League of Legends Thread XVI -Double International Salt Mine Edition-

[Ryuu]

just you wait

the non-taric champion is going to be malphite

"Some legends even go so far as to claim the Mountain itself is a sleeping titan of antiquity."

itshappening,gif

[Raikaria]

So... Shadow Isles, Freljord, Shurima, Bilgewater and now Mt.Targon.

What's left? Aside from the three big city-states, I mean.

Kumungu Jungle
Bandle City
The Void
Misc. champions that are homeless now that the league doesn't exist (Jax, Lee Sin, etc)

Those are off the top of my head.

Also I am really enjoying the new Targon lore!  :*

Piltover.

Also the jungle is literally only mentioned in 1 champion's lore [Nidalee] although Rengar probobly lives there too [And Gnar has probobly at least been there]

just you wait

the non-taric champion is going to be malphite

"Some legends even go so far as to claim the Mountain itself is a sleeping titan of antiquity."

itshappening,gif

Could be Malphite but the fact Riot have said multiple times 'Taric is next for relaunch' and 'Taric is almost done' a lot...

[Bardiche]

It bothers me that Pantheon's lore talks about his "crimson cape", but it's clearly blue. (And his shield is hardly golden, but whatever.)

[triangles]

Perhaps that means it's ~visual update~ time?

Really curious how the next Taric's gonna wind up.  Doubt I'll play him (BARD BARD BARD BARD) but I know MJP's a big fan when he's on support.

[Ryuu]

Could be Malphite but the fact Riot have said multiple times 'Taric is next for relaunch' and 'Taric is almost done' a lot...

it would just be a lore alteration for malphite tho so there's no need for the rework team to be involved

[triangles]

yup spirit animal found.  I managed to 1v1 the Jax from pretty much full health thanks to my ult and some Q stuns.
Now can I climb out of my inevitable Wood 5 placement with Bard I wonder. 

Also people here in scrubtown have no idea what crazy damage CDR/armor pen Urgot can do (or let's be real, what Urgot even does in the first place) it's hilarious.

[Bardiche]

(or let's be real, what Urgot even does in the first place)

I was Plat 1 last season, Plat III right now and to be honest, even I hardly know what Urgot even does. I have a vague understanding but need to look up his exact skills to know what he does.


I would've gotten away with a 0 deaths ARAM game if fucking Tristana/Shen hadn't delayed me long enough for Anivia and Vayne to come kill me. ; ;

[Mr. Sacchi]

am i the only one that knows what urgot does from the top of my head

altho I am kind of a lol nerd even if I don't play that much anymore

[Monarda]

Even i know how Urgot works, and i ended up on Silver I with 6 frustated attempts at Gold. :V

[Bardiche]

Jhin is a glorious champion, because I can shoot people with my ult and then remark, "That was a Jhinous shot", and "I found my E placement rather inJhinious".

Most fun ADC imo, it's so much fun going all-in level 1 and suddenly, half their HP is gone.

[Raikaria]

Aurelion Sol is on the PBE.

So are 4 new April Fool's skins:
- Meowkai [1350; also Maokai getting ANOTHER event skin surprise surprise]
- Draven Draven [It's Draven wearing a giant cartoonish Draven head]
- Definitely Not Vel'Koz
- Urf Kench

Also Draven minions, Definitely Not a Ward; and some pretty large balance changes includeing:


Prowl (Passive) Triggering a hunt on a neutral monster no longer roots it for 2 seconds.

Seems Riot have decided to kill off Jungle Nidalee. Or at least break it's legs. Especially against Scuttle.

Also Zz'rot will have Ward HP that regens out of combat. Good news for all those tanks and supports trying to kill one. Bad news for Graves.

Also two Shyvana nerfs for reason. Includeing removing Burnout's extra damage to monsters.

Also it seems that Riot Games is finally going to live up to their name:

http://www.radiant-entertainment.com/

As for Rising Thunder, the team will start work on a new game that we?re incredibly excited about. We wish we could say more now, but rest assured you?ll hear more when the time is right. For now, we will be permanently closing Rising Thunder on March 18th. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Alpha!

Riot's working on a new game confirmed.

[Monarda]

Also two Shyvana nerfs for reason. Including removing Burnout's extra damage to monsters.

