Pantheon Rework Suggestions

Hey there ladies and gents. This is Arch Angeloid talking, a long time Pantheon fan and player ever since Pantheon's first release.

A brief background that I'd like to share is that I basically played Pantheon for roughly 7000+ games ever since spread between my main account and others I've created. I've had a few balance team members of the Riot's dev crew sometimes approach me asking me what my input for Pantheon was as well. Through my passion of the character, I eventually reached challengers and masters with him. I didn't plan for this back when I played because I simply had way too much time on my hands and I was obsessed with Spartan ideology.

I'd like to say a few things about the change to come in terms of Pantheon. Having put in 8 years of time into this character, I hope some of the suggestions will be worth it or that it'll reach Riot's character development team at best. My current passion is to work at a game industry as a part of the designing member so this time, I'd like to put my heart into this particular forum.

Disclaimer: what you're about to read are my own interpretations of the character's theme and gameplay.

Game Mechanics:

1. Versatility

Pantheon's strongest attitude has always been about versatility, and I cannot stress this enough. No matter where he went and what he did, Pantheon had OPTIONS. He's one of the only characters that can go top, mid, jungle, and even bottom lane as either a support or a pseudo-adc. One of his MOST IMPORTANT ASSET is the fact that his (Q) and (E) are equally great. With most champions, you would max 1 specific ability first then move on to the next, but for Pantheon, upgrading his Q and E equally made the most sense to maximize damage or to adapt to whichever enemy you were up against. If you had a champion with strong crowd control, you would always put (Q) a level higher than the (E). If you were playing against champions that could deflect or could out-damage your (Q) with great sustains, you would upgrade (E) higher than the (Q) for all-in engagements.

That being said, I believe that Pantheon thrives at best being a mid lane champion. Throughout Pantheon's existence, I've always had players doubt this decision as they argued that he's a top lane champion, but his ultimate suggested otherwise, as his reach extends mostly around the map when you're at the center of it. He was like the "attack damage" version of Twisted Fate.

Pantheon's ability to go to any lane even after his rework I think is about the most crucial asset that he needs to carry on. This is something that a lot of recent champions do not have anymore. They are normally fixated towards one specific role or maybe a second at most, but that's as far as they go.

2. Kit

One of Pantheon's best asset is having viable options with low margins of error. His (Q) Spear shot was a difficult move to mess up with as it was a point and click ability. It pretty much made Pantheon either the best character if you were the player or the worst if you were the enemy. His (W) Aegis of Zeonia shares pretty much the same mechanic as the (Q) as it is also a point and click ability which allows Pantheon to close in on his enemies, allowing for the combo of his (E) Heartseeker Strike to follow up with.

Here are some issues with this:

Pantheon's combos while great are way too easy to use, it's 90 percent of the time going to be the same from the most novice players to the most experienced players. The only difference between the novice and the experienced players are going to be the timing of the attack and the decision making on when to do make the move. This creates extreme levels of frustration when a player with a "slower" reaction time has to fight Pantheon because another player of a relatively equal level can use this character to overpower anyone similar to his/her own skills.

While it is certainly rewarding to obtain easy kills, this creates for an extremely "inbred" experience in general. Pantheon players ultimately aren't that much different from one to another. Their play styles will always be the same with perhaps the most minuscule differences, and playing it any differently in terms of executing the combination of his spells will result negatively. Riven as example is a complete opposite to this. She can utilize her kits in ways that are too creative and unpredictable which makes her extremely hard to balance. While Pantheon players have to follow a pattern of ABCC/ABAC, Riven players can basically apply ABCD/ABCD/AABC/ETC.

Suggestions:

Pantheon is a lane bully, but his current kit allows for no room for players to express their own styles. While being a methodical champion is great or should even be something to be maintained as a core part of his kit, giving the freedom to express variations would be the best. So...:

A) Preserve his low margin of error while making it so that each ability he has offers a fair share of risk and reward. Currently his Q ability has a very low chance of having a negative outcome.

B) Preserve his versatility. The fact that Pantheon has options no matter which lane he goes to or who he fights is what makes Pantheon what he is. Perhaps make it so that all 3 of his core abilities (Q/W/E) are viable options to level equally depending on what foe he's fighting against.

