...
In your LCS matches that's not a problem at all. Neither will this affect premades of 5's. But what will happen to Solo Q players?
edit: Okay, so it seems like I no longer get notifications when my own thread gets new posts...
Raptamei34 votesWhen an ally AFK's or quits, you're out of a Q, W, E and R.
Noel Vermillion1 votesq and e have nothing to do with the soul bound thing tho.
Thanatar1619 votesDon't think you got what he meant...
Rew7114 votesThay is a sad thought. Now she is dependant on the support. The ult should be able to work without the item. The item also makes building tougher for the support.
Rock Rockburgh5 votesI don't think the support has to HOLD the item. From my understanding, Kalista uses it on an ally and they're prompted to respond. If they accept the bond, the item is consumed and the two champions are linked for the rest of the game.
ZaganJustice13 votesI think riot should have built this into her trinket (like rango), and make it reset after every ultimate (sounds reasonable to me...)
5G8Nri0B546 votesI think riot should have built this into her trinket (like rango), and make it reset after every ultimate (sounds reasonable to me...)
In that case it better provide some bitchin stats or else Kallista will be at a huge disadvantage compared to other ADC's.
Also, is it just me or is her R just BEGGING you to troll your teammates?
Freljordan3 votesbuilt into trinket he said, not an item
RiotRiot Whist9 votesPlaying Kalista to try to troll with her ult seems like a lot of work. Have to hit 6, have to have your ultimate off cooldown, support has to be in a situation where he would prefer to not be yanked toward you (and even then he can fire himself right back out and knock players up).
Support generally isn't going to be going for the last hit on a kill, or jungle creeps.
You could soulbind the jungler I suppose, but again, if you yank him away from a buff he can just shoot himself right back to it and get a free knock up. You just convenienced him really.
I wouldn't worry about it that much IMO. If somebody's going to troll they have much more effective ways of doing it that doesn't require Kalista.
Eotw2 votesHow many champions can throw their teammates into fountain?
RiotRiot Whist6 votesNone.
Kalista doesn't throw them. They decide where and when to go (within the time limit of the skill).
Think of it like thresh lantern. You don't get to decide when your teammate uses it past when it's available to use.
Eotw2 votesMaybe "pull" is a better word than "throw".
Unless you're saying the soul-bound is immune to the fountain and can throw themselves out of it.
RiotMeddler13 votesShe is indeed. That's something we've spent a lot of time internally discussing but eventually decided was for the best. We want Kalista to form a permanent bond with an ally, since that then means the decision about who to bond with's a really significant and interesting one. Do you bond with your support, and if so which one does your lane partner want to choose? How does having access to Kalista's R chance your chance of lane partner? Alternatively do you bond with your jungler and gain strength during ganks/different opportunities mid/late game in exchange for lack of W passive access in lane? Or do you try going to a different lane than bot and get a lot of jungle pressure? Allowing you to change who you bond with to whoever's optimal at each point in the game diminishes both that gameplay and the feel of a soulbond we're aiming to create between two players for the course of the game.
That does admittedly mean that having her soulbound ally disconnect/quit/afk stings even more than a 4v5 already does. Our eventual conclusion though was that we didn't want to incentivize players disconnecting to swap bond targets. Going with a really long DC/afk period until rebinding's possible would get around that, at that point though the point's pretty moot. If you've been 4v5 for 10 minutes the game's probably over regardless. There's definitely an appreciable cost created by making 4v5s even more painful, overall though we felt that the new gameplay we could offer this way outweighed that pain.
Hellioning5 votesI severely doubt that she's going to soulbond anybody but her support. The %health damage in lane is way too good to give up.
Vellich0r3 votesdepends on what kind of lane you want. for instance if you are wanting an engage lane with braum/leona etc you might be better off soulbinding the jungler because the likelihood of using that % health damage without risking a severely lost trade would be high wasting part of your passives potential. However if you have an annie/janna/insert decent AA range support here then not soulbinding your support would be folly.
Hellioning3 votesThat's exactly when I would soulbond an engage support. In addition to a Braum/Leona being a better choice for her ult, it Kallista's W would also proc Braum passive/Leona passive, for extra burst.
Vellich0r1 votesyou would get more early game use out of a pokey support, you would almost be wasting potential with it on a melee engage support though.
Hellioning4 votesYou think that an extra 10% of their max hp as magic damage during a Leona combo is almost wasting potential?