Yeouch, my Shyvana....
What's the second one?

[Bardiche]

Also two Shyvana nerfs for reason. Includeing removing Burnout's extra damage to monsters.

She had the highest jungle winrate after Udyr and could reasonably get a fully stacked devourer at 13 minutes.

[hyorinryu]

Rising Thunder looked intereseting. I'd be willing to play a version with league characters.

[Monarda]

She had the highest jungle winrate after Udyr and could reasonably get a fully stacked devourer at 13 minutes.

Well, it's cause her synergy with Devourer is HUGE, all her skills are benefitted from the atk. speed boost, the extra hit count makes it that her E-AAs deal 5% of the enemy's max HP, along with making AAs reduce the Q's CD by 1 sec each, and the E thing also applies to the Q, allowing it to deal 10% max HP extra damage, combine that with Fervor of Battle, a BotRK or even a Guinsoo (it looks like it works, at least worked for that guy). Not mentioning W's mechanics cause i can't remember.

I hope this is understandable.

[Raikaria]

Yeah but it did come out of left field. I've not seen a Shyvana in ages.

And yeah she synergises with Sated well. Dosen't change her ease of being kited and almost complete lack of C.C.

Yeouch, my Shyvana....
What's the second one?

2nd one is a Q nerf.

Twin Bite (Q) second hit's % of AD bonus physical damage lowered to 40/55/70/85/100% from 80/85/90/95/100%

That's a pretty big early rank nerf.

Also:

Kalista

    Attack speed growth reduced to 2.5 from 3
    Base attack speed changed to 0.644  from 0.694
    Sentinel (W)
        [new mechanic] Kalista now gains [9 + 1 % per level] attack speed when near her Oathsworn.
        Active's lap reduced to 3 from 7.

tl;dr: If Kalista hops too far away from her Oathsworn doing her 'should not exist in the game' infinite kite then she'll start hopping slower. Also less free vision.

Also:

Fate's Call (R) range  to cast ability lowered to 1000 from 1400

I approve of any and all Kalista nerfs. Especially seeing as she's #1 on my list of champions to be removed from the game. Above the likes of Shaco/Teemo/Fizz. She's broken by design and is probobly the most broken release/concept since Thresh. [And would you look at who made both...] Thresh was pick or ban status for literally years after release during which he got constant nerfs. Kalista is going the same way.

[NekoNekoRex]

I'd rather see Yasuo removed before I see Kalista gone. Overpowered champ by design, kit far too overloaded.

[Iryan]

I'd still like for them to remove (or at least drastically change) Ryze. And what's this, he, too, is "overloaded".  BV


Meanwhile, I will need to try out the Soraka changes. I somewhat see why they made them and how they would positively affect the problematic patterns associated with old 'raka, but it looks to me like she will be not very fun to play as OR against right now. Since the low cd and cost of Q means you just spam spam spam, especially since 1. you no longer get a bonus for hitting Q dead-on and 2. you no longer get additional healing for hitting multiple enemies. So the skill has become a lot more braindead and less satisfying, despite the added complexity of the Rejuvenation mechanic. And the way the movespeed bonus from that works, she is still gonna be bad at chasing. Then again, maybe the fact that the entire Q slows and not just the center will undo some of the damage that the range nerf has done in that regard. Hrm...

[Widermelonz]

I hope they tone down Nid some more, she does too much of everything right now. Same with Gragas.

[Raikaria]

I'd rather see Yasuo removed before I see Kalista gone. Overpowered champ by design, kit far too overloaded.

Yasuo isn't overpowered by design however. That's why in his current state he's actually really weak and not a competitive pick. It's also why release Yasuo was complete garbage to the point that Riot probobly gave him the largest single buff to an ability ever [Hey Yasuo; let's have your R fully reset your flow; thus effectively giving you a FREE LULU R worth of HP]. Which led to multiple nerfs to his maximum flow ect because that buff was what broke him. To be broken by design you have to have a kit that regardless of number nerfs is still broken; unless the numbers are nerfed to an absurdly low level [Obviously if you make a damage ability deal 0 damage the champion's not broken]. I wouldn't call Yasuo's numbers absurdly low. Especially given his free crits.

