Pretty sure everyone has said or heard some version of "Who cares, it's a normal." It's quite a widespread idea in the league community although it has a bunch of different versions and purposes.
Some people use it as an excuse to troll normals, not just try something new, but to excuse their own bad behavior in the game. Others use it as an excuse to try new things that aren't meta. Some people use it to explain why they want to end a game, to surrender.
Some of these reasons can have at least some realistic purpose. Others do not. Some of them I can see having clear logical bases that should be taken into consideration and others are simply a player's way of trying to shift blame.
Feeding - Just a Normal
This is not ok. Being outplayed, getting dove, being camped, these are ok. These things happen. Death is a part of LoL and everyone dies. Feeding is not these things. Feeding is going into situations that you know you'll die in without caring. It's suiciding without a purpose. Going into the enemy team with intent to die and then saying it's just a normal does not make it ok.
Non Meta - Just a Normal
This refers to players who are playing a champion in an odd way or in a role they aren't really designed for. Right off the bat, this is fine. For one thing, doing non meta things in ranked is fine, there is no rule saying you must follow the meta. So, doing it in a normal is completely ok. As long as you truly attempt to win with the build you are using in the lane you are in, there is nothing wrong with trying out weird things, especially in normals
Surrender - Just a Normal
This is where we start seeing shades of gray and less black and white. Surrender is something that can be realistic considering the circumstances or unrealistic for the same reason. If your entire team lost their lanes and for the most part your late game is inferior and you aren't ahead in objectives, it's kind of logical to want to get into a new game when losing the game you're in has no real consequences.
However if one person got dunked in lane by a weak late game hero and everyone else is doing fine, that's not so reasonable to expect a surrender. Yes, it's somewhat reasonable to initiate it and see if everyone else wants to end the game as well, but bringing out the "Just a normal" argument is pretty weak in cases like these.
At the end of the day when you break it down, there are arguments that work with the idea of Just a Normal and ones that don't. It comes down to whether or not your justification is reasonable or whether it's only selfish.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Towers - Change Their Damage
I think that at the moment tower damage is somewhere close to where it should be. It's high but manageable early on if you position yourself well and juggle keeping aggro. It's somewhat lackluster late game but if it wasn't there would be more problems with turtling than there are.
There is one thing that's kind of bugged me about towers though since I started playing LoL. And that's that MR has nothing to do with how much damage towers do.
I understand that the damage turrets do are considered the tower's basic attacks and do increasing physical damage. However I don't see why they can't be changed such that MR matters both so that MR helps with towers and that you can't only stack armor and ignore turrets.
I other words, while I do like that resistance can make turret damage negligible, I think that it should be resistances not armor alone. MR is already hard to get at the moment, not having a high MR iconic item and having somewhat awkward secondary stats/effects that don't work for everyone. This change would make MR items more desirable despite their odd stats.
An example change might be to make tower attacks do half physical and half magic damage and use the same penetration for both types of damage. They would do the same amount of damage overall to someone with more balanced resistances but would do more damage to someone who only stacks armor but less damage to someone who only stacks MR as of now.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Poppy - Tweaking Her Early Game
Poppy is one of those champions that has a rough laning phase but her payoff late game were she to do well is incredibly high. The only problem is that her laning phase is seriously awful, not just bad, awful.
Now, I don't want to make her laning phase too good, because like I was saying, it's a trade off to be so scary late game. But it is my belief that her early game is too weak for her to be viable really. Which contributes a lot to her lack of play, the amount of risk you take on by picking her.
There's some argument as to what exactly should be done to help Poppy out. You don't want to buff her in such a way that her late game becomes too scary, and you don't want to buff her early game so much that she does well in lane And has a crazy late game.
So my suggestion is that her early game mana costs should be lowered and have increased scaling cost into late game such that her level 18 costs are the same but her costs early on aren't as high.
As of now, Poppy has the third lowest mana pool, right after Vayne and Ashe. Her Q is one of the highest costing auto attack resets of it's kind (Wukongs is 40, Blitz's is 25, Jax's is 30, Darius's at rank 1 is 30). Her W is 70 mana at rank 1. Her Charge is 60.
In order for Poppy to do her full combo at level 3, it costs her 185 mana out of the 275 mana she has at that same level. That's over 2/3 of her mana pool. For one combo.
Simply lowering some of the baseline costs of these spells will allow her to stand more of a chance in lane and be somewhat less risky of a choice. It won't bring her to a place where her laning is strong or even good, but it will make her more appealing to players and give her more of a fighting chance.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Gangplank Passive
So Gangplank is a fairly underwhelming champion at the moment. His early game isn't bad but it isn't like a lot of other top lane champions with crazy all ins at specific levels (Rivan at 1, Kha at 2, etc). He has a cool global ult which can turn the tides of fights in other lanes, but it isn't like he can use it to heavy gank other lanes either like TF or Shen.
In other words, it isn't like GP is necessarily terrible. He isn't strong, but he has some cool global presence, not a bad laning phase, and he's somewhat entertaining after he gets his static shiv (LIGHTNING!!!!!!). But I think that it's pretty safe to say that his late game is pretty lackluster compared to a lot of other top laners and junglers and there really isn't that much reason to pick him.
So, I propose a small buff to GP that would allow him to scale a little better into late game, and that is to make the slow associated with his passive scale with ult level like many other passives do.
What I mean by this is that at levels 6, 11 and 16 GPs passive slow per stack should increase from 7 by a certain amount. I was thinking perhaps 7% - 10% - 13% - 15% or something along those lines.
This would effectively give GP a little more soft control later on in the game. It would give him a tad more utility at end game where he lacks without buffing his early game. And it would do it in such a way that he wouldn't be doing more damage or locking anyone down, just giving him a little more sticking power.
Most champions with slows have them scale throughout the game, so this change wouldn't be unrealistic in terms of other champion abilities.
In other words, it isn't like GP is necessarily terrible. He isn't strong, but he has some cool global presence, not a bad laning phase, and he's somewhat entertaining after he gets his static shiv (LIGHTNING!!!!!!). But I think that it's pretty safe to say that his late game is pretty lackluster compared to a lot of other top laners and junglers and there really isn't that much reason to pick him.
So, I propose a small buff to GP that would allow him to scale a little better into late game, and that is to make the slow associated with his passive scale with ult level like many other passives do.
What I mean by this is that at levels 6, 11 and 16 GPs passive slow per stack should increase from 7 by a certain amount. I was thinking perhaps 7% - 10% - 13% - 15% or something along those lines.
This would effectively give GP a little more soft control later on in the game. It would give him a tad more utility at end game where he lacks without buffing his early game. And it would do it in such a way that he wouldn't be doing more damage or locking anyone down, just giving him a little more sticking power.
