An open letter to Riot on Xerath

Dear Riot,

Well it’s official – with a 1.68% pick rate, Xerath is now a more obscure pick than he was before the rework. If it's alright with you, I'd like to talk about it. I'm not going to name-call, straw-man or flame. I just want a good discussion.

As you’ve mentioned many times – Renekton is the standard bar for the Top Lane. I believe this is a reasonable position to take, since most top laners are judged by their ability to lane against him. In the spirit of this method of framing a balance discussion, let me propose a standard bar for mid-lane mages; namely, Ziggs.

Ziggs is, and has been, the dominant and go-to choice when it comes to getting that heavy hitting AP caster. His kit includes excellent wave clear and area denial, some mobility, high burst damage, low cooldowns and mana costs, and excellent range. When talking about Xerath, we really need to look at how he matches up with Ziggs.

In short – not well. Let’s take a look at how their abilities stack up:

Q: Bouncing Bomb vs. Arcanopulse – Both do roughly the same amount of damage and have the same range. However, Bouncing Bomb has a lower cooldown, a lower mana cost, and can be thrown at full range without self-applied cc or windup. Remember the effective cooldown for a full range arcanopulse is 1.5 seconds greater than the advertised cooldown time. At lvl 5, this would be 4 vs. 6.5 secs. Bouncing Bomb also does not telegraph itself. The clear winner here is Ziggs.

E: Hexplosive Minefield vs. W: Eye of Destruction – Again, we have very similar abilities. Both have damage scaled to where the ability lands, both have similar ranges, they have the same mana costs, and both apply a slow. Ziggs has 40% across the AoE, whereas Xerath has 10% and up to 80% in the center. Damage is clearly in favor of Hexplosive Minefield however, as it requires less skill to apply more damage and more slow. This cooldown favors Xerath, but Ziggs can use Hexplosive Minefield for extremely effective Area Denial. This one is closer, but for sheer utility, it favors Ziggs.

W: Satchel Charge vs. E: Shocking Orb – We diverge a little here, so let’s talk about usefulness. Shocking Orb is a slow moving missile that collides with the first unit hit, applying a scaling stun. It has a smaller hitbox, but decent damage and range. Satchel Charge has a more prohibitive cooldown, a similar early game mana cost and damage, but a much larger AoE (60 vs. 325); it also moves faster. These are both primarily used for setting up picks/ganks/kills. Xerath’s is somewhat awkward to land, since it must be thrown through or around creep, and a short range hit has debatable usefulness. Ziggs on the other hand can easily land Satchel Charge, knocking enemies back into teammates or his own abilities to set up easy kills. Also, something that cannot be overstated, is that Satchel Charge gives Ziggs access to precious mobility. The winner here is Ziggs.

R: Mega Inferno Bomb vs. Rite of the Arcane – this matchup is probably the most one-sided of them all. Both have similar ranges at lvl 3 (though Mega Inferno Bomb has access to its range from lvl 1); however, Mega Inferno Bomb is much easier to land, has a lower cooldown, can be used to wave clear effectively, does similar damage to two hits of Rite of the Arcane, and does far more damage if it hits at least 2 champions. Ziggs also does not have to immobilize himself to use his ult, and can even cast it while running. Keep in mind that Ziggs can cast all of his spells (and therefore apply all of his damage), including his Ultimate and Passive, in quick succession. Xerath cannot. The undeniable winner here is Ziggs.

Let’s be blunt – Xerath is a worse version of Ziggs.

So how did this happen? This is what I really want to talk about, and I think it’s something that has been mentioned, but hasn’t really been explored. I would like to posit that the reason Xerath is in his current predicament is because his Ultimate does not match his kit either mechanically or thematically. It doesn't flow well in the early game, and has dubious usefulness in the late game. And keep in mind, the range on it isn't even unique: Ziggs gets the same range at earlier levels on his ultimate!

What I recommend is a return to the values and theme of what Xerath was and should be – an Artillery Mage. Artillery is not, and never has been, about sniping anything (which seems to be the direction the rework took). It’s about assaulting an enemy position. About raining down raw firepower. About bursting through bunkers. Xerath's theme has always been about being an AoE tank buster.

Now before anyone freaks out - being a tank-buster isn't a bad thing! There are several healthy and balanced champions in League who already excel at dismantling tanky champions, such as Vayne and Kog'Maw. Kog'Maw is a particularly good example, since he does his tank-dismantling at long range and has very low mobility.

I suggest we start by keeping the cooldown on his ult, but cutting its range in half (~1800-2200 is plenty!! You want your team to be able to follow up on that artillery barrage, and being half the map away doesn’t provide many opportunities for counterplay), increasing the AoE to something similar to his current Q, and by giving him some of that old spell penetration back.

% Spell pen is actually an incredibly balanced approach to fixing what’s wrong with Xerath – it allows for the core fantasy of that tank-busting mage, without giving him access to assassin-level burst damage against squishies. There are a few ways of giving it back I feel would provide a good experience for both Xerath players and his opponents. (Remember that building health is a good way to itemize against Spell Penetration!)

• A good solution may be having his passive transition from mana restore (only useful in the early laning phase) into a small amount (10%?) of % spell penetration (Only balanced in the late game).

• Another good solution could be something along the lines of Yasuo’s ult; such as 40% Spell Penetration against bonus magic resist. This could activate when Xerath activates his Ultimate, and last for 10 seconds after his ult has finished (allowing Xerath to launch that initial barrage, then follow up with his team)

• A 3rd option could be Xerath’s ult lowering magic resist by a % (10%?) with each blast stacking up to 3 times. This mechanic could present cool synergy opportunities, and places extra emphasis on Xerath landing a great ultimate (and emphasis on his team helping him land that great ult) – similar to the effect of an Orianna ultimate.

Any of these (or others!) could give Xerath that niche he so desperately needs to be a compelling and viable pick - in both competitive and casual play.

But let’s at least talk about it! I can meet somewhere in the middle, I promise! Let’s compromise! You don’t want a long-range burst assassin, and I don’t want a sprinkler for an ultimate. I'm certain we can come up with something that makes us both happy if we work together!

In his own words,

"You seek power Syndra, I AM POWER!!" - Xerath

Let's make that fantasy come true.

EDIT - This is probably my fault, but I'd like to clear up what appears to be a misunderstanding. When I say "Tank-Buster", I don't mean "Tank-Burster". It's semantics, but it's a big difference. As I mentioned earlier in the post, I'm talking about being able to apply damage through Magic Resist for meaningful damage against tanks (hence the % Spell Pen) - NOT about bursting Tanks. Health would still be an effective build path against Xerath. Just so we're clear :)

EDIT 2 - I have slain teemos upon the battlefield to bring forward as a sacrifice to summon the almighty @ Morello! Rain down your gaming insight goodness on this lowly thread! Let us partake of your wisdom!

crosses fingers and closes eyes :D

• I'll probably add a TL:DR to this later, but I'm currently very tired. :P