Still no clear information on Lethality aka new armor pen

Tusutaki··2 votes·1,143 views

Im a big fan of conveying information to the player so they can have a clear understand how much impact a certain skill or mechanic has whether it be of its range, radius indicator, stats, and ect. However, with the new introduction to Lethality and their seemingly arbitrary formula, it is almost impossible to detect how much armor penetration you actually have and inflict. I see some people talk about how Riot is not a big fan of auras and old Poppy because of their "invisible" numbers, meaning they conveyed information poorly to the player to the point where decisions becomes a borderline guessing game. So after all of that, why introduce Lethality when it essentially falls the same definition of invisible numbers?

Here is the formula on how Lethality is calculated.

Lethality Lethality is a new statistic introduced in Season 2017. It grants flat armor penetration using the following formula: 1 LETHALITY = (0.4 + Enemy Level ÷ 30) Flat Armor Penetration

or from their patch notes

Lethality immediately grants 40% of its value as flat armor penetration. The remaining 60% scales linearly with enemy level. 10 lethality grants 4 flat armor penetration up front and 0.33 flat armor penetration per enemy level, capping at the full >10 once enemies are level 18.

So how is the player supposed to actively know ingame how much their Lethality stat is having an impact? Reminder that this is based on the enemy's level and not yours. So not only there is no meaningful information to the player how much value you're getting out of Lethality, but even if the player does figure it out, they would have to keep track of the rest of the teams level since they could all be different at one point or another which to me is insane. I dont know if im the only one but to me, this is the purest manifestation of the invisible numbers concept.

I hope Riot thinks of something that better tells how much this stat is impacting the game because currently, there is none aside from your "current lethality" aka maximum lethality potential. This who mechanic feels arbitrary because of the dependence of a factor you essentially have no control of. Why not have it instead scale with your level instead? That way it will not only be easier for Riot to convey the information, but it would also help players have a better understanding on how much its actually doing. They would know how much Lethality they current have right there and then. Balancing it with the changes would be a different topic.

Thoughts? Feelings?

11 Comments

agbudar1 votes

actually if you multiply 18 with 0.33 you get 5.95 so it clocks out at 11 on top of this lethality runes got buffed so late game they actually give more. for top/mid lane ad lethality is definitely worth it since those 2 lanes scale very well with level.

its a nerf for early game but buff for late game.

Tusutaki1 votes

Im not discussing about the actual balance of the stat. Im talking about its way of telling information to the player. And are you saying that you receive the full benefits of leathality at lvl11 when its literally not the case?

Bears Dont Care1 votes

{quoted}

Im not discussing about the actual balance of the stat. Im talking about its way of telling information to the player. And are you saying that you receive the full benefits of leathality at lvl11 when its literally not the case?

I have to agree with Tusutaki, while the math is not difficult, the information is not easily and readily understood by the player. This is especially important when trying to consider what to build as the game progresses.

agbudar1 votes

no it means that 10 lethality clocks out at 11 flat armor pen at lvl 18

Tusutaki1 votes

Do you even math m8? If you have 10 potential Lethality, you have 4 at lvl 1 and gain .33 per level which at lvl18 lethality reaches its fullest potential which in this case would be 10. It even says so right in the patch notes. 40% at the start and you gain 3.33% per enemy level.

40% start 18(maximum level) / 60(remaining%) = 3.33% per lvl 3.33 (per level) * 18(max lvl) = 60% 40 + 60 = 100%

agbudar1 votes

grab a calculator and see for yourself 18*0.33=5.94

UNLESS first lvl does not count then it would be 5.61 dont know how riot rounds that down or up

Tusutaki1 votes

Lethality = 10 Max Level = 18 40% of 10 = 4 4 = lvl1 armor pen 60% of 10 = 6 6 / 18 = .33~~ .33~~ = armor pen per lvl 18 * .33~~ = 6 (or 5.94 if you dont include the repeating 3s) 6 = 60% of 10 lethality at lvl18 4 + 6 = 10

Or using that 5.94 4 + 5.94 = 9.94 Round to the nearest decimal, it'll be 10.

Where in the hell are you getting 11?

agbudar1 votes

dont know were it is neither do i know were my brain is

TTK Dreadnought1 votes

I dont know if im the only one but to me, this is the purest manifestation of the invisible numbers concept.

What about normal armor pen?

If you have 20 flat armor pen, and the opponents have 120 armor, 40 armor and 70 armor. How often will you actually keep track of the % reduction? Even worst with % pen.

With lethality you still have that issue, but at least you know "hey, i get some now, and it'll keep scaling more over time".

And even if you're sitting there playing and have a calculator next to you constantly looking at how much damage you can do, it'll remain an "invisible number" number issue i believe.

Tusutaki1 votes

Youre comparing normal armor pen, where you have the value shown from the get go and can simply subtract their armor from your armor pen, to Lethality where you have to conduct multiplication formulas constantly for each time it gets updated just to get a general idea how much armor pen you actually have. Even then, Lethality is much worse off being an invisible number than the former armor pen. Its to the point where youre comparing apples to oranges here.

Bears Dont Care1 votes

Not quite, the typical flat armor pen provided instant information. 20 flat pen remained 20 flat pen. It wasn't, 20 flat pen at level 1, 25 flat pen at level 18.

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