We now have the official “New Champion Approaches” post for Vayne, giving us a look at the skillset for Riot’s latest champion. I’m most certainly not excited to see yet another ability attempting to address the Tanky DPS situation but it is interesting to see ranged DPS get the kind of mobility that could mean survival in many cases. More on that later – let’s get to the skills:
Night Hunter (Passive): Vayne ruthlessly hunts evil-doers. She gains bonus Movement Speed when moving toward nearby enemy champions.
Tumble: Vayne tumbles, maneuvering to carefully place her next shot. She rolls toward the cursor and her next attack deals bonus damage.
Silver Bolts: Vayne tips her bolts with a rare metal, toxic to evil things. The third consecutive attack or ability against the same target deals a percentage of the target’s maximum Health as bonus true damage. (Max damage vs. Monsters is capped)
Condemn: Vayne draws a heavy crossbow from her back, and fires a huge bolt at her target, dealing damage and knocking them back. If they collide with terrain, they are impaled, dealing bonus damage and stunning them.
Final Hour (Ultimate): Readying herself for an epic confrontation, Vayne gains increased Attack Damage, stealth during Tumble, and quadruple the bonus Movement Speed from Night Hunter.
I’m going to be curious to see how Vayne plays. At first I thought condemn might feel like a bit of a throwaway skill, and chances are it probably will in a lot of situations, but I also think her passive coupled with her dash could make it much more usable than Poppy’s Heroic Charge.
As I said above, I really do not like addressing metagame issues with abilities. Those abilities will almost surely need a rework if that metagame shifts, which brings up some ugly questions about Riot’s intent for the metagame. Are we sticking with tanky DPS for a while? If so, are the loads of older champions who have slipped from viability going to see reworks? Vayne has a couple skills that vaguely remind me of Tristana, a champion I haven’t seen produce stats in a ranked game in ages. This is all to say nothing of the fact that true damage is an ugly beast to manage. Can anyone think of another true damage champion on live that Riot has been unable to balance? Anyone?
I’m also interested to see how Vayne’s ult will play out. Riot said in the announcement thread that the ult has a “very short” cooldown. A steroid ult is rarely fun, but with the escapability offered by her knockback and her dash, she could be great at kiting. I’m also guessing she’ll be able to dash into a lane Shaco-style with the Tumble ult mechanic, which could be very cool.
Vayne looks to have the best ranged DPS kit of any character released remotely recently, maybe overall. Watch for the live preview Monday night at 10:00PM EST.
