Can we get health indicators on the minimap?

SIayton·Apr 23, 2015·161 votes·6,561 views

I was thinking today about how much easier it would be to judge situations on the map if there was some sort of health indicators on the minimap. That's when I got the idea of maybe making the colored rings around the champion portraits indicate their health. They're already there so it wouldn't actually be any different than the current minimap, the health indicators would just be a nice added convenience for those of us that like to stare at our minimap instead of moving the camera around to judge situations.

I've attached an image of what it would look like, did it pretty quick in photoshop using Bloodmoon Zilean's splash but its just there to get the idea across. Thoughts?

74 Comments

BlitzidiousApr 23, 201522 votes

Could work for turrets and buildings. Have a ring around it which changes color depending on how low the structure is. Green = 100% through 75%, Yellow = 74% through 50%, Orange = 49% through 25%, and red = 24% through 0%. At 10% and lower, it flashes red.

Jeddy017Apr 23, 20157 votes

You don't even have to put a ring on it. In the game Smite,they have the icons lose their color as they lose health.For example,a full health ally tower would be completely blue on minimap,a half health tower would half black & half blue on minimap,an almost destroyed tower would be mostly black with a thin line of blue on minimap. Same goes inhibitors & the nexus (though it's the Phoenix & Titan in Smite),that regenerate health.

revliledpembrokeApr 23, 201535 votes

But if you like it, you gotta put a ring on it.

Jeddy017Apr 23, 20153 votes

Yeah,I was thinking about that quote when I wrote that 1st line. Akali

B1naryB0tApr 24, 20151 votes

Flashing red is a bit much, I feel that'd be distracting.

ZarxisApr 23, 201513 votes

Karthus Rito, please.

DeusVultApr 23, 20153 votes

Soraka Rito Banana

No one expects the banana

Volt CruelerzApr 23, 20156 votes

Not sure about an actual bar. It's probably too small for that, but having champions flash red on the minimap might work once they drop below X%.

SIaytonApr 23, 201516 votes

If you look at the minimap icons now, there's actually a little ring already around the portaits. All they would have to do is animate it / rig it up with character's HP values really.

Volt CruelerzApr 23, 20156 votes

I know, but that's such a tiny little bar. I don't think it would be clear. Also, you can check the status of your allies on the left side of the screen.

Vi and CupcaitApr 23, 20151 votes

I think OP is talking more about the health of the opposing turrets and champs. This being said, you should only see the health bars of those that aren't in the Fog of War.

UberAffeApr 24, 20151 votes

they wouldn't show up on your minimap if they were in the Fog of War :P

Vi and CupcaitApr 26, 20151 votes

This being said, you should only see the health bars of those that aren't in the Fog of War.

You just resaid what I said, basically

UberAffeApr 26, 20151 votes

My point was that you are advising against a problem that was solved a long time ago.

Vi and CupcaitApr 26, 20151 votes

What? To be able to see the opposing champs and turrets health on the minimap? Cuz I'm pretty sure you can only see your own

JamnonApr 23, 20151 votes

Yea I agree. Seems like it would be hard to check such a tiny little bar. Neat idea tho.

CreminaApr 24, 20151 votes

Yeah, the issue with that is that you have to look first at the minimap for positional information and then to the left side of the screen to verify your teammate's status. This might make you waste precious time regarding decision making and possibly responding late to a given situation (In League, even one second can be golden).

An example that is common is when Top laners teleport to bot lane because she/he 'sees' a fight on the minimap just to realize after arriving that it was a late call to the fight because bot lane was low on HP to start with and ends up giving an extra kill + more advantage to the rival team.

TheFameAnimalApr 24, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Volt Cruelerz,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=hzcMefp3,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2015-04-23T07:11:15.319+0000)

Not sure about an actual bar. It's probably too small for that, but having champions flash red on the minimap might work once they drop below X%.

Awesome idea ;)

Bethor KookalianApr 23, 20154 votes

1.If you followed the buff-timers debate, you'd know that any change to UI convenience of this nature would naturally come attached to gameplay power. Personally, I don't think this is information, as concerns the enemy, that should be easily accessible 100% of the time(even limited to when the enemy is visible on the minimap), and don't think it'd be a good change for the game.

2.There's always a cost in visual clutter for any UI addition, and I don't think this would be nearly as valuable as the cost in cluttering up the minimap with information.

3.Team-mate healthbars are already accessible via the sidebar, so this change wouldn't even add anything in that aspect.

SIaytonApr 23, 20151 votes

I mean that information is there, you just have to click the minimap to look at the enemy champions when they're visible. When the character icons aren't visible on the minimap, their HP values wouldn't be visible either. Its not new information. Just giving us a new way to access it.

Bethor KookalianApr 23, 20151 votes

That's literally the same argument for Dragon/Baron timer when the buff-timer debate happened. Turns out, reducing the difficulty of accessing information reduces the skill involved in capitalizing on that information. Point #1 isn't about why we shouldn't, its about that doing so has a cost you're ignoring. Its not as simple as "It fits it ships", there's more complicated game balance involved that is extremely subtle. If you want to answer this point, you need to discuss the cost/benefit analysis of clarity versus making things easier. i really only made this point because the post theme of "Riot, make this change because its EASY!!!!!!" is something I find highly annoying, because rarely do such posters ever realize the true costs associated with their suggested changes.

