.

R: Hallucinate:

  • Clone lasts longer.

  • Clone duration halved while it's under enemy True Sight.

  • Clone deals 100% of Shaco's damage and doesn't receive bonus damage if the enemy has no vision of Shaco.

  • Clone disappears in a puff of smoke upon reaching maximum leash range.

Rational: Longer duration for more utility / control / mindgames / potential DPS. True Sight quirk for fairness and flavor. Clone is 'real' while your prey can't see you.

This is a prettier version that has all the details. I'm curious to know what you think. So many 'shaco reworks' I see focus on making him deadlier without giving his prey any compensation.

BloodyTompon7/18/2016, 9:05:08 AM1 votes

IMO shaco isn't in the worst shape. The problem is that he is torn betwixt AP and AD. Both of those present good things and ugly things for his kit. Box spam with AP is a terrible gameplay things. AP knife throw is also pretty bad. Were I Riot, I'd go about unifying these two disparate play styles. That will result in further gameplay problems arising that can then be fixed, but that's much easier to do once the core problem is solved (i.e. his two unique play styles and the un-health that each brings)

The thing that I would love to play around with is to make the R able to mimic Shaco's abilities -even if they did no damage the ability to mind game then would be disgusting. I also dislike his E because it's a point and click nuke. Not a fan of point and click nukes. It's necessary that he have some ranged ability, but it shouldn't be a point and click nuke.

Tangential questions: Do you think Shaco should build AP or AD? Do you think he should kill via spells or autos? For me, I think he should kill via abilities. I'm a bit torn between AD and AP because I dislike the gameplay that arises with Shaco from the current AD items, but I feel like AD makes more sense thematically and artistically.

The Bearded Bard7/29/2016, 9:04:09 PM1 votes

I'd really rather Shaco's kit stay the same, and I'm sure everyone else agrees. You may hate how Shaco is now, but trust me, you're going to hate it much more when they streamline his kit and make him as popular as the other assassins.

The Bearded Bard7/29/2016, 9:09:31 PM1 votes

Shaco honestly has a lot more counterplay than people give him credit for. His Q stealth and box spawn can be seen and heard from the fog of war. That means if you're paying attention, you can see a Shaco coming from farther away than you would see a non stealth champion coming. Aside from that you can just buy a pink ward/upgrade red trink and disable him from all teamfights.

I feel no empathy for people that get beat by average Shaco players tbh, because he's incredibly easy to beat if not played to the point of perfection.

Sh4coco10/4/2016, 7:01:46 PM1 votes

I play League of Legends only cuz of Shaco.

Marshbouy7/7/2016, 3:39:48 AM1 votes

they are almost definitely changing his Q. stealth as a mechanic in league is toxic as hell and needs to be almost entirely removed.

Meep Man10/4/2016, 7:04:06 PM1 votes

I think they are just modernizing mechanics in his current kit and then balancing around it, like making his W apply spell effects and making his Q cool down start upon using his Q, but not be able to be used again until he leaves stealth. Probably a ton of clone bugfixes as well.

TheGrot7/7/2016, 3:57:06 AM1 votes

Where did they say they were changing shaco? I thought the just made a list of all the assassins in the game and said that these were the possibilities.