Boards›Esports

New in 2016: AD Carry

Riot·1/17/2016, 6:22:27 PM·0 votes·29,559 views

In this 'New in 2016' series, we've already taken a look at the top, jungle, and mid changes that could impact the pro scene, and now we're ready to turn our focus to AD carries. The preseason changes to the AD carry role were some of the most extensive: not only did champions get heavily reworked, but even itemization was completely overhauled to expand the styles and strategic roles of the ADC. Luckily for AD carries, Patch 6.1 takes that a step farther, addressing certain champions and items that have monopolized the role -- mostly by way of adding even more power!

Items

The preseason brought a bevy of new ways to bolster an AD carry’s power: the introduction of Rapid Firecannon, a rework for Phantom Dancer, and rebalances for both Statikk Shiv and Runaan’s Hurricane. The fundamental reason for all of these new or changed Zeal-based attack speed items was pretty simple: before the preseason overhaul, the AD carry role had become stagnant and unappealing.

[[{"fid":"21441","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/23107439214_a23974c49c_k.jpg%3Fitok%3DrxUjduDv","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"661","width":"992"}}]]

According to TSM Doublelift, "There were a lot of items before -- like Statikk Shiv and Avarice Blade -- that made AD carries unfun." Avarice Blade itself was never a power pick, with only an incidental increase to your chance to crit. Players got it because it provided extra gold -- and because not getting it meant you fell behind enemies who did. "So it was not a good item for competitive play, because you want a game with a high skill cap, and Avarice Blade kind of limited that. The best thing to do was get it and farm it out," says Doublelift.

"Now, these new items promote a lot of fighting and getting your power spikes earlier," TSM's ADC continued, pleased with the preseason thus far. "These sort of things promote a more skillful game, where you're fighting a lot more and you're going for trades with Rapid Firecannon when the proc is up."

Player Relations Specialist Patrick “Scarizard” Scarborough said that Riot intended to preserve the individual identity of the Zeal-based attack speed items -- Statikk Shiv for waveclear, Runaan's Hurricane for team fighting, Rapid Firecannon for sieging, and Phantom Dancer for one-on-one duels. Their designs were mostly successful, but there were still flaws that had to be addressed in Patch 6.1. "The number one thing was that Rapid Firecannon was getting picked up all the time just because it had the most movement speed," Scarizard said.

With 6.1 the movement speed disparity was normalized more evenly between the items. "Now, Shiv and Dancer have 5% movespeed," said Scarizard. "Hurricane and Cannon have 7%. Phantom Dancer is one that people have not tried -- and for good reason. You lose movement speed when you upgrade it. While you get it back near enemies, it means you're slower to rotate and get around the map when you need to push." Phantom Dancer now has 5% extra movement speed by default, increasing to an additional 7% when near enemies (making it the "fastest" Zeal item under combat conditions), while Firecannon takes a small 1% hit to bring it closer to its peers.

[[{"fid":"21446","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/dsc01611.jpg%3Fitok%3Dq-9RO91t","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"717","width":"992"}}]]

Champions

Just like with items, the overhaul to marksmen champion designs greatly expanded the pool of viable options. "The champion pool has completely shifted," said Renegades AD carry Freeze. "Champions like Lucian, or 'Lose-ian,' nobody played -- now it's one of the strongest ADCs because of Thunderlord's [Decree]. Pretty much right now, you can play any champion -- unless it's Kog'maw. Every champion is viable."

The new Keystone Mastery adds a spike of damage to champions after hitting a champion with three damaging abilities or basic attacks, once every 20 seconds. Lucian’s Lightslinger makes that easy, doubletapping a target with just one basic attack.

But viable isn't quite the same thing as dominant. Also, like with the items, one champion in particular's gained prominence. Team Dignitas' Apollo largely disagrees with his peers about the extent of the impact that the preseason changes have made to the role, but even he acknowledges that Miss Fortune is heads and shoulders above the rest. "I think the only AD carry that really changed in terms of impact was Miss Fortune, just because they buffed her E [Make It Rain] as well as her ultimate. Just those two together -- when you max [Make It Rain] -- is a really strong team fighting contribution."

