Boards›Gameplay

Can we talk about Lethality for a bit?

The5lacker·7/24/2017, 11:21:33 PM·1 votes·425 views

What purpose does it serve?

Now, hold on, before you reply, actually think about this question for a moment. Just for a moment. Really soak it in. Roll it around a bit. Think of what it currently does, and what it's intended to do. Think about why it exists.

What does Lethality do?

It allows people to kill squishy targets faster. That's the selling point, right? It allows you to more readily kill squishy targets? Right? Right. So we're all up to speed. We all know what Lethality does, and what it's intended to do. We've all got ourselves a sastisfying, complete answer. Well, except for one minor part...

ISN'T THE DEFINING ASPECT OF SQUISHY TARGETS THAT THEY'RE ALREADY EASY TO KILL?

I'm not crazy, right? Isn't "Makes you good at killing squishies" what just building DAMAGE is supposed to do? Why on earth is their a damage amplification stat that only works on people who already have the lifespan of a mayfly with cancer? What possible reason could there be to counter a lack of something? That'd be like making an item that causes you to take less magic damage from enemies the more Attack Damage they have. Like... just why? Why does this mechanic exist? Is it so impossible to balance Assassins to be able to kill Marksmen and Mages without also giving them the ability to kill Tanks and Fighters? Was that really a design problem that was insurmountable until not only the advent, but the refinement of flat penetration? What on God's green earth is the purpose of Lethality!? Please, for the love of God, someone explain this madness to me!

14 Comments

Darkdemon6537/24/2017, 11:24:53 PM3 votes

So your issue with ArP (and presumably MPen as well) is that it helps champions do what they already do well? Is that correct?

C9 Scott Free 7/24/2017, 11:41:58 PM2 votes

You're right, bring back regular armor pen

Joxcab7/25/2017, 12:34:39 AM2 votes

Except without the armorpen their damage would be shit. So...

The Leo Cat7/24/2017, 11:27:33 PM1 votes

The problem with Lethality, is that it's armor penetration. But so far, it's only good against squishies. Armor and MR both have a function that is graphically a rational function. This means that it rises to infinity when x is approaching zero . And it approaches 0 when x goes to infinity.

The worse part about this is, the stacking effect is most dominant at the lower amounts, rather than higher amounts. Because at about 230 armor, you're entering the asymptotic where you are encountering diminishing returns.

For how cheap Lethality is... it basically gives you budget critical hits that are much more consistent. And later on, it still keeps it's value because it scales with your level.