Most champions with slows have them scale throughout the game, so this change wouldn't be unrealistic in terms of other champion abilities.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
QoL Change For Fiddlesticks
As of now if you were to use Fiddlesticks ult from the edge of the bush slightly outside of his ult's range it would actually move Fiddle out of the bush to a place in order to teleport to the place that you chose. While this can stop people from mistakenly using it by pressing R by mistake, I don't believe that this is enough of a reason to annoy the fiddlesticks players who aren't misclicking R but who smartcast and slightly misjudge the range of Crowstorm.
So, I suggest that Fiddle's ult be changed so that when you choose a spot where you want to teleport to, he automatically begins to channel and goes the max distance in the direction of where your cursor was.
There is plenty of other spells that already work like this and even some that were recently changed To work like this (Cho's W). This change will allow Fiddle players to get the max range on their ult without worrying about clicking slightly too far and revealing themselves to the other team if they are ulting from a bush without any wards.
So, I suggest that Fiddle's ult be changed so that when you choose a spot where you want to teleport to, he automatically begins to channel and goes the max distance in the direction of where your cursor was.
There is plenty of other spells that already work like this and even some that were recently changed To work like this (Cho's W). This change will allow Fiddle players to get the max range on their ult without worrying about clicking slightly too far and revealing themselves to the other team if they are ulting from a bush without any wards.
Monday, April 22, 2013
QoL Change for Summoners
It's always a nice thing to change a games interface to make it easier on the people who are playing the game. There's one change that I've been thinking about that I feel would help summoners who organize themselves. I think it would be both nice and interesting if Riot were to add an optional bar of some kind to the shop that you could queue items into for instant purchase upon returning to the fountain.
This would be useful in a few different ways. For one, if you were to organize yourself well, you would avoid constantly opening and closing the shop when you were about to back. It would also meant that items not on the suggested item paths could be purchased more quickly later on, especially when you have homeguard boots and don't need nearly as much time in the fountain to heal. While you would still have to find them the first time, you wouldn't need to find them over and over if you could drag them into an item path for purchasing.
While adding this function could catch people into the trap of focusing on the shop too much, it allows those who budget their time properly to save time looking in the store by putting in the time earlier instead of in the fountain.
Sorry about not posting for a few days, RL been crazy.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Supports - A Comprehensive Look
There are many factors that make a support useful. It's easy to think of it in terms of damage, CC and sustain but it goes deeper than that. In this blog I will be going into detail of how I look at a champions skill set and how useful they are supporting. (Pretty much all of this applies to champions in general but these are the traits you look for most in a support)
Overarching Categories:
1. Damage
2. Sustain
3. Control
4. Mobility
5. Utility
Damage
Damage is a pretty simple concept. It is about a champions ability to do damage to the opponent.
There are quite a few kinds of damage that champions can have. It can be big on long CDs, it can be constant and continuous. It can be long range or all-in. All of these styles and types have their drawbacks and benefits. Many spells fit into multiple categories and many champions can excel at more than one kind of damage.
Sub Categories of Damage:
1. Burst
2. Poke
3. Sustained
4. All-In
5. High Range
6. Low Range
Burst damage is damage that a champion can do in a small period of time. Good examples of supports with burst damage are Zyra and Lux. If they land their spells all at the same time they can seriously chunk the enemy players in lane.
Poke is damage that is done at range or in high levels of safety for the one using it. Essentially it is damage you can do without fully committing yourself to a fight. Examples of supports with good poke are Sona, Soraka and Nidalee.
Sustained damage is damage that keeps coming and coming, it isn't all at once and tapers off. Essentially it's damage that isn't tied to long CDs. Thresh is a good example of a support with sustained damage because of the passive on his Q (For now at least :3).
All-In damage is damage that you do while fully committing yourself to a fight. It generally isn't ranged unless that ranged ability brings you into the fight or brings the enemy to you. Good examples of All-In damage supports are Leona and Thresh.
High range damage is a pretty simple idea. It's the damage you can do at high range instead of what needs you to get up close and personal. Lux, Nidalee and to an extent Lulu can do this kind of damage.
A small part of high range damage is ranged auto attacks. Not all supports have them, but they can be very important, ESPECIALLY early on when your base AD isn't negligible compared to health pools.
Low range damage is damage that you need to get close to the enemy to do. It tends to have a lot in common with all-in damage but isn't always the same. Leona and Taric have lots of low range damage.
Sustain
Sustain is about being able to keep yourself and your ADC in lane. Some wouldn't call a shield a sort of sustain, but I do, because it can be used to mitigate damage and let you stay longer.
Sub Categories of Sustain:
1. Heals
2. Shields
3. Max Health Modifier
4. Spell Vamp/Lifesteal
5. Regeneration
Heals are pretty straightforward. You have a spell which can be used to heal yourself or more importantly yourself or your carry. Examples would be Soraka, Sona, Nidalee etc.
Shields are also pretty simple. They are abilities which block incoming damage. Examples would be Lulu and Janna.
Max Health Modifiers aren't that common in supports, most of them are self-use ultimates that give you a boost in max health which isn't technically a heal but acts very similar. However, Lulu has one that she can give to any champion on her team.
Spell Vamp and Lifesteal are also not very common on supports. The most supporty-ish champion with it would be Morgana and her passive. It allows her to heal herself slightly in lane which while generally small since she can't build AP quickly, it can make a difference.
Baseline regeneration is not something to scoff at. While Mundo is not a traditional support, his cleaver spam can make bot lane very scary, and a lot of his sustain is through simple health regeneration. Some supports have fairly good baseline sustain and with early philosophers stones can stay in lane despite poke.
Control
Ultimately control boils down to hard CC and soft CC. However there are important differences between those CCs which impact your laning and late game.
Sub Categories of Control:
1. Slows
2. Silences
3. Stuns
4. Knock Ups/Backs
5. Taunts
6. Roots
7. Hooks
8. Fears
9. Blind
10. Suppress (Not really, none of the champions with a suppress really ever support but it does exist!!)
Slows are what they sound like. They are abilities or spells that slow down the enemy laners. These are important for landing other spells or for allowing you to chase others down. Many supports have slows and some like Nunu revolve around them.
Silences stop the opponents from using spells and some summoner spells. While this isn't the best form of CC bot lane since the major damage dealers in the lane use lots of AAs, it can be strong early on in lane where a lot of the damage still comes from abilities. Examples include Soraka infuse and Blitz's ult.
Stuns are one of the strongest forms of CC. They stop you from almost all actions and can easily change engages and team fights. Supports based around their stuns would include Taric and Alistar.
Knock ups are arguably the best CC in the game. You can't cleanse or QSS being in the air. They end channels and essentially stop action for the duration that the opponent is in the air. Knock ups add a lot of strength to a support's kit. Alistar was a top tier support for a long time because of his knock up and back abilities for example.
