Janna Rework Concept
So I don't think Janna has been talked about much as a candidate for a VGU. Her kit is still functional despite being old, after all. She has enough new skins that most of the time her abilities look nice, and her old and kinda clunky model can be prettied up with a skin as well. However, as someone who used to main the bejeebus out of her before a lot of other champions got glow ups, I care about her and would like to see her reach her full potential as a character. Her lore update gave her an interesting place in Runeterra's lore, and there's a lot that could be done to bring her up to speed with what she's supposed to be now and making her gameplay more satisfying and thematically cohesive. Just cuz I love her and want to bring the possibility of a rework for her into the light (I'd settle for an ability icon update), I whipped one up and want to share it.
VISUAL UPDATE
Using this concept created by an actual Rioter, or at least as I have read, Thomas Randby.
and this concept created by Natalie Pellmann, I sketched out a sort of combination of the two, since I'm awful at outfit design and just wanted to draw a nice looking Janna concept.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/322779306046652416/660728773498634260/20191229_005449.jpg
Personally, the most core visual themes I would like to see implemented in a Janna visual update would be feathers, flowing hair, flowing airy fabrics, bare feet that never touch the ground, a floating, halo-like tiara, and very delicate and graceful movements.
GAMEPLAY UPDATE
Passive: Windborne Wanderer Janna passively ignores unit collision and gains movement speed scaling with her cooldown reduction.
While in her team's fountain, Janna is offered a selection of allied champions that are currently alive and in range (think Neeko passive), and this range scales with level. Choosing one will cause Janna to shift into her Bluebird Form (from the lore), and fly towards her target with (some balanced percentage) additional movement speed, ignoring terrain as she travles swiftly. A signal indicating Janna's destination with appear above her target while she is in transit. She will transform back and end her journey when she gets within range of her ally, or her target dies. She can also enter a movement or spell command while within an enlarged range of her target to cancel early (think Ivern W range).
Janna's current passive feels pretty meh. You don't really think about it much, and it isn't too noticeable either. I wanted to change it into something more unique for a support. Aside from a bonus similar to Zephyr's passive, her new passive's active allows her to roam, return to lane, and come to an ally's rescue from her base. When Janna has to recall, fret not, she will be back by your side soon (but not too soon). The visual warning allows both teams to play around it, and killing her ally allows the enemy team to stop it, but I would foresee it being a bit frustrating to feel like you can't keep Janna out of lane long enough to do anything, as long as there's an ally around. That being said, it is a unique thing for a support to have. Janna can always get back into the fight or to where an ally needs her."
Q: Whirlwind Janna creates a tornado that travels to the target location, dealing magic damage and briefly knocking up any enemies it encounters. Enemies hit at the destination of the tornado are suspended in the air for longer.
Janna's current Q has its unique elements what with the placing and charging elements to it, and honestly I don't think it needs to be changed. My only issue with it is that I rarely get to use those features. When someone is diving on your carry, or you need to quick interrupt a dash/CC someone to secure a kill, I don't find that I let it charge up often since it's just too slow. For this reason, I'm changing it to a sweetspot skill because I think that way it would have more defensive and offensive utility while still rewarding aiming and prediction
W: Windspeaker's Shrine Janna unearths a shrine that activates after a few seconds of an ally standing near it. She may have three active at any given time. When powered up, shrines grant vision of the surrounding area (think Bard Ult), and grant allies within it increased movement speed, decaying upon leaving. Enemies can lock shrines for a period by occupying their area uncontested for a few seconds, deactivating them until Janna or her allies empower them again.
_ Janna's current W is just a pretty dull ability overall. It's functional, but not interesting or satisfying. Ideally this move's offensive power and incentive would be moved to her Q which can now catch people out more reliably, and her E, allowing for this move to become an interesting utility move. Of course Janna has to have a movement speed buff, so I put it here in the form of a deployable scuttle crab shrine, essentially. This enables her to have greater vision control than most supports, and helps her team roam and remain fleet of foot in laning phase, allowing for kiting and aggressive play. These areas are contestable, however, which allows for counterplay and interraction. It's also in the form of a shrine to mesh well with her narrative, where people built shrines to her._
E: Eye of the Storm Janna wraps an ally in a swirling gale for up to three seconds, shielding them. Until the shield breaks or fades, the ally's basic attacks launch two additional bolts at their target after a short delay, each dealing magic damage equal to 10% of the ally's attack damage.
Current Janna's E is functional and powerful, but the fact that it has to decay as well as its invisible power is enough of a reason to tweak it imo. With the shield lasting for a shorter window, it doesn't have to decay and rewards timing. I changed the AD boost to a sort of Xayah W mixed with Lulu E+passive effect to make the fact that it's buffing their damage more visible and more satisfying.
R: Monsoon Janna summons forth a soothing storm, knocking all nearby enemies back with a ferocious squall. She may then channel this ability for up to three seconds, as soothing rains heal allies over time as she channels.
No change here.
