u/MattUSticky

The revive was taken off. So much of her power budget is in having a Zilean ult in a basic ability, and walking around in a dangerous teamfight with zero mobility to fish for a decent revive target is just so off-theme for Renata’s lore as a merciless chem-baroness.

Of the floating W rework ideas, my favorite is to remove the revive and reset mechanics and buff the duration and AP scaling. I want to be able to drop W on a Yasuo EARLY in a fight and send him after my enemies like a loyal attack dog. I shouldn’t have to care if he lives or dies; my job should be to open the kennel and point at the enemy ADC from the safety of my backline. IMO that’s the heart of Renata’s corpo-evil fantasy.

However W gets the reworked, the new W should be straightforward and less variable than the current one, opening up design space much need quality of life improvements.

The Study Action (PHB ‘24 p.375) reads as follows:

“When you take the Study action, you make an Intelligence check to study your memory, a book, a clue, or another source of knowledge and call to mind an important piece of information about it.”

You spend your Action and make an Intelligence check; simple and easy. The issue is that, just like sipping potions as an Action in 2014 5e, it’s extremely unsatisfying, especially at higher tiers of play where a player’s Action becomes increasingly valuable. Players don’t know what kind of information will find before they take the Study Action or if they’ll even succeed at all, which makes it hard to justify compared to swinging a weapon, casting a spell, or any Action with more predictable advantages.

Consequently, consider making Study a Bonus Action instead. Having tested it over four sessions, I’ve found that it significantly increased the enjoyment of my more cerebral players (who could ask a question, roll for a possible answer, then spend their Action reacting to what they learned) while preserving the general Action economy. Having players asking questions during combat also gives me more opportunities to reveal details about the enemies and environment, which feels more organic than hamfisting them into lengthy combat descriptions and/or NPC banter. Give it a shot and see if it’s right for your group!

TL;DR: The Study Action feels terrible as an Action but great as a Bonus Action. Consider making Study a Bonus Action if you’d like your PCs to problem-solve during combat.