Boards›Gameplay

About Champion-Diversity and -Classes, or how Camille should be an Artillery Mage

Pepino··6 votes·1,354 views
/dev: On Champ Diversity - Nexus - League of Legends

Hey fellow Summoners, a few hours ago Riot dropped a developer-inside at us, about the in my opinion biggest Issue in League of Legends: Diversity. I was shocked to hear that only 40% of the LoL Championpool made an appearance in Worlds this year. Everybody knows League has its lackluster and extremely niche champions (I am looking at you, Urgot) but if we think about it, this means 60% of the existing champion pool actually don't make the cut for pro-play. Naturally this issue doesn't directly translate into solo/duo- and the new flex-queue but even for solo ranked play, champion diversity feels like a huge problem. This gos as far as a whole sub-class of champions being downright "bad" (Hey there, Artillery mages). So what am I getting at here exactly?

If we take a look at Ritos List of classes and subclasses ( http://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/2016/12/dev-on-champ-diversity/ ) we see that from the whole "Mage" section around 5 Champions would be called "viable" picks. This includes "Burst"- "Battle"- and "Artillery-Mages". But if we take a look at for example "Slayers" or "Fighters" we notice not only that the whole class itself is less diverse, (less subclasses/general playstyles) but aswell that way more of the champs from these classes are considered "viable" for ranked- and pro-play. Does that mean in the current meta "Slayers" and "Fighters" are simply stronger then "Mages"? Can teambuilding, counterpicking and individual playstlye really outweigh the seemingly simple lack in strength of some classes?

Another example: I am myself a Artillery-Mage-Main. Which means I love to play Ziggs and Xerath. If we take a look at the championlist for Artillery-Mages we see that those 2 and Vel'Koz basicly make up that whole class, besides some weird between-class champions. Rito now releases a new champion, Camille, a skirmisher with a touch of diver. Both these 2 subclasses have way more champions and see way more play then Artillery-Mages. Shouldn't Rito be pushing champion-diversity as they say they want, and release Artillery-Mages, or Disruptors? The question why they don't do this is simple: They wan't new champions to see play, and Camille, a Skirmisher-Diver for sure will. But one thing is definetely not being pushed by this: Championdiversity.

There might be people of you saying now: But Xerath, Ziggs, and Vel'koz are all strong aswell. And thats true, but you have to build a team surrounding them, and they highly depend on matchup unlike Zed/Ekko/Yasuo and companions who seemingly can be picked into everything nowadays.

Some of you might say now: Then just play Yasuo/Ekko/Zed if you feel they are stronger. But shouldn't Rito support each individual playstyle the same?

Remember aswell, that Vel'koz isn't that old and even Xerath had an update not that long ago. So Artillery-Mages are not that old of a class either. And they are just one example. (Disruptors for example, and ADC's also have some identety-issues)

My whole point is: currently it feels like some playstyles are not only more rewarding, capable of achieving wins in solo-play and "more viable" in pro-gaming, but also get supportet by Rito instead of others, that could need a little love. This is exactlywhat they just told us, they don't want.

I hope I dind't bore you to death, I have many more thoughts still swirling around my brain, and I hope I can start a healthy discussion to maybe get rid of those. Just tell me what you think about the topic. Aviana27

[slayer-jinx-catface]

6 Comments

Mira Arya Enthe2 votes

Nope, they needed another flashy play maker for LCS

Pepino1 votes

I feel you.

GigaPube2 votes

i think 1 artillery mage release every 2 years minimum, as of now, would be ok. too much of them and it'll seem unhealthy. although i like the little "mini-game" of xeraths ult. its a hard skillshot to land but its fun to be able to have that little mind game and learn what kind of player your opponent is depending on their juking (or lack thereof)

support champs though, specific ones, are still probably more important, seeing as we've had 1 release since may 2014, bard, and one who was made into a makeshift support just because he has an OP supportive ability (tahm kench devour), despite not being a real support at all

Pepino1 votes

Yeah, that's what I was saying about disrutors. And enchanters all kind of work, they just rotate which ones are the strongest. With Artillery-Mages and Disruptors it feels like the champ itself isn't bad, but there just clearly better picks. Example: Is there any teamcomp were Xerath delivers better results then Vel'Koz with his massive absolute dmg and AOE shred ult? And thats only inside the subclass. Now take a look at all the divers/skirmishers, and ask yourself the simple question: Would you rather have a mastery 7 Xerath on your team in solo queue, or a mastery 7 Yasuo? And would you pick Morgana/Allister/Leona/Nautilus toplane just to support that playstyle and play a team around it? (Like they actually do in pro-play)

Teridax682 votes

Riot has had issues specifically with designing and balancing artillery mages in the past. Essentially, the core issue boils down to their range: the fantasy of an artillery mage is that they get to rain down destruction from absolutely massive distances, but the issue with that is that, since they're so far away from where they're laying down threat, it can become very difficult for a great deal many champions to reach them without getting killed in the process. This is, for example, one of the reasons why Kog'Maw's ult received changes that pushed him towards execution, which isn't particularly satisfying on him, because when he's strong, the old ult damage turned him into such a good artillery champion that he could force enemies out of combat without them even having vision of him. I'd like to see more artillery mages, and I do think there are mechanics that allow artillery mages to function better, namely autoattack enhancers (e.g. Lux, Xerath and Zigg's passives) that force them to put themselves at risk to maximize their power, but for now it's likely going to be a while before the subclass receives more love.

Pepino1 votes

Well, thats exactly my point. Why do we see a champ like Camille released, that OBVIOUSLY will forever have a spot as "strong" pick, while the whole "Mage" class wastes away? And just a few days later we get a post about champion diversity?

More from Gameplay

3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay764 comments
7,167
votes
3 Refunds per season, upvote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay156 comments
3,510
votes
UPVOTE FOR URF
Gameplay606 comments
2,440
votes
Yes plz.
Gameplay456 comments
1,721
votes
3 Refunds per season, up vote if you want 3 refunds per season.
Gameplay114 comments
1,716
votes
When is ANYONE at riot going to address the awful new player experience?
Gameplay634 comments
1,383
votes