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Master Yi [Please Tell Me What You Want To See] Rework

Stacona··1 votes·1,500 views

Master Yi needs a big change rework because the binary run at you gameplay is not fun to go against nor does it offer any skill expression for each player to decide how they want to play as Yi. Skill expression is the choice of how you want to play a champion and adapting your play style based on the situation, it is not an indication of something requiring skill or not.

For me, I want to see Master Yi as an ability power swordsman to grant an unique gameplay. One that is patient, lays in wait for the perfect opportunity to go in, and then swiftly finish off the low health stragglers! I want Master Yi feel fair to go against and that he "deserves" his kills, rather than getting fed and pressing R and mindlessly running at you with hands off the mouse and keyboard, being broken may be fun for the player, but it is not interesting at all and not fun to go against (do not confuse being broken and overpowered as the same thing; Yasuo is similar to this as well).

Very important here, I want to make Master Yi feels unique and give him something that only he has and make him different to other assassins, this also helps with giving him some kind of fallback team utility so he does not need to be feast or famine.

Meditation (Passive):

When Master Yi stands still for 1.5 seconds without performing other actions, he begins to Meditate, healing for 2 - 10 (+5%AP) health per half-second. Master Yi glows brilliantly orange when standing still for 3 seconds, increasing how much he heals to 8 - 40 (+20%AP) health per half-second.

Disruptive crowd control will interrupt Meditation.

Alpha Strike (Q):

Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6 seconds; Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 mana; Range: 500 / 1000 / 1500 units

Master Yi dashes in the target direction, dealing 40/60/80/100/120(+75%AD)(+50%AP) physical damage to enemies he pass through.

If cast while Meditating, then he summons a spirit that dashes with him and travels 500 range further, dealing 40/60/80/100/120(+50%AP) magic damage to struck enemies.

If cast from empowered Meditation, then he summons an additional spirit that dashes with him and travels 1000 range further, dealing 40/60/80/100/120(+50%AP) magic damage to struck enemies. Enemies struck by this spirit and were below 6/7/8/9/10%(+1% per 100AP) health are executed, refunding Alpha Strike's cost and Steadfast Warrior's cooldown.

Steadfast Warrior (W):

Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds; Cost: 50 mana

Master Yi refunds Alpha Strike's cooldown and channels in place for 3 seconds, gaining crowd control immunity and 40/50/60/70/80% damage reduction from all sources while channeling. Casting Steadfast Warrior does not disrupt Meditation.

Casting another ability will end this channel.

For the next 3 seconds when the channel ends, enemies struck by Alpha Strike will have all of their shields destroyed before its damage is applied.

Wuju Style (E):

Cooldown: 8 seconds; Cost: 45/50/55/60/65 mana; Range: 1000 units / 75 degrees

Passive: Wuju Style's base cooldown is reduced based on bonus attack speed that Master Yi acquires from items, up to a maximum of 4 seconds reduction in this way.

Active: Master Yi's next basic attack attacks twice, dealing 30/35/40/45/50% damage on the second strike and causing both attacks to deal magic damage, each strike applies on hit effects in full and deals 20/30/40/50/60(+30%AP) bonus magic damage on hit.

If Master Yi was Meditating, then he slashes twice in the target direction instead, varying in power based on his current power of Meditation and then returning him to a full power Meditation afterwards. The first slash is in a line and the second slash is in a cone, both slashes dealing 50% increased damage when empowered.

Ancient Tree (R):

Cooldown: 110/85/60 seconds; Cost: 100 mana; Range: 1000 units

Master Yi calls upon a cherry blossom tree of old from his location for the next 5/6/7 seconds, growing out a wall of roots 1200/1300/1400 units wide a static distance in the target direction, preventing all enemy movement including blinks, dashes, jumps, etc. from going past the roots. Casting Ancient Tree does not disrupt Meditation.

While the Ancient Tree is summoned, Master Yi heals allies around the tree while he is Meditating and heals himself for 20/30/40% more.

UPDATE NOTES:

Wuju Style: Cost lowered to 45 - 65 from 50 - 90 mana Second strike base damage lowered to 30 - 50% from 40 - 80% Passive added that reduces the BASE cooldown based on bonus attack speed from items, up to 4 seconds reduction, CDR reduction applies after this reduction.

(This makes it where attack speed Master Yi is around, but not reward that mindless, binary gameplay. So you can still do AD/AS Yi, but still have it have some kind of gameplay to it and not be "press R and AFK" like how Yi is currently. I want actual thought process and gameplay to Yi which helps tone back his dominance in low elo naturally with some kind of thought process implemented to his gameplay.)

