Boards›Dev Corner

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: March 27

RiotMeddler·3/27/2019, 4:00:28 PM·1 votes·150,116 views

Hi folks,

Usual Disclaimers

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get delayed or even stopped. If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler

Some context on 9.7 balance changes

Thinking on where we're up to on various things:

  • Kayle - Looking to both bring down her overall power (she's just plain too strong in general) and increase her need to get items to be successful (she's too resilient to early/mid game failure right now)
  • Lissandra - We're hitting her Q CD, early game in particular, though a bit even when maxed. That's aimed at both her ability to shove lanes and to some degree her sustained damage later on.
  • Morgana - We held off on nerfs in 9.6 since it wasn't clear enough they were needed at the time. Pretty convinced they are necessary at this point though. Looking to bring her strength down more in mid than support, though both will be affected.
  • Sylas - Is just looking strong, with recent nerf not doing enough to bring him in line, particularly as player experience playing him continues to increase.

Things we looked at but aren't changing in 9.7

  • Aftershock - We'd like to make some changes to Aftershock and did explore some for 9.7. We've pulled those but plan to come back to it soon. Conclusion was we need a bit more testing time to nail down what approach is best. Something that became clear pretty quickly when assessing different options was that we didn't have a clearly enough defined and agreed on audience target (who uses it really well, who uses it moderately well, who shouldn't consider it as an option). That'll be one of our next steps as a result.
  • Vayne - At time of writing we're still debating whether or not we should hit Vayne in 9.7 though probably won't. Power wise our take is she's on the border of needing a nerf, but not clearly over it. Direction we'd look at first if nerfing would be bringing down her ult power somewhat.

A few tips for applying for game dev jobs

We recently advertised some design roles on LoL which were mentioned both here and on Twitter. Thanks to everyone who applied, we got a lot of people we're really excited to talk to from that process. One piece of follow up I wanted to touch on was a few suggestions for anyone looking apply for such jobs, whether at Riot or elsewhere in the industry.

  1. Have a cover letter. A good resume's helpful but won't necessarily help someone clearly identify what makes you stand out from other applicants. That's particularly important for entry level design roles that tend to get a lot of people applying (we got hundreds this time for example).

  2. Make sure your resume is concise and easy to read. Think in particular about whether everything on it really justifies the space it takes up or whether you'd rather trim out some secondary points so the reader focuses on the key things.

  3. Tailor your cover letter and resume to both the job you're applying for and the industry. If you're looking to get into games for example giving context on games hobby projects or clubs you've been involved in makes sense. A resume with a stated goal of 'become a successful biochemist' by contrast gives the impression you weren't interested enough in this particular role to adjust your documents for it. Biochemistry's a role we'd be open to but we're much less likely to talk to a candidate when it looks like they just recycled an old application for a different job.

  4. Show people game stuff you've worked on. Links to places people can examples of small games you've made, mods you've contributed to, your college's LoL club etc can make a real difference. Talking about those things in a cover letter helps, demonstrations of them are stronger again though.

http://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/6.24.1/img/champion/Ziggs.png

264 Comments

Tobykachu3/27/2019, 4:04:15 PM28 votes

Not nerfing aftershock but nerfing Sylas and Lissandra seems completely ludacris to me. These two, plus a few other champions Ryze, Thresh, Fiddlesticks etc., are only out of line when they take this rune and given that it's a little too strong in general makes me think it is time to take it down a peg or two.

As for Vayne, it's extremely frustrating that she is clearly the best ADC in the game, with no noticeable weak points not get nerfed because she's "not clearly over the line." You say the same thing about Riven, despite them both boasting a significantly higher win rate than what should be expected of mechanically difficult champions, whilst retaining some of the highest pick rates in the game, especially in Vayne's case.

Sir Rouge3/27/2019, 4:01:42 PM19 votes

Hello Meddler!

I would really like to get your input as to the W mechanic removal Syndra received a couple patches ago. You can see a video of the mechanic in the Syndra mains reddit.

The mechanic had been there for more than a year and was an important part of her combos. It was a pretty big hit on Syndra mains.

I made a detailed post on your Gameplay Thoughts of March 13th.

Tl dr, the proposed suggestion to somewhat offset the mechanic removal would be to increase her W1 range (W grab) on spheres only, while keeping her W2 range (W throw) the same.

