Redesign rework for Irelia based off of Awaken's glimpses; making Irelia into a mobile tank
BEWARE! This is a LONG post which focuses on every single ability in Irelia's arsenal. This is not a finalized version, nor do I have any power over what Riot will implement. This is only a suggestion, and it's not like I'm saying this is the perfect solution either. However, I believe that it is a potential direction Riot could take Irelia to give her an interesting niche other than yet another fighter with an overloaded kit. By making Irelia a tank, I believe that the often neglected tanks can finally have a new modern champion added to their roster, with many mechanics and intricacies to keep track of. I believe it might be a nice change of pace compared to many other kits such as Maokai's, Sion's, or Rammus's.
When looking at Irelia's design, I do not think "Single Target Molester". I think "Wave killer". Looking back at the cinematic Awaken, Irelia clearly jumps into the middle of the fight and starts slashing away at the enemy. I thought, "Why not have Irelia do the same thing?" "What is Irelia's current theme?"
What came to mind was that she was a waveclear machine that dashed a bunch of times in teamfights and then autoattacks as much as she can before passing out/winning the fight.
This suggested revision aims to both bring in the concept of being in the thick of the fight and also slashing everyone at once, at the expense of her actual damage. It turns her into a mobile tank that can inflict stuns and a new status: Cripple, while also maintaining her health through her Q's buffed heal.
Base stat adjustments:
Health Buff: 580 - 2195 -> 610 - 2259 Attack Damage: 63-131 -> 60-124 Magic Resist: 32-53.3 -> 32-56 Armor: 36-87 -> 28-84
Passive
Passive: Ionian Fervor INNATE: Irelia gains 1 Ionian Fervor stack for every enemy champion hit by her abilities, or if she hits at least one non-champion, stacking up to 5 times. Ionian Fervor lasts for 6 seconds, with basic attacks against champions and large and epic monsters refreshing the duration. (New) FIGHTING SPIRIT: Basic attacks on enemy champions will now also grant her stack per enemy hit by a basic attack.
IONIAN FERVOR: Irelia gains 8% − 12% 4%-6% (based on level) Attack speed per stack, up to 20% − 30% (based on level).
At maximum stacks, Irelia's basic attacks deal 15 − 66 (based on level) (+ 25% bonus AD) Ability power bonus magic damage on-hit.
At maximum stacks, Irelia's attack range is increased by 75 and become AoE. Basic attacks bleed enemies for 10 − 66 (based on level) (+ 2% Max Health) bonus magic damage over 2.5 seconds, and inflicts Cripple for 2 seconds.
Notes:
Bleeds will not stack, and any bleed from Irelia already on a champion is removed with the introduction of a new one.
Cripple: Enemy units have their movement speed reduced according to how much they have moved since receiving Cripple from a single source. Each 100 units moved is a 10% movement speed reduction, and a 10% base slow. (Notes: Cripple's slow comes from a single source, so Irelia isn't going to be able to slow someone to 100%. This is only movement through actual basic movement, or right clicking, which doesn't include blinking, dashes, or displacements.) If a new Cripple status were to be inflicted on an opponent, the Cripple with the longer remaining duration will be the one that is inflicted/is kept on the enemy.
Cripple's slow formula: Slow% = 10% + (Units moved / 10) %
Q: Bladesurge
TARGET RANGE: 600 SPEED: 1500 (+ 100% MOVEMENT SPEED) COST: 20 MANA COOLDOWN: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8
PASSIVE: Enemy champions and large monsters hit by Flawless Duet and Vanguard's Edge's initial barrage are marked for 5 seconds, consumed with Bladesurge.
ACTIVE: Irelia Dash dashes through the target enemy, dealing Attack damage physical damage, applying on-hit effects, including Ionian Fervor, and healing herself. Bladesurge deals increased damage to minions. Bladesurge deals triple damage* to minions. Bladesurge's healing is reduced by 75% on minions.
PHYSICAL DAMAGE:
5 / 25 / 45 / 65 / 85 (+ 60% AD) 5/20/35/50/65 (30% AD)
HEAL:
12 / 14 / 16 / 18 / 20% AD
6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10% AD + 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% Maximum Health
Bladesurge's cooldown is refunded if the target was marked or if it dies to or after Bladesurge has been cast.
- Her Bladesurge numbers can be adjusted to make it approximately what they should be to kill minions with the same amount of AD, but I'm a little too lazy to calculate them, as I am not an Irelia main and I would rather not get 100k mastery points on her just to calculate this tidbit.
