The Monkey King isn’t the only thing coming with this week’s patch (assuming it happens on schedule). As Morello has it, the changes to global ults will be coming with this patch as well, and the changes are making him think about Pantheon.

In case you’ve forgotten, the global ults in the game are getting nerfed to function a bit more like Nocturne’s Paranoia. They will still allow the champion to cross large distances, but it will no longer allow for a truly global ultimate. The change affects Twisted Fate, Shen, and Pantheon at the very least (EDIT: Looks like Shen might not be getting the nerf – hard to say based on patch preview). I couldn’t find any information about Gangplank’s ult. Players will now be able to see the range of the ultimate on the minimap in order to gauge distance.

The impending change prompted Morello to ask for community opinion on Pantheon, hoping players will play with the change and consider some other ways to make Pantheon fun again. I personally hope it means a rework to Heartseeker Strike. I wrote some time ago that the skill doesn’t really have a functional balance point. The skill is either too good because it can be used with a targeted stun, or it’s too weak because the damage isn’t worth a self-stun in order to land it.

I would like to see them give Pantheon something interesting. I think he has one of the best looking skins and for the most part his skills fit really well with the spear-wielding classical soldier myth.

One of the most fervently discussed issues for Pantheon players is the damage of Heartseeker Strike. When he launched it seemed to deal very respectable damage, then there was the period in which it could hit people for three quarters of their health at any point in the game. That was soon nerfed, to the point that most players didn’t bother ranking the skill past rank one, and then only to get the critical strike bonus. Well, it has been buffed again, this time at the cost of some Spear Shot base damage.

While it is nice for Pantheon to have the skill back to a level of usefulness, it’s also back to being extremely unfun to play against. The problem, in my mind, is that he has a targeted stun, which allows him to always land Heartseeker. With the new damage buff, he hits incredibly hard. As Shaco, I was getting hit yesterday for 700+ at level 15. With Aegis and Spear Shot in one rotation, that’s more than 900 completely unavoidable damage that comes, as is usually my problem, at very low skill cost. In my current game, I’m level 11 with nothing more than a BF Sword and Heartseeker hits for 700 damage on heroes. His ultimate does the same damage at that level and is infinitely more difficult to land.

I think Heartseeker is hard to balance for a couple reasons. One is that it basically stuns Pantheon, and during that time he can’t deal any auto attacks, so it has to feel ‘worth it’ to use the skill. Second, there’s the fact that it deals double damage to champions. I’m not sure why that has to be a part of the skill. Is Riot worried he’ll farm to well? That wouldn’t be as big an issue if Heartseeker didn’t hit so damn hard. Reduce the damage and remove the double damage component. Then he gets the gear to make the skill hit hard. The real problem to me, though, is that he can use it in conjunction with his stun. That’s why I don’t think there’s a point that it will feel okay to play against.

I think the guaranteed crit is kind of a cool mechanic, though, so I’d propose remaking the skill into more of a skill shot. What if Pantheon had a hook that was shorter range than Blitzcrank’s? The text might read as follows:

Pantheon attempts to impale an opponent on the tip of his spear, dealing attack damage and pulling the target back to his location. Pantheon’s next attack is guaranteed to be a critical strike and cannot be dodged.

I think you could even leave the current passive component in tact. It would definitely add some more flavor to his character and reduce the feeling that his damage is completely unavoidable. It would also give him some more tools to maximize his auto attacks, rather than encouraging a damage-only build.