Contrast Kalista who is 90%+ pick ban in Korea even after all her nerfs and is basically immune to a massive portion of the cast because she can either infinitely kite them or dodge their skillshots effortlessly. Sure Yasuo has Windwall; but that's stationary; and has a duration far shorter than it's cooldown. Kalista's 'Screw you' function is a passive with no cooldown at all.

The fact she can say 'screw you' if you catch her support out too is just icing on the cake.

It's as I have said before back when they gave Kalista the slap-on-the-wrist 'your autoattacks have a 0.9 ratio'. In her current state you could make Kalista's basic attacks deal 0 damage and she would still be stupid. [She lasthits with Rend; and since she has infinite kiting she just needs Runnans BotRK along with Rend to still win 1v1 against most characters] When you can say 'you can make a marksman's autoattacks deal 0 damage and they'd still probobly work' you KNOW they're broken by design.

The only counter to Kalista is targeted abilities with equal or greater range than her autoattacks [Less range and you'll never get in range without Flash/really high movespeed] or jumping on her and taking her by surprise before she can kite [EG: What assassins are supposed to do so it can hardly be called a counter specifically to Kalista when it applies to every champion of the marksman archetype]

And it's not like Kalista's kit isn't overloaded. Fate's Call; Sentinel gives % damage; vision; and stops supports stealing lasthits; Rend is just outright broken as is Martial Poise [And combined they should have never got past QC] and her Q is technically a short dash as well as long-range poke with a situational nuke enabler.

Edit:

Lulu

    Whimsy (W) AP ratio reduced to 5% per 100 AP from 10% per 100 AP.
    Wild Growth (R) bonus health lowered to 200/350/500 from 300/450/600

Riot seems to be gutting Lulu. And for crying out loud Riot; if you want to kill Lane Lulu and return her to being a support; which she's easily on the weaker end of as it is right now; you nerf the Ratio; not the Base. A 33% nerf to Rank 1 R might make her outright unplayable as support.

Also Nidalee's monster root is moved to her traps.

And this:


Maokai

    Magic resist increased to 32.1 from 30.
    MR per level increased to 1.25 from 0
    Sapling Toss (E) Sapling duration increased to 40/45/50/55/60 seconds from 35 seconds.

Mr/Level for Maokai at last? He didn't have any because his passive+R basically shut out mages if he had MR/Level... so I'm looking forward to this buff... Also isn't he the first champion to not have 30 base MR if this goes through? Also Maokai suddenly changes from being of the melees the weakest to magic damage to being the champion in the game strongest against it.

[Bardiche]

I'd still like for them to remove (or at least drastically change) Ryze. And what's this, he, too, is "overloaded".  BV


Meanwhile, I will need to try out the Soraka changes. I somewhat see why they made them and how they would positively affect the problematic patterns associated with old 'raka, but it looks to me like she will be not very fun to play as OR against right now.

She was fun to play when I ran her in Plat 3 Ranked. I bullied Corki and Thresh out of lane by myself by just mercilessly spamming my Q... and by level 4, I was still full on Mana and hadn't needed to heal Ezreal even once, because Corki and Thresh didn't dare approach him due to the endless starcallings.

The new Q mechanic is actually FUCKING AWESOME on Soraka, since you now not only heal your ADC after you land Q, you also help them get away from enemies and improve their kiting ability. That's pretty damn huge and it makes Soraka much better during teamfights (not to mention your Q is more readily available). I definitely enjoyed her laning pattern and teamfight pattern a lot more, especially since I now have something to fish for (Q spam!).

I think Soraka's going to see a bit more play and will be stronger after these changes, but who can say? I'm mostly a Janna player when I Support (and given that I queue Fill...), but perhaps a Soraka main can tell us more.


I think J4 is the real winner of the patch, though, and I've seen him come back a lot. The shield CD reduction's done wonders for his in-lane duelling power, though I still manage to beat them with Shen Top, who's a lane bully anyway.

... To be honest, nearly every champion is a lane bully to me, but that's probably an issue with playstyle... still, incredibly satisfying to taunt enemies in the middle of your creep wave.

