Make his pool not slow people. Congrats, it's now a lot less dumb by all means.
The concept of Vlad overall feels like they made him too easy. You give him a Q that's clearly meant to not only be maxed, but at higher ranks used so frequently that you rarely have to make a judgment call about when or if to use it and rather have to wonder WHO to use it on every 4ish seconds. It's designed where there's little downside in repeatedly using it over and over. Mana, Energy, or Health cost champs all have to worry about spamming a move continuously non stop, but Vlad goes even above that. His Ult is pretty herp derp as well. No CC, no utility, just more firepower. His Tides? Something you actually have to think about, but basically more damage.
Regardless of how much damage his Q did, it's terrible for being a move that the only real thought you have to put into it past the first few ranks is "Gee, I wonder who I should hit with this move" with no other ramifications or consequences to ponder about.