Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 7.6, Galio rework

RiotAesah·Mar 22, 2017·1 votes·68,223 views

"Minions" art created by inkinesss

Hey guys! Welcome to Patch Chat, a Dev Corner thread we make to talk about our new patches every two weeks: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-76-notes

I'm Aesah on Riot's Playtest Team, a group of Diamond+ players who play with the new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, and map updates before they are released. It's our job to the test the changes that our designers come up with and ensure that we're introducing positive changes to LoL in terms of both balance and fun. We'll be watching this thread to answer as many questions as we can.

Apart from the long-awaited Galio rework, 7.6 is a relatively smaller patch. Warlord's Bloodlust has been rebalanced to be better against tanks. Some champions that recieved buffs include Aatrox, Fiddlesticks, Cho'gath, Gnar, Varus and Miss Fortune while on the other end Quinn was nerfed.

All of us on the Playtest Team are avid gamers so feel free to talk to us as fellow LoL players!

Adam "Afic" Cohen Ben “Cezium” Burkhardt Don “Aesah” Ding Nicolas “Gleeb” Haddad Dan “penguin” Hardison Robert “ROBERTxLEE” Lee Rob "King Cobra" Rosa Nicholas “Nickwu” Smith Blake “S0be” Soberanis Trevor “ThEntropist” Thernes Arnor "TheLastAirbender" Halldorsson

214 Comments

ModThe DjinnMar 22, 201714 votes

Hey guys!

Loving the feel of the Galio rework so far, but I was wondering about a strange interaction: the unexpected outcome that happens if you cast Galio's ultimate while out of range of an ally.

The expected behavior was that you'd approach and, as soon as you're in range, you'd fly to the position the ally was when you entered the range. I was surprised to find that this isn't the case: you seem to fly to whatever position the ally was when you initially targeted the ability from outside the cast range, even if you and they have both walked halfway across the map to get there. This seems potentially awful in situations where a Galio is trying to take the shortest route to save an ally and has simply hit the button and then shifted to watch the developing fight, hoping he gets there in time. It's very unexpected, especially since they don't gain the defenses until you're in range, suggesting that the spell hasn't actually been cast.

Is this intentional behavior? Because it feels REALLY off, and I'm curious if you encountered this in playtesting.

...although I'm sure you can do some crazy plays with this if you plan for it.

RiotAesahMar 22, 20176 votes

That just sounds like a bug to me, will look into it

ZenaMar 22, 201710 votes

Will Azir receive any kind of buff anytime soon? Azir summoner 13

DoonysterMar 22, 201710 votes

Have any of the play test members played Veigar lately?

His E delays the stun if the opponent does a lock on dash (Ex. Jax Rengar Alistar ) to a champion that is inside of his event Horizon. All of their damage goes through before they get stunned even though they get stunned in the exact same spot they were when their damage happened. Is this a bug? I'm having a great deal of trouble getting noticed in the report a bug section, but my favorite champion is suffering really badly because this is consistent and gets me killed in team fights. That makes climbing elo hard

blackbear3000Mar 23, 20174 votes

I was playing as Jhin earlier today and i ulted at the same moment Veigar stunned me, after the stun was over i was locked into the position he makes as he ults and could not do anything until i was killed

DoonysterMar 23, 20173 votes

Yeah the coding on Veigar E is probably all spaghetti and old. Please look at this Riot!

Scuttle KramMar 31, 20172 votes

I don't play veigar so i don't know anything about this. I came to say that his W should have a definitive circle like what Zac got on his E a while ago. I reckon it's pretty obvious why it needs doing.

RamboJamboMar 23, 20179 votes

Remove Yasuo. :)

APissedPidgeyMar 23, 20172 votes

logged in to upvote

Deep Terror NamiMar 22, 20178 votes

I'm just wondering if you think any Supports are needing any changes.

