Lethality is not inherently op

ScissorsNstuff·Feb 17, 2017·4 votes·1,481 views

Lethality just combos too hard with all the other goodies physical damage dealers get. Namely the most broken stat in the game since it became a legit, remotely balanced game.. attack speed. Attack speed is partly broken because it is usually combo'd with crit chance as well which is its own can of balance tipping worms.

Lethality has become an alternative to crits + attack speed and honestly that is a good thing. However that also means that anyone who is thriving from it probably isn't doing well because they are dealing sustained damage, its more likely bursty and ability based damage.

Lethality is game warping, meaning it drags the focus of strategies around too much whether its balanced or not, but it is the direction we want to go in.

15 Comments

ForgottenStoneFeb 17, 20172 votes

Lethality itself is actually really weak compared to old armor pen. Its basically nerfed armor pen that only works on champions and needs your target to be lvl 18 so you can get the full effectiveness out of it.

Problem is the items that give lethality are really strong.

Take item 3814 for example: You get a spellshield, a ton of AD, armor pen, magic resist and move speed all rolled into one item.

SwiftKitten88Feb 17, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Lethality itself is actually really weak compared to old armor pen. Its basically nerfed armor pen that only works on champions and needs your target to be lvl 18 so you can get the full effectiveness out of it.

Problem is the items that give lethality are really strong.

Take for example: You get a spellshield, a ton of AD, armor pen, magic resist and move speed all rolled into one item.

and yet when i said this people downvote me...

ForgottenStoneFeb 17, 20171 votes

I guess people want to believe there is something wrong with Lethality, and not the items themselves.

People would be calling Mpen broken if all of a sudden Riot nerfed Mpen so it worked like lethality but then added another item to the game.

Scepter of Daylight +15 Mpen 100 AP 30 Armor 5% movespeed

some sort of super shield against physical damage active.

Kirius DarkFeb 17, 20171 votes

Lethality > crits & AS because it takes place on the first hit and 100% guaranteed. Crits are RNG which evens out over time and same with AS, which has more effect over time and only affects autos. Lethality is always there at all times on everything from abilities and autos and effective on all targets so it's a best of everything stat that makes it OP

Wouldnt be as big of an issue if it was only for abilities or only on autos akin to how Magic Pen is primarily for magic abilities other than those very select champs that have a portion of magic auto damage.

5000000000000000Feb 17, 20171 votes

AS/crit is better for DPS because lethality items don't give attack speed. The individual autos may hurt more, but you can't auto as often.

Kirius DarkFeb 17, 20171 votes

Not every AD user wants attack speed or autos that much, nor would they want crit if their ability/auto frequency isnt that high to get crits in

5000000000000000Feb 17, 20171 votes

Well no, but those who don't want AS/crit has pretty low DPS compared to those who do want AS/crit. While lethality applies to high DPS champions' damage as well, AS/crit provides better DPS and lethality provides better burst.

Broken TimeIineFeb 17, 20171 votes

Lethality in itself is not broken. It's the combo with the LW and BC. IMO Need to remove %armor pen and to replace it by lethality

Kirius DarkFeb 17, 20171 votes

% pen is a separate problem but lethatlity is too strong from double dipping into auto attacks and ability damage buff. Would be fine if it were just for abiltiies like how magic pen is

ErockandrollFeb 17, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Level 18 Feeder,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=6FkAXNws,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2017-02-17T18:13:44.832+0000)

% pen is a separate problem but lethatlity is too strong from double dipping into auto attacks and ability damage buff. Would be fine if it were just for abiltiies like how magic pen is

I don't think that's strictly the case though, given that you have AP/AS champs like Azir, Kayle, and Teemo.

But honestly, AA's and spells should be balanced around the whole. Given that any Spell with an AD ratio, means that they are already double dipping when building AD. But presumably those champs are balanced around using both Spells and Auto attacks. To Assume that Lethality is OP because "double dipping" is more of a sign that the balancing curve of the champions using it is flawed.

Kirius DarkFeb 17, 20171 votes

Azir and Kayle deal the majority of their damage through autos so they dont double dip that much into cast and auto pen.

Teemo does double dip but he's he has his own weaknesses and niche pick that can be dealt with.

It's not as extreme as most of the marksmen champs who have a ton of damage abilities on top of huge autos.

S0suke AizenFeb 18, 20171 votes

When everyone is picking Varus, Jhin or some other lethality champ every game. Yea there is a problem of balance.

ScissorsNstuffFeb 18, 20171 votes

that doesn't prove a problem with balance anymore than it proves that people prefer the new direction that the games design is going

If you release 2 viable things and one is cooler than the other then one will get picked more than the other.

That also can mean that other things need buffs to better fit in with a lethality meta, lethality being more healthy than its attack speed abusing alternative

S0suke AizenFeb 19, 20171 votes

Lethality meta. Boring. Broken. The End.

ScissorsNstuffFeb 19, 20171 votes

Boring? How so