Looking for topics for Friday's post

What is a heathly play pattern for marksmen? I've seen a number of posts complaining about ADC burst.

Are you still considering crit rework later this year?

The ADC role seems torn between a dichotomy of hypercarry vs. relying on their teammates the most of all the roles. I'm not sure they do actually rely on their teammates more (as far as win loss goes), it just feels worse for an ADC to not get the help they need: When a tank initiates well but their team doesn't follow up, at least the tank did their job well. As opposed to a team not protecting the ADC before the ADC gets blown up without the chance to do anything.

What are your thoughts?

@Meddler please, please talk about Lissandra.

I don't know what happened but she feels SO bad since the start of season 8. She wasn't strong before but now she is just bad. I love her but I can completely understand her low pick rate.

I feel like I'm dealing no dmg, I have no sustain and no range. And there are better champions for CC. Even if I manage to find the perfect spot in team fights it's just not rewarding at all.

Please just pick Lissandra as one of the topics for Fridays post.

Does Riot plan on doing follow up work on older AP items like Rod of Ages and Protobelt after the AP item pass?

Would love to hear about how you feel about whether risk/reward profiles are appropriate in the current landscape of League (e.g. Whether it's worth picking something like a bruiser or assassin that doesn't scale as hard, versus a tank or ADC or high scaling Mage).

Why so much CDR these days? Mages having them along with supports and PERHAPS tanks is fine, but why does ad class like assassins, bruisers/fighters, juggernauts and even ADC have so many items that give them access to cdr?

Champs the Dev and Balance team would like to see in multiple roles (Jungle Teemo when? Please?)

Roadblocks to updating Leblanc / Nunu / Fiddle?

Side thoughts on upcoming AP itemization changes?

Thoughts about the state of ealry game for junglers?

How about some perspective on ADC itemization?

Parts of the community currently feel like ADCs are currently too bursty (mainly due to Statikk Shiv), generally too high damage (due to needing that high damage to cut through their intended tanky targets in light of the refocusing of defensive stats towards resistances and the simultaneous nerfs to Bonus Armor Penetration) and coming online too fast (due to Infinity Edge and Zeal Upgrades being too cheap).

Bonus question from me: Does your data indicate that Black Cleaver is currently doing its job of being a sustained damage pattern-focused fighter item against tanks well enough? If not, would a potential way to buff it for that specific purpose the addition of (Named passive-unique) Bonus Armor Penetration against fully stacked enemies?

Hey Meddler, I really enjoy your topics, here my 2 cents I would like to discuss:

What do you think about "Curve of Mastery" and do you consider it as a trigger to make changes? As an example last year there was a post which claims that there are champions which winrate is almost the same no matter how much you play them (as example Malphite was provided) which means that no matter how much training you do - your impact will be the same and it is only the question "do you feel comfortable with that champion?" Opposite example in this post was Riven which winrate hugely jump when people play about 50 games with her and start knowing her abilities.

Do you want to do something with champions with flat "Curve of Mastery"? Do you think it is only about mechanical execution or something bigger behind?

And one more question: in pre-season there was a lot of talks about ways to deal with massive shields and protect comps but in outcome nothing was done (in fact meta shifted even harder into protect side and now assassins is almost useless on high elo/pro plays). Does this change still on track?

Cheers!

Hello Meddler,

I actually have something besides game play: 1- End of game stats: Would it be possible to include the champ stats at the last minute of the game? ( Ap, Ad, Armor, MR, etc). For example while playing J4 with Conditioning, i wantbto know the exact number of mr and armor i had, not just the numbers from the rune.

2- Loading screen quotes: there is a quote that says: "you can get only 40% cdr but a mastery can change that". I think it should be "a rune can change that" since there are no masteries any more.

I challenge you to talk about every single AP champion in the game and give your prediction on where they'll land after ap item revamp, even if just one word for each character.

