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Riot really needs to rethink their balance strategy of nerfing around the problem.

TheDráco·2/12/2015, 5:05:41 AM·5 votes·1,000 views

What do I mean by this? Fiddlesticks is a strong example of this. The recent nerf to his tether on the PBE made me reflect that Riot has the same balance strategy with many champs. By far the most problematic aspect of Fiddlesticks is his ultimate paired with zhonyas. Riot nerfs every single ability on Fiddlesticks BUT his ult and even BUFFS the ult to boot. Fiddle could have been easily fixed by tweaking his ult to either reduced range or less damage. For other examples ill go down the list of champs im aware of where Riot used this same balance.

Fizz Playful trickster is the most problematic aspect. Riot tweaks everything else.

Gragas Low cd dash is the most problematic aspect. Riot reworks the champ and buffs his dash

Katarina Easy skill resets are the most problematic aspect. Riot tweaks damage.

LeeSin High damage, High tankiness, High mobility, Low energy costs. Riot removes attack speed debuff... just why?

Lucian Long rang poke is too strong and mobility is too high. Riot nerfs poke range and buffs mobility.

Morgana long lasting easy to land snare is the most problematic aspect. Riot nerfs everything else.

Nidalee The spears where obscenely powerful. Instead of simply nerfing spear they rework her and make EVERYTHING too powerful.

Rengar Free stats from kills and assists, doesnt lose any on death. Riot completely ignores this and tweaks everything else.

Riven Tanky shield that scales off of ad. Riot nerfs damage.

Talon Damage is a tad too high. Riot removes silence. WHAT?!?!

Taric Stun is too powerful. Riot gutted everything else but stun.

Thresh Hook hitbox is way too easy to land. Riot tweaks everything else.

Vi Ult lacks counterplay. Riot tweaks everything else.

MonkeyKing Ult is too powerful. Riot nerfs his lane bullying.

Yasuo 50% ARMOR PEN ULT. Riot nerfs Q and E

Zed Strong poke, Strong escape, Strong damage, all on low energy cost. Riot reduces attack speed.

10 Comments

SmokingPuffin2/12/2015, 5:17:44 AM6 votes

Nerfing the strengths of every strong kit makes them all feel more samey.

Rather than reducing strength, accentuate weakness.

Talamare2/12/2015, 5:09:35 AM4 votes

I feel you are wrong in some examples however overall you have a point

Riot has said it before "they nerf around what makes the champion cool"

While that isn't really the worst idea, sometimes they really do need to nerf a little of what makes the champion cool

Reynard the ƒox2/12/2015, 5:08:10 AM1 votes

Syndra Q-E was too easy too land. Riot fixes it, decides it wasn't enough, then guts Q's early damage?

DisasterSola2/12/2015, 5:19:41 AM1 votes

this is called "Flash and flare reactionary nerfs". When a champion has a cool looking ability, they keep it and just shift power from other skills TO the flashy skill.

Riot is largely to big for their own good... I think they would benefit from starting a new game. Like... a new MOBA but with an entirely different balance and design philosophy.

1 Wing2/12/2015, 5:30:19 AM1 votes

My problem with their strategy is that, after nerfing powerful champions, they release even more powerful champions, and then everyone whines about how strong they are.

If they had left powerful champions in the first place, then there would be something to fight these OP abilities with. "Oh, your champion can do this stupid troll poll? Well, mine can kill you if you land slightly out of position" "Oh, yours can kill one of my team if they're out of position? Well once that ability is down, one of my team can go in and assassinate your ADC."

Balance doesn't have to mean "nothing kills you quickly," a powerful ability can be balanced by other champions having equally powerful abilities, too.

1 Wing2/12/2015, 5:42:32 AM1 votes

good reference on Fiddlesticks. Riot has nerfed every single one of Fiddle's abilities, except for his ult. Certainly the most powerful feature of Fiddle is his ult, so Riot wrecks his early game effectiveness on a champion that virtually can't even get kills early game to begin with.

It does create a kind of "single critical" scenario where landing one ability right, wins the teamfight; if the enemy disrupts it somehow, then that champion can't really do anything else that battle. Many champions are like this. .