Why Gangplank does not need a full rework, and proposed changes
####Introduction
I speak here as an avid Gangplank player. I love the character. I have played him many many times, and I often find myself reading all the top guides for him. I pay very close attention to what people have to say about him, and the things people say about GP worry me. I'll get to that later. I'm only Silver 3. Ok. I get that, but I hope you'll still take my words into account without completely disregarding them as irrelevant. I personally feel like my opinions on this matter are at least slightly valid.
I am here to discuss the validity of Gangplank as a Champion, and why common players have misconceptions about him. Gangplank, first and foremost, is a strong but completely misunderstood Champion. The main problem is, the large amount of the player base does not understand what truly makes him strong. The problem is, Riot is getting feedback on the GP rework based upon these misconceptions about Gangplank and what makes him strong, weak, etc. I want to give feedback on Gangplank from the perspective of a player who loves this Champion to death and has done extensive research on his pros and cons.
####Misconceptions
I'm going to start with what is most likely a controversial statement. Much of the feedback is based upon this misconception. Regarding his P and E. His Passive and Raise Morale are NOT the weakest parts of his kit. In fact, they are among the strongest parts of it! Read the most highly regarded Gangplank guides and you will see professional input on this.
His Passive is extremely powerful. If it feels underwhelming, you are playing him incorrectly. Go into lane. Stack that passive up! Reapply it as often as possible. All the sudden you're dealing damage. Right? Right! As you should! Do you know how often I get Firstblood because of this passive? Almost every match. You just have to play correctly. Hide in the river bush if purple, tribrush if blue. You'll get it or atleast burn all enemy Summoners.
The thing is, Gangplank isn't meant to be played as a melee adc. He performs best when you base your playstyle around keeping your passive applied for as long as possible, as often as possible. You're trying to deal sustained magic damage. Korean guides all say the same thing. Stack passive, build magic damage items such as Wit's End, Statikk Shiv, and Sunfire, then build tanky to win.
Critplank simply isn't viable, and people don't understand that. It is why people claim he's bad. He is NOT bad. People are just using an outdated play style. He cannot function as an melee adc. His Q applies Crit, sure. But what else? He has one other damage spell, and that's his ult. He has no gapclosers, but Yi has Alpha, Trynd has SpinSlash, Fiora has her dashes, etc. He has no extra damaging spells after his Q, since for the most part Ult will not be available. The other melee adcs have some method to deflect damage. Trynd Invuln, Yi Alpha dodging, Fiora Untarget, Yasuo Wall etc. Gangplank doesn't have that. If he runs in to attack, he dies, for the most part. It's an outdated way to play him, and that's all there is to it.
Next up is Raise Morale. This skill is completely underrated. Mainly because again, people are playing him wrong. The proper skill max for GP is R>W>E>Q, and NOT R>Q>W>E. Quick note, Q is not worth first max because it has low scale per level and the gold isn't very valuable. Maxing W gives infinite sustain and lets you sustain trades longer. It's all about sustained trades. Raise Morale when maxed second is extremely powerful. The move speed buff is actually meaningful, and the damage allows him to deal more sustained damage over time, which stacks well with his passive and W. His E is very good for teamfights since it gives everyone movespeed + damage, and allows him to gain assists extremely easily if he uses it right before a teammate gets a kill. Not to mention that it makes him effective at taking turrets. It's a very underrated skill, and doesn't need changed honestly.
Q is to a fair extent overrated however. The damage it gains through levels isn't that much honestly, and the extra gold is hardly meaningful. The mana cost stacks up over time even if last hitting properly. It's good however in one respect. It applies on hit effects as a melee auto attack. That's why people assume he should be played Crit. In reality, it's only good for auto attack resetting to double stack passive, hitting minions if getting zoned slightly, (which shouldn't be happening even if against a Ranged attacker)and applying things like Iceborn or Statikk. Again, statikk is mainly purchased for the attackspeed to stack passive faster, and the magic damage passive. The crit is merely a bonus, and not the point of the item. Honestly, Q could use a buff if anything.
I'll keep W short. It's extremely good. It's part of his identity as a Champion. CC clear and strong heal. Cool. Call me hypocritical for saying he's not melee adc then mentioning movespeed, cc clear, and heal, I don't care. The movespeed isn't enough, the heal isn't enough, and the cc clear isn't enough. Anyways.
The one thing I will agree with is that his R is both good and extremely frustrating because of it's randomness. Its best used for picking up assists, not kills. A satisfying use is when you use it to create an "arena" for you and enemy laner. I'm pretty sure everyone understands that it shouldn't be so random. However, do not remove the AP scaling!
####Proposed changes
Now, with all of that out of the way, and everyone hopefully having a fresh perspective on Gangplank, I wish to propose changes that will give Gangplank a bit more viability. Yes, I know I just made a huge post saying he is already viable. I'm just stating some changes that could help other players realize it.
First off, his W. The changes I wish to implement are more of a balance shift than anything. First, lower the CD by 5 seconds at all ranks. You'll see why it needs a lower CD. Based on the CD change, nerf the AP scaling to 80%. Keeping it high is important to keeping his identity, and keeping AP GP viable. AP GP is in a bad spot right now. I'll get to that though. To compensate the scaling nerfs, change the per rank heal to 80/155/240/310/400. This is a small buff that shouldn't be too problematic. Next big change to W. When W is used, gives Gangplank's next autoattack/Q extra gusto, making it deal additional magic damage. Flat damage is undecided, but it has an AP scaling of 40%. This compensates for the Lich Bane nerf.
Having this buff on his next autoattack/Q that scales off of AP helps with AP Gangplank. AP GP used to be viable before the Lich Bane nerfs, I'm not kidding. I main him on another account. Anyways, this gives him a 110% AP scaling on his autoattack if you have Lich Bane, Nashor's, and Spell Blade mastery. Why this amount of damage is ok: I'm going to use Reworked Nidalee as reference. Her max damage Javelin has a 120% AP Ratio on a 6 second CD, that still allows her to stay at a relatively safe distance. Gangplank's 110% Q is on a theoretically >10 second CD, deals less damage than the spear, and forces him to get in close to use. Additionally, being AP GP's only damage source without ult, it should feel impactful when it's up.
The on hit W change also helps tanky magic damage Gangplank too. It gives him a quick burst of damage in fights, stacks with Wit's End magic pen, etc. I'm keeping Tankplank and AP GP in mind when working with these changes.
The next change goes to his Q. Rather simple. Boost damage by 10 or 20 at all ranks, and make it lower the CD of W by 1 seconds when used. This allows both Tankplank and AP GP to use their Heal, or Heal+Dmg respectively, slightly more often.
E does not need changes.
R is a bit tricky for me to pin down, honestly. It shouldn't be random that's for sure. Changes for R are up for debate, but I would vouch for keeping it magic damage and AP scaling at least.
For know that is all I have to say. Thank you for reading this massive post, and I look forward to seeing what you players think and have to say. Keep on plankin' me hearties.
TL;DR Passive and Raise Morale are actually good, W needs AP ratio nerf + extra Lich Bane-like on hit effect on next auto/Q.