Taunts can be very strong in that you can move your opponent, however many of them have the negative consequence of allowing the enemy to continue doing damage during the CC. If you are taunted, you are still auto attacking (Except for Ahri, dunno why they call it a taunt) and still doing damage. However since you are forced to attack the caster of the spell, that person can change your positioning during the duration that you are CCed.
Roots are a very common CC for supports to have. While they don't stop the enemy from auto attacking, they lock them down in one spot and allow you and your carry to dump damage into them. While not as strong as other forms of harder CC, roots can be quite devastating when your target can't flash or dash away. High damage supports like Zyra and Lux rely a lot on their roots.
Hooks are incredibly strong and contend with knock ups/backs for the seat of strongest CC. These abilities bring the opponent to you. They essentially force their positioning to change and can easily garner you and your ADC kills. Blitz and Thresh are both known for their hooks.
There aren't a lot of fears on supports but they can be quite devastating depending on your luck. A feared enemy can walk right into your clutches or could continue to walk away. Support Fid and the occasional AP support Shaco are the only real examples of fears you'll find bot lane.
Blinds stop your auto attacks from landing. Essentially it makes them "miss." Teemo is the only somewhat common champion that supports and has a blind, but it can be fairly strong because you're most likely in lane against someone who relies a lot on auto attacks (ie the ADC).
Mobility
Mobility is all about how well your champion can move around the lane and the map. In general this is a more important factor on your ADC but some abilities can be given to them in order to help them escape sticky situations. Not to mention that avoiding death yourself is always helpful.
Sub Categories of Mobility:
1. Movement Speed
2. Dashes
3. Flashes
Movement speed covers a lot of ground in regards to mobility. It encompasses all of the spells and passives that allow you or your ADC to run faster. Examples would be Janna's passive, Lulu's whimsy and Kayle's diving blessing.
Dashes are abilities that let you move small distances quickly without actually skipping over space. This would include abilities like Nidalee's pounce in cougar form.
Flashes are essentially abilities that bring you a far distance. Some of them skip the space although there are some spells that are between a flash and a dash or have aspects of both like LeBlanc's distortion.
Utility
Utility is an umbrella term that applies to things that champions bring to the table that don't really fit the other categories.
Sub Categories of Utility:
1. Anti-CC
2. Vision
3. Experience
4. Revive
5. Steroids
6. Ally Displacement
Anti-CC is pretty much unique, support-wise, to Morgana. Her black shield stops CC from being applied to the champion that she puts it on. It is a core ability that makes her able to be a support.
Vision is pretty much what it sounds like. It comes from abilities that show portions of the map that aren't in view. Examples would be Zyra's seeds, Nid's traps and even Lux's singularity.
Experience is what enables a champion to level. Zilean is the only support that can increase the experience you gain, but it is one of the reasons people play him as support. It allows you to level faster than your laning opponents assuming the same creeps are killed in range and are last hit.
Revive is another spell unique to Zilean and is the other major reason people play him as support. It can quite easily turn team fights around to give a player on your team a free GA.
Steroids is a fairly general category that a lot of supports have. It can be anything from extra AA damage from Janna's shield or Lulu's Pix to extra damage that you can proc on Leona's sunlight passive. Nunu for example was a very sought after support because of his attack speed steroid.
Ally displacement is another unique skill only this one isn't given to Zilean. No, it's for Thresh and it's from his lantern. Using it he can help to move his teammates assuming they click his lantern.
Why does this matter?
This matters because it's far too easy to say a champion his this thing or that thing and he's automatically viable. Or that because he doesn't have this or that he isn't viable. This outline shows the many things that different supports can bring to a lane. It lets you look at viability in a deeper way so that you don't discount someone just because they don't have a lot of sustain for example.
Overarching Categories:
1. Damage
2. Sustain
3. Control
4. Mobility
5. Utility
Damage
Damage is a pretty simple concept. It is about a champions ability to do damage to the opponent.
There are quite a few kinds of damage that champions can have. It can be big on long CDs, it can be constant and continuous. It can be long range or all-in. All of these styles and types have their drawbacks and benefits. Many spells fit into multiple categories and many champions can excel at more than one kind of damage.
Sub Categories of Damage:
1. Burst
2. Poke
3. Sustained
4. All-In
5. High Range
6. Low Range
Burst damage is damage that a champion can do in a small period of time. Good examples of supports with burst damage are Zyra and Lux. If they land their spells all at the same time they can seriously chunk the enemy players in lane.
Poke is damage that is done at range or in high levels of safety for the one using it. Essentially it is damage you can do without fully committing yourself to a fight. Examples of supports with good poke are Sona, Soraka and Nidalee.
Sustained damage is damage that keeps coming and coming, it isn't all at once and tapers off. Essentially it's damage that isn't tied to long CDs. Thresh is a good example of a support with sustained damage because of the passive on his Q (For now at least :3).
All-In damage is damage that you do while fully committing yourself to a fight. It generally isn't ranged unless that ranged ability brings you into the fight or brings the enemy to you. Good examples of All-In damage supports are Leona and Thresh.
High range damage is a pretty simple idea. It's the damage you can do at high range instead of what needs you to get up close and personal. Lux, Nidalee and to an extent Lulu can do this kind of damage.
A small part of high range damage is ranged auto attacks. Not all supports have them, but they can be very important, ESPECIALLY early on when your base AD isn't negligible compared to health pools.
Low range damage is damage that you need to get close to the enemy to do. It tends to have a lot in common with all-in damage but isn't always the same. Leona and Taric have lots of low range damage.
Sustain
Sustain is about being able to keep yourself and your ADC in lane. Some wouldn't call a shield a sort of sustain, but I do, because it can be used to mitigate damage and let you stay longer.
Sub Categories of Sustain:
1. Heals
2. Shields
3. Max Health Modifier
4. Spell Vamp/Lifesteal
5. Regeneration
Heals are pretty straightforward. You have a spell which can be used to heal yourself or more importantly yourself or your carry. Examples would be Soraka, Sona, Nidalee etc.
Shields are also pretty simple. They are abilities which block incoming damage. Examples would be Lulu and Janna.
Max Health Modifiers aren't that common in supports, most of them are self-use ultimates that give you a boost in max health which isn't technically a heal but acts very similar. However, Lulu has one that she can give to any champion on her team.
Spell Vamp and Lifesteal are also not very common on supports. The most supporty-ish champion with it would be Morgana and her passive. It allows her to heal herself slightly in lane which while generally small since she can't build AP quickly, it can make a difference.
Baseline regeneration is not something to scoff at. While Mundo is not a traditional support, his cleaver spam can make bot lane very scary, and a lot of his sustain is through simple health regeneration. Some supports have fairly good baseline sustain and with early philosophers stones can stay in lane despite poke.
