Gnar Q&A - Gameplay [COMPLETED]

RiotAD Yuumi·8/5/2014, 5:52:34 PM·45 votes·97,417 views

http://news.cdn.leagueoflegends.com/public/images/gnr/img/Wallpaper_Gnar.jpg

Greetings Summoners,

Gypsylord here. Transform champions have traditionally been some of the hardest to balance in League, but with Gnar we set about tackling the issue with some unique solutions. Meddler and I are here to answer your design questions and give some insight into his creation!

Here are some other things you might want to check out: Discovering the Link Gnar Reveal

Check out the other Gnar Q&A sessions here: Gnar Art & Sound Q&A Gnar Creative Q&A

EDIT - Alright guys, we're heading back to work. Thanks for all your questions, and we hope you enjoy Gnar!

727 Comments

Hook Eat Sleep8/5/2014, 6:12:45 PM34 votes

Do you think Gnar can excel at Ad Carry?

nobarnorman8/5/2014, 7:15:52 PM22 votes

Why did you guys choose to make his ultimate only available in his mega form? Was there ever an idea for a mini form ultimate?

Flintfall8/5/2014, 5:53:15 PM13 votes

Huuuuge fan of Gnar, and I got a few questions:

What were some abilities that didn’t make the final cut? Any abilities you liked in particular that didn’t make it?
Do you think Gnar will be played competitively?
How do you guys decide who tackles a champion’s kit design?
Any comment on Gnar’s similarities with Vayne (Hyper, GNAR!)?

RiotAD Yuumi8/5/2014, 8:51:56 PM10 votes

Okay folks I gotta get going for now. Plenty of Gnar bugs to fix and not many days to do it. May be back on later if I have time D:

Nix Machina8/5/2014, 6:54:55 PM10 votes

Gnar looks really interesting and I'm super excited for him, but I've got a couple questions regarding his gameplay.

Given the differences between his forms, how would you recommend itemizing him? Do you find it more advantageous to itemize for his mini form (focusing more on AD and attack speed, marksman style), for his mega form (focusing more on tank stats), or for some kind of midway as a bruiser/fighter (going the Triforce+tank route or BorK + tank, like many toplaners do these days)?
When you use an ability at max fury, does it trigger as the mini-Gnar ability or the mega-Gnar ability?
How fast is the decay on the fury outside of combat? If you focus on just last-hitting in lane and don't harass an incredible amount, should you expect to build up enough fury to transform? I know that his early-game fury generation is much less significant than his late-game fury generation, but I can see it being an issue if you're just trying to farm and play passively against an abusive lane and you can't keep your fury low enough.

Thanks in advance! I'm looking forward to seeing him in action.

MrHappycroc8/5/2014, 6:57:13 PM10 votes

What does he feel like to play?

jk80628/5/2014, 6:03:22 PM9 votes

have we found a exact release date for him yet? and wil he be on sale as he's released?

PhantomCorsair8/5/2014, 5:55:27 PM7 votes

Was the Champion Concept for Gnar always the same? Or was he different in the earlier stages? E.g. was he always a yordle? always had the rage mechanic? etc.

Cameron Woof8/5/2014, 6:00:02 PM6 votes

Are there any lessons you learned while designing and playtesting Gnar that we might see applied to champions with similar abilities? Like, say, Quinn?

MaizeCraze8/5/2014, 6:39:54 PM6 votes

I have two questions regarding Gnar's gameplay.

First, when mega Gnar throws a boulder, and then transforms back to mini Gnar, mini Gnar can then pick up the boulder to reduce boomerang's CD. Was this intended?

Second, when Gnar has 100 fury, and uses hop to transform, he uses wallop when he bounces off of a target as well as when he lands. Again, was this intended or just a bug? To me, it makes sense that he wallops once he actually lands on the ground.

Zerglinator8/5/2014, 5:57:39 PM5 votes

Was Gnar's Boomerang Q ever considered for reworking Sivir? Why doesn't Sivir get that advanced of a skill?

ZeronEve8/5/2014, 7:09:53 PM5 votes

How much of Gnar's kit do you actually think is necessary? Slows, stuns, and utility tacked on everywhere. He hasn't even been released yet so it's obviously very hard to say anything definitive, but seriously just look at that kit. It's kits that look like these with ridiculous amounts of utility, random slows and other cc that make for champions that straight up overshadow others of the cast. Probably the only balancing factor about it though is that he doesn't have all of it on demand with transformation like Elise/Nidalee/Jayce do.

Design wise, WHY does he have all this crap tacked on him? Why does his mini Q have a random slow on it? Why does mini W have a random MS steroid on it especially if he already has a gap closer? Why does mini E have a random AS steriod? It's design choices like these that make champions so much harder to balance and ultimately get revoked (Lee Sin losing his AS debuff is a start for instance). As per Riot's design philosophy of highlighting weaknesses and strengths, Gnar shouldn't have so much packed into his kit to hide or compensate for his weaknesses.

6Sfool8/5/2014, 6:38:10 PM5 votes

In planning to use Gnar as a champion that excells in teamfights, I was considering using runaan's hurricane to deal multi-target damage and complement Mega Gnar's aoe damage. But i'm curious on how that would work. Since he gains fury on basic attacks, would runaans build fury 3x as fast in a teamfight? And i'm curious how it affects his w. Would you need to make an exception on the 3 consecutive attacks like you did with Vayne, making percent health damage not apply to secondary targets?

my name is ender8/5/2014, 6:04:09 PM4 votes

First I would like to thank you guys for doing this, even though you do it with every champ you release. Now, my quiestions are 1) what was the inspiration behind Gnar and 2) can we expect to see more yordles in the near future?

Blevan8/5/2014, 6:11:33 PM4 votes

Gnar seems like a very fun champion but I am wondering how hard it will be to balance his kit. He has a very unique passive, is it your goal to make mega Gnar stronger than small Gnar. I know it is not your goal to make small Gnar stronger than Mega Gnar because that would punish players when they are in team fights and suddenly change into a weaker form. What I'm trying to ask in 2 simple points is

Will it be more difficult to balance Gnar when compared to or champions like and ?
Is it your goal to have Mega Gnar be more powerful than Small Gnar or for them to be equal in strength? Thanks, I love your work on these champions and Gnar looks super fun :D

Flying Buntcake8/5/2014, 6:07:51 PM4 votes

Isn't a bounce onto a champion to get behind then ( 2cnd to last spell before mega) to any other spell ( turns into mega here ) a little too good

TL;DR gettting behind someone, then pushing them back with ult

TheFujiApple8/5/2014, 6:21:13 PM3 votes

Do you guys have plans for more uncontrollable transforming champs? It's a really interesting concept!

GreenTheOlive8/5/2014, 6:21:05 PM3 votes

I understand that having his transformation impossible to avoid is part of his design, but do you ever think in the future you will make it a toggle able spell for many gnar if he is too weak or will you try to balance him elsewhere.

NA Mogs8/5/2014, 6:18:03 PM2 votes

Looking forward to Gnar a lot. I have a question about his interactions. Will they be like Braums Braum , where he talks to or about items and champions?

Ghostarian8/5/2014, 7:56:20 PM2 votes

Hi, im french so please be indulgent on my questions.. can maokai jump on Maokai's sappling toss or heimerdinger's turret? Shaco boxes?