Patch 5.22 Gameplay, Masteries and Other changes : A Critical (ahem) Analysis

Hello Riot and Fellow Legends,

First i would like to thank you for all your hard work on this patch, i know it took months to plan and execute.

Now i have played league for last two seasons and am well acquainted with the mechanics of all five roles of the game play and have around half of champions in my pool. i have had good experience playing league continuously for the past year almost everyday.

This patch is really something.

I do understand the direction the team is trying to take for the next season and bring a fresh play of mechanics into gameplay i.e. away from the dominance of the tanks and give ADC's a chance to shine , the gameplay in itself is refreshing mostly due to the new items and lot of other changes but few measures it seems need some attention.

1. MASTERIES the rework has taken a lot of real choices away from players WHICH i feel has in turn reduced the depth of the game; and to me it seems like counter productive as all the other changes seem to indicate that riot wants more depth in the gameplay say for example the new item set, rift herald , tweaks to the mechanics etc all these point towards more engaging gameplay and to give players a chance to be a better strategist. Choices removed for example include:

• The earlier mastery page gave the tanks a choice of having BOTH armor/magic resist with health regen.
• as an AD caster you could take cool down and damage together.
• Movement speed in general vs out of combat movement speed.
• Now the mastery tree seem to lack depth in itself and the players cannot create the unique style they want to play with as mostly one page fits all seems true, though specific to the role like AP carry , or burst AP etc .

the rune page seems to have taken new found importance as players are now forced to buy the Quint/mark/glyph/seal of various types to supplement the choices removed from mastery pages.

2. champion rework now this is something i can get behind to, and a real treat, and i cannot lay emphasis for how long i have thought that ADC need the changes they have received. They really need to feel different from one another and more so due to their respective character and background.

3.Gameplay This is something subjective to each player, because of our own play-style and preferences. But i will say this that the FEEL of the game itself and the SOUL of a game are as important as the mechanics and the various choices. The current changes have at-least for me it seems to have reduced the game to level of some other MOBA which is not good. Riot seems to have deliberately worked on reducing the game time which has impacted the ability to make COMEBACKS and to put a fight when you are behind. I enjoy League for what it is in its core and how that transforms in real game choices like the tiny details in mastery, rune page, in game items etc. some of the changes as the others have highlighted do seem a little overboard, while others are spot on. Please try to keep the Legend alive and not change it for the sake of change or new. Don't try to imitate others and bring your own innovations.

EDIT: Now that i have logged in few games with various champions i can say this: rito was not kidding about the "choice of the champion" we make. it does feel unique now. few champs which were "niche" will / can have mainstream presence now. they are lot more viable ....i hate to admit ... but due to new masteries. the combination of Attack damage and Ability power in ferocity coupled with health regen / or armour seems to work for lot of champions. but one has to supplement the Masteries with runes too. If you can get the combination right lane is pretty easy subjective to your skill on that champion. it is a fun patch BUT PLEASE BRING MORE CHOICES IN MASTERIES.

Tip:

1. now the type of runes you use are more important, esp. the quint's say like armour/MR/Health/health regen etc. pay attention to these for some tankyness it will not change being melted mid game but will provide some lane presence.
2. Also POSITIONING is super important, don't try to Flank the enemy team if your team is behind because it will get you all in a dangerous engage. try to stick together.
3. time your engages with your teams cooldowns, and or let them make a mistake and come to you, worse you will need to fight in tower which is better than dying trying to tank the damage, at least in tower you may have fair trade. similarly as i said about positioning, WARDS are extremely important to find them out of position and engage.
4. try to go in with your team as like previously engaging when team was just behind you may not work as you may get melted easily.

> The league is dead. Long live the league.

Everything we hear is an opinion,not a Fact. Everything we see is an perspective, not the Truth. MARCUS AURELIUS

(i have tried to keep it short and not let it turn into an essay on the patch, and please forgive my English as it is my second language)