Control
Ultimately control boils down to hard CC and soft CC. However there are important differences between those CCs which impact your laning and late game.
Sub Categories of Control:
1. Slows
2. Silences
3. Stuns
4. Knock Ups/Backs
5. Taunts
6. Roots
7. Hooks
8. Fears
9. Blind
10. Suppress (Not really, none of the champions with a suppress really ever support but it does exist!!)
Slows are what they sound like. They are abilities or spells that slow down the enemy laners. These are important for landing other spells or for allowing you to chase others down. Many supports have slows and some like Nunu revolve around them.
Silences stop the opponents from using spells and some summoner spells. While this isn't the best form of CC bot lane since the major damage dealers in the lane use lots of AAs, it can be strong early on in lane where a lot of the damage still comes from abilities. Examples include Soraka infuse and Blitz's ult.
Stuns are one of the strongest forms of CC. They stop you from almost all actions and can easily change engages and team fights. Supports based around their stuns would include Taric and Alistar.
Knock ups are arguably the best CC in the game. You can't cleanse or QSS being in the air. They end channels and essentially stop action for the duration that the opponent is in the air. Knock ups add a lot of strength to a support's kit. Alistar was a top tier support for a long time because of his knock up and back abilities for example.
Taunts can be very strong in that you can move your opponent, however many of them have the negative consequence of allowing the enemy to continue doing damage during the CC. If you are taunted, you are still auto attacking (Except for Ahri, dunno why they call it a taunt) and still doing damage. However since you are forced to attack the caster of the spell, that person can change your positioning during the duration that you are CCed.
Roots are a very common CC for supports to have. While they don't stop the enemy from auto attacking, they lock them down in one spot and allow you and your carry to dump damage into them. While not as strong as other forms of harder CC, roots can be quite devastating when your target can't flash or dash away. High damage supports like Zyra and Lux rely a lot on their roots.
Hooks are incredibly strong and contend with knock ups/backs for the seat of strongest CC. These abilities bring the opponent to you. They essentially force their positioning to change and can easily garner you and your ADC kills. Blitz and Thresh are both known for their hooks.
There aren't a lot of fears on supports but they can be quite devastating depending on your luck. A feared enemy can walk right into your clutches or could continue to walk away. Support Fid and the occasional AP support Shaco are the only real examples of fears you'll find bot lane.
Blinds stop your auto attacks from landing. Essentially it makes them "miss." Teemo is the only somewhat common champion that supports and has a blind, but it can be fairly strong because you're most likely in lane against someone who relies a lot on auto attacks (ie the ADC).
Mobility
Mobility is all about how well your champion can move around the lane and the map. In general this is a more important factor on your ADC but some abilities can be given to them in order to help them escape sticky situations. Not to mention that avoiding death yourself is always helpful.
Sub Categories of Mobility:
1. Movement Speed
2. Dashes
3. Flashes
Movement speed covers a lot of ground in regards to mobility. It encompasses all of the spells and passives that allow you or your ADC to run faster. Examples would be Janna's passive, Lulu's whimsy and Kayle's diving blessing.
Dashes are abilities that let you move small distances quickly without actually skipping over space. This would include abilities like Nidalee's pounce in cougar form.
Flashes are essentially abilities that bring you a far distance. Some of them skip the space although there are some spells that are between a flash and a dash or have aspects of both like LeBlanc's distortion.
Utility
Utility is an umbrella term that applies to things that champions bring to the table that don't really fit the other categories.
Sub Categories of Utility:
1. Anti-CC
2. Vision
3. Experience
4. Revive
5. Steroids
6. Ally Displacement
Anti-CC is pretty much unique, support-wise, to Morgana. Her black shield stops CC from being applied to the champion that she puts it on. It is a core ability that makes her able to be a support.
Vision is pretty much what it sounds like. It comes from abilities that show portions of the map that aren't in view. Examples would be Zyra's seeds, Nid's traps and even Lux's singularity.
Experience is what enables a champion to level. Zilean is the only support that can increase the experience you gain, but it is one of the reasons people play him as support. It allows you to level faster than your laning opponents assuming the same creeps are killed in range and are last hit.
Revive is another spell unique to Zilean and is the other major reason people play him as support. It can quite easily turn team fights around to give a player on your team a free GA.
Steroids is a fairly general category that a lot of supports have. It can be anything from extra AA damage from Janna's shield or Lulu's Pix to extra damage that you can proc on Leona's sunlight passive. Nunu for example was a very sought after support because of his attack speed steroid.
Ally displacement is another unique skill only this one isn't given to Zilean. No, it's for Thresh and it's from his lantern. Using it he can help to move his teammates assuming they click his lantern.
Why does this matter?
This matters because it's far too easy to say a champion his this thing or that thing and he's automatically viable. Or that because he doesn't have this or that he isn't viable. This outline shows the many things that different supports can bring to a lane. It lets you look at viability in a deeper way so that you don't discount someone just because they don't have a lot of sustain for example.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Twisted Fate - Global Presence
I think it's generally considered safe to say that TF is really strong at the moment. Maybe not OP, depending on your definition of what is overpowered, but he's certainly a top pick and is banned a good bit as well.
His strength doesn't come from laning necessarily. It doesn't come from his pushing or damage, although he has more than adequate wave clear and his burst post lich bane is quite high. His real strength is in his "global" ult and the fact that he can work with his team to make plays despite pretty good vision via wards.
I don't want to get rid of his ability to do what he does. I think it's interesting that he is built around team play, especially since this is a team game. However, I do think that there is one small change that can bring him back a little from where he is and that change is the lengthen the CD of his ultimate, Destiny/Gate.
Now, there are a few reasons that I would suggest this change. The first of which is that if you compare his ultimate to other "global" ultimates, the CD is low. Shen's rank 1 Stand United is 200 seconds. Karthus's Requiem is 200 seconds. Nocturne's Paranoia is 180 seconds. Even Soraka's Wish is 160 seconds. Gate/Destiny at rank 1 is baseline 150 seconds.
We shouldn't be bumping it up all the way to 200 seconds. Requiem and Stand United both have aspects that make them deserve their longer CD. But going up to 175 or 180 wouldn't be unrealistic. TF has on demand, ranged, targeted control that he can bring when he ults as well as vision. It's a strong spell for the team as a whole and can swing the balance of a game very easily. It should have a more sizable CD so that it is more on part with other abilities like it.
Another reason to do this is because it's a small change that can help bring TFs relative strength down. In other words, it's a change that can keep his flavor the same, allow him to make the same kind of plays he has been, but it also helps to bring him back in line with other AP mids.
His strength doesn't come from laning necessarily. It doesn't come from his pushing or damage, although he has more than adequate wave clear and his burst post lich bane is quite high. His real strength is in his "global" ult and the fact that he can work with his team to make plays despite pretty good vision via wards.
