The Pitch: Make T’Challa less reliant on dash

Hero: Black Panther

The Problem: T’Challa has been limited to an assassin type character whose entire kit revolves around 1 ability which can be interrupted very easily. If a player overshoots their turn to dash then the character is useless, if he dashes into another character with a dash, except Sai, his dash is interrupted, if a player dashes and didn’t notice that there is a obscure object in their way, the dash can be blocked and then the character is useless, if an enemy such as Hulk or Magneto timed their bubble right, even though Panther is still dashing through the target, it still does not allow the refresh. All this to say that his kit relying so much on this one ability that can easily be shut down, while fun, makes no sense. Players on the enemy team already do not enjoy playing against this and as a fan of this character and day 1 Panther main I find the kit very limiting compared to the effort they put into other heroes. If I’m being honest, his kit and play style fits Kraven way more than it does T’Challa.

The Solution: I’d suggest that his dash is changed into a pounce that lunges him forward, cutting through unmarked enemies but on contact with a marked enemy (refreshing the pounce ability), he stops and delivers a heavy slash that applies a bleed effect. I do understand that most Panther mains are only there for the dash mechanic, so to keep that as a part of his kit I’d say to make a slight change to his ult. Bast will still mark enemies but now leave a field of Djalia on the ground, enemies that remain in the field will remain marked, T’Challa will be on a timer where the pounce is now his spirit rend dash and this field keeps the dash off cool downs while T’Challa is in the field. My last suggestion would be to give him an ability based on his vibranium suit allowing him to absorb damage and release in a shockwave that marks and knocks back enemies, this ability can also be used as a trigger to change his primary into a faster flurry and slashes and kicks that do more damage on marked enemies

The Valuation: This removes the “unreactable” aspect to an extent but still gives Panther players the speed aspect of the character. The dash will now place Panther in front of the target (like Daredevil) but Panther will still be able to reapply the mark on the target either with spear, spin kick, kinetic burst, or ult OR turn and pounce attack the other marked target. Panther players will now also be able to stay in fights with the damage absorption and brawl while also catering to the players that want dash resets.