I'd like to take a moment to discuss Quinn and Valor
If you do not wish to read this extremely long book of a post, there is a shorter, TL;DR book at the bottom.
As many of you are aware, Quinn received some attention during the Marksman update. During this update, many of her long-standing bugs were, at last, fixed, and her kit was made more fluid.
Having played Quinn before and after, I couldn't shake the feeling that Valor was being trivialized a bit, but I couldn't really place the source (aside from the obvious Taxi Bird thing). Recently, I took a gander at my abilities while I was making an unfortunate Riven player miserable in the Top lane.
Blinding Assault - Active: Quinn commands Valor to fly forward in a line, stopping when he collides with a unit, dealing physical damage and applying Nearsight for 1.5 seconds. Non-champion targets are Disarmed instead for the same duration.
Heightened Senses - Active: Quinn orders Valor to reveal the area around her for 2 seconds.
Valor is not at Quinn's command, nor does he follow her orders. At best, he follows signals.
From Journey into the Freljord:
Ashe is diplomatic and welcoming. She carries herself with the air of a leader that shines through her youth.** Even Val likes her (how rare)**. Ashe guessed that we’d come here to offer Demacian aid, but she insists nothing of the sort is needed. “We fight our own battles,” she told us.
Her words may be true, but I see division amongst her people. Val’s tense around some of them, and he can sense their discomfort. Some happily tend to the fields, while others hold their tools like weapons. They’re waiting for a war, not a harvest.
A few hours after leaving the city, I sensed something following us. Val scouted from above. Even through the snow, we could see something following our trail. We quickened our pace, yet Val cried a warning that our pursuer was gaining ground. The night grew darker and the snow grew colder around me. Shadows moved across the faces of the glaciers as if something had come alive within them.
We couldn’t escape.
Fearing for our lives, I moved off the trail and gave my journal to Valor—if I died in the Freljord, my reports had to get back to Jarvan IV. He flew ahead while I flanked my pursuer.
A shape emerged from the darkness: a tall, slender figure floating over the ice. There was something faintly human about her, but it was clear she wasn’t human at all. She remained deathly still as she silently glided towards me. Beneath her, wicked shards of unnatural black ice leapt from the ground. The cold I felt in her presence nearly stopped my heart. I’ve never felt such dread.
She slowed and hesitated when she came near my hiding place. Did she see me? I can’t be certain. She finally turned away and disappeared into the night. The shadows in the ice vanished with her. Did she spare me?
**Val is safe. He had circled above the whole time. Part of me thinks he would’ve fought to the death instead of taking the report back to Demacia (stubborn bird). **
Quinn's Lore and Quotes:
"Most soldiers only rely on their weapons. Few truly rely on each other." - Quinn
"...On the anniversary of her loss, Quinn gathered the courage to return to the scene of the tragedy. To her surprise, she found a wounded Demacian eagle at the site of her brother's death - a rare and beautiful bird long believed extinct. Quinn nursed the fledgling back to health, and as they grew up together, a deep bond formed between the two. She saw the same quality in her newfound friend that had lived within her brother, and so she gave him the name 'Valor'. The pair found strength in each other, and together they pursued the dream she had once abandoned.
The Demacian army had never seen heroes like Quinn and Valor. Their deadly skills quickly set them apart from their rank-and-file peers, but many still had their doubts. How could a common-born girl, even with such a powerful creature at her side, forego years of military training? Quinn and Valor proved themselves on one critical mission, tracking down a Noxian assassin who had evaded an entire Demacian battalion. When they brought him to justice, they finally earned the admiration and respect of their nation. The two now serve as living, fighting icons of Demacian strength and perseverance. Together, Quinn and Valor will stand against any threat to their beloved home."
"Val's stealing all the glory again." "We're in this together." "Sometimes I swear that bird is just showing off."
This may seem like a stupid gripe to some of you, but it really betrays the bond that Quinn and Valor have with this kind of language. Valor is not at the command of Quinn, they are a team. They send signals to one another, they help one another, but one is not the master of the other. I would appreciate a change in wording of the following:
From "Quinn commands Valor to fly forward in a line..." to "Quinn signals Valor to fly forward in a line...". From "Quinn orders Valor to reveal..." to "Quinn signals Valor to reveal..."
I don't know how far that will go towards making Valor feel like his own character again, but this kind of language only emphasizes Valor as a tool, not an individual. It's a small thing, but now that I've noticed it bugs me quite a bit.
While I have your attention on the subject, I'd also like to discuss the future of Quinn a bit. I think the marksman update was overall good for Quinn and Valor, but I think that they still have room to grow. I've been thinking about this for awhile, so hopefully this is of worth to those that can make use of it.
A huge thing for any future work should be making Quinn and Valor feel like a team, and less like Quinn is using Valor as a tool.
I think this can be achieved by making Valor a consistent presence on the field, having him circle overhead, centered on Quinn, very similarly to Aurelion Sol's spheres, would go a long way to making him feel like part of the champion. I don't feel that Valor should grant vision as he flies, it's simply too powerful. As an alternative, it would be neat if he would 'Alert' Quinn to threats (Champions, Monsters) that he spots within a certain range of him (perhaps indicated by a faint ring) with some sort of Visual/Audio cue. If enemies have vision of Valor, they should be able to see/hear that same cue, to give some sort of way to play around it.
