SHALLAXY: How are we going to fix you

I also suggested reducing HP and DEF. Good call on Wicked Aura. I haven't looked at the Wretched Witch too critically since the revamp, I guess.

Dude, I'm just trying to put something out there that's not Rend + Hit and Run + Swap. There's no flavor there, at all, the setup is silly, and she's too expensive for what she can potentially pull off in the best-case scenario. Honestly, I like Sweep and Trickster. I can't believe Hinder Movement is supposed to be 6 nora (Stall is 7), or that Sweep is 8, compared to Trickster being a whopping 13 when Shadowstrike is apparently 12, even though it's overtly a better skill. Either PoxBase has the values for abilities wrong, or DOG needs to tweak costs (err, they need to do that, anyway, apparently).

 

They're actively tweaking costs, but I've always thought trickster is a very strong ability, so I do think 13 nora is reasonable. And I wasn't attacking your suggestion, it's a cool idea, I just wanted to point out that it was too many abilities and would cost a lot.

 

I think some form of stealth should be a given. If not Trickster, then Shadowstrike (in place of Hit and Run). That's apparently +4 nora more expensive, but absolutely worth it, IMO.

The Rend line is what really bothers me. It has NO flavor, it isn't special or interesting, and it doesn't lend itself to the champ's class. Shallaxy was and is apparently still a bard. Why does a bard Swap, hit and run, and rend units? That's rogue/monk BS. There has to be some support aspect to a bard -- that's what bards do in PoxNora: they support.

 

Been doing some thinking on this. I think the reason Gravity Well was deleted was because they were trying to skim down the sheer number of abilities available in this game. I can respect that; it's a start for getting this game to be more straightforward. Getting rid of Deploy: Rock Trap hurts too but I think it was needed.... that's an extremely strong relic to have available on a champ to deploy. Wicked Aura was pretty much just tacked on to her..... It was useful, but definitely not part of her core. Deflect was taken off of a lot of champs, so I can get behind her losing that too. The goal behind that seemed to be to get rid of many defensive abilities on champs that shouldn't have too many.... this suits Shallaxy because she is mainly a harass/ap engine champ.

Battle Drum is the last thing left on her, and they got rid of that too. I think that THIS is where they screwed up.... along with the range change. Not only did they get rid of it, they completely changed her core and role. I can kind of see what they were going for with swap and H&R, I think, but I think that they did it wrong.

My suggestions would be the following

Range to 1-2 or 1-3 (SP lacks decent magic dmg atm, and Shallaxy was a good option for it. I think she should get her full range back)
Drop Hit and Run base
Gain Battle Drum base
Dodge 1, block 1 and +1 defense replace the three ranks of Rend on upgrade path 1. (I could see Deflect going on this path perhaps too.... it would make sense considering her new role)
Keep swap.
Nora adjusted accordingly

I think the idea was to be able to use swap then find safety.... that's why she has hnr as well as swap. But I don't like this on her; it's bland and she has range 1 and it makes no sense flavorwise. And Rend is utterly dumb on her.

My suggestion gives her back BattleDrum, which I think is the most important change to do. Then the other changes make swap more useful; she has at least the 1 defensive ability to utilize when she does the swap. My suggestion makes her less bland while keeping her original role as an AP engine (swap and battle drum), and slightly increasing her survivability. Based on this, I would expect a cost hike but at least she wouldn't be as uninteresting as a garden snail.

 

Is swap really needed?
Your suggestion makes her a decent magic close range fighter with battle drum when needed.
However, how good would swap be on her then?
She doesn't have high damage. (10 base) So it's not like moving faster in with her is that big advantage. Swapping a beater champion into range and then possibly use battle drum is something I could see, but that's about it.

Another argument against this is that it would make her upgrade abilities quite bland.
Dodge, Block and other defensive ability are good abilities, but not that interesting. Then only being able to choose between different ranks of swap on the other upgrade's selection, is not much fun.
If you look at Korona, you'll see that there are many different upgrade paths to choose from.

 

I'd like to reiterate that her art, flavor, and previous contribution to SP revolved around support. She should be a support rune. I don't want her to have 12+ DMG or 7 SPD or Rend 3, etc.; I want her to support like a danged fog-shrouded bard should.

I like Purple's suggestions, overall. I agree that Rend and Swap are not only boring, but also way off-base flavor-wise. They don't fit, and they aren't good.

 

I like the suggestion...battle drum already exists in the faction (and, when shallaxy gets compared to units like ironfist minister, it doesn't seem unbalanced to include it. More importantly, the current shallaxy is....very bland--which is the real problem imo. He/she seems like a initial release rune, rather than something interesting that people worked hard to get. As another option, it might be interesting to put battle drum, rock trap, and gravity well/pull in the same tree, giving shallaxy the flexibility of having 1 of her three core abilities.

