Rito's champ design problem
They design champs like a fighting game roster, where you create the character based on what you want them to do, then round them down or up so they have even match-ups across the board as much as possible.
What you'd expect from a game that's supposed to be based largely on RPG mechanics and strategy just as much as it is player input is that the characters and kits would be designed based on what you want them to do in relation to existing variables already in the game. Because Riot doesn't really do this, I see a lot of reworks and champ releases sort of overlapping or missing the sweet spot.
Take Camille, for example. She grapples onto walls. She has a shield that blocks one type of damage. She can lock people into 1v1s. She has some slow and a staple damage move. She comes off like a skirmisher, strong in fights with "a few" people in them (or straight 1v1s), split pushing, mobility, and damage, but weak in large bouts.
Alrighty, now with this established, what makes you want this skirmisher over any other one? What strategic advantage does she really bring to the table that establishes "When do I want Camille" vs. "When do I want (any other skirmisher here)"?
The answer is...nothing, really. They're ALL mobile. They're ALL "not too tanky". They ALL do high damage. They ALL do great in smaller fights, but struggle with big brawls. We can look at Yasuo and say "He's the team fighting one, so pick him when you got knock ups" rather easily. We can look at Yi and say "He's the jungling one" and that establishes what to do with him rather easily. Even Fiora you can say "Use her to shred tanks" because she breaks them pretty bad over time. So...what is Camille in this game? Or rather, what's the point to her?
This bleeds into others too. Yorick, for example. His thematic is superb, but as a juggernaut...what is he? He just splits. When do you want him? When do you not? He's just "split push".
That's my problem: Riot designs a general purpose on what champs do, but it never pays any mind to what's in the game. Or rather, it doesn't anymore. You could easily design a few champs off of the concept of being strong against some types of champs, which is what we saw in Poppy and Cass's reworks, but then you have champs like Taric where they slapped some shit together, handcuffed him to an adc, and said "PRESTO!". What's the point? "You use him when you team fight". You mean like nearly every other support? He's just general power, and if he's not too overbearing, he's generally weak to the other "generally strong" champs.
Am I the only one that's noticing the sheer amount of overlap in champion niches due to this?
