Do you like this idea for plant hp fix?
**PREFACE:**
When plant hp was changed in 7.24, the stated goal was to create counterplay where attacking plants was the right choice. All of us here agree that counterplay is over-delivering in too many situations, but I would also argue that it under-delivers for enemies who aren't able to 1-shot plants (Lux-type aoe mages in particular).
**GOALS:**
* Eliminate situations where EW plants are passively 1-shot by melee due to auto-attack AI. * Reduce coding-based power discrepancies between champs when attacking plants. Eg MF deals 8 damage per basic attack, but Orianna only deals 4? Rumble's Q deals 1 damage every .25 sec, but Corki's E deals 4 damage every .25 sec in the same cone-shape area? * Add depth to counterplay by making it a right choice to attack plants even if you cannot 1-shot them. * Reduce the number of situations in which Zyra's plants are a liability to *herself,* such as guaranteeing Nasus Q stacks, Irelia Q resets, MF crits, and Talon Q heals. * Raise damage/consistency floor to increase viability in solo/carry roles and in late-game team fights. * Reduce or eliminate situations where plants are almost dead but continue to dps for a full 10 second duration. * Create power distinction between W and passive plants and concentrate consistency increase to solo lane.
> **IDEA:** Replace current hp and duration bars with a single, more prominent hp bar. Plant hp is increased to 10, decaying by 1 hp per second. **Wild Growth plants cannot lose more than 8 hp to champion damage.**
With a one large hp bar, you can also communicate more information to enemies and reward them for playing around that information. Examples:
* Silver armor on hp bar for 2 seconds (W plants only) after spawn to indicate plants cannot be reduced to 0 hp by champ damage * Yellow hp bar from 9 -10 hp to indicate plant cannot be 1-shot by melee/ST spell * Orange hp bar from 5 - 8 hp to indicate plant will die from melee/ST spell * Red hp bar from 1 - 4 hp to indicate plant will die from any non-dot damage
This accomplishes Rep's goal in a manner that is more consistent across the roster and less subject to factors outside of player control. I believe this solution lowers frustration across the board while also improving consistency, clarity and satisfaction. Most importantly, it increases player agency by adding reliability to plants while also communicating the information required to execute on counterplay. In practice, this should benefit Zyra players in high elo where her counterplay is overly-exploitable, while also benefitting Zyra's enemies in lower elo where plants are likely to be damaged but not killed.
**EXAMPLES:**
* The infamous **DOUBLELIFT 1-SHOT BY THORNSPITTER** situation would no longer be possible. With this iteration, Doublelift's two auto attacks against the thornspitter would reduce its duration by 8 seconds. The thornspitter would have timed out instead of killing him. This is the best example of the *exact thing* Repertoir wanted to avoid - situations where attacking plants is never the right choice. This is a feelsbad moment for Zyra enemies because DL would have killed the plant if he picked Corki instead of Varus, meaning that counter*play* was less impactful than a counter*pick.*
* Zyra spawns 3 plants. Ashe can W the garden to reduce plant duration by 4 seconds. This acts as counterplay to Zyra's zone control on a continuum that is accessible to every champ in the game.
* Zyra spawns 2 W and 1 P plants. MF ults, immediately reducing W plant duration to 2 seconds, and that duration cannot be further reduced by champion damage. The passive plant dies in .75 seconds. Net change is that W plants are able to attack twice before duration expires.
* Zyra spawns a plant to poke MF. MF immediately uses Q on the plant and it bounces to Zyra. The plant is not 1-shot and Zyra is not crit by Q. If MF Qs the plant after 2 seconds, Q will crit.
* Zyra spawns 5 plants. This no longer gives a nearby Irelia or Yasuo 5 more dashes. They can still chain 1-shot them, but they have to play around timing.
* A solo-lane Zyra now has a damage floor. In busy team fights, W plants cannot be instantly killed by incidental aoe, aura damage, procs, etc. 7.24 targeted solo lanes for a buff with W refund, but the plant hp changes lowered damage consistency far below what is required of a solo carry. Minimum duration on W plants is a way to target solo lanes with a much larger consistency buff than support. Any consistency added to the support role should be offset by the expanded access to counterplay in bot lane and a lower average plant duration during lane phase. **Added counterplay largely benefits low elo while added consistency largely benefits high elo, potentially solving the problem that makes Zyra so hard to balance.**
Any thoughts about this? If this change were implemented, would you be happy with the change, or do you think it could be a net nerf for average plant duration to be lower overall in exchange for a guaranteed minimum duration?