Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover
Overview:
With my previous redesign of Caitlyn being among the first I had made, it could be said that it suffered from a bit of...shortsightedness, so to speak. While my initial diagnosis of Caitlyn playing much more like a hunter of beasts than a high-tech sheriff still stands, my solution then was to build a kit around the bare essentials of her identity. The result was a sharp-eyed sniper who dedicated herself to lining up the perfect shot, in order to take back-line foes out of the fight - dead or alive.
Now that Jhin has entered stage right and fulfilled the niche of a hyper long-range sharpshooter (and has done so in a more engaging way than that first Caitlyn redesign), it's been made clear that I need to take Caitlyn back to the drawing board and figure out what really makes the Sheriff of Piltover tick.
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With these new changes, I've brought Caitlyn back to her roots as a zone-controlling, overbearing,
lane-bullying Marksman. However, rather than setting bear traps, firing guillotine blades, and rocketing away with her gun, the good Sheriff now utilizes gadgets galore to lay down the law and reprimand any who dare tread on it with dirty boots.
Caitlyn is now comparatively less capable of keeping up an independent offensive and is overall less lethal against peaceful, law-abiding foes, but excels at punishing those who play aggressively or make a habit of invading her team's territory. As a not-so-coincidental bonus, she now also has even greater synergy with Vi, whose mobility and displacement can pressure (or force) enemies to break Caitlyn's rules.
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While some compromises needed to be made in order to lean fully into Caitlyn's identity as a high-tech law enforcer, I was still able to keep much of her current capabilities intact one way or another. She still has an extra-strong, extra-long range attack against marked enemies, is effective at controlling chokepoints, and most of her cast paradigms are either similar or identical.
She is also the new home of Kalista's pacing sentry and Bard's tether shot, allowing her to keep an eye on ne'er-do-wells skulking about in the darker corners of the map, and helping her keep advancing foes in check with proper positioning.
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Marksman
Recommended Positions: Duo Sidelane (Carry), Solo Midlane
Complexity: Low
Innate: Long Arm of the Law
Enemy champions within 1300 units who damage an ally champion or structure are marked for 3 seconds, causing Caitlyn's next basic attack against them to become a Warning Shot that deals 20 to 80% (based on level) + (125% critical strike chance) bonus physical damage.
Enemy champions who kill an ally champion, destroy an ally structure, or receive 3 Warning Shots within 18 seconds will receive a Final Warning for 3 seconds, causing Caitlyn's next Warning Shot against them to gain 100% bonus range and doubling its bonus damage.
Warning Shots have a 3 to 2 (based on level) second cooldown per target.
Q: Piltover Peacemaker
Caitlyn fires a shackle shot in the target direction, dealing 50/90/130/170/210 + (130/140/150/160/170% total AD) physical damage to the first enemy struck before launching another shackle behind them that attaches to the first unit, impassible terrain, or Zap Trap behind them and tethers them together for 4 seconds.
While the tether is extended beyond 400 units, all shackled enemies are slowed by 35%. The tether breaks once extended beyond 550 units, stunning all shackled enemies for
0.5 seconds before applying a Final Warning to them for resisting arrest.
Range: 1300
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6
Cost: 50/60/70/80/90 mana
W: T.O.P. Hat
Caitlyn deploys a Telemetric Operations Patrol to survey the target area, traveling back and forth between its destination and initial location up to 1/2/3/4/5 times.
The T.O.P. Hat reveals an area in front of it and will sound an alarm if it spots an enemy champion, applying a Final Warning to them for breaking curfew and granting True Sight of them for up to 3 seconds before deactivating.
T.O.P. hats are immune to attacks from the front, but can be destroyed by an attack from behind.
Range: 1000 (minimum range), 5000 (maximum range), 400 (vision range), 70° (vision angle)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 30/28/26/24/22
Cost: 30 mana
E: Yordle Zap Trap
Caitlyn fires a cupcake-shaped gadget in the target direction, which splits into two nodes perpendicular to its trajectory once it reaches its destination or upon re-activation. After traveling a set distance or colliding with terrain, the nodes will stop and create a galvanized police barrier between them after 0.5 seconds that lasts for up to 30/35/40/45/50 seconds.
The police barrier will disarm the first enemy champion that crosses it for 2 seconds and apply a Final Warning to them for trespassing, but is destroyed in the process.
Range: 800 (initial projectile); 400 (node travel distance)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 30/25.5/21/16.5/12
Cost: 40 mana
R: Ace in the Hole
After a brief delay, Caitlyn locks onto a target enemy champion and channels for 1 second, gaining true sight of the target and revealing her location to enemies.
Once Caitlyn completes the channel, she fires a homing projectile towards the target that unfurls into a net upon colliding with the first enemy champion in its path, dealing 150/275/400 + (100% bonus AD) physical damage and suppressing them for up to 3 seconds or until they take damage.
If the target has received a Final Warning, Caitlyn instead fires a lethal projectile that deals 190/305/500 + (125% bonus AD) physical damage to the first enemy champion in its path, and triggers the Final Warning's bonus damage if it hits its target.
Range: 3500
Targeting Type: Targeted
Cooldown: 90/75/60
Cost: 100 mana