Boards›Dev Corner

Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 8.5

Novalas·3/7/2018, 10:16:29 PM·1 votes·26,340 views

https://i.imgur.com/F81h0d2.jpg

Hey everyone and welcome to Patch 8.5. We're entering the breach. Welcome to the Kai'Sa patch.

I’m Riot Novalas & I’m a QA Analyst on Riot’s Playtest Team, a group of high elo players who work on Core Gameplay playing new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, and map updates before they’re released. It’s our job to test the changes that our designers come up with and ensure that we’re introducing positive changes to League in terms of both balance and fun.

Patch Chat serves as an opportunity for us to talk about the patches that come out every two weeks. You can find information on the most recent patch by following this link: https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-85-notes

Our newest friend on the rift is the daughter of the Void, Kai'Sa! With multiple buildpaths and different play patterns, Kai'Sa is one of the more diverse champions that have been introduced in recent memory. The primary playtesters for Kai'Sa were Madness Heroo & ROBERTxLEE. Feel free to ask any and all (gameplay) void-related questions and we'll be happy to give you insight!

Aside from Kai'Sa, we've got some buffs and nerfs to various champions; Nocturne, Swain, Rengar, and Zoe got some love. Azir, Galio, and Volibear took some nerfs.

Ask us ANYTHING about 8.5. We're here to answer questions about your favorite champions, inquiries about runes, or maybe how often we execute to jungle camps! Let's talk bot lane matchups or maybe discuss shifts in the jungle! We're also down to just chat, though.

Disclaimer: We have no insight on upcoming/future skins.

Chris “Auberaun” Roberts Christy “Riot Ender L” Frierson Nick “Riot Endstep” Frijia Sigmundur “GangIeri” Helgason Arnor “Riot Hjarta” Halldorsson Rob “Riot King Cobra” Rosa Miktat “Riot Koyuncu” Koyuncu Brian “Riot Madness Heroo” Pressoir Nabi “Riot Novalas” Barak Dan “Riot penguin” Hardison Robert “ROBERTxLEE” Lee

186 Comments

Jar Jar binks l3/7/2018, 10:22:42 PM12 votes

Why does Phantom Dancer and Statiks cost 2600g?

My Bruiser ITEMS : Trinity + Steraks + Hydra = 3733 + 3100 + 3500

VS the best scaling late game class ADC: 2600 +2600 + 3400

Just why? Why can't Bruiser have cheap items

F3EDfromDesIr33/9/2018, 12:40:53 PM4 votes

[deleted]

r4ndomkill3/7/2018, 10:33:34 PM2 votes

whats your thoughts on kai'sa. i think her kits inability to lane might make her have a high mastery curve but she might just be weak right now too.

Ducasi3/12/2018, 7:11:48 PM2 votes

Assassins & Tanks Game Health

I would love to see assassins played on LCS.

You say you are buffing them as they are in a weak spot right now, but I read from a lot of you that you actually hate them and don't want to see them played. And then you also are going to nerf duskblade the incoming patch and you have made huge buffs to the old favorite of yours ryze and the like with the new ap itemization. I am frankly starting to think you just buff based on what you play and like not considering what it is helpful and healthy for the game overall.

I admittedly have been playing this game only for few years, but I have never seen assassins played in pro, like ever. Maybe a fizz or an ekko slips through but that's about it. And I don't say that they should be played all the time, but that they should be played in the right circumstances. For instance the opposite team is made of 3-4 squishies it SHOULD be viable to pick an assassin then and make it work and not the same mage in the midlane ALL THE TIME. This would make the game "healthier" as you can actually play all the champs depending on the opposite team comp, as you so often express as your ideal goal... Assassins are the most mechanics/skill based champs and seeing pro playing them would be really fun and exciting and it would make the game way more fun to watch.

Pro is boring to watch. The team fighting comps are the most viable and win the most and this implies the use of at least 2 to 3 tanks. Tanks are ridiculously overpowered right now and I believe it is once again to be able to protect your beloved squishies in the midline or botlane. Tanks have a lot of CC and it is actually stupid sometimes how hard it is to kill them, like 5 players ulting on them to see them drop below 50% health. They should have strength and weaknesses as other classes do. Assassins are mobile, very strong at picking one player, but they lack team fight sustain and tankiness. Fair. Tanks have sustain, resistance, CC, mobility, and just rarely lack some raw damage (indeed look at same of the many tanks with ridiculously unfair high damage like sion, cho or galio, or as another example look at the healthy speed of sej jg clear) which is anyway often replaced with % health damage or the like. In addition tanks are the least skill based champs as with other classes you would be punished heavily if caught in a bad spot, whereas they can often shrug it off their shoulders and be fine. If this is not enough, if tanks for some weird miracle are behind, they still remain a viable CC machine, whereas other classes would be left useless the rest of the game. This is what an overpowered class looks like and how it ruins a game. They should have some weakness like decrease their % health damage or their CC potential based on how much health they have, I don't know, I am a MD not a designer so I leave it to you to figure out. I understand your point of "if not op, nobody would play tanks", but I believe players would still play tanks in the right team comps and when they see fit (also in soloq), AS IT SHOULD BE and not all the time as it is right now.

I really hope you can read this and not just another TL;DR as I share and express the view of many other players who love this game.

Toodles [katarina-love]

LostFr0st3/7/2018, 10:22:00 PM1 votes

How do you guys feel about Kai'Sa's snowball potential vs. her usefulness when behind?

HalcyonDweller3/8/2018, 5:59:34 PM1 votes

With regards to the Ahri changes, have you folks had opportunities to playtest the two-so-far iterations? If so, what do you think about them so far? Do they feel good to use, are the W changes enough to make it feel good? Is it skill expressive now?

Separate question, do you think that Fizz could work in the jungle? I had a really bad time of it the other day but I'd really like for it to work.

Kai Guy3/8/2018, 9:57:15 PM1 votes

Does Cobra Play Kai' Sa really aggressively?

Zullar3/9/2018, 1:23:40 AM1 votes

Can anybody comment on the state of Ryze and why he was nerfed?

The patch notes state that the E change was intended to improve his early waveclear but I think it actually does the opposite (at rank 1 E splashes for 70/2=35 i stead of 50) and then it’s a strait up 50% nerf at rank 5. I agree it is a little easier to kill directly with E at rank 1 (70dmg instead of 50) but this does’t even come close to offsetting the 50% splash nerf.

Also consider E splash nerf didn’t just nerf waveclear... the E splash was also a large source of lane poke. This is huge.

And you nerfed Ryze who literally has the lowest win rate Top and Mid (with the exception of Zoe who was effectively disabled).

Meanwhile champs like Sion and Janna are left alone...

I just don’t get it. Can anybody explain?

AFilthyCaitMain3/9/2018, 11:56:26 PM1 votes

What would you guys do to fix Karma's issue of using pretty much only one mantra (mainly) depending on what role she goes?

Spideraxe3/7/2018, 11:34:33 PM1 votes

How do you guys feel about playing vs the LB revert

redniwediS3/7/2018, 10:39:31 PM1 votes

Do any of you guys play Juggernauts? What are your feelings on them right now, from balance to enjoyment?

TimeNeverChanges3/7/2018, 10:57:22 PM1 votes

Are there any plans on changing Lucian to become a decent pick in the bot lane or new items that could help ad casters? Also, don’t u guys think hyper adc are reaching their power spikes a bit too early into the game?

The Yetii Rider3/7/2018, 11:31:53 PM1 votes

How does the 6 second vision denial affect Nocturne's team fighting power?