Hmm I would like some clarity as to the Jungle item changes. I love reading these posts. I hardly ever comment but just was curious on the jng item changes on the pbe. Have a good day Meddler!

Hiya Meddler! No worries about the delay, just means the post Friday will be all the better for it.

Do you know if this will be the post that has the Zoe discussion you mentioned in your response to me last week?

Have a good day!

What about Jhin's current state ? I actually think that the ult buff won't do anything four SoloQ. Any future plans ?

Hey Meddler You once metioned doing some work on Varus, you said you wanted to add additional effect on him. Can you say something more about that change?

{quoted}

Hi folks,

Apologies, didn't have the time earlier in the week to put together a post for today. I'll be writing Friday's post today though and figured I'd pick people's brains on some possible topics to cover. What's on your mind gameplay wise? Particularly interested in things that might be of a lot of interest that we haven't talked about much recently.

On the more recent topic side, I've seen some discussion about the large mana-user focus on a lot of the new AP items, as well as the lack of more defensive AP options. Thoughts on either of those might be appreciated, specifically the former and how the non-mana-using AP characters are handling the changes.

On the less discussed topic side, I'd personally be interested in hearing anything about bot-lane role expansion plans, AD carry diversification (if that's still on the table), and perhaps where you internally draw the line between whether or not a character/role having a set build is okay. The latter is especially interesting because some characters seem very reliant on certain items (RoA, Trinity Force, Lichbane, Infinity Edge being some of the biggest offenders), while other champions (and/or other roles) enjoy a MUCH broader selection of itemization. Would be interesting to take a bit of a dive into that, and into how much itemization diversity you like to see be decided on a per-character basis (Lucian vs. Kog'Maw), how much on a per-game/per-opponent basis (a lot of tanks/bruisers), and how much on a per-role basis (i.e. tanks/bruisers typically having a wider range of build options than Marksmen, for example).

KARMA

Hey Meddler, I'd like to ask about GP again :P

Last time I asked about him you said you guys were gonna talk about him for 8.4. There's no changes to him or the stuff he uses on PBE rn, but I doubt that means you guys think he's in a fine spot rn

Curious to know what you guys are thinking about him rn

Couple of points that I would like to see some talk about, in no particular order:

• Jungle/lane interaction, currently it seems that sitting in lane is the best way to jungle since camps take long to respawn, counter jungling depends on laners a lot more than junglers, and power farming your jungle is not a really effective thing to do.
• Rune balance, it seems that state of runes was better when preseason began and further changes make things worse, often forcing meta shift around which rune is superior, rather than allow players to choose their play-style. Are there any considerations to take a step back a bit and take more time to proactively allow more runes to shine, rather than retroactively nerf the best rune every patch. Also should not missing runes be added (like fighter keystone) before can real balance take place as currently some classes are very limited to what they can use as viable choice.
• Zombie wards - should not they have separate ward limit? Champions that can comfortably run tracker's knife in jungle feel like much better option just because of this rune, not to mention it feels almost mandatory for jungle role (mandatory rune for role should never be a thing correct?).
• Aftershock as damage class oriented keystone - it currently has patter very fitting champions that want to be in your face, including a lot of fighters. However it has limited damage scaling and non-adaptive damage type. Personally I see no reason why should aftershock even be oriented toward tanks anyway as dealing damage is not something I would associate with them.
• Support itemization - considering very hasted changes to support items, is any larger scale pass planned - possibly including items like banner of command or ohmwrecker? Also coin currently has no reason to be a thing, it gives less gold and less combat stats compared to other two, while also it has the most worthless update ever, with only advantage being low cost which makes no sense since it fills your item slot with crap, worse than sighstone would have been. Important note about coin - it provides base health regen, stat that is very low for most "passive" champions like your Jannas or Sorakas and is basically worthless as you get close to nothing out of it.
• Tank balance in overall, currently it feels a lot of tanks that should be about CC/Sustain bring unnecessary dmg output. My personal note on that would be, I would prefer to see more CC/sustain, but way less damage toward champions to require tanks having a damage dealer with them in order to have kill threat, currently they feel unreasonably deadly alone. Either way any reasonable take on aftershock tanks would be welcome.
• Lethality items - as primarily only source of lethality right now, is there an option to reduce their AD values, while increasing their lethality values? Effectively it would make assassins more about their base values and less about their items making them less snowball but more reliable and consistent. Also it would make them less appealing to marksman, who would want to scale with AD/crit instead, given they have lower base numbers and better scaling.
• Shields - is there possibility of rune/item that would have some form of shield debuff, either preventing shielding or reducing shield values/ removing active shield etc. The amount if shields/ shield buffs feels a bit overboard as it is right now.
• Stopwatch - possibility of reverting some value nerfs, but placing "delay" mechanic on the item (similar to taric ult). Wouldn't just delaying the stasis for 1 -1,5 second be better choice for play making around the item in general? Also it would make the item more unique, and possibly more appealing as proactive, rather than reactive option - "Some inspiration to make the play".