MarshbouyMar 22, 20173 votes

pls change it so that the lulus on my team stop feeding. :T

RiotAesahMar 22, 201740 votes

Sorry it's hard coded into our software that any Lulu players on Marshbouy's team will feed

GollGarrMar 23, 20173 votes

Haha item 3751

RiotAesahMar 22, 201712 votes

Yeah. Support is currently not as desirable as other roles (evidenced by people being autofilled into it) so we're hoping to make some changes in the future that make it more appealing

La BelloMar 22, 20175 votes

I dont think its ALL supports I think its namely that some supports reek of generalism and dont have that core unique ability that makes picking them up

Braum has his super shield to actually absorbs projectiles and blocks damage for allies TahmKench can provide safe harbor and transport people around the map Bard can stasis trap vitually anything and provide "shortcuts" through the map for his team Taric has AOE invincibility Thresh has Lantern and a get out of jail free card Ivern can jungle, has a team oriented gapcloser AND you get a free frontliner from his ult Blitzcrank need I even say it?

now compare that cool stuff to say someone like Janna Nami Sona Soraka who's kits reek of shields and heals.

They're almost all shield/ heal bots and even their items reflect that. If supports become a target for rework you should definately work on hitting the generalist enchanters that are splashable and work on giving them distinctive playstyles . Heals and Shields (while extremely powerful and game changing) tend to not be all that interesting from a gameplay perspective. Why would you sign up to be the equivalent of a babysitting healbot priest when you could be so much more?

tl;dr come support update time please try to focus on Enchanters and their Items. Hopefully we see some crazy shit like Sona becoming a support specifically synergistic with AP champions rather than AD or maybe Lulu Hugify working like a temporary mini-ascension.

RiotAesahMar 22, 201713 votes

Well not everyone enjoys LoL the same way, some people like being a healer. Specifically Janna, Nami and Soraka are all close to the top of the most popular supports.

La BelloMar 22, 20172 votes

But that raises the question.

How many healers is too many healers wouldnt having so many characters focused on healing and shields begin to trivialize them? Also healing is something that everyone is capable of nowadays thanks to the new pact and Itemization

Also I dont know If I would attribute Janna and Soraka having high playrates/winrates due to an exhilarating kit so much as their low skill floor and powerful output ingame

ZephyrDrakeMar 22, 20176 votes

[{quoted}](name=Grande Finale,realm=NA,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=aUFdb9Eu,comment-id=00040001000000000000,timestamp=2017-03-22T23:31:42.053+0000)

But that raises the question.

How many healers is too many healers?Also healing is something that everyone is capable of nowadays thanks to the new pact and Itemization

i don't know. How many damage characters are too many? and how many tanks are too many? how many are just enough? also just because someone can heal due to items and masteries doesn't mean much. You really are complaining because the game has a very small amount of dedicated healer champions? in a game with over 120 champions? People like different playstyles, some like to roam, some like to be tanks, some like to splitpush to no end, some like to heal, some like to peel, some like do insane damage. There is never "too many" of a certain role as long as those champions in that role do something relatively unique from each other. Whether that means having something the others don't, or being more of a generalist than the others, or just specializing in something the others don't. Champions don't need 100% unique kits, you can make champions with almost identical kits but just having one aspect while the other on another aspect will make it distinct enough.

I personally enjoy playing healers and a lot of people who play and main support also enjoy playing them and all of them kit wise are very distinct. Items on the other hand are something that seriously needs to be looked at so that supports don't build the exact same thing regardless of whether they are a healer, peeler, frontliner, etc etc

RaxistaichoMar 22, 20177 votes

Do you think Ahri might be out of line?

Is there any chance of some love for Irelia in the future?

Does Lux actually NEED buffs?

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20176 votes

I personally have been offended for a long time that we haven't nerfed Ahri considering her stats

Butler DeltaMar 22, 20177 votes

Who is the best member of the playtest team and why is it King Cobra?

RiotAesahMar 22, 201711 votes

the best member of the playtest team is King Cobra because he's adorable

InTheoryMar 22, 20175 votes

[deleted]

RiotAesahMar 22, 20175 votes

Courage of the Collosus although we didn't think Galio was good in support

UpooOnMeMar 22, 20173 votes

Is courage of the Collosus generally a good keystone on Galio or is thunderlord's or maybe windspeaker's a better choice?

Cosmic WarperMar 22, 20173 votes

{quoted}

Is courage of the Collosus generally a good keystone on Galio or is thunderlord's or maybe windspeaker's a better choice?

windspeaker's is bad because galio doesn't shield or heal an ally. If you want damage galio then go tlords because his 3 hit combo is potent (QEPassiveAuto). If you want to play tank galio then colossus is great since he can proc it 3 different ways (W, E, Ult)

EROTIC RAID BOSSMar 22, 20174 votes

I know you guys can't give details but how are you liking the new sejuani maokai and zac? Do you have a favorite?