16 Comments

ModThe Djinn2 votes

{quoted}For me, I want to see Master Yi as an ability power swordsman...

This is the exact opposite of what I would like to see. A Master Yi rework that doesn't preserve his powerful attacks and swift strikes and AD-AS gameplay wouldn't feel like Yi to me.

I'm with you that he needs a lot of his "click-to-win" removed, but I really don't like the direction you've taken here personally, as it feels much more passive and based around standing in one place in between dashes. This does not feel like Master Yi to me at all.

Stacona1 votes

The problem with Attack Speed heavy melee champions is that they will have either extremely overloaded kits or marksmen do their job better.

I feel like it is the opposite of passive, it makes him MORE active, but teaches the player correct assassin gameplay of waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike rather than brute force your way to a kill. Having to rely on your team a little bit to get the targets low first, then clean up the fight against the low health stragglers.

I think the best middle-ground would be if my E does less damage, but a passive is added to it that reduces the BASE cooldown (so normal CDR applies after the reduction) based on bonus attack speed from items, up to a cap.

I want Yi to feel like there is actual thought process behind his gameplay and I liked the overall concept of AP Yi back in the day, the way it was implemented was not healthy for the game, but the general gameplay is a lot better and more interesting to play as and better to play against rather than press R and run at you with nothing you can do but hope he is not fed.

All that attack speed Yi does now is be super oppressive in low elo and has no place in high elo. Plus a patient swordsman gameplay is unique and teaches the player PROPER assassin gameplay, because I do not think assassins should be rewarded for having super mobility and 100 to 0 and get out scratch free. This is not fun to go against and is not healthy for the game and assassins being this way makes them all samey except for the very, very few that actually has some kind of utility to fallback on - like Fizz, but Riot also has not properly balanced around the aspect of his mobility and flippy bull shit, the concept of a fish going fishing I do like and needs to make Fizz play around that gameplay harder (I think people would not hate playing against Fizz if he had less mobility and had a "reeling in" his prey gameplay in its place [this is just some quick thoughts without thinking of a kit to work on Fizz]).

I think Master Yi is a swordsman that is patient and waits to strike, he sees an opportunity to run in and takes it, swiftly and painlessly ending the life of his target - more merciful deaths rather than brutally ripping his target to pieces like Rengar. Rengar I think would be better to be moved as someone that stalks his prey, but like a lion he eventually gets impatient and just slowly rips his target to pieces and not be the clean kills that he does now (which has no counter play nor makes any sense for his character). I would remove Rengar's stealth completely and make him about granting vision and just running at his target, make him the brute force assassin, but with zero burst damage so he has that feeling IN-GAME of just slowly ripping his target to pieces and blood gushing everywhere - the lack of burst damage makes him not oppressive and no-counter play to go against, especially where he can see his prey, but his presence is known and you can also see him far away running at you and be like the inevitable Lion eventually catches his Prey scenario!

I am just rambling on...

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted}The problem with Attack Speed heavy melee champions is that they will have either extremely overloaded kits or marksmen do their job better.

I'd argue this is true of current characters, but I don't think it's a fundamental, insurmountable problem.

I feel like it is the opposite of passive, it makes him MORE active, but teaches the player correct assassin gameplay of waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike rather than brute force your way to a kill. Having to rely on your team a little bit to get the targets low first, then clean up the fight against the low health stragglers.

The thing is that I do not consider Yi an assassin at his core -- just his current playstyle. He strikes me as more of a mobile skirmisher as his ideal fantasy, similar to Irelia, or Fiora. The idea of standing still for 1.5 seconds to proc meditate-focused abilities just seems too far a shift from his current gameplay. I wouldn't object to some sort of first-strike mechanic ala an Iaijutsu master, but I think you went way to far in the opposite direction.

I want Yi to feel like there is actual thought process behind his gameplay and I liked the overall concept of AP Yi back in the day, the way it was implemented was not healthy for the game, but the general gameplay is a lot better and more interesting to play as...

This is highly subjective, and I simply cannot agree.

