User blog comment:ND999/Lore of LoL - Blast from the past: Doran/@comment-26815373-20151225002122/@comment-24385282-20151226015023

Entirely changing your kit based on your starting items seems a little like it's just making him 3 different champions. GP, Viktor, their kits are upgraded by their purchases but they have the option purchase all of their unique items, and their role or damage type or contribution to their team isn't defined by their purchase. Being able to choose from essentially any role other than marksman (which is highly specific to whom it entails, plus I'm assuming Doran would be melee) at the beginning of the game would be too powerful.

Now, sure, you can say that any champion could be turned into a mage or an AP assassin by simply buying full AP, but on some champions that just won't work as well as their intended role - Ahri and LeBlanc as a metamanced ADC may be fun and it can work, but AP is simply better. Being able to decide whether you scale on AP or AD or defensive stats allows you to bypass this limitation. Any role, any build fits him. To me, this doesn't seem like a good thing. Think of AD Ahri, for example. There's nothing wrong with playing her AD for enjoyment, but suddenly say she can also be built as a tank and have that work with her kit. Plus she can just decide she wants AD scalings instead if she wants them. And she still is allowed to instead keep her old AP synergy.

Plus, it brings up the obvious question: what if you don't buy one of those items? What if you go jungle Doran - you can't take a Draon item in there because you need Machete or Talisman. Or top and need a Corruptive Flask instead? Do you go to a default kit? If so, which is it and how is it decided?

I absolutely love the lore and the idea behind this champion, but the passive alone just doesn't seem like something that would be at all possible. There are only two things that I don't think would be able to properly exist in League without major changes to the game, and that's A) champions with kits who allow them to place down wards and B) champions who get specific bonuses from certain items that other champions can buy but don't benefit similarly from - especially if this augments all or part of their kit in a role-changing manner. Having synergy with a certain item is fine (Cassi and Rabadon's) or being able to place something that gives vision isn't a problem (Maokai and Saplings), but I just don't think Artisan's Craft would work as a passive.