Xerath: New Ability Names
Hi Riot/Everyone,
If you haven't seen the Twitter pics, here ya go, straight from ZenonTheStoic himself: http://imgur.com/a/FoDaV
I'm not going to comment on the new kit other than saying it looks cool, and should be a lot smoother than Xerath's current kit.
I did, however, want to comment on the new names for abilities, since those are still in flux.
Passive: Mana Surge (formerly Overwhelming Power). This is a needed change due to his completely new passive. Mana Surge wraps up what the passive does in two words and is flavorful.
Q: Arcanopulse (no change). Thank you for not changing this. Arcanopulse is an awesome name for an ability.
W: Eye of Destruction (formerly Locus of Destruction). I'm not as fond of this one. Locus in Latin is literally "place"; Xerath creates an area of destruction. I like the flavor of "locus" more than "eye".
E: Shocking Orb (formerly Stasis Orb). This one is more about Xerath's particles themselves. One of the other main goals of the rework was to push Xerath towards a "pure arcane power" magic instead of an electricity magic, and his new particles match up to that. Shocking Orb, however, is still suggesting electricity. Stasis Orb, in contrast, suggests "purer" magic and matches better with the stun effect.
R: Rite of the Arcane (formerly Ascension). I'm not really fond of either of these names, to be honest. However, I think the two could be combined to get Arcane Ascension, which I personally really like.
TL;DR: Xerath getting new ability names, new passive name works, no change to Q, keep old names for W and E, mix names for ultimate into Arcane Ascension.