What's going to happen to Seraph's Embrace during the big AP item update?

I don't recall seeing it at the recent reveal, it'd be a shame to lose out on the shield-active it usually gives.

Hello Meddler,

Since the recent Ezreal nerfs put him down pretty far, is his W still being looked at to make it a more satisfying spell as mentioned a while ago? Also i may ask you about your thoughts on the Cheap Shot rune i think it is quite underperforming.

Have a nice day!

Assassins! I think some or even most of them are in bad spots atm, 3 lethality items in the game & Ninja tabi, Stopwatch, Exhaust/barrier, Zhonya just completely makes AD mid assassins nonviable they have bad matchups and get permanently pushed in lane vs the current meta AP midlaners.

Can something actually be done about this? Why are new AP items being made yet only 3 lethality items in the game exist? Sometimes you cant even build edge of night because black cleaver is better in most situations.

Shielding is also another huge counter.

What are Fizz and LB meant to be? Wave clearing burst mage assassin things? Both champs have been ruined by reworks.

I don't know if people would be interesting, but can you talk about ? Is she on a list to a Gameplay Update? The AP itens will be change soon and we know that the last couple of itens change had a brutal impact on her (Abyssal for example).

The problem of increased amount of CDR leading to combo stuns until dead.

Whats being done about Marksmens that have almost everything a class could want from high burst + sustained damage + healing and even strong self peeling skills that are point and click to neutralize assassins should they survive your support + top lane tank, for example vayne, tristana.

what about Junglers being forced into a constant camp a lane meta due to camp respawn timers / how fast it is to rush to level 3 on most junglers?

Thoughts on eve being one dimensional with game play consisting of kill a target or lose? she can't split given how her kit punishes her for trying to attempt it making nami's wave clear look impressive by comparison.

I am sure there are many more i could list but the first 3 options many people wish to hear of it and the 4th is a personal frustration for a champion i have always enjoyed and am still trying to enjoy.

Topic: Champs with huge pro play / solo Q performance splits

A lot of the reworks and new champs that have come out in the last few years have been pick/ban in pro play while being balanced or even undertuned in soloQ. See: Ryze, Azir, Zoe. Why do we think this is happening, and what can we do about it?

What are your thoughts on Nidalee? One of Rioters said they want to to do something in order for her to be able to be playable in lanes again. What do you think about her in the present moment? Her pick rate is falling down and her winrate in low elo is disastrous and in high elo is low too.

Hello Meddler ! Hope you're doing fine!

Can you talk more about the plans you guys have for Jhin ? Or any other ADC that isn't good in this meta. I Feel that the buff to Jhin is a big " Meh", what do you think about his passive and reloading time ?

Thanks, have a great day!

Personally, I'd love to see what work is planned for Lissandra! She's a bit rough right now.