Stacona1 votes

I still have non-wait gameplay in the kit: Q is a dash and physical damage nuke W can use to reset Q's cooldown for another dash either harder into the fight or a quick back-and-forth trade like Renekton E dashes E can be used as an attack reset and followed up with the double hit R can use just to cut off an escape route with the wall, does not need to wait at all

This is the skill expression I am talking about, where the player can choose how to play rather than have a forced, binary gameplay. This kit does not force the player to patiently wait and then strike, it just rewards the players for waiting and being patient, but you can just as much like him like Irelia and use the damage reduction on W as a reactive shield like Irelia's W - just instead of an AoE nuke, it helps set up a guaranteed Meditation if you so desire.

The only thing I wanted to kill off is his current mindless gameplay, I want some kind of thought process to Master Yi and let him make decisions for his abilities based on the situation.

So AD Yi here is more of a skirmisher than he is now, AP Yi has the lay in wait and finish off low health targets assassin gameplay. You can do a hybrid of the two gameplay patterns as well, allowing the player choice to how to play Yi and not have some binary feast or famine gameplay.

I made sure his abilities can be used without a wait mechanic, add player choice and allow for options to gameplay for the player and try to remove the unfun and unhealthy gameplay when against Yi. Abilities are not hard to use, but allows him to adapt to the situation, allows for a kit to not be so oppressive in low elo with stuff removed from it and in high elo allows him the versatility to keep his opponent guessing to what he will do with a less obvious kit that only has one way to play it.

This kit, again: AD Yi = quick trades and skirmishing, low burst damage AP Yi = wait for your moment to shine and strike, slaying the low health targets, high burst damage and low follow up damage

ModThe Djinn1 votes

{quoted}I still have non-wait gameplay in the kit:

I understand that you do. I do not think it is sufficient. This is simply a disagreement on what we want out of Yi, but you DID ask the question at the start. Put bluntly, this isn't the sort of direction I am happy seeing Yi moved in.

The only thing I wanted to kill off is his current mindless gameplay, I want some kind of thought process to Master Yi and let him make decisions for his abilities based on the situation.

Then I would personally not have created such large changes, let alone completely swapping his build paths and damage outputs. That is a LOT more than just adding thought and decision making.

I made sure his abilities can be used without a wait mechanic, add player choice and allow for options to gameplay for the player and try to remove the unfun and unhealthy gameplay when against Yi.

By making the more powerful versions the meditating versions you really didn't do this -- you lose a LOT by not casting things from meditation, and that forces a player into a mindset where they want to always meditate.

Stacona1 votes

His damage spells still have AD scaling on them. AD is still mostly centred around a basic attack gameplay from a basic attack only gameplay with no options otherwise. AP is where his spell damages lie in, but that should be how things go, AD is the one that benefits from attack resets, double attack hits and using dashes to get into the fight the most. Still has a damage reduction channel and still has his heal. Still has a way to get into the fights on his core kit. Ultimate is changed to benefit more than just himself, toning back his own power, but still grants him a way to get to his target - less mobility is a good thing here as it makes Yi less feast/famine and has something to fallback on that is not about him only dealing damage.

Only the ultimate is a drastic change, but the overall goal is still the same. Besides for Alpha Strike become a free dash instead of a long range blink and untargetable effect, which current Q is too hard to follow and does not feel fair to go against, you can more easily follow a dash.

His current ultimate is the one that HAS to go since it has the worst unhealthy gameplay in his kit, everything else is adding quality of life functions to give the player options to make him less binary.

A game like league of legends does not allow for an attack speed only melee champion gameplay and be healthy for the game. You can have basic attack heavy elements in the kit, but it cannot be focused around that gameplay since the champion will either be overloaded with its kit or marksmen are just better since they are ranged (this is why marksmen get away with it and not have overloaded kits is the ranged difference, Tristana and Caitlyn both need a majour rework).

I think this kit has AD Yi in a better spot overall, you can go in with Q-AA-E-AA and then wait on W for E to come off cooldown and repeat, feels more skirmishy to me. Just this process has the playing doing more and is more interesting than press R and AFK and sometimes Q to dodge a dark binding.

Dividing up Skirmisher for AD Yi and Assassin for AP Yi I think is a good idea, it allows for player choice since you can blend the two gameplay together and adapt to your situation, and divides up the difference between low burst and as someone that can bob in and out of fight or stick in the fight and scrap it out or has the high-burst and execution clean-up of an assassin (and teaches better assassin gameplay in the process).

I read through my kit again and all I end up seeing is less dramatic changes than I realized, most of what Yi has now is still there, but less binary obvious of doing one thing and one thing only. The only stand out thing is removal of mindless AFK tactics which I hate and is not good for the game and toned back on his mobility and other bull shit, less mobility does equal power elsewhere.