I don't want to get rid of his ability to do what he does. I think it's interesting that he is built around team play, especially since this is a team game. However, I do think that there is one small change that can bring him back a little from where he is and that change is the lengthen the CD of his ultimate, Destiny/Gate.
Now, there are a few reasons that I would suggest this change. The first of which is that if you compare his ultimate to other "global" ultimates, the CD is low. Shen's rank 1 Stand United is 200 seconds. Karthus's Requiem is 200 seconds. Nocturne's Paranoia is 180 seconds. Even Soraka's Wish is 160 seconds. Gate/Destiny at rank 1 is baseline 150 seconds.
We shouldn't be bumping it up all the way to 200 seconds. Requiem and Stand United both have aspects that make them deserve their longer CD. But going up to 175 or 180 wouldn't be unrealistic. TF has on demand, ranged, targeted control that he can bring when he ults as well as vision. It's a strong spell for the team as a whole and can swing the balance of a game very easily. It should have a more sizable CD so that it is more on part with other abilities like it.
Another reason to do this is because it's a small change that can help bring TFs relative strength down. In other words, it's a change that can keep his flavor the same, allow him to make the same kind of plays he has been, but it also helps to bring him back in line with other AP mids.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Alternative Thresh Changes
To start, let's look at the changes that are on the PBE right now for Thresh.
Now, while moving the AA passive from Thresh's Q to his E might reduce his laning pressure to a degree, there are some major issues with relying on this change to effectively "nerf" him.
For one, his damage in a full on engage won't go down at all as long as he maxes E instead of Q. In fact, E scales, damage wise, more strongly than Q does. So, by forcing Thresh to max his E, he will actually do More in a full on engage than he did before, not to mention having a stronger slow.
His poke with AAs will also not change. By maxing E his damage will be exactly that same in that respect.
The only difference this will make is that he will no longer be able to max Q and get his passive, meaning his Q will effectively have a longer CD and do less damage but his E will do more damage and have a stronger slow. Not exactly much of a nerf, and in some cases almost a buff since his CC early game will get stronger.
My alternative change is this:
Lower the ratio of souls to passive AA damage. If you want to keep AD thresh strong, increase the scaling on the AD to compensate.
This will effectively lower Thresh's damage as a support while keeping other aspects of him alive and strong. And it makes sense as well. There's no real reason that a champion with a strong kit like Thresh needs so much damage on his AAs too.
He will still retain everything that makes him interesting, he will still have stronger AAs than most supports, he can still max the spell that really makes him what he is, and his laning power will be lowered.
Now, this might not be enough, but one thing I really like about Riot and LoL is that they try to make small changes, and many of them, rather than big ones. So, if this isn't a strong enough nerf, Riot can look at the problem again and possibly make more changes.
- Death Sentence's ( Q ) passive has been moved to Flay ( E ).
Now, while moving the AA passive from Thresh's Q to his E might reduce his laning pressure to a degree, there are some major issues with relying on this change to effectively "nerf" him.
For one, his damage in a full on engage won't go down at all as long as he maxes E instead of Q. In fact, E scales, damage wise, more strongly than Q does. So, by forcing Thresh to max his E, he will actually do More in a full on engage than he did before, not to mention having a stronger slow.
His poke with AAs will also not change. By maxing E his damage will be exactly that same in that respect.
The only difference this will make is that he will no longer be able to max Q and get his passive, meaning his Q will effectively have a longer CD and do less damage but his E will do more damage and have a stronger slow. Not exactly much of a nerf, and in some cases almost a buff since his CC early game will get stronger.
My alternative change is this:
Lower the ratio of souls to passive AA damage. If you want to keep AD thresh strong, increase the scaling on the AD to compensate.
This will effectively lower Thresh's damage as a support while keeping other aspects of him alive and strong. And it makes sense as well. There's no real reason that a champion with a strong kit like Thresh needs so much damage on his AAs too.
He will still retain everything that makes him interesting, he will still have stronger AAs than most supports, he can still max the spell that really makes him what he is, and his laning power will be lowered.
Now, this might not be enough, but one thing I really like about Riot and LoL is that they try to make small changes, and many of them, rather than big ones. So, if this isn't a strong enough nerf, Riot can look at the problem again and possibly make more changes.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Snares Effect On Autos
I'm sure all of you have at one point stepped on a Cait trap and auto attacked nearby units, generally minions. And while there are situations in which this can be helpful, most of the time it's annoying and sometimes it can even be quite harmful.
Now, there are settings you can make that you never AA unless you click or attack move, but the problem is that it takes away your ability to stand still and attack targets that come into range AS they come into range. The most important of these being wards.
Placing yourself out of range of the minions but in AA range of wards can net you kills on them if your ADC is paying attention. And while one could argue this in itself is a bad mechanic, I find it interesting and either way it's a different argument overall.
The point is that there are reasons to not want to only attack targets that you choose in order to avoid issues with snaring and autos. A player shouldn't have to handicap themselves in order to avoid auto attacks instantly the moment you get snared.
So, I propose that there should be a change made to snares such that if you were moving when you were snared, unless it was towards a target that you had chosen to attack, when you get snared, it should act as if you pressed s and you shouldn't auto attack. Now, if you were standing still when you got snared and hadn't pressed s, you should auto attack naturally if a target comes close.
Essentially what I want to change is that if you are snared in the act of attacking or when capable of attacking were a target to appear, you should continue to attack. But, if you were not in a position that if a target came in range you would attack, such as if you were moving, then if you are snared you shouldn't start auto attacking.
Now, there are settings you can make that you never AA unless you click or attack move, but the problem is that it takes away your ability to stand still and attack targets that come into range AS they come into range. The most important of these being wards.
Placing yourself out of range of the minions but in AA range of wards can net you kills on them if your ADC is paying attention. And while one could argue this in itself is a bad mechanic, I find it interesting and either way it's a different argument overall.
The point is that there are reasons to not want to only attack targets that you choose in order to avoid issues with snaring and autos. A player shouldn't have to handicap themselves in order to avoid auto attacks instantly the moment you get snared.
So, I propose that there should be a change made to snares such that if you were moving when you were snared, unless it was towards a target that you had chosen to attack, when you get snared, it should act as if you pressed s and you shouldn't auto attack. Now, if you were standing still when you got snared and hadn't pressed s, you should auto attack naturally if a target comes close.
Essentially what I want to change is that if you are snared in the act of attacking or when capable of attacking were a target to appear, you should continue to attack. But, if you were not in a position that if a target came in range you would attack, such as if you were moving, then if you are snared you shouldn't start auto attacking.
Friday, April 12, 2013
PSA On Balance
There are a few things that I would like to clear up for people in regards to champion balance.
1. Just because a champion has a low, or high, winrate at a certain ELO does not mean that they need significant nerfs or buffs.