Alternatively, if DOG stays with this hit and run, mobility unit, returning to range 1-3 would be far more useful.

 

Shouldn't she retain her signature ability? Tho I agree deploy:rock trap was pretty OP. . . .If she was given no unique ability, it would create inequality between 150ks. [same for sixul]

Triumphal Roar , Double Trouble, Bloodseeker (portalwalker have to get rid of this ability from its upgrade), Sonic Greeting, Fire Volatility?, etc

Shallaxy should have a signature ability which should be inside her core. At this point, Gravity Well is not a signature ability. It was GW, and Deploy: RT. As of now, its only Deploy: Rock Trap. If she has Gravity Well, she should get a discount for it. Same goes for Sixul's volatility.

on the top of my mind, a mobility support can have something like this +Preparation to allow flexibility in strategy.

Swapstrike (The first time this champion successfully makes an attack against an enemy champion on each turn, this champion exchange places with target friendly champion of the same size within 1 to 5 spaces).

So it works like deflect, target a specific friendly champ and the effect triggers if it is 5 space within Shallaxy. If there are no champions selected, or no champions within 5 spaces during Shallaxy's attack, the ability chooses the closest friendly champion within 5 spaces.

 

But Battle Drum makes her meta. If she has Battle Drum and is anywhere near efficient, she's a given in meta (like Elven Bard). I don't think 150ks should be meta, they are too hard to get. Unique, sure, but not auto meta.

IMO, her current build fits Gravity Well very nicely, and the skill still exists (check Prismatic Skywing). So, barring a complete redesign, Gravity Well, along with a redesign of upgrade path 1, could be a real option.

 

I never used shallaxy and hardly played against it pre-revamp but i have to say swap + hit and run+ gravity well sounds like an interesting and useful combination.

 

didn't realize it was still an ability, I feel silly. Yeah if that replaced swap that would be absolutely perfect

 

+1 for simply adding Gravity Well to Shallaxy at base. +1 also for replacing her first upgrade line with pretty much anything else in the game.

 

maybe swap upgrade line could be swap, gravity well or teleport 1, and hr left on. I'd still like a range boost tho, even if it was just 1-2

 

Wooops I meant redesign upgrade path 2! Swap one is fineish.

Gravity Well to default on upgrade path 2 sets her to 77 Nora (+2), with Rend 2 and maybe Illuminate on that path as other options should be a fine quick fix.

 

You got me all confused, too.

Swap is fine -- Rend 1/2/3 is a total waste.

I like Distract, Rend 2, and Illuminate. You get a solid choice between disabling abilities, doing more damage, and -- for max nora -- reducing DEF and gaining Nora. It's not a bad line.

To be clear, I still think Gravity Well on her is fine. I don't know why she's SO expensive, but if her cost weren't dramatically affected, I'd run her with the above upgrade line + Gravity Well on base.

 

yeah I think distract makes sense thematically on her.... I'd really like to see that available

 

The 150ks should be autoinclude

 

I don't agree with this, but I do think that they should be some flavor other than vanilla. She doesn't even have a single ability that she had previously (except flight)

 

Yes. That's why people are upset -- not only because Shallaxy is "not that great," but because she was completely rebuilt into being not that great, from the ground up (down?).

The 150Ks should be worth running -- at least sometimes. At this point, Shallaxy may as well not exist. I'm certainly as hell not playing her. 80 nora is silly for what she brings.

People are forgetting that folks spent 150K gold to buy the 150Ks. That's a lot of grinding. That's a lot of loyalty to the game, in the process. Cue someone responding, "but some people farmed and sold 150Ks!" Yeah, but most people didn't.

If any rune should be worth running, it should one that players worked really hard to get. The end. Oh, and for the record, I think they should be available once again for 150K gold.

 

IDK. I am of the opinion that the initial idea of having 150 K champs was a bad idea for the game, but since they did it we have to deal with it.

SO with that being said, I think that every champ should be treated equally when designing balance and no champ should get special enhanced treatment just because it is hard to obtain. That defeats the purpose of designing balance in the first place.

NOW with that in mind, I do think that rarity and lore-friendliness should equate to at least interesting interactions. I don't want to see her given these flavorful changes just because she is a hard rune to obtain, but because she is "The trusted Courier"; a champion dignified with a name as a "leader" in the factions lore, and therefore it should have something that sets it apart from the others. Not more powerful, just more "Interesting".

I hope you all follow.