One of the main problems with this is that Valor would be a dead giveaway for Quinn if she was trying to ambush someone. This can be solved by granting Valor Camouflage while Quinn is out of sight of the enemy team or within brush (regardless of it being warded), he would be revealed, as all Camouflage units are, by True Sight effects and when in close proximity to enemy Champions.
With this change to how Valor interacts with the game, other abilities will need to be tweaked. Harrier's target marking would probably be limited to units within his "Alert" range. Because it is less reliable and longer range, I would move the decaying slow off of Vault and apply it to Harrier marks in general. Because it is applied more often, I would also either reduce the slow percentage, or the duration.
Having the Camouflage detection, Marking, and Alert radii the same range, and visually indicating this range to all parties involved, Valor successfully creates his own "threat area", while providing ways for both sides to play around the mechanic.
Blinding Assault, for instance, would likely be cast from Valor's current position, instead of Quinn's position. This increases Quinn's threat range, but also makes her more vulnerable, as melee opponents that jump onto Quinn are not as easy to hit with Blinding Assault anymore. The cast time may warrant removal in this case.
Additionally, keeping with the theme of the passive, Heightened Senses could no longer reveal the surrounding area. Again drawing parallels to Aurelion Sol, this ability could retain it's current passive in some form while becoming a Toggle effect. Toggling on would signal Valor to fly further out (more dangerous for Quinn if someone jumps onto her due to Blinding Assault changes.) at a higher speed, while Toggling it off would return him to his normal orbit.
- Small Anecdote: In the case that these changes somehow make it to live, I would switch the names of Quinn's W (Heightened Senses) and Quinn's passive (Harrier), as I feel they fit much better in those spots under these changes.
As for Vault, I see no reason to change it. It serves it's function and is thematically appropriate. It's a fun ability to use and serves as an excellent defensive tool.
Lastly, Quinn's ultimate. The idea of Valor picking Quinn up is a good one, and really emphasizes their bond more than the old one did. Still, it does bug me some. I'd like to see this ability drain mana each second, limiting how long you can use it before you need to hop out. I'd like there to be a delay, not a channel, to activating this ability. Taking damage would still knock you out of it, but you'd be able to act freely during the delay, allowing you to vault and attack until Valor arrives to wisk you away from danger.
Regarding Skystrike, I don't feel the ability really fits Quinn and Valor well. They're all about picking off single targets, and this ability is large AoE. I feel that it was kept to appease older fans of Quinn during the rework, but this is the time to retire it. In it's place, perhaps some utility is in order? Perhaps it could provide sight over nearby walls and into brush, Valor is lifting Quinn off the ground a bit here, so it makes sense that they would be able to do such a thing. This range at which they can see over and into could increase with rank, so that if Quinn wanted to see over a wall at rank 1, she would need to stand directly next to a wall, while in the late game she could keep her distance, avoiding instant deletion. I'd like to see the duration of this effect limited, as sitting in Behind Enemy Lines for extended periods of time takes away from the feeling of power the ability aims to deliver, It could be limited by an additive mana cost, a hard duration, or some other factor.
TL;DR
Please change the wording on Blinding Assault and Heightened Senses respectively:
- From "Quinn commands Valor to fly forward in a line..." to "Quinn signals Valor to fly forward in a line...".
- From "Quinn orders Valor to reveal..." to "Quinn signals Valor to reveal..."
To avoid the implication that Valor is simply a tool at Quinn's command, instead of an independent individual.
Future ability thoughts:
Harrier
- Valor should become a constant presence on the field, he could circle around Quinn at roughly the cast range of Blinding Assault, keeping an eye out for trouble. Valor would have small range at which he will Alert Quinn to the presence of Champions and Monsters that enter it with an Audio/Visual Cue. This Alert would not grant vision of the target, however Valor can mark targets as Vulnerable without Quinn having vision of them. Vulnerability, for those that are unaware, currently grants vision of the target for the duration. The only change to Vulnerability is that it slows the target briefly initially. Valor is camouflaged when Quinn is out of enemy sight or in a bush, and is revealed by True Sight, or when enemy Champions enter his range.
Blinding Assault
- Would now be cast from Valor's current location. Functions the same otherwise.
Heightened Senses
- Passive remains unchanged. Toggle now signals Valor to fly a greater distance away from Quinn, and circling her at a greater speed, similarly to Aurelion Sol's 'Celestial Expansion' ability. Toggling off signals Valor to return to normal orbit.
Vault
- No longer has a built in slow, as that effect is now tied to Harrier. Effectively unchanged.
Behind Enemy Lines
- Skystrike could stand to be axed. The ability doesn't really fit Quinn as a character (single target focused). Could cost up-front mana, or costs mana each second to maintain this can be either a flat cost or a additive (increasing) cost, with the intention of limiting the time you can spend in the ultimate. Could Provide vision over nearby terrain and into nearby brush (effectiveness scaling with rank), or some other effect. Otherwise the same as the ability currently functions.
NOTE: I am not suggesting that Quinn's current kit isn't unique or unbalanced at the moment, quite the contrary, it's very engaging. These are just some musings I've had about Quinn and Valor that I've been sitting on for a long time, ideas to make them feel more like a team, etc. The primary purpose of this post is to modify the language on Quinn's Blinding Assault (Q) and Heightened Senses (W).
Thank you for reading.