Yes, these trends tell us something about what the champion is capable of but they are NOT the be all end all.
Why is this?
Because their winning is not based on just themselves. It is not even based on who is on their team alone. It is based on so much more including player skill, the other team comp, luck, and plenty of other variables that would take far too long to list.
Why is this important?
Because when you look at champion balance through the lens of only ONE variable, you will inevitably make mistakes when you judge their strength. You need to look at them in terms of a team, in terms of the other team, in terms of long games and short games. You need to look at them from many different angles, which just looking at a winrate most certainly does not do.
2. Just because a champion isn't use much does not mean they need buffs and just because a champion is used a lot does not mean they need nerfs.
This goes back to a lot of reasons that I explained for the winrate but it also has explanations of it's own.
A champion few people play can quite easily just be boring, hard to handle, misunderstood or high risk/high rewards. It does not necessarily need to be underpowered, it can be any of these other things or more.
A champion many play could be safe, easy or fun. It doesn't Have to be OP if it's played a lot.
It comes down again to having many variables.
1. Just because a champion has a low, or high, winrate at a certain ELO does not mean that they need significant nerfs or buffs.
Yes, these trends tell us something about what the champion is capable of but they are NOT the be all end all.
Why is this?
Because their winning is not based on just themselves. It is not even based on who is on their team alone. It is based on so much more including player skill, the other team comp, luck, and plenty of other variables that would take far too long to list.
Why is this important?
Because when you look at champion balance through the lens of only ONE variable, you will inevitably make mistakes when you judge their strength. You need to look at them in terms of a team, in terms of the other team, in terms of long games and short games. You need to look at them from many different angles, which just looking at a winrate most certainly does not do.
2. Just because a champion isn't use much does not mean they need buffs and just because a champion is used a lot does not mean they need nerfs.
This goes back to a lot of reasons that I explained for the winrate but it also has explanations of it's own.
A champion few people play can quite easily just be boring, hard to handle, misunderstood or high risk/high rewards. It does not necessarily need to be underpowered, it can be any of these other things or more.
A champion many play could be safe, easy or fun. It doesn't Have to be OP if it's played a lot.
It comes down again to having many variables.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Ezreal - QoL + AP Viability
Lots of people like Ezreal. He's a fun champion with skill shots and an interesting poke/burst playstyle while you lane. But he's seen the nerf bat quite a bit recently and it's left him in a bit of a pinch on the AD side. As for AP, it's never been quite right for as long as I've been playing LoL.
So, I have two possible changes in mind on how to change Ezreal to make his ADC role a little less post nerf lackluster and make AP Ezreal a little more viable.
1. Make Ezreal's W, Essence Flux, hit minions as well as champions.
Now, this seems like a slightly insignificant buff for AD Ezreal, but in reality this can be Quite a big change because of his passive. By making Essence Flux hit minions, with one spell he can go from 0 stacks of his passive attack speed to maximum stacks of 5. That means that he'll have more on demand attack speed without needing to use his ult like many of the other ADCs (Graves, Trist, Draven, MF, etc).
For AP Ezreal this will be a massive change. He'll be able to actually wave clear and push back against champions that would otherwise shove him under turret and make him lose cs/let them roam with ease.
Now, for the sake of balance, a few different adjustments could be done with this change. For instance there could be a diminishing damage component to Essence Flux per target hit such as with Sivir and Cait's Qs. Or Essence Flux could have a cap of 1-2 stacks of his passive from minions to avoid early game attack speed problems (Possibly make it 1 per rank so at max rank hitting a wave stacks it to 5 but at rank 1 it's only 1 for the minions and 1 per champ).
2. Give Ezreal's E a slight change so that it targets champions over minions within a certain radius.
Now I know that Ezreal was meant to be a skill shot champion and that's his shtick, but this change could be really nice for AP Ezreal in general and early-mid game AD Ezreal for his burst.
I'm not saying that if he Es in anywhere remotely close to a champion the bolt should home in on them, only that within a certain range, perhaps the size of Rivan's W, her stun, if there is a champion in that radius that the bolt will hit them and not the creeps that he/she's hugging.
Essentially this change will make AD Ezreal's laning a little more solid early on (Which it should be considering his late game isn't the bee's knees) and it will give AP Ezreal more of a chance to properly land his E in lane where now the enemy can simply sit next to some minions and avoid a good number of them without much thought.
So, I have two possible changes in mind on how to change Ezreal to make his ADC role a little less post nerf lackluster and make AP Ezreal a little more viable.
1. Make Ezreal's W, Essence Flux, hit minions as well as champions.
Now, this seems like a slightly insignificant buff for AD Ezreal, but in reality this can be Quite a big change because of his passive. By making Essence Flux hit minions, with one spell he can go from 0 stacks of his passive attack speed to maximum stacks of 5. That means that he'll have more on demand attack speed without needing to use his ult like many of the other ADCs (Graves, Trist, Draven, MF, etc).
For AP Ezreal this will be a massive change. He'll be able to actually wave clear and push back against champions that would otherwise shove him under turret and make him lose cs/let them roam with ease.
Now, for the sake of balance, a few different adjustments could be done with this change. For instance there could be a diminishing damage component to Essence Flux per target hit such as with Sivir and Cait's Qs. Or Essence Flux could have a cap of 1-2 stacks of his passive from minions to avoid early game attack speed problems (Possibly make it 1 per rank so at max rank hitting a wave stacks it to 5 but at rank 1 it's only 1 for the minions and 1 per champ).
2. Give Ezreal's E a slight change so that it targets champions over minions within a certain radius.
Now I know that Ezreal was meant to be a skill shot champion and that's his shtick, but this change could be really nice for AP Ezreal in general and early-mid game AD Ezreal for his burst.
I'm not saying that if he Es in anywhere remotely close to a champion the bolt should home in on them, only that within a certain range, perhaps the size of Rivan's W, her stun, if there is a champion in that radius that the bolt will hit them and not the creeps that he/she's hugging.
Essentially this change will make AD Ezreal's laning a little more solid early on (Which it should be considering his late game isn't the bee's knees) and it will give AP Ezreal more of a chance to properly land his E in lane where now the enemy can simply sit next to some minions and avoid a good number of them without much thought.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
A Lane Worth Ganking For
This is the song A Girl Worth Fighting For from Mulan with new lyrics inspired by jungle Xin. Enjoy.
For a long time I've been
farming in the jungle.
Wanna early gank
top but they have a Rumble.
Like the pounding beat
my aching feet aren't
easy to ignore.
Hey, think of instead
A lane worth ganking for.
I want them to have crowd
control, with damage
uncompared.
My team will marvel at
my strength, I have them
running scared.
I couldn't care less what they'll
say or what they look like.
It all depends on what
they ward like.
Tri, blue, river.
Mmm
Bet the local girls thought
you were quite the jungler.