Frosted Tips3/27/2019, 5:23:44 PM16 votes

Hey Meddler, any news on Karma? Just curious if anyone is looking into her still or if she is iced for now.

Also, any news on AP Fighter items or are those still iced? It is pretty obvious those items are needed since your most recent AP Fighter is running rampant.

Alpha JG Wins3/27/2019, 4:05:22 PM14 votes

Hey Meddler, Any thoughts about Amumu? The champion is really weak in plat+ elo and his power felt down really hard lately

Blu 13/27/2019, 5:00:23 PM12 votes

Vayne - At time of writing we're still debating whether or not we should hit Vayne in 9.7 though probably won't. Power wise our take is she's on the border of needing a nerf, **but not clearly over it. **

u high m8?

Bαrbαrossα3/27/2019, 6:29:44 PM9 votes

Hello Meddler!

Thoughts on Riven. In my opinion the champion requires a nerf. Especially because it seems to easy to stack conq on her and I guess everyone is going to say that Riven isn't so easy to play but since the conq change and the new item(spear of sojin), they are making her kind of very consistent in every perspective. I am a Diamond player and since I reached diamond every single game I am matched to her. I am not crying just to say "oh, always this Riven" but I think the champion has a strong kit and it synergises to well. I don't know much about balacing, but I see her more problematic, as soon as she hits lvl 6 and she easily just one shots you. Maybe take of some of her early damage I guess?

Have a nice day!

omnicron0073/27/2019, 7:42:44 PM9 votes

PLEASE REVERT Aatrox

D4M2X03/27/2019, 6:12:41 PM8 votes

thoughts on tank items being unviable to the point bruisers build full damage (while bruiser items continue to get buffed) while tanks are rarely picked, have a weak laning phase, have shitty items and fall off latgame?

thoughts on Lucian Vayne being pick/ban for months and occasionally ruining toplane?

Sad Robot Amumu3/27/2019, 4:19:46 PM8 votes

Good morning Meddler!

I'd like to hear your thoughts on support subclasses. I've noticed enchanters tend to top the winrate charts in solo queue, but pro play is almost entirely composed of tank supports. Is this seen as problematic or just a reflection of how pro vs solo queue is? If so, what would be some ideas on how to bridge the gap?

Frosted Tips3/27/2019, 4:53:13 PM8 votes

Why do you still believe that Phantoms Hits should be in the game? They have only caused imbalance since they were introduced with Sated Devourer and now they are destroying Guinsoo's. Maybe it is time to give up on them.

Dein Vorbild3/27/2019, 5:38:01 PM8 votes

Meddler can you pls explain why vayne is on the border for getting nerfs and morgana is over that border? if i look it up on op gg (i know your datas should be better for that) she looks way more dominant in her games

(i agree that morgana might be a tad too strong but still, why do you have different parameter for champion to deem them nerf worthy althought highskill champs should have a lower wr if they are popular)

Solari Fortune3/27/2019, 4:11:51 PM7 votes

Is there Concern Leona could benefit too much from the buff she is getting, cause if it goes through both her Q and E will be on a 3.3 sec CD at 45% CDR

WeirWulf3/27/2019, 5:14:46 PM7 votes

Any thoughts on this Video Phreak posted about base stats? Thought it was a pretty cool idea; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox6xqUiPXqg

Kumungu Affair3/27/2019, 4:30:53 PM6 votes

Hey Meddler, if you're planning on nerfing Vayne what are your thoughts on making her W- silver bolts only apply a stack on-attack rather than on-hit. This might make her less obscenely powerful with the rageblade spike.

Dodop3/28/2019, 8:08:24 AM5 votes

Hello Meddler, what about nerfs for Riven? She is literally dominating the top lane for 4-5 patches, his win rate is >54% and the pick rate is locked on 13% in Diamond+ SoloQ, which is scary for a champion with such a high skill cap. New conqueror sinergizes perfectly on her in every game phase and the DD+Shojin spike is too strong in both 1v1 duels and team fights. Moreover, her lvl 6 kill pressure is huge and she is too hard to punish in the early laning phase, that should be the weakest stage of the game for her.

Ars Arcánum3/27/2019, 4:12:24 PM5 votes

So you're giving Vayne the Riven treatment, huh? I just wish you guys kept this same energy for balancing low pick rate champions as well.

