Shen Rework Concept (Now with more ninja!)
So in my spare time I decided to redo Shen's kit with the specific goal both of increasing both his counterplay and increasing his ability to outplay opponents. With this in mind, I also realized that League really needs a ninja who dual wields swords properly (and not awkwardly wielding two short blades behind his back). So I came up with the concept of Shen being reworked into ninja who wields two shortswords and deals damage to his opponents primarily as a physical fighter, but has the opportunity to function somewhat effectively as a tank as well. The reasoning behind this was that a ninja theme would be more suited towards an aggressive playstyle rather than a tank-everything-and-take-no-damage playstyle. Plus, Shen can duel with Zed in a battle of skill if his kit would allow him to. Turning Shen into a fighter just made more sense. With that said, here's what i came up with.
Shen Rework
Shen no longer hangs his arms behind his back. Instead, he is a true ninja. He wields two short swords (longer than the current versions, however) with his arms at his sides and utilizes both swords in combat to display the proper techniques of a true dual-wielding ninja.
His passive is still Ki Strike.
Shen's passive is where he had lot of room for improvement. Since he's now a physical damage dealing fighter, I decided his passive could really allow him to compete with other mobile sword fighters of today. Thus,
Ki Strike (Passive): Using an ability causes Shen's next attack within 1.5 second to propel him past his target and refund X energy.
A small dash that lets him adjust his positioning around his target while he's fighting them seemed fit for a ninja like Shen. The counterplay here is that it only lasts a second and a half after he casts an ability, so he has to attack a unit within that time frame to regain any energy. Good opponents can use this to their advantage and bait out Shen's abilities only to run away and waste his energy before turning on him when he's low. Good shen players can use this to dodge key skillshots from their opponents and rapidly reposition in teamfights. Plus, it'd be really cool to see Shen attack his enemy while dashing past them with a fancy double sword slash technique.
Shen's new Q is still Vorpal Blade, but is now a skillshot (with counterplay!) that's highly effective in tense duels.
Vorpal Blade (Q): Shen tosses a small blade in a line, dealing physical damage to the first target struck. If it is a champion, the target is marked for four seconds. Basic attacks trigger this mark to deal bonus physical damage and heal Shen for a base amount plus a % of his missing health.
Instead of being the old point and click boring Q that Vorpal Blade used to be, the new Vorpal Blade gives both Shen and his opponents the opportunity to outplay each other. Dodging Vorpal Blade in lane prevents Shen from accessing his sustain (and poke) mechanic. On the flip side, landing Vorpal Blade and a basic attack on his opponent allows Shen to recover really useful amounts of health in vital situations (and duels). And it totally fits with his ninja theme. After all, it's more ninja-y to see someone toss an actual knife than it is to see a a weird homing line projectile tumble through the air.
Then comes Shen's new E. Gone is the old shield that Shen could access basically whenever. BOORING. Instead, the ability is a combined version of his old shadow dash and feint. And the name now makes sense too. Shadow dash lets him taunt his enemies for a short duration when he's engaging them. Feint grants him a shield if he activates it within one second of shadow dashing. So say you're ganked by the enemy jungler but know you can finish off your lane opponent. No problem. Shadow dash away from the jungler before turning on your enemy laner with Feint, gaining a shield to block some of the jungler's damage in the process as well. With both the guaranteed sustain and on-demand shield removed from Shen, you can actually poke Shen in lane. But do be careful when he commits to a fight, because he's strong!
**Shadow Dash/Feint (E): **Shen shadow dashes in the direction of the cursor 400 units, taunting enemies into combat for 0.9/1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3 seconds and refunding 40% of Shadow Dash's energy cost if he taunts at least one enemy champion. Within one second of shadow dashing, Shen can cast feint on an enemy champion to blink to the champion and gain a shield for three seconds.
! - An important thing to note is that the blink is short ranged (500 units) and only blinks to enemy champions for a Feint. Hence, the name. Using both Shadow Dash AND Feint without taunting any opponents would effectively destroy Shen's energy pool and remove his ability to escape.
With the the combination of his old W and E, his W now has free space for new ideas. What I came up with was an ability that would let Shen toss a ninja ward at a target location. This accomplishes several things.
- He can grant vision of an area for a short duration (scout).
- He can use it to zone enemies.
- Or, he can use it to protect himself from burst by picking it up at the right time.
** Explosive/Protective Ward (W): **Shen throws an explosive ward at a target area that reveals an area for six seconds. Shen can re-activate the ability after 0.5 second to deal magic damage in an area. If an ally walks over the ward before it explodes, the ally receives reduced damage for 1.25 second and the ward disappears.
It's an ability that's versatile and somewhat tricky. Perfect for a ninja like Shen.
Stand United (R): Shen channels for up to three seconds as he shields his ally from harm. If his ally will take fatal damage during the channel, any damage taken is dealt to Shen instead. After three seconds, the shield dissipates as he teleports to the target ally and spins his two blades, knocking aside and stunning enemies. If Shen takes damage (not from shielding his ally) while channeling, the shield and channel both stop.
And finally, his ultimate ability has been given some more counterplay. He can no longer use it when he's forced into a duel with his lane opponent or channel it to escape (this lowers his split pushing power). As a buff, his target won't die so easily when he ults. He tanks any fatal damage for them and knocks assailants away when he appears.
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**TL;DR: **Shen is now a more ninja-y dual-sword wielding ninja instead of a boring tank.
What do you think? I think Shen has a lot of potential to fill in League's roster as the premier dual-sword wielding team-oriented ninja fighter. This is only one idea of the many that could improve Shen in the future.
And thanks for reading!