And I'll bet the ladies love
a man in armor.
You can guess what we have missed the most
Since we went off to farm.
What do we want?
A lane worth ganking for.
My team will think I have no faults,
That I'm a major pro.
How 'bout a team who's got the brains
Whose always good to go?
Yeah!
My manly ways and turn of
phrase are sure to thrill them.
He thinks he's such a solo que gem.
I've a team back home who's
unlike any other.
Yeah, the only team who'd
take him is his mother's.
But when we come home
in victory they'll line up
in the fray.
What do we want?
A lane worth ganking for.
Wish that I had
A lane worth ganking for.
A lane worth ganking-
For a long time I've been
farming in the jungle.
Wanna early gank
top but they have a Rumble.
Like the pounding beat
my aching feet aren't
easy to ignore.
Hey, think of instead
A lane worth ganking for.
I want them to have crowd
control, with damage
uncompared.
My team will marvel at
my strength, I have them
running scared.
I couldn't care less what they'll
say or what they look like.
It all depends on what
they ward like.
Tri, blue, river.
Mmm
Bet the local girls thought
you were quite the jungler.
And I'll bet the ladies love
a man in armor.
You can guess what we have missed the most
Since we went off to farm.
What do we want?
A lane worth ganking for.
My team will think I have no faults,
That I'm a major pro.
How 'bout a team who's got the brains
Whose always good to go?
Yeah!
My manly ways and turn of
phrase are sure to thrill them.
He thinks he's such a solo que gem.
I've a team back home who's
unlike any other.
Yeah, the only team who'd
take him is his mother's.
But when we come home
in victory they'll line up
in the fray.
What do we want?
A lane worth ganking for.
Wish that I had
A lane worth ganking for.
A lane worth ganking-
Communicating With Your ADC
Being the support for bot lane is kind of like being in a relationship. You help each other out. You have each other's backs. When one of you is in trouble the other tries to get you out of it if they aren't in too much trouble themselves. You celebrate your victories and are sad about each others defeats.
And what is the most important part of a relationship to keep it strong and healthy?
Communication.
People aren't mind readers. Sometimes things should be obvious, but we've all made the mistake of assuming the other person knows what's going on when they don't. You need to talk with your partner, you need to let him know what's going on.
If you want to lane very aggressively, tell your ADC that's the case! Don't just start going rambo when they think you're just going to make the lane a farm lane.
No, you can't type out every time you want to engage, but you can say at the start that you want to make plays and you can ping the target you want to kill. Pinging only takes a second but it can make all the difference in the lane.
Now, it's ok to go over what you've done wrong so you can avoid it in the future, but don't go about making your partner the bad guy. Talk about what both of you could have done better so that you can both work on your play and make the next engage a success.
Focus on keeping each other strong, don't tear each other down. No game is ever lost. You can always come back. Believe in yourself and in your partner that you can get through your game.
And what is the most important part of a relationship to keep it strong and healthy?
Communication.
People aren't mind readers. Sometimes things should be obvious, but we've all made the mistake of assuming the other person knows what's going on when they don't. You need to talk with your partner, you need to let him know what's going on.
If you want to lane very aggressively, tell your ADC that's the case! Don't just start going rambo when they think you're just going to make the lane a farm lane.
No, you can't type out every time you want to engage, but you can say at the start that you want to make plays and you can ping the target you want to kill. Pinging only takes a second but it can make all the difference in the lane.
Now, it's ok to go over what you've done wrong so you can avoid it in the future, but don't go about making your partner the bad guy. Talk about what both of you could have done better so that you can both work on your play and make the next engage a success.
Focus on keeping each other strong, don't tear each other down. No game is ever lost. You can always come back. Believe in yourself and in your partner that you can get through your game.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
The 10 Laws of League
1. Never help anyone if it puts your life at risk, they will live, would have lived, and you will die.
2. Never antagonize the enemy jungler. He will camp you.
3. If you have a ward and don't use it, you will get ganked.
4. If you safely ward all entrances to your lane, the jungler will not even come close to it, whether they know about your wards or not.
5. If you ward with your laner close, the jungler will be in the bush you ward and will kill you as you place it.
6. The last tick of ignite always kills you.
7. Learn to support you'll have to do it. Never main support it'll always be taken.
8. If you're not sure if you should Ult/Ignite/Item, do it, because if you don't, they won't die.
9. If you try and give your carry a kill, they won't die.
10. If you try and secure a kill for your team, your carry would have killed them.
2. Never antagonize the enemy jungler. He will camp you.
3. If you have a ward and don't use it, you will get ganked.
4. If you safely ward all entrances to your lane, the jungler will not even come close to it, whether they know about your wards or not.
5. If you ward with your laner close, the jungler will be in the bush you ward and will kill you as you place it.
6. The last tick of ignite always kills you.
7. Learn to support you'll have to do it. Never main support it'll always be taken.
8. If you're not sure if you should Ult/Ignite/Item, do it, because if you don't, they won't die.
9. If you try and give your carry a kill, they won't die.
10. If you try and secure a kill for your team, your carry would have killed them.
Nidalee - Cougar Form
Whether or not you think Nidalee is a dumb champion. Whether or not you think she should be deleted from the league or played all the time. I believe that we can all agree that her cougar form abilities, w and e are really annoying to use.
When I say w and e, I speak of Pounce and Swipe. They both have nothing to do with mouse placement and everything to do with champion positioning. And while this is a mechanic that adds challenge to Nidalee, I find it does so in a frustrating and pointless way.
It doesn't make Nidalee harder as a champion by forcing you to outplay your opponent or think ahead of them, it does so in a way which forces you to cope with game mechanics and things like minion pathing. Now making the game easier shouldn't necessarily be a goal for LoL because challenge makes the game more interesting, but we shouldn't do it in such a way that the challenge comes from having to deal with ugly mechanics.
In the interest of making these changes I suggest that at the very least we should change Pounce to how it works with Rivan's Q, Broken Wings, in that if your mouse is hovering over an enemy target, you Pounce towards that target and not in the direction you're facing. At most we should be able to actually have her choose where she leaps to, similar to Graves' quickdraw.
Swipe should get similar treatment to Cho's cone silence. You should be able position your mouse and use it in the direction you choose. You shouldn't be at the mercy of creep blocks etc when using your abilities directionally.
When I say w and e, I speak of Pounce and Swipe. They both have nothing to do with mouse placement and everything to do with champion positioning. And while this is a mechanic that adds challenge to Nidalee, I find it does so in a frustrating and pointless way.
It doesn't make Nidalee harder as a champion by forcing you to outplay your opponent or think ahead of them, it does so in a way which forces you to cope with game mechanics and things like minion pathing. Now making the game easier shouldn't necessarily be a goal for LoL because challenge makes the game more interesting, but we shouldn't do it in such a way that the challenge comes from having to deal with ugly mechanics.