C) Keep Pantheon as an as an AD/AP or even a hybrid caster. Making him into a pure bruiser or a pure caster would completely override any remnant of what he used to be.

D) Make it so that you can use his spells in different combinations and yield different outcomes. This would expand upon his versatility and reliability, making him much more of an appealing value to the market when players want to invest their time into him.

E) Pantheon's shield doesn't really serve much purpose though in terms of shape language, it is one of his most eye-catching designs. Make it so that his shield plays a crucial role in actual combat.

Now last but not least, his ultimate:

I don't think it needs much change at all. Pantheon's ultimate is his signature ability. It resembles and captures Pantheon's idea in a single spell where he can dive into one or more enemies at once by surprise. His ultimate also plays a huge role in Pantheon's versatility as well. If Pantheon couldn't win his lane in 1v1, he could always win it elsewhere and hold back. Pantheon also falls behind when he doesn't have an absurd amount of kills to make up for his decline towards the late game. If you weren't doing well, this spell allowed Pantheon players to make decisions that would bring him back into the game as a functional player. This spell however in my experience has always been so contradictory to his theme and mechanics.

Pantheon is supposed to represent the very ethos of a Spartan. What is a Spartan in most common portrayals? A warrior that fights against ridiculous odds and has trained his whole life in dedication to combat prowess. The problem with his current ultimate is that while it is extremely fun to use, it doesn't serve a Spartan ethos. He usually dives players when they are helpless, to secure a kill(s) (people running away with low health points) or to flank any exits in a fight that's most likely already going to be a victory (in Spartan history, they fought losing wars with the mentality of winning in nonetheless). Most of his kills depends on him setting up an ambush or appearing out of nowhere as a surprise as if he's a ninja. Thematically speaking, this doesn't feel like what a Spartan is whatsoever.

Mechanically speaking, Pantheon is an assassin, but jumping into a flock of enemies is suicide especially in the late game. If he was a tank or his ultimate would grant him the ability to tank hits upon landing, it'd make more sense, but currently, his ultimate expects him to take the role of a tank, but he's a squishy assassin. And if you build him tanky, he will become absolutely useless which also negates the purpose of his ultimate which is to go in and kill your targets. These simply just doesn't match up well. The only viable times you'd use his ultimate late game is if the enemies are already weak, or if the enemy is singled out. Doesn't really seem like the Spartan that the average person thinks about, does it? It would make more sense if Pantheon's ultimate would grant him more defensive options depending on how many enemy champions are present, thereby supporting his "one man army" theme without making him a tanky bruiser or a Tryndamere with his (R).

For example: what if Pantheon's ultimate upon landing made him stronger if more of his teammates were dead or not present in the region? What if his ultimate range extends depending on how many teammates are already dead or it extends where enemies are already clustered? If he's a one-man army, then his ultimate should support the idea of being outnumbered, yet going into the fray regardless. Perhaps his entire kit should support this so that while he's still viable as a 1v1 champion, he is especially good at fighting against numerous enemies than just one. Encourage the players to take risks intricately instead of having them merely assess the benefits and deciding whether they want the gold or not, which is basically his current status.

A Spartan's shield is just as precious as his spear. Even their historical ideology consisted the idea of balance: the ultimate protection and the longest reach. His newer design should support this and I think the developers should do a brief research on Spartan history. Putting aside the PG-13 rating, Spartans were cold-hearted men . They were not only warriors and protectors, but rapists, thieves, fanatics, and murderers, all for the sake of war and glory. Please integrate their brutality and anger in his newer kit.

**A heartbreaking good-bye **

I am going to miss the old Pantheon experience for the rest of my life once this patch comes to date. It has been an absolute blast playing him on League of Legends as I've gained a lot of inspiration, motivation, and passion just by playing him.

I also do art and I'm thinking of designing a champion for League of Legends in the future. Follow me on:

https://www.instagram.com/seigrisart https://www.artstation.com/seigrisart https://www.facebook.com/SeigrisArt https://www.deviantart.com/5age

Thank you very much if you've read this. All things must eventually come to an end. My friends and I sometimes talk about how there really isn't much of the old DNA of League of Legends that exists anymore. Most of the old champions have been reworked and the game has certainly changed a lot for the veteran players. As much as I am sad to see this coming, through death will come something new. I can't wait to latch on to the new Pantheon and both cry and cheer for it.

-Seigris