Thoughts on Some Tahm Kench Improvements.
So I was spending some time thinking about Tahm and how his kit works at the moment. I love Tahm as a character, and I'd really like to see him shine on the Fields of Justice. So I came up with what I feel would be some reasonably minor, and thematically realistic improvements to his Passive and W: Devour. I'd love to here your guys feedback and thoughts on my ideas, as well as any ideas of your own. So without further adieu.
Passive: For every stack of An Acquired Taste on an enemy, Tahm's movement speed is increased by a percentage while moving toward that enemy. (He could even us that hungry moving animation he has when he gets 3 stacks.) I feel this could significantly increase his ability to get around, and actually utilize his empowered abilities a tad easier. It also works thematically, because as he tastes the enemy, he gets that delicious taste in his mouth, and moves faster to obtain it. Additionally, stacks of An Acquired Taste could be applied to large monsters and minions. (Not including Dragon or Baron of course.) Which would allow him to both stun and devour them. And they would be treated similarly to devoured enemy champions. Both of these buffs could make Tahm a very effective jungler, especially when combined with his ult.
Devour: Instead of having Devour deal a single chunk of percentage health damage to an enemy. Have it instead deal damage over time while the enemy is inside Tahm's stomach. Tahm could even be healed for a small percentage of the damage it deals. But here's the kicker. If the enemy dies inside Tahm's belly, he digests them completely and resets, (or at least reduces,) the cooldown of Devour. He could also perhaps heal a bit more health, or refund some mana, and/or gain a short burst of speed, or something else similar if he accomplishes this. I think this would give Tahm a massive incentive to devour lower health enemies in team fights, as it would heal himself a bit and reset/lower the cooldown of Devour. While also requiring Tahm to keep the enemy inside his belly for as long as possible, which of course also slows him down significantly. Devour would also deal less damage if you just eat someone and immediately spit them out, but perhaps could deal slightly more damage over time the longer they are in his stomach. Lastly, I think it might be handy if Devour, when used on an ally, would heal that ally a bit while they are in his stomach, perhaps healing Tahm a bit as well. Considering the nature of stomach acid, healing teammates isn't very realistic, however damaging enemies would be. But it could still help give Tahm another good reason to save his allies, and could even be beneficial if you accidentally click on a teammate or if a Tahm on your team is just trolling people.
I really like Tahm thematically, and I feel that these somewhat minor improvements work well in terms of his character and archetype, and that they could help him be a better support, top, and jungler. This would also really open up more possibilities and generally make him a bit more fun to play in the process. Again, feel free to leave me your comments and suggestions. Would love to hear what other people think of these ideas. :)
