User blog:Emptylord/Champion reworks/My Mid Year Mage Update

Please note that I am addressing the issues that Riot has identified and NOT reworking the champions as I otherwise might. I'm also trying to keep within the scope of changes that Riot has specified.

"Disclaimer: I added my own "goal" of wanting to play-up Brand's possession theme, which is currently only reflected in his lore and some of his quotes."
 * Things We Like
 * Simple spells with room to express skill, thans to his combo system.
 * His max health damage means he kills everything, eventually - a strength that is suitably off-set by his range and mobility (or lack there of).
 * Respectable burst and sustained damage patterns.
 * Good counterplay and interaction - his weaknesses are all very clear.
 * Things We Don't Like
 * There's not really much reason to pick Brand over other AOE mages - the decision just boils down to who does the most damage this patch.
 * R is frustratingly unpredictable to both Brand and his opponents.
 * His strength is too tied into killing 1/2 people well, rather than killing everyone. (Yes, 20thCenturyFaux wants him setting fire to everyone...)
 * He's too much of a bully early game, which inherently falls off if he doesn't get a lead.
 * Desired Outcomes
 * Maintain his current fun and surprisingly deep gameplay.
 * Is still good at turning around 1v2 engages. (He didn't mean to imply he would become worse at killing two people...)
 * A unique reason to pick him over Lux, Vel'Koz, or any of the other AOE mages.
 * to be less luck-reliant.
 * My Solutions

- Emptylord

(Innate) "In order to achieve the "less burst and more persistent threat", something has to be done about the fact his only persistent threat is potentially applied up to six times in quick rapid succession - but doesn't stack!"

- Emptylord

(Q) (W) "Exploring alternate Blaze effects, including tweaks to the primary ability to enable more interesting effects. For example - Pillar of Flame is now more similar to, where it's a column of fire that expands over a duration. Blaze could then cause the ability to expand faster... actually, this wouldn't synergize very well with the current Blaze mechanic (a damage over time applying a damage over time...). Umm, I do want to explore making the Pillar a more prevalent feature, though."
 * Renamed Burning Vengeance.
 * Damaging an enemy with one of Brand's abilities will apply Blaze for 6 seconds. Each of his basic abilities applies 20 + (10level) Blaze, with his Pyroclasm applying a greater amount. A fraction of the target's current Blaze is consumed every second, dealing as much in magic damage.
 * Additionally, if Brand is slain by an enemy champion, he possesses his killer for 6 seconds - also applying Blaze. If his target dies during this time, Brand is resurrected with.
 * Damage rebalanced.
 * Damage rebalanced.
 * Targets now take bonus damage equal to 50% of their current Blaze.

- Emptylord

(E) (R) "I'm currently exploring solutions to make the ability more reliable without just outright being guaranteed. I'm seriously considering giving Brand - that is to say, he jumps between targets personally and a cackling ball of fire (the game doesn't have enough spells where the champion becomes a projectile). This ability could be enhanced to require Brand to input his targets, perhaps similar to ... he needs to be kept simple, though."
 * Damage rebalanced.
 * Secondary target selection now uses instead of.
 * Secondary targets now receive bonus Blaze based on 50% of the target's current Blaze.
 * Pyroclasm can no longer strike the same target more than once, but now continues to bounce so long as there are valid targets in range.
 * Targets hit by Pyroclasm gain 150 / 250 / 350 Blaze.

- Emptylord


 * Problems
 * feels unnatural to use.
 * should be more about harming/debuffing her enemies, rather than empowering Cassiopeia.
 * is currently holds too much utility over her other abilities, making it the dominant play style.
 * and targeting types are to similar/are used identically.
 * isn't interesting. (I disagree, but oh well.)


 * Desired Outcomes
 * is not going to become a Poison Mage.
 * She will remain a medium-short range mage.
 * She will remain a champion that requires a heavy amount of input (actions per minute).
 * to feel less like slave.
 * Add more gameplay for her opponents than "don't get poisoned".
 * Poisons will feel less like generic DoTs.

"Disclaimer: I failed to address the concern that poisons serve more to buff Cassiopeia than harm her enemies. In fact, I arguably made them more beneficial to Cassiopeia..."
 * My Solutions

- Emptylord

(Q) "I think part of the issue with Cassiopeia's poison-orientated gameplay is that all of her poisons are short duration, refreshable debuffs. This leads to poor synergy with the extreme amounts of Cooldown Reduction she is now guaranteed to get and effectively caps her damage output. Due to the base cooldown on the ability of 4 seconds, this below change will not impact her early game - but, then again, the early game of Noxious Blast wasn't touched in the previous rework."

- Emptylord

(W) "For a champion that is highly dependant on her enemy's positioning, Miasma is currently a staple to Cassiopeia's gameplay - a basic zoning tool that allows Cassiopeia to force her enemies movement. To change the casting paradigm to be distinct from without affecting its own use-cases would be most easily solved by changing when Cassiopeia casts the ability. A trap, for example. Whiling bundling her existing into a standard floor trap would be the cleanest implementation - this would be too similar to  and would still be prone to being used in-fight. So, as an alternative, lets complement her tomb raider theme..."
 * Reapplication now carries over any remaining damage, splitting it over the next 3 seconds.
 * Cassiopeia blasts the target area, which hits after a second delay, applying   stacks of  to surrounding enemies. A fraction of the target's current Poison is consumed every half second, dealing as much in magic damage.
 * 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1/1, refreshing on reapplication.

- Emptylord

(E) "As mentioned above, the fall of Noxious Blast Cassiopeia didn't happen because it was nerfed - it happened because Twin Fang was buffed. Players want Noxious Blast to be a strong way to play Cassiopeia, but it currently under-performs when compared to Twin Fang. However, since Noxious Blast wasn't nerfed (and is presumably as good as it was in "the good old days"), the issue is more down to its relationship with Twin Fang. However, I have no interest in removing the inter-ability interactions outright - Cassiopeia's design is actually very strong in that each of her abilities has incentives to be maxed-first and be a one-point-wonder. When people speak of the "good old days of never using her Twin Fang" - that sounds like really bad champion design, to be honest. So I'm opting to improve the one-point-wonder incentive of Twin Fang for people who want to play Poison Mage, but without removing Twin Fang's ability to function as the maxed ability."
 * Renamed Miasmic Ward.
 * Cassiopeia places up an ornate trap on the target wall that arms after a brief delay, becoming stealthed. Traps last for 2 minutes and Cassiopeia can store up to 2 in reserve. When an enemy walks across the trap's gaze (550-length line) it will begin spewing a cloud of miasma for the next 7 seconds, with the area expanding over the duration (600, -30). Enemies hit gain  stacks of  every second to enemies hit as well as slowing them by  % for  second.
 * While inactive, the trap is revealed while an enemy is within units, has 3 health and takes  from champion attacks. Once triggered, the trap becomes untargetable and indestructible.

- Emptylord

(Innate) "Still drafting solutions. In lieu of mana refund change, I'm actually tempted to restore Deadly Cadence as Cassiopeia's innate - i.e. "Cassiopeia restores mana whenever she scores a kill equal to the remaining poison on her target." and then convert Aspect of the Serpent into a passive on Petrifying Gaze, given levels 6, 11 and 16 follows a very similar curve to 100, 250 and 500 stacks. I'm almost tempted to rip-off and give her choices to "adapt", and have her curse debilitate her while it "augments" her further."
 * Mana cost flattened to 50 from.
 * Mana refund adjusted to 50 (+) from.
 * Damage amplifier.

- Emptylord


 * Coming soon.


 * Coming soon.