Why Quinn and the Quinn rework should be separate champions(wall of text+new champ suggestion)
So the recent proposed changes to Quinn on the PBE have come as quite a shock to many Quinn players, and not surprisingly, seeing as the changes are quite drastic and don't really seem to fit the champion. Currently Quinn basically exists as the Assassin of ADC, she does well in solo lanes, already has decent roams either with or without ult and scales into a very scary duelist late game. The changes would cast her more as a hit and run split pushing ADC that takes advantage more of rotations on the map than trying to team fight or skirmish.
I would like to draw attention to Quinn's E, which is a contender for one of the best kiting tools in the game, and talk about why it makes sense as part of her current kit. First, the effects of the ability, in ranged form you leap to a target from up to 700 units away, knock them back slightly and slowing them for a short time, then bounce off of them and land at your max auto attack range and applying a passive mark; in melee form you still get the gap close, knock back and slow components, but since your basic attacks are not melee, you no longer leap off of the target. Given the 700 range, this ability will allow you to negate the advantage that other characters may get from a longer basic attack range, as it allows you to slow them and reduce their own kiting potential, while placing you in range to trade auto attacks back, where you would otherwise not be able due to the greater range. Vs melee opponents, this ability can be used in the opposite way, to create distance and allow you to auto attack them while they are unable to return any. This ability is best suited to a ranged champion, but not to one with higher than average range. The gap close ability on a champion with 600 range would not be necessary as they typically start a trade in the optimal range to trade.
Given this, increasing Quinn's range to that of a sustained DPS champion would reduce the synergy with the abilities in her kit, shorter range champions also tend to be balanced to have a higher threat level within their effective range than those with higher ranges as they need to take more risks in order to deal damage by being closer to the enemy. Lucian and Graves for example both have great burst within 500 range, but will lose to a Caitlyn or an Ashe if they cannot get into that range, having the same DPS as higher ranged champions would cause them to be outclassed quite easily. Other champions, such as Sivir have threat mitigation abilities that allow them to ignore some of the risks associated with their low range, allowing them to get up close to deal damage with more safety than a higher ranged champion at the same range. Quinn has a mix of these 2 features, the high burst that is supplied by her passive and the base damage from her Q is not as strong as the burst Graves can output, but the addition of the blind, which while not quite providing the same protection as Sivirs spell shield, allows Quinn to mitigate some of the enemy damage, giving her an edge within her effective range.
This balancing for a shorter effective range combined with a ranged gap close also serves to make Quinn a strong duelist at most points in the game, since it allows her to operate at her optimal range very reliably. Adding mobility to this dueling potential is what starts to make Quinn an effective assassin, combined with a now melee gap closer, additional static attack speed and an execute Quinn becomes quite effective at assassinations. There are a few changes that could help flesh out Quinn as the assassin of ADC, but I'll get back to that.
The PBE changes seem aimed at creating a champion with high map pressure, due to high mobility, but low dueling potential, opting instead for a team fight presence. Quinn's current basic abilities and low range do not cohesively fit with these changes. Meaning that for her to be this new champion, she would need to be changed to the point of being almost unrecognizable, so the option of creating a new champion to use this new kit then becomes a much more appealing one. So in the interest of preserving and also expanding game diversity, I'd like to try to design a kit that would fit this suggested heavy roam play style.
So the basic goal here will be to create a ranged ADC which would be a capable split pusher, with enough defensive or non-combative mobility to get back to the rest of the team quickly and provide a utility and damage presence in team fights. The champion fantasy I'm going for is an archer with an air elemental influence. Almost a combination of Janna and Ashe in terms of theme. The focus will be on sustained DPS at a high range rather than burst. For the sake of clarity I'm just going to call this champion "Avara: The wind runner" for now as a place holder, if anyone can think of a better name, feel free to leave it as a comment. I am going to state that I am intending this as a creative commons post, so any element of it may be freely used by any persons or entity freely. So Riot if you want to make this a champion, go for it.
Health 527.72 (+79) Attack damage 51.088 (+3) Health regen. 5.42 (+0.55) Attack speed [*] 0.658 (+4%) Mana 231.8 (+35) Armor 21.212 (+3.4) Mana regen. 6.97 (+0.4) Magic res. 30 (+0) Ranged 575 Mov. speed 335
Passive: Basic will reduce the targets armor by 5%, stacking up to 5 times, upon reaching 4 stacks the target will take take additional damage with each consecutive auto equal to 10/15/20% of Avera's bonus AD.
Q: Sends a gust of wind along a target area, enemies hit take physical damage and are knocked back 15 units, deals 150% damage to minions. 500 range, starting at champion location, 12/11/10/9/8 second cool down. 50/55/60/65/70 mana, 270 damage(+70% AD). While Wind Form is active this ability will instead create a torrent of air in a target direction that will increase allied movement speed.
W: Active: Reveals an area up to 2500 units away. passive: Grants +5 gold when killing a unit. No cost. While Wind Form is active this ability will mark an area or terrain with a wind rune, which will detonate if an enemy champion passes by, revealing them and pinging the mini map.
E: Chase the wind: Dashes up to 450 units in a target direction, next basic attack will unleash with it a torrent of wind in a target direction which slows enemies hit for 2 seconds and dealing bonus damage in a cone. While wind form is active this ability breaks any slowing effects. Mana cost: 90, 8 second cool down, Bonus Damage: 20/40/60/80/100
R: Wind Form: after a brief channel Avera becomes ethereal and lighter than air, gaining increased movement speed and altering her basic abilities. Auto attacking will end this effect. Cool down: 3 seconds(static), Mana cost: 100/75/0, Movement speed: 80%/115%/150%
Getting back to Quinns kit, I have some suggestions that could help Quinn have a more defined role in fights.
- Add a reset mechanic to her E, so that on a successful kill or assist the cool down will be refreshed and mana restored. This way, after taking out an enemy, Quinn would be able to immediately turn towards either disengaging from surrounding threats, or continue the fight by switching focus to other key targets.
- Change R to a toggle similar to Nidalee or Elise, removing sky strike but adding a passive to Valor which would allow basic attacks to deal additional damage based on the targets missing health, Also removing the mana cost from Valors abilities and using a separate cool down.
- Allow Quinn to choose where landing within an arc after using vault, similar targeting to Zac's jump.
- Allow Quinn to use vault to jump to allies
- Allow Quinn to reactivate skystrike at any time during vault and still leap off of the target(she used to do this but it no longer works)
- Change the maximum execute damage from skystrike to apply at 25% health instead of 1%
- Raith Alghul