Keikomatsui 16 votesHonest question Meddler. Why/How does the design team decide whats worth the apparent risk of making a 4 v 5 even worse. 4 v 5's are hard, but winnable. 3.5 v 5's are way harder. I feel like if someone goes afk there should be some way, perhaps after X amount of time, or instantly rebinding to the leaver if they return, to make Kalista still viable in the all too common 4 v 5 cause of afk/dc's option.
I honestly think its really nieve and shortsighted to punish a team even more for being in a 4 v 5 situation. Do you think that Kalista is that interesting to warrant that kinda negative scenario for 4 players in a game?
(This isnt meant to sound hostile, Im honestly really interested in having a serious discussion. It just confuses me how you guys view this as cool enough to risk that kinda negative game experience)
RiotMeddler14 votesYeah, fair question. This one came down to a cost/benefit assessment of how much should we limit the experiences we can offer and potential for cool moments in most games versus exacerbating an existing problem in a subset of other games. I'd argue we've actually been a bit too risk adverse in the past, limiting or avoiding some really cool abilities that 99%+ of the time would create great gameplay because there were some negative cases.
Having said that this is definitely one we'll be watching really closely. It's not the sort of thing we've done as much of before (transfer of direct agency to another player) and as a result is definitely somewhat experimental. If that doesn't overall work as hoped we'll adjust.
Lyr4 votesYeah, fair question. This one came down to a cost/benefit assessment of how much should we limit the experiences we can offer and potential for cool moments in most games versus exacerbating an existing problem in a subset of other games. I'd argue we've actually been a bit too risk adverse in the past, limiting or avoiding some really cool abilities that 99%+ of the time would create great gameplay because there were some negative cases.
Having said that this is definitely one we'll be watching really closely. It's not the sort of thing we've done as much of before (transfer of direct agency to another player) and as a result is definitely somewhat experimental. If that doesn't overall work as hoped we'll adjust.
This is actually something i've personally been worried about as well upon viewing her reveal. As unfortunate as it is, AFKers and leavers are a very common thing in games. Why not create a feature as a sort of pseudo safety net?
For example, Kalista links with her support. For some reason, that support has left the game 10 - 15 minutes in. After 5 minutes of the support being gone, Kalista reacquires her item and can link to a new ally. To prevent potential abuse, this can be done only once.
Jamnon5 votesThink the point is: playing 4 v 5 is unfun. Playing 4 v 5 (admittedly not as uncommon as we all might wish it to be) with no ult for the rest of the game is even less fun. You are incentivizing teams with Kalista who are 4 v 5 to just roll over.
My question would be: do the possible beneficial plays feel SO cool that this thematic feeling be preserved...? IE is the risk worth the reward? If it is I see potential problems if it is SO rewarding for teams which won't weigh a team down (if they dont AFK and use the ult as intended).
It should not be balanced around a worst-case scenario, if it is THAT cool, for this reason.
Owatatsumi Kami2 votesI agree and to add we aren't just worrying about afkers but teammates acting hostile towards people for choosing Kalista. I imagine this happening in champion select but even more so if their chosen partner dcs. They'll be the point of focus for all the blame and harassment that is way too prevalent in this game. I really question whether all possibilities and fall out outcomes were adequately considered with this design...
The only savior I can see is if she is SO powerful that people would be willing to risk having her on their team even if there is a chance her partner may go afk. LoL is an extremely risk averse game, especially the more competitive you get. I can imagine this champ working well in established teams but I'm struggling to see this champion being picked in say solo que unless she is either A. Very Powerful, which begs the question if she will face balancing issues when able to play under the right conditions or B. Her power without a partner is enough to keep her relevant enough if they leave. Still this champion seems like such a risky pick to me, even more so than a hyper-carry or team-reliant champ like Nautilus.
ShadowKnight12245 votesDoes this mean we'll see more ally-ccing (via pact-like mechanics so that the cc-able ally can give consent)?
Also, resolving Kalista's ult problem is quite easy: if the Oathsworn is disconnected for 3+ minutes, the pact is dissolved and she receives (or is able to purchase) another Black Spear. She can then decide to hold on to it in case the ally comes back or offer a pact to another champion. If she gets another Oathsworn and her original ally comes back, well, that's their loss.
Ark Angel HFB7 votesHere is a thought... what if... and here me out....
She got 4 soul bounds over the course of the game...
1 at lvl 1, 6, 11, & 16.
Now the bounds stack for greater effect...
(Optional) choosing a new target removes the bound from all previous bounded allies.
Now this gives meaningful choices... but also reduced the pain point of an afk teammate
She could choose to dump all of the bounds onto one teammate... or maybe just use one... during laning... and then put the rest on another allying..
