Mini-Rework for Varus to make AP play-styles more viable
I put this in "Gameplay," before I remembered just how sadistic everyone who lurks there is. ahem We all know how Varus's auto attacks work with Blight, currently.
>PASSIVE: Varus's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage and apply Blighted Quiver Blight for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+ 25% AP) Varus's other abilities consume Blighted Quiver Blight on enemies upon damaging them, dealing them magic damage for each stack, capped at 360 against monsters. MAGIC DAMAGE PER STACK: 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 / 4.25 / 5% (+ 2% per 100 AP) of the target's maximum health
But what if Varus could be designed to work around AP as well as AD, as in turn Varus into a legitimately powerful AP carry?
I have some suggestions that would make his AP auto attacks more sustainable in the late game, as well as give his proccing some nice bang, without it being too overbearing.
1: Reduce his AP ratio to 10% on each shot. 2: Make the amount of stacks Varus can apply on a single target scale with rank, as 3/3/4/4/5. 3: Allow the damage Varus deals with blight to multiply by however many stacks the target will have after that auto, up to 50% AP at max rank. (So autoing a target with 0 stacks will deal 10% AP, and autoing targets with 4 and 5 stacks both deal 50% AP.) 4: When an enemy champion reaches 5 stacks, grants Varus the passive attack speed bonus currently reserved for killing a champion, and fully charging your Piercing Arrow will allow you to lock on to the champ and deal the full 25% (+ 10% per 100 AP) max health, given that champ isn't in Stealth. (Charging Piercing Arrow will freeze the decay time of blight on targets with 5 stacks.) Not only will this give Varus a choice between playing as AD and AP, but he will gain two very distinct play-styles in the process (Three if you wish to separate Crit and Lethality, as well). He'll be given the Darius touch: where he starts off weak and puny, but if he applies all his stacks to a champ, he'll be allowed to punish the enemy team for allowing him to stay alive for so long.
But although it has the potential to become very powerful, it still has its choices during team-fights. For instance, if he's applied the stacks on the champion, he can decide whether to use his Q or E, or not, based on how tanky his opponent is, or if his opponent is running away. Because if he decides to proc the %health damage, he then has to re-stack his blight in order for his autos to deal meaningful damage again.
It also won't affect early game at all. Varus would need to be level 9 in order to achieve all 5 stacks and the passive benefits he gains from it, and by then his Q would assuredly only be at rank 2, which deals 70 AD at max charge, which isn't much compared to Lethality Varus at level 9. Ohhh, boy.
Why would this be a good idea? Well, I want Varus to feel unique!! What does Varus do with his abilities right now? He sits in the back and spams them, hoping to chunk his opponents down. If you're really that loathsome, then fine, have fun with that. What does Varus do with his ult? He roots you in place and autos you outside your auto range, since he probably outranges you by at least 2 units. That's cheap, boring and unoriginal gameplay that any ADC with a CC Tank support can do.
So come on, Riot. Steal this idea from me and make it your own. Please. There are so many champs that could benefit from having both AD and AP scaling, and it would be so incredible if you could take a step in the right direction to positively encourage creative freedom with this.