The Skill of Champions Themselves

This is a thread relating gameplay to story, so I'm putting it in gameplay. Disclaimer: When I talk about ease or difficulty, I am not including artificial ease or difficulty that stems from a champion's lack of mechanics or high bases and scaling. (Exampled of high difficulty artificially created by lack of mechanical diversity: Pre-rework Taric. Very "hard" to win with. Exampled of artificial ease created by high base damages and scaling: Ekko. Really easy to win with because he has incredible base damage and scaling that do not correctly match his difficulty). I am talking strictly on the basis of the difficulty of the champion's mechanics to use, regardless of any unfair numbers.

Also, while every champion in the game is mechanically simple compared to other games, by the very nature that MOBA are designed for strategic difficulty and not mechanical difficulty, I will only be discussing the difficulty of their mechanics in relation to the other characters in THIS game, or other MOBA.

#Observations It seems that the champions who, according to lore, are the best fighters also happen to be the easiest champions to play, often relying solely on auto-attacks and targeted abilities for their kits. Perhaps the reverse could also be said; that the harder champions to play are the less-skilled fighters themselves. Although "summoners" have been removed from the lore, we the players are still referred to by that name. Some champions require more interaction from the summoner than others. I propose that this is due to their individual fighting skill in the lore.

• in some cases, it may be that their powers do not require any fighting skill, which I will address.

#Evidence for the first scenario: More-skilled champions have fewer/easier mechanics. Let's look at the champions who are masters or students of martial arts, have firsthand experience with warfare, but have not studied magic. Martial Arts: Warfare:

For the martial-arts group, the vast majority focus on auto-attacks as their preferred method of combat. They're masters of hand-to hand combat, and would more probably by hindered by Summoner interference. If you've ever watched a spar or fight and tried to tell someone where to hit, you know what I mean. Irelia is the only one who uses any kind of skillshot, but that is strictly from her weapon's magic -- she does not throw the blades. For those who have been at war, several share the auto-attack focus, and all others lack a skillshot. A Targeted ability could be defined as any ability that is able to land every time, without guidance from the summoner regarding its direction. Just tell the champ where to hit, and they can hit it (or in some cases, you just tell them to spin around. LET IT RIP). So, these characters are able to hit whoever you tell them to because they are experienced warriors.

#Evidence for the second scenario: Less-skilled champions have more diverse/difficult mechanics. We'll look at those champions who have little or know experience with warfare and/or martial arts. Note, I will address mages and marksmen, specifically, later. These champions all have a number of difficult mechanics or skillshots. For some, it's because they rely on their technology (or bombs) to overcome what they lack in battle experience. For others, it's because they have only recently been changed from a shape or form they didn't have before. And for Braum, well, he's a shepherd with a magic door. He makes up for his lack of real battle experience with the door's magic.

#Mixed Evidence: Marksmen and Mages Okay, so as far as Marksmen go they all pretty much use auto attacks. That'd be because they're all rootin' tootin' sharpshooters anyway. Except for one. He was never taught to shoot, and doesn't even want to be on Summoner's Rift. He's an explorer by trade who is teleported to the rift when someone wants him on the team. As such, he has the most skillshots and does not rely on his own auto attacks for damage. He needs the summoner to direct his bursts of magic for him.

Now, Mages are a different story. Many have just as many skillshots as Ezreal, but have studied magic and are skilled in its use. But How many of them have a hawk's eyes? , one of the most powerful magi in the lore, has 3 skillshots in his kit. Why might that be? It could be that he simply needs you to tell him where his energy needs to be released, and when. He may be very good at producing a lightning bolt, but his large range simply makes it hard to shoot with his eyes alone. Same goes for , who may be a gifted and educated light-magician, but can't tell who's behind 4 walls of trees or how many enemies are behind her Q's first target with her eyes alone. We also have mages that are mechanically difficult in other ways. , for example, has between-ability interactions that are often hard to grasp or time correctly. Her whole story is that she's seeking uncontrollable magical power. Perhaps that means she needs the summoner to help her control it. And then we have mechanically simple mages, like or who contradict the 'champion skill=easy for the summoner' theory. But that could be explained by the very nature of their powers. Annie may not have much training in magic, but her innate magical ability is much higher than Ezreal's. She an create massive infernos without the need for direction. Vladimir may not have any experience in battle, but his power focuses on an opponent's direct life energy. He doesn't need you to tell him where there's a fresh meal for him to absorb. And Rumble shares Annie's ability to create huge infernos, although he uses machines for that.

#Other examples of power being shown as mechanical ease, despite the character's lack of experience: and , who are simply strong enough that they can beat out skill with muscle. who simply poisons the air that all champions need to breathe.

#Last words Of course, there are exceptions to this just as in any other theory. Yasuo is a master swordsman with high mechanical difficulty, but his mastery is displayed in his two passives. Lee Sin is a master martial artist, but he's mechanically difficult (possibly because he's blind, even if he can sense chi). And Aurelion Sol, despite complete master over his power and raw power leagues above the other champion, has been made difficult because he wants to have stars orbit him (perhaps it's arrogance driving him to use only his precious babies for combat). There are many other exceptions too, but this is all I want to type on the subject.