Akali Rework [Champion Rework Concept]
Hey guys! I've been reworking a lot of Champions lately and I've gotten into it. Don't judge me. Now, my sights are set on Akali. I've never played Akali. I don't even own the Champion. However, as an ADC main, I've died to her my fair share of times (can you taste the salt?). So I wanted to give her a rework that is fun to play, thematic to the Champion, and fair to play against. To my surprise, I found that Akali doesn't need a lot of changes.
Discipline of Force (Passive): While Discipline of Force is Akali’s passive, her damaging abilities deal physical damage. Akali’s next basic attack will deal 35 (+10 per level) (+50% bonus Attack Damage) bonus physical damage and will change her passive ability to Discipline of Might.
Discipline of Might (Passive): While Discipline of Might is Akali’s passive, her damaging abilities deal magic damage. Akali’s next basic attack will deal 35 (+10 per level) (+25% Ability Power) bonus magic damage and will change her passive ability to Discipline of Force.
Explanation: A passive that changes each time you use a basic attack. By removing her Crescent Slash, Akali was in need of some damage in order to properly do her job as an assassin. Since she brings a pretty unique weapon to the League, I figured it's enough of a reason to justify making her basic attacks a bigger part of her kit. It also speaks to the idea of balance that the Kinkou order enforces. A balance between AP and AD. A balance between physical damage and magic damage. A balance between living Teemos and dead Teemos. This passive also allows Akali to build pure AP, pure AD, or a mix of both, making her builds very flexible. This idea of having a wide array of build paths is also reflected in all of her damaging abilities because they each have AD and AP ratios.
Mark of the Assassin (Q): Akali throws her kama at a target enemy unit, dealing either physical or magic damage equal to 20/40/60/80/100 (+50% bonus Attack Damage) (+25% Ability Power) and marking them for 6 seconds. Akali’s next basic against the target will deal 60/110/160/210/260 (+75% bonus Attack Damage) (+50% Ability Power) physical/magic damage (depending on her current passive) and will heal her for 20% of the damage dealt. Cast Range: 500 Cost: 60 Energy Cooldown: 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds
Explanation: Not much to see here. The same ability with some number tweaks. Triggering the mark deals more damage, but applying the mark deals less damage. Triggering the mark also heals you because I feel that Akali needs the sustain in lane.
Twilight Shroud (W): Akali throws cloud of smoke at a nearby target location that lasts for 8/9/10/11/12 seconds. While standing inside the shroud, Akali is Invisible. Using a basic attack (not an ability) will reveal Akali for 0.25 seconds. Enemy units standing in the cloud are slowed by 35% and revealed. Cast Range: 300 AoE Range: 450 Cost: No cost Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10 seconds (cooldown begins when the shroud ends)
Explanation: Again, not much change here. The only real change is that I removed the movement speed and made it so that using an ability does not reveal her, which means that fighting Akali in her shroud is big mistake because she'll just keep using Shadow Dance on you. I also made it so that you can throw the cloud a little bit, but no matter where you cast it, you'll always be inside in the cloud when it spawns.
Into the Dark (E): Akali gains 100/125/150/175/200% movement speed for 4 seconds. The movement speed buff ends prematurely if Akali gains the Fist of Shadow buff or deals damage to an enemy unit. The cooldown of this ability is reset whenever Akali uses Shadow Dance.
Cast Range: Self
Cost: 75 Energy
Cooldown: 10 seconds at all ranks
Explanation: This is by far the biggest change I made to Akali. A completely new ability that helps her fulfill her gameplay pattern of striking from the shadows. Crescent Strike was just AoE damage, and an ability that simple just falls flat when compared to more modern abilities in my opinion. This ability allows Akali to return to where she feels most comfortable: the shadows.
The Fist of Shadow (R): Passive: While unseen by the enemy team, Akali gains the Fist of Shadow buff. While Akali has the Fist of Shadow buff, her Energy regeneration rate is tripled to 30 Energy per second and she can use Shadow Dance.
Shadow Dance (R): Active: Akali dashes to a target enemy unit, dealing 175/250/325 (+100% bonus Attack Damage) (+75% Ability Power) physical/magic (depending on her current passive) damage to them. This ability can only be used while Akali has the Fist of Shadow buff. Cast Range: 1000 Cost: No Cost Cooldown: 1 second
Explanation: Akali's current ult is the bane of all ADC's. A triple targeted dash. Rito please. Once Akali uses Shadow Dance on you, there's no escaping. You can dash away and she'll just use her second charge. You can flash away from that, and she'll just use her third charge. There's no escaping Akali and it's frustrating as an ADC. Whenever Akali would get into me, I wouldn't even try to escape. I accepted my death. With this reworked Shadow Dance, Akali can only dash once onto you. It deals more damage than her current ult and has more range. It also feels super thematic for an assassin because of the whole aspect of only being able to use it when you're unseen. It should also be noted that this ability can be used to scout for wards. If you can't use your ult and there are no enemy Champions nearby to see you, there's a ward there. I feel that this also contributes to the theme of Akali being a ninja. In my mind, ninja's have a sixth sense that allows them to know when they're being watched (shh just roll with it). The passive component of this ability is where you'll find her Energy regenration mechanic, which is a staple on all Champions who use Energy.
Overall Gameplay:
With this rework, Akali's gameplay becomes all about hiding in the shadows. She turns into the kind of assassin who goes in an out of a fight a lot. Goes in for a kill, either succeeds or fails, and then uses Into the Dark to retreat and try again. She can either retreat into Fog of War or into her Twilight Shroud. Akali also becomes an exceptional chaser with this version of Shadow Dance.
Let me know what you guys think! Especially you Akali mains :D
