It looks like we have an update about that new Xerath passive we heard whispers of so long ago. It seems that Riot tried out a greater range greater damage passive type passive but it didn't feel as rewarding as they would hope. When askd about the current plans now that the pitched passive didn't work out, Statikk explained " We know we want to do work on Xerath eventually, but he is currently not a top priority. Will update you guys when we get around to it." in a different post.
We tested a version of the passive that increased his damage based on how far away his target was. To my surprise, most of the feedback actually noted that it felt more like a penalty when fighting nearby targets rather than a reward when fighting from far away. This seemed especially problematic because Xerath already struggles against many of the strong melee champions and losing the current Armor passive actually made him even more vulnerable.
Even when players were able to take advantage of the full damage increase on the passive from far range, the fight would usually get away from them quickly and they would feel once again that they were playing un-optimally even though the passive was incentivizing them to play this way. It caused a lot of odd gameplay where Xerath was forced to back away to deal good damage, but doing so gave his enemies room to completely disengage away from the fight leaving Xerath looking like a sad panda.
Overall, it quickly seemed like it was not working out so we decided not to move forward with it.
Aww I like the concept I think they should make that a passive when you activate lotus of power. But I find xerath way powerful as it is so idk
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ReplyDeleteThat passive that gives more damage based on range is good. Well, unless riot does that "Lower damage at some ranks, raise damage at other ranks" bullshit. If you want to make us shut up and stop asking for champion buffs, just tell us! A prime example is Alistar during the Fiora Patch. Lowered the mana cost on QW but raised it SO MUCH on his heal, a spell you NEED to spam, and you can do it 2 times a second with enough things dying around you. I am a frequent alistar player and this "change" ruined that.
Back on topic, xeraths passive. If you leave xeraths damage the same but give him more damage based on his range, then thats a great passive. If you do the same shit you did with alistar, then xerath will lose damage on any spells at half range, and that is a terrible change.
Xeraths real problem is the fact that he is pretty useless when his ult is down. If riot is dead set on keeping xerath the same but "changing him", then they can fix the ulti problem by taking some damage from his ult and throwing it on his Q.
Also, Xerath NEEES the armor from his current passive, so you can just throw that on his W as a passive ability that scales with level or with a scaling percentage of AP.
My first comment was ninja'd so now the fact that I didnt proofread just to get first post is no longer worth it :(
DeleteI didn't agree with any of that, and if you had not cursed in half of it, it might have made your point more valid. First off, Alistar's heal was increased so it CANT be spammed. If you ever laned against an ali with the right runes he can keep someone capped off for days. Second If they did give him the distance damage buff people would soon figure out the
Delete"sweet spot" to keep xerath from do that much damage, then all basically xerath would become is a mop up ap bc they would NOT keep his current damage along with giving the buff
I agree with you about Alistar. It was a huge nerf. But it also made him a more fair champion to lane against.
DeleteI'm glad to here that they're working on him. Thanks for the update!
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