Boards›Dev Corner

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: October 24

RiotMeddler·10/24/2018, 3:31:44 PM·1 votes·175,145 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

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

Top Lane Viktor

Wanted to share some thoughts about top lane Viktor, given we've seen it picking up some popularity and discussion, in particular off usage at Worlds. Our thinking right now:

  • It's quite strong when picked into the right enemy team and opposing lane (melee that aren't extremely mobile). It's not looking like a good choice so far into other team comps however, so seems pretty risky as a blind pick.
  • It's a different enough playstyle and position for experienced Viktor players that we're expecting it to take a while for strong usage to be common in solo queue. Similarly top laners without much Viktor experience will take a bit to build up the experience needed to play it usefully. Some degree of wait and see as a result.
  • Preseason changes will likely impact top Viktor's effectiveness. Timewarp Tonic and Klepto changes will potentially shift its viability, given both of those are standard picks at present for it. Additionally wider preseason changes, particularly tower plating, will impact all champions to some degree.
  • Finally it's also cool to see a champ getting played in a different way as an evolving reaction to other champs being common/strong.

Based off all of that we're not looking to make any changes to Viktor specifically at present. We'll see where things end up post 8.23, nothing's currently looking too concerning though.

Lissandra Passive

A little while back I mentioned that the Lissandra passive we've been testing (enemy champs killed become frozen statues that slow enemies, then explode) had been running into some issues with reliability. Been testing a range of different ways to address that since and have settled on one that's been really good in testing over the last couple of weeks. Wanted to share an update with you folks as a result:

https://imgur.com/a/h4NPCut

A few other details to know:

  • Frozen Thralls start off moving really slowly and get somewhat faster over time.
  • They'll prioritize running at enemy champions over enemy minions.
  • The exact numbers listed here haven't gone through rigorous balance tuning yet (that happens at the end), so could still change.

Current State of Clash

A few months back we talked about how we were going to relaunch Clash, with the TLDR being fixing some underlying issues with the platform LoL runs on, then PBE testing, then testing in different regions, then eventually a full launch:

https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2018/07/dev-the-future-of-clash/

We're now at the stage where we've been running mini Clash events in some regions. Tests in Oceania, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan have so far gone well, with a few small issues identified we're working on, but nothing serious. Next up we'll be testing in other regions and increasing the scope of those tests a bit as well. Should have a few more details on exactly what we're doing different in an upcoming Ask Riot post too. We're still a while off a full launch, but have made significant progress and things are looking pretty good so far.

298 Comments

Best Kog NA10/24/2018, 3:49:36 PM16 votes

As a Kog'maw main for 6 years now I have a couple of questions about current/future plans for my favorite little void puppy.

  1. Is the auto passive bug that happens sometimes where you're able to auto once whenever you're in your passive under VERY specific circumstances ever going to be fixed? Some more details on the bug: it happens more often at higher attack speeds, and I was able to replicate it more when orb walking around a target rather than just standing still and autoing. Here's a video of it happening with dragon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyxXYqrnlXo , this same bug also works on champions, any jungle camp, minions, and pets with the same level of frequency. It also works on towers, plants, and inhibs / nexus but is much rarer and more difficult to execute. I'm able to provide more videos and a more detailed walk through of how to replicate this bug if needed.

  2. Kog'Maw's current state in the meta is not the best at all, in fact I would argue it is one of the worst. As an on hit ADC Kog has never really been able to use crit that effectively, so after the release of the new crit item Stormrazor Kog'Maw wasn't really effected directly by it, but because it's emphasizing earlier power spikes he's fallen in tier a decent amount because while he needs a few items to get going stormrazor adcs only need 1 item to really hit their power spike. However the main thing that's been holding back Kog'Maw in my eyes from the meta is the strength of Kai'sa and Varus. Kai'sa and Varus (mainly Kai'sa) are the other two on hit ADC's that exist beside Kog'Maw. However neither of them have been hit by the current meta as hard as Kog'Maw, for a few reasons. I'll start with Varus, he brings CC and reliable poke to the table in the form of his ult and his Q, Kog'Maw does outpoke him with his ult and q, but having a good form of CC makes Varus just that much better than Kog. But when it comes to late game Kog'Maw with his W will outdamage Varus, so it isn't really a problem late game. However with Kai'sa there's no point in the game where Kog outdamages her. She brings everything Kog does and more to the table. Where Kog has his W to deal %health damage Kai'sa has her passive which does the same. Kai'sa also brings waveclear, greater poke, and more self peel than Kog has. In a meta where Kai'sa is this strong there is no reason to pick Kog'Maw when Kai'sa is unbanned since she does everything Kog does but better.

