A Change to Lulu!'s E (repost from GD)

Z Statistic·Feb 17, 2014·4 votes·876 views

Let me start with why I want this change:

As an avid Lulu! player, I can appreciate the highs and lows of fighting as, with, and against her. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that, like S2 Taric, Lulu! lacks a significant amount of counterplay. That lack of counterplay and raw power is what made Taric the best support in yoloqueue in S2. When Taric got nerfed, Lulu! rose to power soon after at the beginning of S3 for that exact same reason.

Here are all of the ways you interact with Lulu! as an enemy: dodge her purple block Pix's purple stay out of range apply more pressure than she can put out, which requires #1

Here are all the ways you interact with Lulu! as an ally: stand near her so she turns you into a god

Here are all the meaningful decisions you can make as Lulu!: skill shot leading/sniping with Q prioritize Pix's position vs damage vs shield cc or haste riskier positioning for significantly more harass prioritizing aoe knockup or uncounterable heal

As you can see, Lulu! offers an incredible amount of depth for the player but not so much for her enemies much less her allies. My proposition aims to add a dynamic to Lulu!'s choice but more importantly give more interaction for her enemies and allies

Change: Help, Pix! is now a targeted, aoe skill shot that has a travel time. Think Thresh lantern, Nami Q, Maokai E, Corki Q, etc. Upon landing, Pix deals the current amount of damage split between all targets with the area (something small like 200-300 radius). He will then tag onto the nearest target damaged, revealing them as normal, prioritizing champions in an aoe situation. If he does not hit anything, he continues to ward the area for 6 seconds. A target who walks into his range will be tagged by Pix [i]but not damaged[/i]. If the target is an ally, they will be shielded for 6 seconds. Pix cannot in more than two places at once. Alternatively, Lulu! can send Pix instantly to an allied target as she can live. This change is purely on the hostile portion functionality.

What this changes: Lulu! now has some more options when playing mindgame with Q while also getting some satisfaction when landing Pix. She can set pix down as a ward who can be picked up by an ally if they are not in range to be shielded instantly (rewarding the ally). For the enemy, you will be able to see Pix's flight in the FoW, allowing you to plan accordingly. It also adds in dynamics to dodging Q's where you feel really awesome for brushing aside Lulu!'s mind game while not terribly damning if you fail in most contexts.

Here is the best part: this should work intuitively. Intuitive, rewarding, meaningful gameplay is AWESOME.

I would love to hear other people's opinions on this. Unless it's "wtf, no she's fine." No, she's not fine. She has a playstyle which is rewarding to play but offers less than ideal interaction between her and the enemies. We can make that better by making her more interactive between the parties.

original link: http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=4141594

8 Comments

Pollyanna WrightFeb 17, 20144 votes

Mmmm. I dunno. It changes alot. She now has a ward ability, she can E-Q w/o an actual target to extend her range, and now she loses out on damage if the enemy has minions/pets. It sounds good, but I'm on the fence.

Z StatisticFeb 18, 20142 votes

I'm thinking that the radius of impact could be fairly small but with a fast projectile. That minimizes the chance of Lulu! accidentally hitting more than one target, but it does allow the possibility of splitting damage if the need arise for either party. Plus, fast projectiles are a bit more fun to dodge, and quite honestly getting tagged by Pix isn't that huge of a deal as opposed to getting grabbed by Blitz or Thresh or getting hit by spears. That goes for both E and Q. Getting repeatedly hit by Q will be a huge problem since it makes it super easy to land hits with her basic attacks, but just one doesn't kill you or invalidate your possible positions.

Pollyanna WrightFeb 18, 20142 votes

I'm just trying to think of how many things that would change, because it changes alot.

She can tag people in stealth since it's a skillshot.
Extended range w/o allies
can reposition passive bolts w/o ally.
now gives sight (a majority of pets give 1100-800 sight range) so she can check/control bushes easier.
It's now more of a pain to try and hit Elise in spider form.
It's not reliable anymore since it will only tag the closest target.

It's pretty important when changing a skill from something simple to something MUCH more complex to think about what changes. It's now frustrating because you can't get pix on people with complete certainty, but as a bonus Lulu gets extra utility. I don't play her enough to say which is better. I think it's a cool idea, but I don't know how much it could skew her in terms of balance.

ratcharmerFeb 18, 20141 votes

I'm with Shoukansha on this one. The proposed change isn't necessarily bad, but it does completely alter the entire flow of her kit. Lulu! wouldn't feel like the same champion anymore.

I'd also say that while Lulu! might not have as much counterplay as you'd like, there is more counterplay to her than a LOT of other champions.

I think you (OP) also missed some potentially interesting play/counter play. For instance, when "Help, Pix!" is cast on another character that other character gains control over what targets are in range for Glitterlance.

This creates both interesting teamwork opportunities (Graves dashes forward so Lulu can slow the enemy, allowing you to catch them) and counterplay options (Lulu hit me with Pix, so I stepped away from my team so she couldn't hit everyone with Glitterlance).

Z StatisticFeb 17, 20142 votes

Even though this is a few months old, I still want to keep this idea pitched to Riot. Since Reds read the beta site more often, I was hoping to grab some of their attention. Also, I haven't really used Reddit, so I guess this is practice :D

I miss my FEK though ._.

SwakFeb 17, 20141 votes

I actually really like this idea. It SEEMS to add just about as much power as it takes away to Lulu, keeping her in the same balance zone while adding a bunch of new tricks for Lulu to use as well as counterplay for the enemies.

Two comments more than anything else that I have are that this would get very chaotic in teamfights with the ability being ground targeted. Is Pix where I left him? Is he tagged onto an ally? An Enemy? I would suggest either a Thresh lanturn/Yasuo ult targeter pointing to pix, or an Orianna-like arrow to help Lulu keep track of her tricky fairie friend. Second, how large would Pix' vision radius be? I would imagine it being more towards the sight radius of a zyra plant than a ward.

Z StatisticFeb 18, 20141 votes

Pix isn't supposed to fulfill the roll of a ward, especially since he would only last 6 seconds. I'm thinking more like Maokai's saplings. Vision creep is very subtle but hugely influential in League. While I want to preserve Pix's true sight, (yes he gives true sight) I don't want to give him too much vision over an area.

But the clarity in the middle of a teamfight is spot on. That most definitely needs to be in the change