[Rework Concept] Kassadin, The Void Walker
Intro:
I have been thinking about this for a long time. And I have noticed something. Kassadin "is" an anti-mage. His kit's mechanics (especially the original ones) scream the Anti-Mage thematic. But what happens when he is played? He isn't. Most mages, especially the currently popular ones, all have ways of completely shutting Kassadin down. So i looked into things, and asked myself, "Do we need this kit?". By that, i meant do we need, or specifically lack, a champion that specializes in diving in, bursting someone to death, then getting out? No. In fact, we already have 3 others. The most obvious 2 being Zed and Leblanc. That's not to say Kassadin is not original, he IS the only Void walker in the game, he is a human who was corrupted by void, but instead chose to counter the void, and stop it. But a champion's theme has nothing to do with how original their kit is. I believe that to make Kass truly unique, whilst still being powerful and significant enough to be considered "good", is to completely rework his kit to touch on his Original, Anti-Mage roots. Does this mean a low cd High mana cost Flash? No. Does this mean an instantaneous teleport? No, but it is a solid part of his core identity, everyone knows kassadin as the guy who can juke anyone, go in and out instantly. We have to maintain this identity, whilst still embracing his anti-mage roots, and stepping away from his generic flash-ult. So I bring you my thoughts and Ideas on one way Kassadin can be reworked to accomplish this. Thank you.
Kit:
**Passive**- *Void Mage*: Kassadin has spent years in the void, and it has imbued into his very soul. Whenever Kassadin Receives damage, this void energy absorbs a portion of it, and consumes it to reduce the next spell's damage by that much. The remaining damage from that spell is also absorbed, and used to reduce the damage of the next spell. The damage from consecutive spells does not stack, it is consumed upon damage reduction. In Addition, his spells scale off of a very small amount of AD, **and a moderate amount of his Target's AP**.
Explanation: This seems like it could be Op, and it COULD be. The trick is to give it numbers small enough to make it not stupid powerful, but large enough to be significant. In the end, this is the core method Kassadin would have to survive the burst-power of the mages he fights. Of course this doesn't do anything to auto attacks (but still affects AD spells, regardless).
**Q**- *Null Sphere*: Kassadin fires a Null Sphere in the target direction, it stops on the first enemy champion hit, ignoring minions and all terrain. That champion will then be afflicted by void energy for 3 seconds. For every spell they cast, they gain a stack and then take damage for every stack they have. If they cast a spell while they have 3 stacks, the stacks and buff are consumed, and they take damage as if they had 4 stacks.
Explanation: This is, in effect, a silence. However it isn't direct, they can still cast, but it will deal heavy damage quickly to them if they rapidly fling spells (note, the number of spells needed to end the effect is 4, or a burst mages usual round of spells). If they don't cast, they take no damage at all. But then they are vulnerable for 3 seconds. The Null Sphere has a relatively short range (probably a little longer than the average ADC auto range), so its not that good at poke, but it is great initiation.
**W**- *Nether Blade*: Kassadin's Blade is not a blade, but a simultaneous existence of a uninhabited portion of the void (Its essentially a portal to it). However, it can only "teleport" life force and energy. Upon activation, Kassadin's blade will, on hit, burn a small amount of the target's mana equal to a small percent of their missing mana, and deal that much extra damage. This effect lasts 5 seconds.
Explanation: Riot used to have mana burning effects, but they removed them for being super powerful. This is a super powerful effect, so it's numbers have to be balanced to allow it to be a significant effect, but not overwhelming (one cast and constant autos would only burn maybe a fifth of the champ's mana pool from full). We'd have to be very careful with the numbers to make sure this works right. This would deal huge damage to mages with large mana pools, but less so to small ones.
**E**- *Force Pulse*: Kassadin is in tune with the Void, and can sense the existence of life energy (as he is used to the lack of it in the void), and will naturally absorb a small portion of it over time. Every time a spell is cast near Kassadin, he absorbs much more than usual, gaining a Stack of Magic Energy (max 6 stacks). Kassadin can, at any time, release these stacks in a pulse of pure Anti-Magic in front of him. Dealing Damage per stack in a ratio to the number of spells the hit targets have on cooldown. (an example would be 25 damage per stack for every spell on cooldown, so if you had 4 spells on cooldown, that would be 600 damage, and if all of them were up, 0 damage. These numbers are purely for example, and may not signify what the actuality would be).
Explanation: This ability is yet another Anti-Mage ability, it can destroy anyone that blows all their spells in a single combo while too close to Kassadin. Again, to balance it so it isn't OP would require careful numbers balance, but I believe the mechanic itself is definitely balance able.
**R**- *Rift Walker*: Kassadin is adept at multi-planar existence, he can readily shift from one plane to the other. On activation (On a moderate cooldown), Kassadin will temporarily phase out of this plane's natural existence, becoming partially visible (No health bar or UI representation, and a severely faded model), ignorant of unit collision, immune to all spell effects, and untargetable for up to 3 seconds. He can reactivate his ult during the effect to jump to a target unit within a short range, but immediately reentering this plane of existence. Kassadin cannot attack while in this form, and must exit to do so. However he can still gain stacks of Magic Energy, and cast Null Sphere, but not Force Pulse or Nether Blade.
Explanation: This is, in my mind, the best way for Kassadin's ult to go. He still retains a slight teleport with his ult's reactivation (about flash range i would guess), and a brand new effect state, retaining his identity as a Rift Walker, and the guy who can go balls deep or get the hell out of dodge when he needs to. This is, in my opinion, the most significant change of all the abilities. But it solidifies his identity as the Void Walker, and the Anti-Mage.
Conclusion:
Thank you for taking the time to read my Rework Concept. Of all my posts, this one is perhaps the most important to me, but my rather lackluster skills in forum writing and the other things does not show it very well. I believe Kassadin needs a complete overhaul on this Scale, to return to his original Anti-Mage identity, and become the Void Walker, for real. Thank you!