Throughout the game ever since the preseason of 2021, Prowler’s Claw has been one of the most favorite items for many assassins in League of Legends since it allows them to dash forward for better access to kill any squishier backlines they’re aiming to. However, Riot Games recently has demonstrated an older version of the item in which making it super broken.
Adam “Afic” Cohen, Riot’s game analysis associate QA manager, discussed what the game analysis team works for League in the most recent Quick Gameplay Thoughts blog post. He used Prowler’s Claw as an example of how they attempt to figure out how players could interact with in-game stuff and how it might impact the meta.
The original active of Prowler’s Claw was actually a blink
Specifically, the active of Prowler’s Claw was initially specified as a blink, or an immediate teleport, very similar to Katarina’s E or Talon’s old E.
The team considered which champions would benefit the most from the blink, as well as how oppressive it would be to play against. Pyke instantly sprang to mind because of his Phantom Undertow ability, since the blink will almost always stun the enemies.
“We decided that this combo of abilities removed the counterplay to Pyke’s E too easily without enough drawbacks,”
Many other champions, like Lee Sin or Diana, may use this to immediately blink behind an enemy to immediately start a team fight or can even assassinate them without having to dash forward, removing a lot of counterplay from the opposing side.
Eventually, after several modifications, Prowler’s Claw was eventually given a dash since it still allows opponent players to counter the champion while the animation is in progress.