Just a thought... don't want to wreck the feel of a champ I haven't even played yet... and lets be real I jungle... since she is an adc I won't be doing anything but killing her. XD
exe37 votesIt's definitely refreshing to see you soften your stance against these types of abilities. It is what lead to Threshes lantern and it was confusing to initially see this ult given Riot's previous stance.
I have a question though. Is it possible to decline a bond? Tbh I don't actually like the idea of someone controlling me like that. I have no issue with it being in the game but i'd like the option to not participate if possible.
MrBuffington2 votesI guess that's why you have to choose to accept the black spear at the beginning of the game. Or are you talking about specific instances when she ults? I guess worse case you can just instantly throw yourself back out, maybe waste her ult, but it's not a terribly long cooldown, similar to anyone else missing their ult, I guess,
5G8Nri0B542 votesThat does admittedly mean that having her soulbound ally disconnect/quit/afk stings even more than a 4v5 already does. Our eventual conclusion though was that we didn't want to incentivize players disconnecting to swap bond targets. Going with a really long DC/afk period until rebinding's possible would get around that, at that point though the point's pretty moot. If you've been 4v5 for 10 minutes the game's probably over regardless. There's definitely an appreciable cost created by making 4v5s even more painful, overall though we felt that the new gameplay we could offer this way outweighed that pain.
So Meddler...
Am I correct to assume you only expect Kallista to be played with Premades and LCS games?
How is she going to work out in SoloQ? More importantly, how is she in SoloQ without her spear Passive and R? Is she viable with that chunk of her kit not being present.
Because I have this niggling feeling that there will be plenty of games where Kallista will not be able to capitalize or even effectively use her Soulbound mechanics, and I don't just mean AFK's/Trolls too. You know what SoloQ is like.
Not to mention, without voice-chat, I can imagine her R being the cause of many a fight amongst random strangers.
I look forward to seeing how she turns out in tournaments and such. But...I really can't see her being very viable in SoloQ.
VaporeonKun11 votesIt makes her "High risk, high reward" with an unpleasant side effect. You're literally risking your games playing her in Solo if you don't have any reliable support or person to soul bind to.
Accompanying her ult, since she can't use the second active, she has to hope her teammate will make the right choice to go in. Though I guess that's what teamwork is, it seems she's better off in teams than solo.
What Is Smite7 votesTo be honest, it looks that with Kalista's kit she is going to fall into the role of a DPS support that builds like a glass cannon. She can be played as an ADC but more than likely she is a glass cannon DPS support with CC and vision her kit will provide, I know that you could say the same about ashe but honestly if you compare her aa range to urgot's aa they are almost the same. Bottom line, she will fall into the support category rather than being an ADC.
FadeintoDust3 votesLOL shes the new troll champ. Not viable in solo que lol. And also they kinda ripped half her kit from 
tbh :\
missinggrave3 votesMay I ask your reasoning behind such statements? I can understand the solo queue* (( easily misspelled, I know )) statement due to it requiring a LARGE amount of trust and communication, but the rest seems odd and in need of explanation.
Vellich0r3 votesshe could ult WW out of his ult, ult xerath out of his ult, ult morgana so enemies are out of range of her ult, ult vel koz out of his ult. the possibilities are endless. and ripping parts of kit from varus is likely a reference to the stack and detonate mechanic with her spears, and the line skillshot Q, though i disagree with that assessment specifically.
Centuros12 votesThe stack and detonate of the spears reminds me more of Twitch, actually.
Tapu Fini1 votesMorgana's ult might not be canceled actually... When she goes untargetable via zhonya's it doesn't break... That'll have to wait and see :/
Vellich0r1 votesIt would carry her to kalista though which would break the chains and prevent the stun or the second damage instance.
Tapu Fini1 votesIf Kalista was still in range (not that she'd really want to be) Morg's ult might not cancel, acting as a faux-zhonya's :p
Vellich0r2 votesvery true, and probably somewhat effective, but if you are trying to troll, does it really matter? also just tried playing with a kalista on the PBE and it didn't give me the option to accept whether or not I wanted to be soul bound. I just kinda got roped into it.
Tapu Fini4 votesHmm... Hopefully they're still working on a confirmation system, that could really get trolly... But you could troll the Kalista just as hard by never letting her link... She just keeps feeling more and more a duo/5's champ... Not for solo :s
Might end up one of those champions you ban because you don't want to play with one, nonetheless against one.
Anonagon2 votesI'm still confused on how she picks her Soul-Bound, and if it gives any bonuses besides the ones listed in W and R
EnvyDragon5 votesKalista starts with an item she can activate to pick a soulbound ally. The W and R effects are the only ones I know of, but "attack at the same time for bonus damage" is pretty strong. I have a bit of a problem with the way her ult takes away an ally's agency, but... meh.