[[{"fid":"21443","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/missfortune_8_1.jpg%3Fitok%3DRd003vqD","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered","height":"585","width":"992"}}]]

Scarizard admits that Miss Fortune's maybe received a little too much help with the season overhaul: "Her E instantly procs Thunderlord's. She's the preeminent lane bully this season."

True to form, Patch 6.1 drops the damage from Make It Rain (E) -- as well as her passive damage bonus from Love Tap. "I actually think, with Miss Fortune in pro games, there's a failure case and success case," said Scarizard. "If she just clicks on people and they all die, there's no fun gameplay. Watching that in pro play becomes really boring."

Her ultimate, however, remains deliberately untouched. "I hope that these nerfs get her to the best spot she can be, and tone her just enough. I want teams to be picking Miss Fortune for Bullet Time, and for how to synergize with it. I don't want them to just be saying 'well, it just does a lot more damage than others, so we'll be going with that," says Scarizard.

Patch 6.1 brings a new era of gunmen, snipers, and other diverse ways to poke holes in targets. Let us know what you think about the changes to the role, and the changes to top, jungle, and mid, and stay tuned as the New in 2016 series closes out with the support role.

14 Comments

LatetotheRace1/18/2016, 6:31:17 AM3 votes

Lol bevy of possible builds. You do realize most marksmen now only have 2 possible build paths right?

ValyrianBlade1/17/2016, 11:45:53 PM2 votes

2015 marksman rework, Riot: "We're looking to make ADCs have unique choices, not necessarily shift who's strong"

2016 "New to ADC": "The entire champion roster has been shifted."

Yea... right. Not saying it's a bad thing, just come on, don't lie to us. You wanted Jinx toned down and wanted the playmaking ADCs (e.g. Lucian, MF, Corki) buffed up to make a show in competitive.

yo motha 1/17/2016, 11:01:50 PM2 votes

Team builder is probably what kept me playing league. draft pick just doesnt do it for me.

Solid Nels1/17/2016, 11:00:56 PM2 votes

More adc mean more Rammus. Excellent.

Janis Joplin1/18/2016, 7:55:55 PM1 votes

Personally, I already felt MF was strong before her buffs, so now afterwards it feels like she's an almost unstoppable pick. Am I the only one who feels this way?

SKG Blue1/18/2016, 1:06:25 AM1 votes

Love the changes! Incredible stuff!

Epic Dreamer1/18/2016, 1:08:08 AM1 votes

We need more jinx + hurricane! Crazy range + multi hit = Stay out of danger People also underestimate the pain Zap brings, and how evil Chompers are! Add in the crazy siege she can do, and her insane Global Ult that can HELP STEAL JUNGLE CAMPS!

Magnum Mack1/18/2016, 1:20:37 AM1 votes

MF got a rather large buff like any adc caster style has. The problem isn't so much her damage but her playstyle. It can basically handle anything. Got a short range vayne? Easy to harass. Got a mobile Lucian. Harass and nail him with a q when he dashes behind minions. Got a long range cait? Play passive, q when she feels safe for easy damage and zone her out with e so you can keep vision in the bush she walks into. She can basically handle any situation with just about any support. I dare say the only time I have an issue is when I get a kalista jumping all over the place. I can drop e and then q when she's slow but that only gets ya so far sometimes.

Jinx needed some work though. Her rocket was never meant to be a 24/7 fixture for AA's. Letting runaan's crit on the bolts just made her waveclear even more insane and teamfighting a little more of a carpet bombing. Runaan's got a nerf as far as I can tell. Sure, you can crit on the bolts but you lost atk speed and the bolts seem weaker. If anything jinx just became a bit more versatile. PD is what hurts me. I just don't feel it gives me much advantage when I could otherwise run RF Cannon. Dueling potential doesn't mean much when you can get 2 shot by most champs, adc or otherwise.