What are the team's thoughts on the changes to defensive stats that came with runes reforged?

Personally I think a lot of champions were changed in incorrect ways that are hurting the game. HP/lvl given to mages instead of flat armor or hp in particular stands out as highly problematic in solo q. It makes sense for a lot of pro games where players were taking hp/lvl runes already because early fighting and attempts at kills are much rarer due to high coordination with junglers, vision, and super high map awareness. But in solo q it means a lot of people getting bursted down easily early on.

Also the lack of mr glyphs might work out ok for mages due to lack of pen marks and pen item changes but it means a bit more damage coming from all the champs that do any magic damage and weren't taking pen runes, mostly tanks but also some other champs.

Any chance of help csing early on for mages? Some have really terrible auto attacks and spells that are awful for last hitting. Especially as a mid Morgana main I feel like during the first 2-3 waves of the game I lose a bunch of cs simply because my W is extremely poor at last hitting and a lot of other mids (especially manaless ones) punish really hard early on if I try to last hit everything with autos.

A few other mages I play have similar issues but it varies wildly because their auto attacks and spell last hitting also vary wildly. I wouldn't mind if it felt like a meaningful trade off in power for something else but it doesn't at all. It just feels like random luck whether or not certain spells (especially ones that do damage over time) last hit minions or not. Maybe give doran's ring a small minion execute mechanic similar to ASol's stars (but weaker, really not asking for much)?

Any thoughts on rek’sai? She feels like she’s in a pretty ‘meh’ state atm.

Would definitely like to see Lissandra’s state assessed, but I can understand how this wouldn’t be possible until the dust settles from AP changes.

Also, interested in how you plan to handle low skill-floor champions that are giving too much power to players who do not put effort in to the game.

I'd really like to hear more about Kleptomancy. It still feels really bad to play against and I want to know why you guys decided to put RNG into such a strong effect. I would also like to talk more about missing themes in champions. You asked us what we thought was missing a while ago, but there was no real follow up or anything.

edit: Oh also, after playing and playing against Swain today, and hearing from other people who have played him, he seems like he's a lot better mid than top. How does Riot feel about that? He definitely used to feel a lot better top than mid before his rework, and I am quite sad to have him leaving my main role, especially since I was hoping to keep him in my top lane pool as my AP pick. If he does end up being forced into mid would there be any future work to bring him back top?

In a recent video, it was said that you guys would like to introduce some new champions to the jungle. The first two candidates were zyra and morgana. If you're still working on it, could you tell us what you've tried so far?

Also, would you name other champions who might eventually have a place in the jungle?

I would be interested, if at all possible, to hear about Riot's process in balancing melee vs. ranged characters as a whole. It's a sticky and huge topic, I know, but I don't get to hear too much about the discreteness and such with it.

Changes to sorcery and resolve?

Sorcery:

Manaflow band: I know Riot is unhappy with this rune so far so I had an idea partially inspired by the inspiration tree (hue) Maybe grants the champion 'Manaflow' every spell cast is refunded by 10% and is increased to 15% if there is a nearby ally. Each cast additionally grants you additional mana maxed at 500. Upon max mana the effect changes to spell cast is refunded to 20% and increased to 25% with nearby ally.

This doesn't start until 3 minutes into the game.

Gathering storm: Similar to live but grants stats every 5 minutes and can be used as a catalyst (another hue) to improve ROA

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Items:

Tear of the goddess: grants 'Manaflow' like the rune. This lets you build Tear and upgrades later into the game.

Rod of ages: effect changes to giving you gathering storm or +5 minutes to gathering storm if you already have the rune. This makes RoA less of a feast or famine item which can help champ like anivia and kathus especially even if they fall behind.

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I think these can be nice additions to changes already made..

Can a mage not function without waveclear? There's hardly any mages that don't have tremendous amounts of waveclear nowadays, if you were to make a waveclearless mage how would the power budget look like?