TangoMango331 votes

the binary run at you gameplay

Yi is supposed to be a simple champion. if LoL didnt have any or very little champions, people would not get into league at all, due to not finding a champion that doesn't take alot of skill like riven.

TangoMango331 votes

also, isnt yi supposed to be an assasin, not a support?

Stacona1 votes

Simple does not mean it needs to be binary, mindless, or unhealthy for the game.

Nothing I have in my kit is hard to use, but allows for player options to tune how to play as Yi and change things up based on situation and be less obvious to how the abilities get used.

Also adding team utility does not mean that he is a support, it means he has something more to him than just damage and has something to fallback on so he does not need to be feast or famine. Granting him something like a wall to help him and his team get kills, or using his ultimate as a team heal IF HE WANTS as an alternative, or can be a combination of walling off the enemy team and keeping his team alive to get targets low and then go in for the kill all makes sense as an assassin. Destroying shields helps your team deal damage as well, but it obviously is very strong utility as an assassin since it means you have more efficient damage (Q is entirely a line skill shot here as a reminder so can be dodged).

This is very much an assassin kit, but in the hopes of granting him something unique that only MASTER YI can do and be picked for outside of dealing clean-up low health targets, let's him have something to fallback on and no longer has to be feast or famine since he has something else for his team like a mage would have (just emphasis on cleaning up the fight rather than getting targets low). W resetting Q allows for a get in tool with the dash and get out with the reset, or double up your dash range to pursue your target further, hence adding in skill expression for the player while not giving Yi a hard-to-use kit.

TangoMango331 votes

His reworked kit seems simple on paper, but im finding that having passives that interact with abilities are too complicated. Also, his ult would be too hard to learn, because it would take lots of skill to realize in a fight where and when to use it. I think his ult should be like akali's old ult, if you want him to be more of an ap swordsman. It would fit his theme very well, and you could slap an ap scaling on that.

BLACK REALM GOD1 votes

passive - master yi is skilled in the art of wuju. sharpening his mind yi can cut through any material with precision and speed. every 4 seconds out of combat yi redies a lethal strike dealing true damage based on missing% hp. if the attack doesnt kill yi loses focus and the passive goes on cooldown until out of combat for 10 seconds. if yi's strike is true and kills the enemy champion the passive is refreshed and yi gains increasing attack speed and deals slightly more bonus missing %hp damage on his next auto.

Q - Master yi alpha strike - master yi identifies threats through his 7 lense goggles and can move faster than light. using these advantages yi swiftly dashes into an untargetable plane rapidly bouncing randomly from up to 5 nearby targets dealing reduced physical damage for each target hit. yi then returns to where he started his dash or can canel his Q upon impact of a target to land beside that target instead.

W - Meditate - master yi channels his mantra allowing him to focus deeply while remaining in place. yi takes reduced damage and if his health would fall below lethal he is instead healed for 10-100 hp based on level and granted .5 seconds of invulnerability and crowd control immunity. while master yi meditates his mana rapidly depletes to restore his hp. if his mana runs out before entering lethal state or cancels the channel yi's meditative state is broken and he is hasted, no longer gaining the effects of entering lethal state.

E - slow and smart/fast and dumb - yi has lived his life honing his skills to be both fast and smart, but to yi the two are polar opposites. as such yi has two approaches to dealing with a situation. yi's E grants 2 passives that can be swapped between through toggle. if yi is fast and dumb yi gains both bonus attack speed and bonus movement speed. if yi is slow and smart yi loses the movement speed bonus and attack speed, but gains lethality in its place.

R - Highlander Re-imagined - Upon self actualization Yi is able to at last become both fast and smart granting him both passives from his E and multiplying them and automatically consuming mana to regen his health. so long as yi remains in combat the duration of highlander will not expire and his mana will continue to drain. once the duration of highlander has expired or his mana is empty yi will become exhausted slowing and crippling him until he has regained 5% maximum mana.

WarWolf8881 votes

Im honestly not sure what to feel about this This is cool, but Im not sure how you would play him MasterYi

Stacona1 votes

Part of it is let the player decide how they want to play, but try to remove unhealthy gameplay.

Grant the player choices and decision making based on the situation helps with high elo. Take away the mindless run at you gameplay and his untargetable-blink, should help with reducing his oppressive nature in low elo. Add team utility should help with reducing his need to be feast or famine since he has some kind of fallback utility to not be dead weight when behind.

WarWolf8881 votes

Im honestly not sure what to feel about this This is cool, but Im not sure how you would play him

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