Proposed Nasus Rework

At this point Nasus's kit is a real relic of the past. It has an incredibly antiquated style of play in a game that is trying to focus on teamwork, #BigPlays, aggression, meaningful choices, and counterplay. There is no mechanics to play around in Nasus' kit other than "Don't let him farm". There's nothing to dodge besides "I'd rather not lose 10 health so I'll stand outside of his Spirit Fire". There's nothing in his kit that really allows him to do much besides farm up and the begin two-shotting your champions. This combines with the thematic dissonance of a supposed "Guardian and Protector" largely abandoning his team to stay by himself unless they happen to be nearby.

This proposed kit-rework is meant to address a few key issues with Nasus to help him fit better with a flow of a game rather than simply be there as a leech in top-lane until he becomes virtually unstoppable.

Give him incentive to help his team Give him counterplay and meaningful combo choices Line his kit up with his identity as a Guardian and Protector. However, there are still certain things that make Nasus NASUS, that I will attempt to keep alive in this kit rework. One is his late-game power, early-game weakness, the stacking mechanic of Siphoning Strike, and his late-game fantasy of a titanic Shuriman legend wading into combat.

To this end, I propose he be changed from a tanky late game hyper-carry to a true tank that works best soaking in damage in the front line. He will still deal damage, but as a form of disruption rather than to feed himself kills.

Just saying, but this will largely be mechanics with no numbers to them. This is a rough proof of concept and I would greatly enjoy constructive criticism and discussion.

Passive: Soul Stealer. (UNCHANGED).

Q: Siphoning Strike. Increase the cooldown quite a bit. Instead of dealing physical damage equal to the number of stacks, the attack would instead deal damage based on a percentage of Nasus' maximum health instead. Likewise the stacking mechanic is instead changed from increasing the physical damage to unlocking "Tiers" of his ultimate, which we will get to in a bit.

W: Wither. If just cast by itself, the slow is weaker, fades quicker, and does not increase in severity or duration. However, if the target of Wither is caught in Spirit Fire for a few seconds, then the slow increases as normal (though still reduced amount), and after a few seconds they are rooted in place as they are grasped by necrotic hands similar to Soul Steal's icon. This gives Wither some much needed counterplay to Wither (dash or flash out of Soul Fire and you can probably escape no problem, though if you are caught in the epicenter even that might not be enough) and forces Nasus players to combo their abilities a bit more, as well as allowing more lockdown if combined with an ally's CC.

E: Soul Fire Instead of shredding armor and dealing magic damage, Soul Fire is now a ring similar to Trundle's Frozen Domain. While inside Soul Fire, Nasus takes a % reduced damage and deals an increased % damage that scales off his AP. This synergies well with his ultimate, allows him to make plays, and still gives him a bit of beefiness to his damage. However instead of a constant stream of high burst, it will be a more gradual and "fair" fight that forces Nasus opponents to make a choice. "Run to try and position" or "Outmuscle his damage and burst him down".

R: Fury of the Sands. Still gives an increased amount of health instantaneously, still increases size and attack range, but also increases the size of Spirit Fire and the range of Wither. The important bit is that the shred of % health and the bonus damage is replaced by a clearly defined aura that makes him absorb a portion of damage done to allies in that area. Nasus's stacking mechanics stay in a "Tier System" where every few dozen Siphoning Strike kills will increase the size of himself, his aura, his cast ranges, and his attack range. Through this you get that end-game fantasy of a HUGE GOD-LIKE BEING while still being one reliant on leading your team to a fight rather than fighting 1v5.

All in all I think this is an effective way to keep Nasus's identity as a late-game power house intact while making him able to synergize with his team rather than turning any match to either a 1v5 or a 4v5.

So let me know what you think and if you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.

(Whoops wrong board)