Some Feedback and Possible Changes to Fiora
DISCLAIMER: Let me first start by saying I'm bad at League of Legends. I'm unranked. I play/played a lot of Bot Games, and tend to play ARAM more than any other gametype these days, including normals. So, that doesn't particularly qualify me as an expert in anything champion-related. I'm also of the opinion that Riven is perfectly fine as is, so, take that as you will. What follows is an opinion, and you're welcome to disagree with it.
So, that out of the way, I was excited for Fiora's rework, because I played her a bit when she first came out, but didn't really enjoy her playstyle very much. I also play champions, like Riven, that require a fairly fast-paced and straightforward method of playing, so Fiora's rework really interested me a lot. Well, I played her for several games trying to feel her out and consider how to run her, and I found her very underwhelming. She can certainly do well in a lane, and in duels to some degree, and she's not "worthless" like some people have said, but capitalizing on her strengths is very, very difficult, and arguably even situational and unreliable.
#ANALYSIS: Passive: Playing her, I found that her passive was very random and somewhat unreliable. Many times, I felt I should have struck the Vital with the blade, only to find I wasn't in the magic sweet spot to make it work. This could honestly just be my inexperience with the champion, but it also felt very frustrating to be, seemingly, within range to strike, and then do nothing. She also felt very immobile, despite her dash. Hitting a Vital gives a movement speed boost, which is nice, as it allows you to reposition somewhat, but more often than not, this boost was not so significant to make much of a difference for me in combat situations.
Also, I found the random nature of the appearance of the Vitals to be somewhat irritating, especially when one would often appear behind my target. I could wait for 15 seconds for a new one to appear, which is an eternity in lane, or, I could run outside the passive range to allow it to reacquire the target, and hope it was in a different area. Of course, running off in that way also caused me to miss out on experience for my lane. That in its very nature means the passive is unreliable, and your effectiveness is granted greatly on random chance. Granted, roughly 75% of the time, the passive can theoretically be useful, unless the opponent counters it by keeping that side of themselves facing away from you or in a difficult position. Either way, the passive gave me many issues.
Lunge: I honestly found this skill to be mechanically sound. It doesn't need any more range to do what it should do, and the freedom of point-and-click was really needed for her to work on her passive. It also gives her a small escape mechanic, which a good duelist should have if they mean to avoid another incoming attack, or back off. However, the cooldown, especially early game, felt incredibly slow and lack-luster. It meant capitalizing on your passive was a very slow process, and because of the awkward targeting mechanic, it could often lead to you missing the strike to a Vital, and losing out on the benefits it would grant, including the damage. Again, this could simply mean more skill and practice is required, but the sense of irritation at the mechanic causing you to miss your own real form of sustain is very frustrating indeed.
Riposte: I honestly really think this skill is fine as is. it's clearly meant to be used at close range to your target to slow them if they're attacking, or stun them if that attack or ability is CC. It also allows you to duel almost anyone, even if they aren't hitting you with auto attacks. That's important for her identity ingame. I was delighted to find I could use it to avoid Karthus ults with proper damage instead of soaking it and crossing my fingers. And it has many other useful benefits as well. I imagine the cooldown on it is so high simply because of that ability to avoid everything thrown at you and strike back with some CC of your own. A slightly lower early cooldown might be useful, but I could see how that would quickly become overpowered. Though, one could also balance the lower cooldown with a higher mana cost.
Bladework: I was never really sure when to use this ability, but using it right after I hit a Vital seemed to work rather well, because it helped me to reposition to a degree. It's a solid ability, though I'm still not sure which of her skills I should level first between this one and Lunge. Both have their good points, but it's a toss up depending on who you ask.
Grand Challenge: I honestly LIKE the ult in concept, though, in practice, I feel the heal is very situational, and many times, I found it impossible to use effectively in a teamfight in any real regard. I would ult a target, only for someone else to take the kill, before I could react, and waste it completely with no benefits. This, again, could probably be due to my own lack of skill in selecting viable targets, or a deficiency in team communication or understanding for the other people around me. The movement bonus is very solid here, but I still felt sluggish. In fact, in order to make use of her passive, I felt I needed to build a Phage Item, Furor Enchant, and a Frozen Mallet to get to where I needed to go when using her ult or passive. Again, it could just be me, but I'm just saying what I've experienced.
So, after all of that feedback, I thought up some possible alterations to give Fiora a little more of an edge in capitalizing on her passive and her ult.
Slightly Less Random/More Solid Detection of Vitals: Making the vital zones a cone of some kind might help in them determining where an attack is coming from. The visual representation could stay the same, but a more solid area from which to attack and detect the attack would be helpful. Allowing the passive to identify Vitals based off of Fiora's location in relation to her target would also be very useful. Why would a duelist see the back as a weak spot if their enemy never turned their back to them, or if attacking said weakness was far too dangerous? This would only cut down on the awkward situation of a Vital popping up in a worthless location on the target, and, realistically, would still have a chance of appearing on 50-75% of the enemy coverage based on Fiora's location in lane. Or, at the least, allow this logic, but reduce the percentage of an opposite Vital appearing on a target.
A slightly more useful Lunge: Lunge is very useful as an engage or a small disengage if things are bad. However, adding a little tactical utility to the skill would be interesting and largely beneficial. I know, currently, tentative stat buffs are planned, but with changes like these, it might not be needed. Fiora is a duelist. She's fast on her feet, quick to react and reposition, and always "one step ahead" of her competition. The idea here would be to give Fiora a more solid way to attack, retreat, or reposition, or go in to strike another Vital while her enemy keeps dealing with her. I could also see the base skill being nerfed somewhat to accommodate a utility change like this.
In short, the idea would be to allow her Lunge to be available to cast again, for the same mana cost, for a short time AFTER hitting a Vital (if you don't hit a Vital, no bonus for you). Say it lasts for roughly 2 seconds, giving you a VERY small opportunity to react to what's going on around you. Once used a second time, Lunge would go on a cooldown as normal, reduced if it had hit a Vital, or not if it didn't. This mechanic is somewhat similar to Rekekton's Slice and Dice, except Fiora must make a decision even more quickly. Does she Lunge again to try and strike another Vital, which will appear half a second after the first? Or, does she use it to retreat and reposition for her next attack run?
Admittedly, this suggested change adds a lot of utility, but arguably cuts down on some of Fiora's counterplay, which I know is a big thing for Riot right now. Realistically, though, Lunge is still simple to counterplay with this change, as the range isn't particularly large for the dash, and an enemy can still react to the first dash if they get a good read. It's also still reliant on Fiora hitting a Vital, which, if the passive changes were made a thing, would be somewhat easier, but still reliant on positioning and placement.
Anyway, I know that's a wall of text, but I felt I wanted to share my thoughts. Thanks for Reading.
TL:DR - Clean up the Passive's targeting logic somewhat and give Lunge a soft, single, reset upon hitting a Vital for more utility and dueling capability.