W: Defiant Dance
TARGET RANGE: 825 COST: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 MANA COOLDOWN: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12
FIRST CAST: Irelia channels for up to 1.5 4 seconds, during which she reduces incoming physical damage by 50% 30%/32.5%/35%/37.5%/40% (+ 7% per 100 AP).
(New) DEFIANCE: Each time Irelia is damaged, a small projectile is flung in the direction she received damage from, dealing 2/4/6/8/10 (+5% AP)(+1/1.6/2.2/2.8/3.4% Max Health) bonus attack damage.
(New) DANCING BLADES: Irelia's hitbox is increased by 40 units in each direction.
SECOND CAST: After a 0.07-second delay, Irelia swipes with her blades in the target direction, dealing physical damage to all enemies around her and in a line, increased by 0% − 100% (based on channel time). dealing physical damage for 18/20/22/24/26% of the premitigated attack damage she received during her channel as bonus attack damage, and applying Cripple for 0.5-2.5 seconds based on how long Defiant Dance was channeled.
Technical Aspect Notes: The line skillshot is completely removed. Small Projectile has a range of 550 units and has a travel speed of 2200 units per second. Premitigation damage includes damage mitigated by armor. DEFIANCE is calculated as Damage over Time AND Area of Effect.
The SECOND CAST activates automatically toward the cursor's direction at the end of the duration.
E: Flawless Duet
TARGET RANGE: 850 COST: 50 MANA COOLDOWN: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10
ACTIVE: Irelia sends a blade to the target location for up to 3.5 seconds. After a 0.35-second delay, Flawless Duet may be recast to send another blade out, and does so automatically at Irelia's position if the first blade would expire, though not if she is muted or channeling Defiant Dance or Teleport.
Once both blades have been placed, they fly toward each other after a 0.25-second delay, dealing magic damage and Stun icon stunning all enemies struck for 0.75 seconds after converging.
(No changes are necessary.)
R: Vanguard's Edge
TARGET RANGE: 1000 COST: 100 MANA COOLDOWN: 140 / 120 / 100
ACTIVE: Irelia launches a barrage of blades through a wide line in the target direction, exploding outwards upon hitting a champion, dealing magic damage to all enemies struck.
BARRAGE DAMAGE:
125 / 225 / 325 (+ 70% AP) 75/150/225 (+ 60% AP)
The blades form into a spade-shaped perimeter around the explosion for 2.5 seconds, knocking aside all enemies, though not rendering them Airborne icon airborne. Enemies that pass through the blades are dealt magic damage and are slowed by 90% for 1.5 secondsCrippled for 1/1.5/2 (+0.001% Bonus Health) seconds.
Explanations for changes:
Base Stats: By increasing Irelia's Base Health and Magic Resist, Irelia survives general assaults more easily. Her Armor nerf is partially due to the natural armor she'll be building thanks to a prevalence of tanky items that provide AD, and the AD nerf is to reduce the dueling potential Irelia holds early game and mid game. Why is the MR still so low then? Because Spirit Visage is a must-buy item on Irelia in order to keep her healthy throughout a fight, and her increased bulk against magic thanks to the W rework renders it unnecessary.
Passive: Increasing Irelia's utility and range but decreasing the instantaneous damage and attack speed she gains will impact her dueling potential early game, but will increase her utility late game. By focusing on multiple targets at once, she maximizes her damage output, but more importantly increases the amount of slows she spreads.
Q: Decreasing her damage but maintaining minion damage was my main goal with this ability. As compensation, she is able to regenerate larger amounts of health in teamfights, increasing her heals by the number of times she dashes around. This includes the laning phase, where she is still able to regenerate a fairly large amount of health each minion wave while holding her own against the enemy.
W: By adjusting the effects, Irelia becomes a specialized defensive tank much like Rammus, except she relies much more on charging duration rather than properly timed taunts. By going into the middle of a fight, you threaten inflicting slows to the enemy team, and using W is a way to increase your survivability while having more flexible damage resistance. This is also helpful against armor and magic resistance penetration.
E: It's already a hard to aim stun, which is fine, but instead of locking down an opponent, it's now a zoning tool / multistun during fights.
R: By adjusting its damage and changing its slow to a scaling Cripple, this move will see a lot more utility usage rather than as a dueling tool with the extra slow fence tacked on.
Overall: By decreasing her total damage but adding many status effects and reworking her passive and her W, she becomes a much tankier unit that can inflict Cripple, a new kind of slow, and can soak damage for her team. She dives into the middle of an enemy team and punishes those who attempt to shove her out. She can also still move around just as much as she used to be able to, while maintaining her Ionian Fervor stacks more easily.
