Rift Herald Underwhelming Or Undervalued? {Discussion}

King Odin·Jul 1, 2016·1 votes·661 views

It is a major boost for split comps and such but with the current META being more AP/Tank based I don't see Rift Herald actually being taken anymore. We see champs like top and still I don't see it being taken and this is in the Plat 2 elo. Do people overvalue drag and ignore herald for it? Does herald take too long to take? I don't understand or see why players don't see it as not just a major splitting boost but as well as a damage boost in 1v1's and such. Should Riot try and make it more attractive for players to take or will players figure out how useful it is?

Glimpse of the Void: Description This unit has the following bonuses: 5% damage reduction while no allied champions near CORRUPTION: At 100 charges, your next basic attack discharges all stacks of CORRUPTION, dealing 15-270 magic damage (at levels 1-18, damage halved for ranged champions) Duration 20:00

11 Comments

zlumpyJul 1, 20162 votes

I just hate when you finally get a window to kill it....AND IT TAGS OUT WITH BARON!!!! NOT COOL RITO!

UnwardiIJul 1, 20161 votes

It isn't that it's undervalued, it's that it takes just as much focus to take down as a dragon does.

A dragon is almost always better and it's easier to collapse 4 people onto it to burn it quickly, where you don't often have that many people randomly top, so if you aren't going all in on a split comp, it's almost never worth the TIME investment to take it.

King OdinJul 1, 20161 votes

Dragons spawn every 6 minutes, I garentee that between the first dragon and 20 minutes the jungler and the top laner will always have a safe chance of taking herald. Even if not splitting that's a lot of extra damage basically for free.

CritkeeperJul 1, 20161 votes

I'd rather have 20% move speed decaying over 4 seconds than 15-270 magic damage.

And the buff might as well be permanent, so just make it permanent.

UnwardiIJul 1, 20161 votes

But if you aren't taking a dragon, there's nothing to stop you contesting Harold. And Harold also does a hell of a lot more damage than dragons do, typically and it's much harder to juggle his agro effectively.

I mean, my usual play is to just brute force gank the bot lane, force the enemy adc to recall and then immediately peel to dragon and force them to choose between losing a huge wave at the turret or contesting dragon. You simply can't run that play in reverse on the top.

And if that doesn't work, I'll just get vision and solo the dragon, same deal, you can't do that to Harold.

King OdinJul 1, 20161 votes

Herald takes 24 seconds to take with 2 people only proccing his eye damage. So factor in their own damage it'll easily be between 10-15 seconds or even less. Dragon is a lot less likely to be solo'd and is easily contested by mid/bot. Herald is usually only contested by jungle/top and if you kill the top laner then it's practically free especially if their and your midlaner stay mid which is usually the case. Herald is also rarely warded by either team and as long as scuttle is secured or not spawned it's practically not going to be discovered you're taking herald.

Swiftstrike4Jul 1, 20161 votes

I thought riot said that the herald buff does not improve win rate as much as 1 dragon does a few weeks ago, this is why they left the duration at 20 minutes instead of reducing it.

It is pretty easy to get killed while doing Rift Herald if there is a response from the enemy top, mid, or jungler. The buff also only really helps one champion and not the team as a whole.

It also helps the champion split-push better and win their lane, but not really help with team fights like a dragon might.

I think the buff is in a good spot because you are not seeing lane swaps. I think if the buff was any stronger then you would see a duo top more frequently.

UnwardiIJul 1, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I think the buff is in a good spot because you are not seeing lane swaps. I think if the buff was any stronger then you would see a duo top more frequently.

Um... What? I assume you're talking about ranked as opposed to competitive, because almost EVERY competetive game is a lane swap.

Swiftstrike4Jul 2, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Um... What? I assume you're talking about ranked as opposed to competitive, because almost EVERY competetive game is a lane swap.

I am referring to ranked. But even in competitive games the lane swaps have been occurring way less after they buffed the towers and some changes to champions.

CaptnJakSparrowJul 1, 20161 votes

It'a undervalued.

DehitayJul 1, 20161 votes

Rift Herald is just more dangerous than dragon. The enemy collapsing on your in the middle of rift herald is far more terrifying than them collapsing on you at dragon. Rift Herald does significantly more damage with significantly more tankiness. And while not as scary, there's also the possibility of accidently giving it to a top who would be way better off not passively pushing his lane.