Dear item balance team, ER is not fixed, here's why

Linna Excel·Jul 15, 2014·7 votes·556 views

Whoever was responsible for balancing completely screwed up. 20 more damage for 750 more gold isn't going to help it. Its lack of AD wasn't the issue. Here's the problem ER had in the simplest of terms:

mana issues happen early on generally (extended poking during later teamfights aside)
ER's build path has no mana component WHEN YOU NEED IT THE MOST.
It now takes longer in order to afford ER and get the mana you need from it.

So instead of fixing the problem, you've actually compounded it by a few kills/assists/minion waves. The most amount of gold at one time you needed for any component before was about 1000. You now need 1500 saved for one component. That's a big timing issue. That means the different between backing and picking up a component, and backing with nothing to show for it because you only had 1200 when you needed to base.

TBH I don't think you helped the item in real terms. If I save a little more, I could go IE for more damage. Or for about as much as an ER I could get a BT for more sustain and survivability. Instead of being a cheaper item that helped you with everything, it's now in direct competition with the best AD damage items. While the extra damage does help it, it also hurts it in terms of now its being directly compared to a different class of items. While it was being compared to a BT before, at it's old cost that was because people were comparing apples to oranges.

Let's also look about the boost of damage in realistic terms. Let's say after your armor pen, that target you are attacking has 100 armor. That means I'm paying 800 more gold (in addition to the 2-4 extra minutes I had to farm) for 10 more damage on hit, with an extra 1 heal and .4 mana per hit. By itself, this change doesn't seem to have helped the item out any in terms of what it does or how much help it gives you.

8 Comments

StaconaJul 16, 20145 votes

Here is my suggestion:

Turn Essence Reaver into an early game purchase by something like: Long Sword + 340g = 700g The Stats will be: 10 Attack Damage and UNIQUE Passive of 2-8% of your damage dealt by basic attacks will grant you mana This will solve early game mana problems for mana reliant AD champion, specifically for marksman, where this item is suppose to help.

The end game upgrade will be what the Essence Reaver gives now just with a slightly different name and item icon with the build and stats being: Essence Reaver(700g) + Vamperic Scepter(800g) + B.F. Sword(1550g) + 450g = 3500g Stats: 80 Attack Damage, 10% Life Steal, 20% Cooldown Reduction, UNIQUE Passive of 2-8% of your damage dealt by basic attacks will grant you mana 20% Cooldown Reduction is so this item is more like Grail just for Marksmen instead of Mages, it just makes sense that a high mana sustain item should grant high CDR as well

~ Stacona

HALFofCANADAJul 16, 20141 votes

I love where you are going with this, starting longsword and 3 pots, can easily get you to the point where you can be aggressive in lane and back around level 4-6, with 900-1600 gold depending on how things go, i would love to back and get some sustain(lifesteal and mana reg) and some more damage while still building for a more powerful AD late game item. I agree that increasing the price(making me wait longer) without giving me some sort of mana or mana regen makes it hard not to just wait it out for a blood thirster. In Fact i almost always buy the jungle item spirit lizard because it gives me the stats i am looking for early game, and if i manage to get some jungle it lets me snowball into late game +true damage op

StaconaJul 16, 20141 votes

you will want to start dorans because of the health and lifesteal, but a 700g purchase can happen on the first buy similar to chalice or tear for mages, where as for marksmen you can get essence reaver or tear on the first back for your mana problems and then upgrade the item a lot later after ie shiv lw then you would upgrade essence reaver into a BF sword item and give it CDR

PhoenixUnrealJul 15, 20141 votes

That, my friend, was a very well written argument. I don't think there's any real way to put it better.

I love ER Ezreal, the never ending late game q's are a blast. Like you say, there is that build-up time to get the mana you need, which is pretty frustrating.

SaltyMcHaggissJul 16, 20141 votes

Agreed. It would have made a lot more sense (in my mind at least) to either A) Throw a forbidden idol in its build path (early mana regen plus the cdr on the item makes more sense) B) Make it build from brutalizer + vamp scepter and rework it as a tier 2.5 type of item

Linna ExcelJul 16, 20141 votes

Yes, either would work. Others have also suggested a stepping stone item.

This is something that just popped into my head, but I kind of see ER as a spirit stone type item that non junglers can use.

I mean look at spirit stone... it gives you health and mana on damage, but the only restriction is for jungle mobs only. The same goes for the two items that build from it. I almost want to say the best solution is a cheap item that gives life steal and mana back on hit, and then make it the requirement for both the jungle items and ER.

CattCallerJul 16, 20141 votes

Agreed. They didn't do much in terms of helping the item be a quicker solution to mana consuming AD champions. The direction that Riot had with the item was okay, the execution wasn't. Instead of making it an item that will help you in the stages it's meant to, they've turned it into a Noob trap of sorts, where you're better off getting an Infinity Edge for the damage spike or a Blood Thirster for the sustain. At the point where this item will be a plausible buy, you're not relying on your skills as much anymore and the majority of your damage will be from your Auto Attacks. Which leaves the mana passive on this item a waste if you do purchase it.

Your idea for having Essence Reaver become an early item that upgrades into a late game item with it's current stats is an excellent way of bringing incentive to players to go for this item from the get go depending on lane situation and game state.

Linna ExcelJul 17, 20141 votes

Okay, I just played a simple bot game with the gold of rushing ER first. I choose Poppy and went top.

Laning was brutal in terms of mana management, even though I was getting kills against bots. I'd hate to try that against real players. Poppy is one of those champs who needs the item ASAP.