FlashDoubleDash3/27/2019, 4:41:59 PM5 votes

On the point of aftershock:

The current problem (imo) is that it adds too much survivability to anyone who isn't ment to survive long. Comparing tanks to relatively fragile characters, the latter will get a much more efficient use out of aftershock because they can normally be focussed down whereas tanks don't.

I would argue it's worth to change how aftershock grants survivability (like removing part of the flat resistances for %bonus resist scaling, or a partial shield similar to but less powerful than CotC, so that it makes shield bash a better rune for less shield-heavy tanks), as well as moving some of it's defensive power into it's offensive power (this makes trades feel less useless into aftershock for sustain-heavier matchups).

Something like: Resistances from 70-120 to 20-50 resist + 50% bonus resistance for defense Damage from 10-120 + 3% max hp + 15% bAD + 10% AP -> 40-120 + 7.5% bonus HP

Possibly interesting to increase the cooldown to say 60 seconds and make it akin to Arcane comet where every time you apply CC, the cooldown goes down, so that heavy CC tanks (like nautilus) are better with it than single CC divers (like pantheon).

Also, smaller note as a Renekton main: The bugfixes and returning cancels were nice a thanks for that. As a follow-up, will the seemingly mandatory-ness of Spear of Shojin (in terms of carry-potential) be adressed in favor of maybe some early game power. It feels weird that Renekton suddenly became more of a lategame threat than an early game bully. In fact, there's very few lanes that we can actively bully these days, especially with ranged champions abusing kleptomancy, dealing damage while also becoming extremely tanky and safe. Especially a lower E cooldown would be nice to have since it's extremely long compared to most mobility skills these days.

Lárxene3/27/2019, 4:14:25 PM5 votes

JarvanIV Vi Vladimir

Really? None of these champs are on your radar? They're domestic terrorists.

Daddy Ants3/27/2019, 5:01:18 PM5 votes

What about Jinx ?

Another ADC who's clearly overpowered.

Only difference between her and Vayne is she's strong at all stages of the game.+

Oleandervine3/28/2019, 3:33:13 PM4 votes

I think it's incredibly stupid to weaken Kayle's early and mid game even more. She's is HORRIBLE to play. It's not fucking fun at all to require your jungler to babysit or risk losing first blood, first turret, and at least 3 kills before she hits level 11.

Like, I totally understand her late game is heinously strong. But you really suffer hard to get to it, and it's completely frustrating as a player. Your own champion shouldn't be frustrating to play against when you're playing the game with them. You have overdone it WAYY too much with the weak early/god mode late and while it theoretically works for Kai'Sa and Vayne (I say theoretically, but their early/mids are nowhere near as fetal as Kayle's), the bot laners have supports who can protect them and fill in their gaps early on to make sure they make it to late game. A solo laner DOES NOT HAVE THIS LUXURY and it's a style of gameplay that absolutely is malfunctional in Kayle's home lane of Top. Furthermore, other hypercarries come online when they get specific items built, and the timing of this can be manipulated by doing well or doing worse. Kayle AGAIN does not have this luxury, since her godmode hypercarry status is locked to her levels, which cannot be manipulated.

Her kit needs to be completely rebalanced. Her late needs some of it's power stripped so that her early game isn't so frustrating for the person playing Kayle. Need I remind you that she is one of the beginner champions? Her difficulty curve as a 450 BE champion shouldn't be remotely close to this kind of absurdity. She needs a smoother transition to her hypercarry mode, and she needs to be able to functionally defend herself and her lane without praying that the enemy has an aneurysm while they're shoved under her turret.

Maddened King 3/27/2019, 4:31:57 PM4 votes

What happened to the Orianna buffs? Are you guys planning to revise her situation next patch or have you come to the conclusion that she is fine and doesn't need to buffs?

Velasan3/27/2019, 6:14:23 PM4 votes

Any update on if there will be any upcoming Swain changes? Last time it was mentioned was said he was being looked at.

Palaven3/27/2019, 4:05:58 PM4 votes

Context on Dark Seal nerfs? I'm particularly worried that some champs (Singed ) may be adversely affected when they aren't the users being targeted.

