Kindred voice

First off, we knew that we wanted Kindred to offer their team reasonable ganks - attacks that, if timed and coordinated well, could result in a kill, but weren’t guaranteed successes. By reducing the power of their ganks - specifically compared to Twitch or Twisted Fate - we were able to add power to areas where they both struggle. We made Kindred less reliant on money, so while they obviously benefit from items as the game progresses, they aren’t anything like as useless as the Plague Rat when he falls the wrong side of the feast/famine divide. Mark of the Kindred, for example, is a really snazzy ability, not just from the bonuses it gives Kindred, but because it adds a psychological element to a game of League that’slargely indifferent to Kindred’s strength. Whether you’ve been marked by a Kindred that’s racked up a 10/0 or a 0/10 score, you’re going to playdifferently. Maybe you’re about to get ganked, or maybe Kindred just wanted to apply a smidge of suggested pressure - you don’t know, and, unless you’ve warded supremely well, you won’t know until they appear somewhere on the map.

Speaking of ganks, while Kindred’s aren’t as brutal as Twitch’s or TF’s, they’re still plenty powerful, and will often relieve pressure even if they don’t secure a kill. The percent max health burst damage from a fully triggered Mounting Dread means Kindred’s ganks sting even against tanks, and the W/Q combo helps Kindred stick to their target as they make their escape. Kindred definitely lacks the hard crowd control that a lot of junglers bring to a fight, but the extra damage they bring in lieu of the cc means they thrive especially when they gank lanes that do have the means to keep their target from fleeing. So while junglers like Sejuani and Rek’Sai bring the knock-ups and slows the gank needs, but often lack the damage to kill the target, Kindred offers the inverse to that.