It's the final installment of my overview of sustain. If nothing else this will serve as fodder for retrospectives when two or so years from now I feel like looking back at the way things once were. The game is always changing, but it's still worthwhile to stop and take stock from time to time.
Shen's sustain is extremely flexible. Leveled first it is a simultaneous harass, sustain, and last-hitting tool. That Shen is an energy champion means he can spam it indefinitely, either to whittle down his opponent or mark targets so he can heal himself. Later in the game the heal is largely forgotten, but can still be notable when his team is focusing a target.
Skarner's sustain ability is largely considered his worst. While the heal can be notable when leveled, Skarner's priorities lie in his other abilities. By the time he gets around to leveling his sustain it's no longer worth mentioning.
Sona was the queen of sustain when she was released, and though she's received many nerfs since she's still one of the few supports with a viable spell for sustaining allies. Because her heal is inefficient unless both she and her ally need healing Sona tends to be picked primarily for her harass and offensive buffs. Still, her ability to sustain and defend when all else fails is a big part of what makes her viable.
Soraka is synonymous with sustain. Even though it's been repeatedly nerfed her heal is still one of the first abilities to come to mind when the word "sustain" enters a discussion. Soraka essentially is sustain, her kit is designed to do little else. Despite having few other strengths Soraka's sustain alone is enough to get her banned in tournaments.
Swain is the only sustain champion who has no sustain outside of his ultimate. However, Swain is still known for his sustain because of just how powerful that ultimate is. The three birds that constantly damage opponents during his ultimate also heal him for significant amounts, giving him incredible sustain in lane and durability in team fights. That it has barely any cooldown is just icing on the cake. A Swain with Blue buff is essentially invincible unless ignited or focused down.
Taric is known more for his laning offense and auras than his sustain. However, his heal remains a crucial part of his kit as a frontline support. Taric's heal will always heal him for at least as much as it heals an ally, and can be used with increased effectiveness on himself if necessary. It's this self-sustain, combined with his strong armor, that allows Taric to keep threatening his opponents with his stun.
Trundle has one of the most interesting, yet only mildly effective, sustain passives in the game. He gains a % of the maximum health of any enemy unit that dies in his presence, including minions, champions, and monsters. He doesn't even have to be the one killing them, he only has to be nearby. In a teamfight where multiple enemies with thousands of health die, Trundle can easily heal for hundreds of health. In the lane the constant stream of dying minions provides effective Hp5 for Trundle. However, the values are never high enough for Trundle's sustain to be that strong without items to supplement it.
Tryndamere's sustain ability simultaneously grants him healing and offense. Each rank in the ability gives him AD that scales with how much health he's lost, and healing that scales with how much Fury he's accrued. It can be used without any Fury whatsoever as well, a fact which encouraged many Tryndamere players to actually use AP runes and items for laning sustain. Tryndamere uses his sustain to survive until he has farmed enough to carry his team.
Udyr uses his sustain to bully his lane opponents or emerge from the jungle a full health, tanky monster. The combination of a shield with both Life Steal and mana regeneration is extremely potent, allowing him to survive the killer offense of many top lane champions even with nominal ranks in the ability. It's this ability which gives him so much mid-game tankiness.
Vladimir has been nerfed numerous times, in part because of his strong offensive sustain. Though many of his abilities cost health, his principal ability and nuke costs nothing, rapidly reduces in cooldown, and most importantly heals. As a result Vladimir must be shut down early or else he quickly becomes abusive. That he also has a strong late-game makes him a double threat.
Warwick's combination of a sustain passive and nuke make him extremely difficult to wrest out of a lane. Unlike Vladimir his nuke at least costs mana, potentially limiting him against another sustaining opponent. Still, so long as it's safe for him to auto-attack minions he can still heal for substantial amounts without spending mana. This makes him very strong against attrition lanes and in the jungle.
Xin Zhao's passive heals him every third auto-attack. It's ideal for jungling, and gives him mana free sustain while laning. Unfortunately Xin Zhao's poor late-game scaling and lack of escapes makes it hard for him to convert his sustain into an advantage for his team.
Yorick is the poster-child for abusive sustain. His ranged harass is highly spammable, heals him, spawns a ghoul for extra damage and healing, and even reduces the damage he takes. Diving into him results in a flurry of angry ghouls and minions. Because of his laning strength Yorick is an ideal champion for shutting down opponents or playing 1v2.
That's all of them. I wasn't able to go quite into the level of detail I wanted, but such are the limits of this sort of format. Hopefully this exercise has been informative and not too dry.
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