Soníc3/27/2019, 4:19:27 PM4 votes

The easy and obvious way to nerf Vayne is remove the interaction between her Silver Bolts and Rageblade. Its warping her gameplay hugely and base damage of Silver Bolts at Rank 1 is causing her early game to not be as weak as intended. Aftershock could be changed by giving it scaling percent resistances, rewarding tank usage + not being obnoxious early while giving real moments of heightened power with a keystone. Or give it Ranged/Melee variations.

NoIWontBuySkins3/27/2019, 5:13:50 PM3 votes

Hey Meddler, ever think about actually responding about OP Yas? Many MANY threads also asking to please stop adding crit more damage period yet now Brawlers stack.

Lewanor3/27/2019, 4:12:22 PM3 votes

Hello Meddler, we were talking about Talon's state over at Talonmains subreddit, any chance that you or someone can listen to us? I realize even if you guys do changes may not go but we'd like to talk very much. We know Talon as winrate/balance is in a good state, but we don't enjoy much when playing him because of reason we talked over there. Thank you if you ever take time, thank you even if you don't.

Too Fast Baby3/27/2019, 4:13:43 PM3 votes

hello meddler don't you feel the recent buffs to cinderhulk in pbe has missed the mark ,this item is supposed to be good at scaling , but it doesn't for exemple the game went long for 30minutes , u have 3 items+boots) "cinderhulk ,thornmail ,adaptive helm" if we calculate that it's only 135 bonus HP that's even worst than a ruby crystal , compare that to the warrior huge power spyke or bloodrazor a.s and juicy hp dmg it's better to make the HP scaling a bit more than 15%

Jägerwespe3/27/2019, 4:32:45 PM3 votes

Hey Meddler, what do you think of the idea to bring the old Courage of the Colossus rune back into the game? (As a fourth option in the Resolve tree) I think some tanks really would benefit from it, looking at the fact that there is so much true dmg in the game to which pure resistance stats are not as useful against as shields or raw hp. Thanks

WindLord70703/27/2019, 4:06:25 PM3 votes

It seems recently more than in the past that the champions that are getting buffed/nerfed is just going in a cycle why is that? Why don't we see some champions get buffed who haven't been touched in a while or who you just don't see in games anymore? Why is it that when one of these champions who was really strong for awhile gets nerfed they get rebuffed so soon? It's almost like you guys have forgotten about a majority of the champion roster.

Buttsubushi3/28/2019, 2:12:15 AM3 votes

Thoughts on Twisted Treeline?

Ałice3/28/2019, 6:04:03 AM3 votes

Zac, anything for Zac? his ult is bugged since 9.6 Zac

ChrisBrownze3/28/2019, 6:19:34 PM3 votes

Actually ridiculous you think Morgana has crossed some sort of line that Vayne hasnt. Her damage along with other crit adcs like Jinx is completely ridiculous and yet again turns league from a team game to a solo carry game by whoever has the better adc. I genuinely think the balance team is just trolling the community by refusing to nerf her.

WonderMoo4/4/2019, 2:05:06 PM2 votes

About those dev job tips... good stuff. The extra mile... tis' a lonely place. [sg-soraka]

True Garen3/30/2019, 2:24:00 AM2 votes

Meddler: Regarding Shyvana -

Please fix her passive to scale with Elder Dragons.

Also,I really think that they neglected to change W scaling to total AD (rather than bonus AD) when they removed the AP scaling from it. (Right? That's how it should work for her...)

And let her Ult recharge while she's dead.

Brfb4/3/2019, 2:48:21 PM2 votes

Hello Meddler!

Lissandra's q nerf is way too much. You reduced her use of q in lane by half which against almost all mid laners makes it impossible to win against. I've been playing her for 5 seasons straight and went against someone who I could usually stand against (viktor) and couldn't handle the difference. Having it almost half the time COOLDOWN6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 seconds ⇒ 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 seconds makes her almost unusable in lane even with a cooldown spec. This was a bit much since her entire laning phase is determinant upon her q.

Keeping this in mind what you have done is nerfed her laning power in half. I don't know any champion in the game where their power in lane should be halved, this is almost similar to what you did to rengar in season 3, hopefully you can avoid that..

Boltonator3/27/2019, 4:25:44 PM1 votes

Good afternoon Meddler!

Any word on whether or not club tags not showing at the loading screen or in-game is being looked at? Thank you for your time.

Lulu