And @OP: From the sound of it, Kalista's R is an activate/reactivate type of ability, where the first cast loads your support as ammo and the second cast fires. The support doesn't need to do anything for the duration but be a bullet.
EDIT: Yes, I get it. I was wrong. Every person in the world doesn't need to individually reply to this post to correct me. Quit cloggin' my alert bar.
darkdill44 votesNo, your teammate needs to be the one to trigger the second half, AFAIK. This prevents Kalista from griefing her teammate by throwing them into certain death.
Anonagon11 votesKalista starts with an item she can activate to pick a soulbound ally. The W and R effects are the only ones I know of, but "attack at the same time for bonus damage" is pretty strong. I have a bit of a problem with the way her ult takes away an ally's agency, but... meh.
And @OP: From the sound of it, Kalista's R is an activate/reactivate type of ability, where the first cast loads your support as ammo and the second cast fires. The support doesn't need to do anything for the duration but be a bullet.
Ah
It sounds like a bad idea to me. Instead of a one-time use item, they should have made it a short channel like Azir's tower, and have the soul-bound mechanic cancel when they walk too far away or after a set duration. That would have prevented the "what if they afk?" thing pretty easily
Radix Zero8 votesKalista starts with an item she can activate to pick a soulbound ally. The W and R effects are the only ones I know of, but "attack at the same time for bonus damage" is pretty strong. I have a bit of a problem with the way her ult takes away an ally's agency, but... meh.
And @OP: From the sound of it, Kalista's R is an activate/reactivate type of ability, where the first cast loads your support as ammo and the second cast fires. The support doesn't need to do anything for the duration but be a bullet.
From what I read, Kalista activates R to pull her ally in, and it is the ally who activates the second part to dash in.
5G8Nri0B5414 votesKalista starts with an item she can activate to pick a soulbound ally. The W and R effects are the only ones I know of, but "attack at the same time for bonus damage" is pretty strong. I have a bit of a problem with the way her ult takes away an ally's agency, but... meh.
And @OP: From the sound of it, Kalista's R is an activate/reactivate type of ability, where the first cast loads your support as ammo and the second cast fires. The support doesn't need to do anything for the duration but be a bullet.
From what I read, Kalista activates R to pull her ally in, and it is the ally who activates the second part to dash in.
There is soooooo much trolling potential with her R...
Smoooore1 votesKalista starts with an item she can activate to pick a soulbound ally. The W and R effects are the only ones I know of, but "attack at the same time for bonus damage" is pretty strong. I have a bit of a problem with the way her ult takes away an ally's agency, but... meh.
And @OP: From the sound of it, Kalista's R is an activate/reactivate type of ability, where the first cast loads your support as ammo and the second cast fires. The support doesn't need to do anything for the duration but be a bullet.
From what I read, Kalista activates R to pull her ally in, and it is the ally who activates the second part to dash in.
There is soooooo much trolling potential with her R...
Well, the teammate controls their dash/knock up ability, so if Kalista summons them to be troll, the teammate can just dash the opposite direction and leave her to die.
masterdragon4813 votesExcept Kalista can interrupt allied channels with it, or pull her ally that just escaped with low health back into the fight.
There have been a lot of talks about champions being able to CC allies in the past, and while Kalista can't CC her allies the way Alistar would be able to, being able to displace an ally without their consent is a risky thing to try.
Her lack of an ultimate when the ally is dead/ too far is a big weakness, but given what looks to be awesome kiting potential with her passive, I don't know how much I mind.
RiotMeddler12 votesThere's definitely some trolling potential in there, our conclusion though was that if an ADC on your team's being that trolly the game's probably over regardless. As a result we didn't want to limit some of the cool stuff we could hopefully offer because someone with other trolling opportunities might be annoying every couple of minutes. On top of that Kalista's ally always has the option of trying to escape with the ult of course - being pulled in doesn't commit you to being aggressive with it necessarily.
Lack of an ult when her ally's dead's a definite weakness and ulting early's often a good play, as is keeping a really close watch on your ally's health and ulting defensively if needs be. As you say there's also a lot of options on the rest of Kalista's kit and that situation also assumes the enemy's killed someone else before your marksman, which has some benefits too.
Davankor1 votesI can see her and yasuo having a nice wombo combo.
DEmperor9513 votesI can see her and yasuo having a nice wombo combo.
You mean: I can see (insert any champ name released after Yasuo)* and Yasuo having a nice wombo combo.