In the interest of making these changes I suggest that at the very least we should change Pounce to how it works with Rivan's Q, Broken Wings, in that if your mouse is hovering over an enemy target, you Pounce towards that target and not in the direction you're facing. At most we should be able to actually have her choose where she leaps to, similar to Graves' quickdraw.
Swipe should get similar treatment to Cho's cone silence. You should be able position your mouse and use it in the direction you choose. You shouldn't be at the mercy of creep blocks etc when using your abilities directionally.
Pure AD Caster Spell Vamp
I find it interesting that while Riot has said they want to make AD caster items more prevalent they have neglected to add an item into the game which allows pure AD casters to get spell vamp without lots of wasted statistics.
This isn't to say that AD casters aren't doing well, they certainly are. However, in the interest of making sure that the game holds varied and interesting options in how to build, making items with AD and spell vamp without AP would be a big step towards this goal.
At the moment, all spell vamp itemization in LoL comes from the hextech revolver which has AP. There is no item which you can buy to get spell vamp on it's own or with AD. The only sustain that comes from AD items is lifesteal.
Now, while lifesteal can be useful for AD casters, especially those who do use a good amount of AAs, I believe that AD casters should have the option to get spell vamp without having to get a revolver at some point. In other words, there should be a more pure form of spell vamp, or at the very least an option to get it with AD instead of AP.
If this required some sort of nerf to kits or other AD caster items, I believe this would be a necessary step in order to make the game more dynamic, more changeable and altogether more situationally dependent. In other words, it would help to shake up the common build paths and open up more options to fit different situations.
This isn't to say that AD casters aren't doing well, they certainly are. However, in the interest of making sure that the game holds varied and interesting options in how to build, making items with AD and spell vamp without AP would be a big step towards this goal.
At the moment, all spell vamp itemization in LoL comes from the hextech revolver which has AP. There is no item which you can buy to get spell vamp on it's own or with AD. The only sustain that comes from AD items is lifesteal.
Now, while lifesteal can be useful for AD casters, especially those who do use a good amount of AAs, I believe that AD casters should have the option to get spell vamp without having to get a revolver at some point. In other words, there should be a more pure form of spell vamp, or at the very least an option to get it with AD instead of AP.
If this required some sort of nerf to kits or other AD caster items, I believe this would be a necessary step in order to make the game more dynamic, more changeable and altogether more situationally dependent. In other words, it would help to shake up the common build paths and open up more options to fit different situations.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Alternative Rumble Change
I realize it's a tad late to be messing with Rumble since they just changed his ult to give him less laning presence, but I think that there was a much better route that Riot could have gone with in changing him. And this is to move the damage Rumble does with his q more towards his e, or for those with different keybinds, away from his flamespitter and into his harpoons.
Now there are a few clear advantages to this change.
1. Ups the skill cap on the champion, making it more of a challenge to bring out his potential damage by forcing him to land his skill shots.
2. It makes laning against and with Rumble more of a active experience with more focus on dodging actual skillshots instead of simple positioning to avoid the constant aoe flamespitter.
3. It lowers Rumbles scary harass/pushing combination while still giving him the opportunity to outplay his opponent and do some serious damage.
4. It opens up more options for skill leveling which I believe that Riot likes. Essentially it rewards you for playing well and lets you opt in for a more risky spell to max first if you're looking to reap the rewards of higher damage.
I believe that this change is better than the change to his ult because it fixes not only the problem of Rumble's laning phase but it also makes playing him and landing your harpoons more satisfying as a whole.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Master Yi and Alpha Strike
Most everyone has had to lane against an AP Yi at some point. If you hadn't, well, you're a lucky son of a gun (or you never play mid). His mechanics are annoying, his sustain is monstrous, he has pretty huge wave clear and he's simply annoying to lane against.
Sure, unless he gets huge and has at the very least a DFG and a Lich Bane he'll never one shot anyone like plenty of burst mages but his mechanics make him, in my opinion, problematic.
Now, I don't believe that AP Yi in his current state is overpowered. After the nerf to his heal he can no longer tank massive damage after CC CDs are down. It's still incredibly strong but he can't actively negate almost an entire team's damage.
No, my problem with AP Yi, which has been an issue for as long as I've known the champion, now is the fact that his alpha strike strikes random targets.
Now this is primarily an annoyance to those who have to lane against Yi, but it can also bug a Yi player depending on the RNG (Random Number Generator, i.e. luck/chance in a game). A player can be far away from a full wave of minions and still get hit by Alpha Strike. A player can also be right in the middle of a minion wave and Alpha can miss them entirely.
My suggestion is that Alpha Strike should hit targets based on proximity, not random chance. This means that a smart Yi player can wait until the minion wave is down to three to make sure that they nail the laning opponent or they can put themselves in a more dangerous position by choosing to alpha strike minions deeper in the lane and closer to the enemy champion.
It essentially makes play with AP Yi more active and less passive on both sides. It makes the laning phase more about positioning, paying attention and skill than just about luck.
Sure, unless he gets huge and has at the very least a DFG and a Lich Bane he'll never one shot anyone like plenty of burst mages but his mechanics make him, in my opinion, problematic.
Now, I don't believe that AP Yi in his current state is overpowered. After the nerf to his heal he can no longer tank massive damage after CC CDs are down. It's still incredibly strong but he can't actively negate almost an entire team's damage.
No, my problem with AP Yi, which has been an issue for as long as I've known the champion, now is the fact that his alpha strike strikes random targets.
Now this is primarily an annoyance to those who have to lane against Yi, but it can also bug a Yi player depending on the RNG (Random Number Generator, i.e. luck/chance in a game). A player can be far away from a full wave of minions and still get hit by Alpha Strike. A player can also be right in the middle of a minion wave and Alpha can miss them entirely.
My suggestion is that Alpha Strike should hit targets based on proximity, not random chance. This means that a smart Yi player can wait until the minion wave is down to three to make sure that they nail the laning opponent or they can put themselves in a more dangerous position by choosing to alpha strike minions deeper in the lane and closer to the enemy champion.
It essentially makes play with AP Yi more active and less passive on both sides. It makes the laning phase more about positioning, paying attention and skill than just about luck.
Intro
Hey everyone, Harook here.
Since I have so many opinions about LoL that I share generously with my friends, I figure why not share them generously with the rest of the world.
My blogs will have everything from changes that I personally would make to help balance LoL to my opinions on champions in general and their viability in different roles.
I hope you all enjoy what I write and think about it as well!
Since I have so many opinions about LoL that I share generously with my friends, I figure why not share them generously with the rest of the world.
My blogs will have everything from changes that I personally would make to help balance LoL to my opinions on champions in general and their viability in different roles.
I hope you all enjoy what I write and think about it as well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)