RiotRiot King CobraMar 22, 201714 votes

I don't play any of them, but I think they're pretty awesome. Zac is probably my favorite overall, but I have to say Maokai's ultimate is probably the coolest change in my book. :)

Blossom of TimeMar 22, 20174 votes

Are you guys working on another song for an upcoming champion? I really enjoyed 'Get Jinxed' and 'Here comes Vi.' They inspired me to write original songs for other champions that I perform during karaoke nights for my family and friends.

CremepieMar 22, 20173 votes

Which lane does Galio preform the best? It seems he's not an optimal mid laner. Top lane makes the most amount of sense, but I feel you wouldn't make the most out of your ult there. I doubt Galio can clear jg very well, although his ganks would be fantastic. Support seems to be a viable choice.

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20175 votes

When thinking about Galio the question isn't "is he better top or mid?" it's "is a team with Galio top and a standard mid more successful?". So IMO he performs individually the best mid, but fills out most teamcomps better as a top laner so he may have a higher winrate there.

tigerbadgerMar 22, 20173 votes

Hey Rob, long long time sub how do you like playtest team compared to LCS?

RiotROBERTxLEEMar 23, 20176 votes

It's a lot more relaxed and personally enjoy working with talented people at Riot. Of course, sometimes I miss being on the big stage, but didn't enjoy the amount of time spent practicing.

RavenHuskyMar 22, 20172 votes

I'm personally wondering what the goal of the Lux buff currently on the PBE is, because it's not having a huge impact.

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20175 votes

It's supposed to be fun for lux while also slightly buffing her late game teamfights, as currently she's deceptively snowbally for a character with lots of utility but loses lane to most strong mages (which is also probably why she's super popular in lower tiers but doesn't show up much in high mmrs).

xxxDogmanxxxMar 23, 20172 votes

ALL THE AUTO-ATTACK ENHANCING SPELLS ARE BUGGED IN PATCH 7.6 GODDAMIT. HELP US!!!!!!!!

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20176 votes

Yeah, that's known and being worked on

xxxDogmanxxxMar 23, 20172 votes

Thank you!

Sun Wu RyuumokuMar 22, 20171 votes

are u satisfied about item 3134 items ?? Isn't lethality back to his weak spot like... before their last buff ?

Any plan for help Wukong in his jungle ?

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20174 votes

I actually feel like all lethality items are in a pretty good spot besides item 3814 (which I feel is a little weak rn personally)

Chromatic EagleMar 23, 20171 votes

So then why do players still complain about them? Not accusing you, I'm honestly curious.

Could I ask about your thoughts on Black Cleaver?

Riotvo1d seekerMar 25, 20173 votes

Not Penguin, but my personal opinion on Black Cleaver is that it does too much for it's cost. The item is 100% gold efficient before factoring in it's two passives. Armor shred is also generally stronger in a teamfight than armor penetration as well because it also buffs up your other AD based allies' damage.

World EnderMar 23, 20176 votes

How do you feel about item 3252 ? I hardly ever see it bought.

NecrobecrMar 23, 20171 votes

I think item 3134 items are fine now. The only issue is the pure usefulness of item 3047 . I feel the lethality is in a good spot as a stat, but is too easily countered by a single cheap item.

JmmanMar 27, 20173 votes

Now you know how mages feel item 3814 item 3155 Kappa....

DarknesTheDragonMar 23, 20171 votes

was it intentional for galio to be unable to cast his w and then dive with his e? if so why?

RiotplaytestpenguinMar 23, 20173 votes

Definitely intentional from the designer -- he probably wanted you to feel like W-Flash was a big play, and giving a character a two-button nearly guaranteed initiation combo that doesn't dedicate an ultimate cooldown ( Alistar ) has proven problematic in the past

TakeASeatHoneyMar 23, 20172 votes

you CAN queue up your W before your E, (tap W and instantly E), and W will start charging right after E is finished casting, regardless of whether you're still holding down W or not, and will not stop charging either. You have to press W again to cast the second part of the ability. i thought i'd bring this up, because it could complicate split second decisions for when to use your taunt in high pressure situations. item 3070

DarknesTheDragonApr 28, 20172 votes

not gunna lie i miss the old galio

CarnicoreMar 23, 20171 votes

How much cast time did you shave off of Miss Fortune's Q and E? Kinda strange when you guys were so detailed in documenting the Lucian changes in the previous patch.