Boards›Live Gameplay Balance

Let's Talk New Kassadin - Discussion on Builds and Playstyles

Nightingale·3/24/2014, 12:45:53 AM·2 votes·299 views

tl;dr What have you tried on Kassadin since the rework and what has worked for you?

Heya everyone, so I recently played around with the new Kassadin, and I have to say, he's a lot of fun. Well, I've always liked him as a champion, but now he's not banned every game.. The point here is though, ever since the changes, people have made all sorts of claims about the new Kassadin, he's trash, the new Olaf, gets dumpstered by all ADs, totally useless, too late game, I've heard it all, but I've heard very few people saying that the new Kassadin is strong.

I'm not making this discussion to talk about any of that, though. Regardless of whether or not you think he is strong or weak at the moment, what have you, as players, done with Kassadin since his rework? What items have you built differently, have you changed your skill max order at all? Do you roam more? Less?

For example: Has anyone tried maxing W before E? Given that Force Pulse has a 6 second CD but is rarely up every 6 seconds, the slightly reduced damage of the W may still be superior during the laning phase, just because it also gives additional mana back, for more Riftwalks and more Null Spheres. I still think E is a very strong choice, but I did have a lot of fun maxing W second, even if it wasn't necessarily the strongest option.

What about build paths? Given that Kassadin has more focus on actually getting up in people's faces now, are you building more tanky at all? What items might you look into now on Kassadin? Personally I've at least considered the idea of Trinity Force on Kassadin. I know that seems odd, but when compared to Lich Bane, which just got nerfed, no less, Tri Force gives more MS, Health, and also those two passives that have synergy with his W. You don't necessarily want to spam Riftwalk on Kassadin anymore, so the bonus mobility would be quite appreciated, I would think. Not to mention the bonus AD is just an added bonus, with Kassadin now Auto-attacking a fair bit.

My thoughts aside, what have you tried on the new Kassadin, and what has worked out for you? Do you build more tanky, or more for the mid-game instead of late game now? I just wanted to get a discussion started to explore the finer points of the new Kassadin without immediately dismissing him as a "dumpster champion" or a "niche counterpick".

5 Comments

Nightingale3/24/2014, 4:18:20 AM1 votes

I'm not sure how the community beta organizes posts, so I guess I'll bump this once? I'd definitely like to get some cool ideas

Siachi3/24/2014, 5:25:01 AM1 votes

KEEP IN MIND: I HAVE VERY LIMITED EXPERIENCE WITH PLAYING KASSADIN

I feel like Rod of Ages is a definate core item: it provides a bit of health, mana, and AP, all things he enjoys. Some feel like you HAVE to build a Tear item, but I'm not sure: The damage scaling on riftwalk provides a whole TENS of damage for every 1000 mana, so that's useless.

I'd want to argue that RoA and Athene's could provide all you need in terms of mana. Athene's also provides some MR that helps. I could see Zhonya's being useful, for the armor, and it's active just gives you another free Riftwalk out. I'd imagine Sorc boots would be prefered, though you may want to get Merc or Tabi depending on the team.

As for the last two items, a friend of mine feels that Rabadon's is an ABSOLUTE necessity on any AP carry, as for the last items, I'm not sure. Lich Bane or Abyssals maybe, I'd like to experiment with Nashor's Tooth on him, but I'm not sure how useful it'd actually be.

As for skill level up... Heck if I know. Maybe put some extra points into Q early on for the shield, then focus on his W when you get Riftwalk, since you'll need the mana regen it provides to make up for Riftwalk's costs, and then you'd probably want to level up E later on because you're going to be involved in more teamfights, and therefore more skill spamming to have it up. Or at least, that's my take of it.

So that's my opinion on it: You may want to build a bit 'bulkier' than before, because the rework seems to lean more towards sustained damage than a jump in, burst, jump out style.

EDIT: I won't rule out a Tear item, since Seraph's can also grant a shield. But like I said, I'm not confident just how useful mana stacking is.

Also, with the way Athene's works, doesn't it give a bonus to how much mana his W restores?

EDIT2: I keep editing this post because I'm not happy with how I word things =\