  3. The third and final point I would like to talk about is the impact current meta supports have on Kog'Maw. In lanes where common supports are Pyke, Thresh, and Leona, Kog'maw not only does poorly against these supports, but he has poor synergy with these supports as well. I'm not saying this is a problem, hell I think Pyke is super fun to play and I always love seeing thresh in the meta, but I'm just bringing up this last point because it's another contributing factor in my eyes as to why Kog'Maw's current state in the meta is one that needs changes.

Wukong Airlines10/24/2018, 6:10:35 PM13 votes

Hey Meddler, did you check my last Wukong Passive change suggestion? if not here's the link: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/57bJhcmF-meddler-what-if-we-made-wukongs-passive-scale

Something needs to be changed in Wukong's kit in order to shift him towards healthier playstyle [bruiser] which he's intended to be, and by starting with the Passive we can achieve that.

Nabil1777810/24/2018, 3:43:45 PM11 votes

Hi meddler,

When is new champ teaser out?

Nicki Minaj10/24/2018, 3:40:27 PM9 votes

Will each Thrall look the same ? Also they will change depending on the skin right and what is a ''Thrall'' really, doesn't seem like a fitting term for Lissandra's thing

IxtaliKing10/24/2018, 3:41:31 PM8 votes

Hey Meddler, is Lissandra getting any other changes besides the passive?

Darkomantis10/24/2018, 3:38:37 PM7 votes

Hello Meddler, I'm an old time Dominion player who has played over 5000 games in Dominion and have sinked countless hours into Ascension whenever it was up. I wanted to inquire on Ascension.

In a QGT last year, it was said that Riot is considering adding RGM gamemodes into custom games. Will we see Ascension available for custom games or see it at all for next year? I dearly miss Ascension and the old players who come back for it.

Additionally, I will add a post in Gameplay+ on some adjustments for when Ascension does come back unless you're planning to drop the gamemode altogether.

Yordle Xayah10/24/2018, 3:39:24 PM6 votes

Two things:

  • A while ago Riot mentioned a potential ASPD Doran starting item. Anything on that?
  • A while ago Riot talked about Mana feels like a limitation in a mana vs non-mana matchup, and how the wish was to make mana users feel a positive impact on having the resource dependence. Anything on that?
Adalvar10/24/2018, 3:45:29 PM5 votes

Wait, so are you saying that the statues of Lissandra's new passive become Maokai Saplings in a way, chasing people down?

Also, by your wording, this means we aren't getting passive this patch right?

Lastly are you still planning on shifting Liss's numbers/E projectile speed around as you mentioned previously or is that out of the table?

Linna Excel10/24/2018, 4:02:01 PM5 votes

Meddler, are you guys going to do anything about shyvana?

Heimerdinger Bot10/24/2018, 5:27:05 PM5 votes

Hi Meddler, what are the current plans for Sejuani? She is in dire need of work and us Sejuani players havent heard anything news concerning our champ in quite a while. Thanks.

Zoli Ben10/24/2018, 3:38:09 PM5 votes

Hi Meddler! Reav3 said that Ezreal seems pretty successful so far, do you think that Ez level VGU can happen in future? I personally loved it.

Frozen Diva10/24/2018, 3:40:39 PM4 votes

I really like the solution for Lissandras passive. Do you think it will ship this year? And what will happen to her old passive? Will it be replaced or added? I hope you‘ll keep that as well. :)

boricCentaur110/24/2018, 3:39:46 PM3 votes

Why is dark harvest changing from a late game rune to more of a execute rune.