[Iryan]

Lulu

    Whimsy (W) AP ratio reduced to 5% per 100 AP from 10% per 100 AP.
    Wild Growth (R) bonus health lowered to 200/350/500 from 300/450/600

Riot seems to be gutting Lulu. And for crying out loud Riot; if you want to kill Lane Lulu and return her to being a support; which she's easily on the weaker end of as it is right now; you nerf the Ratio; not the Base. A 33% nerf to Rank 1 R might make her outright unplayable as support.

Jesus christ not again. Why. Why do they keep nerfing Lulu. Is she still an oppressive esports pick as a sololaner? Because her lolking stats don't look imbalanced at all.

For me, Lulu is the mid (or more rarely) top pick I make to counter assassins and in general folks (preferrably melee) who would like to jump on and murder the long-range mages I would otherwise like to play there. As well as one of my support picks, of course. I guess if you MUST nerf her, the AP-ratio of the whimsy movespeed is probably a good thing to target, since her global mobility is very strong with that. Then again, that is one of the things I really like about her current iteration, but eh...
I do not understand the nerf to her ult base though.

[Raikaria]

Jesus christ not again. Why. Why do they keep nerfing Lulu. Is she still an oppressive esports pick as a sololaner? Because her lolking stats don't look imbalanced at all.

For me, Lulu is the mid (or more rarely) top pick I make to counter assassins and in general folks (preferrably melee) who would like to jump on and murder the long-range mages I would otherwise like to play there. As well as one of my support picks, of course. I guess if you MUST nerf her, the AP-ratio of the whimsy movespeed is probably a good thing to target, since her global mobility is very strong with that. Then again, that is one of the things I really like about her current iteration, but eh...
I do not understand the nerf to her ult base though.

Yep.

Which is why I didn't complain about the AP ratio nerf. I can see that being fine. That's a nerf that doesn't neuter Support Lulu anymore than it's already been neutered as a result of solo lane Lulu. I complained about the base R nerf, which will probobly make Support Lulu unplayable [She's already a weak support; giving her R a 33% nerf at Rank 1 will kill Support Lulu.]

I mean for crying out loud Rank 1 Raka R is a global 150 HP heal [Not HP boost] which increases in effect on low HP targets. Lulu R rank 1 is going to be a 200HP boost which is single target and has a limited cast range...

You want to nerf Lulu's R to keep her out of solo lanes? Hit the AP ratio. Not the base. Hitting the base hurts the role she was designed for and is honestly underpowered in right now more than it hurts the role she wasn't designed for and is too strong in. Hell; if you want to put a nail in solo lane Lulu's coffin for good; REMOVE the AP ratio. Support Lulu will hardly care. Especially if you buff the base R somewhat to compensate [Not much; by like; 50, or even 25 to cancel out the 50 AP * 0.5 ratio from Frost Queen]

Seeing a nerf that hurts Support Lulu more than Solo Lane Lulu makes me mad.

The hilarious thing is if after this nerf you max E your E at Lv 7 will give the same amount of HP in shields as your Rank 1 R [200]; with a lower C/D and a higher ratio [0.6 vs 0.5]. Lulu's E is better from a raw HP standpoint than her Rank 1 R at lv 7->11 with this nerf.

[Mr. Sacchi]

I don't remember Lulu's E having an aoe knockup and a constant slow.

And high bases and small scaling means that she's stronger early game and weak later, regardless of her role. It doesn't matter if your scaling sucks if your bases are so large you can just swing your numbers into your opponent's face early game and win the game before your lack of scaling hurts you. And pros don't tend to have problems closing out games.

[Bardiche]

Lane Lulu'd die an untimely death if you made her Q do less damage against minions, f'rinstance.

[Ryuu]

Lane Lulu'd die an untimely death

good

[Raikaria]

Lane Lulu'd die an untimely death if you made her Q do less damage against minions, f'rinstance.

Well that didn't stop Riot from killing Lane Janna/Soraka. Or Jungle Alistar.

And I'd say solo lane Lulu is even more unfun and unbalanceable than those were [except maybe Jungle Cow]

[Suikama]

dig pls

[Raikaria]

dig pls

I know they have evolved beyond throwing at Baron at least.

Also the barrel in the shopkeeper's shop now has Taric's hammer in it on the PBE.

[Bardiche]

Lolskill now lists me as the #935 Karma in the world, AMA.