Point #2 is the one about why I think we shouldn't do this.

SIaytonApr 23, 20151 votes

Yes it makes it easier but in practice this only saves you a second of clicking the minimap to see how your laners are doing. From a jungling perspective, this would just make map awareness a bit easier for the more involved junglers. If its someone that just does a lot of auto attacking, you've got all the time in the world to look around the map while you clear camps, but for someone like jungle sion that has to aim skill shots and time things in the jungle, he can't really afford the cost to his APM (actions per minute) to take the time away from the camps to look around. As it is now you mainly have to look at lanes while you're going in between camps and then focus on the camp while you're doing it.

And to go back to the buff timers, that ended up not really changing much with the game. You still need vision of the buffs to get the timer. And people still list timers in chat when you don't have vision of Dragon when it dies. It just adds some convenience. And at that point its just an argument of difficulty vs ease of use. Something being more difficult doesn't necessarily make it better and IMO information such as HP and timers should be easily accessed. Its a game about decision making, in the end, and information helps in decision making.

I would agree if there weren't already UI elements in place that would look like what I'm talking about. Champions ALREADY have a ring around their portrait on the minimap. I'm just suggesting that the ring be animated to indicate HP values. Or, as others have mentioned, colors flashing, portraits dimming to indicate HP value, etc etc. There's a lot of simple solutions to this that wouldn't clutter the UI or add additional elements. So I think the only real argument here is ease of use vs difficulty that you made in your first point, and that's mainly a matter of opinion.

Bethor KookalianApr 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Yes it makes it easier but in practice this only saves you a second of clicking the minimap to see how your laners are doing.

That's a really important second and its exactly the second you're so worried about you made this thread over, so stop marginalizing it as unimportant.

From a jungling perspective, this would just make map awareness a bit easier for the more involved junglers.

Sure, but not in a way I think is a good addition to the game.

If its someone that just does a lot of auto attacking, you've got all the time in the world to look around the map while you clear camps, but for someone like jungle sion that has to aim skill shots and time things in the jungle, he can't really afford the cost to his APM (actions per minute) to take the time away from the camps to look around.

Sion is not really any worse off than Udyr, honestly, speaking as someone who runs a lot of jungle Sion right now.

And to go back to the buff timers, that ended up not really changing much with the game.

Yes it did.

Something being more difficult doesn't necessarily make it better

That cuts both ways. SOmething being less difficult doesn't necessarily make it better either.

and IMO information such as HP and timers should be easily accessed. Its a game about decision making, in the end, and information helps in decision making.

Its not -just- a game about decision making, if it was, they wouldn't have fog of war and you'd be able to see enemy CDs. Scouting, information gathering and prediction are all important parts of the game.

I would agree if there weren't already UI elements in place that would look like what I'm talking about.

There aren't, so does that mean you -do- agree? I'm confused....

There's a lot of simple solutions to this that wouldn't clutter the UI or add additional elements.

Your suggestion is pretty cluterry, and nobody else in the thread I could see on a quick scroll through has posted a better proof of concept.

SIaytonApr 24, 20151 votes

You're basically arguing that we should have to click around the minimap to watch other players, that that adds to the game. What about in competitive play when people can just communicate situations and what the lane needs via voice? When I'm playing on my 5's team, I rarely need to look at the map as much as I do in solo queue because my laners can communicate whats going on to me without me scrolling around the map.

Also comparing jungle Sion to Jungle Udyr is strange to me since you literally just need to alternate W and R with Udyr, he requires 0 presence of mind to clear jungle camps. Sion you have to aim your Q, time your shield so you take the max number of hits to it before detonating it, but not start it up too close to the camp's auto attacks or they'll bust the shield before you can detonate it. You have to position for E to hit all the creeps and stun the big one. Its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more involved than Udyr, atleast if you're maximizing clear speed and not taking damage.

As far as there not being elements in the game already that look like what I'm talking about, there really are. I feel like you're just disagreeing to disagree at this point. If you don't like the idea you don't like the idea. As I said before, its boiled down to an ease of use argument, and in the jungle buff timers regard, I really like having the timers in game. And this is coming from someone who had all the respawn times memorized and used timers before they were added to the game. Its just a matter of preference really but it seems like the designers at Riot have always went for accessibility vs difficulty when it comes to design decisions.

BottleCapsterApr 23, 20153 votes

Even just using outlines would be a great way to keep the information there without cluttering things. As a Soraka main, I'd really appreciate this, since i can't always leave my map tied to someone's face while i'm laning, and its incredibly difficult to both monitor Champion HP (From the champ portraits to the left) and relative posiitoning via the map on the right.

Hell if you only tie it to allies, the information would still allow for Global Kill pressure like Karthus Ezreal Jinx Gangplank to require the additional attention, while giving allies good off-hand information for about where their allies are health-wise. After all, Not everyone likes frenetically spazzing out their maps every 3 seconds.

DrackolusApr 23, 20151 votes

Soraka main too, and HOLY CRAP would that be nice! Not only do I have to constantly glance from map to screen, with her I also have to glance to the health bars. I can usually judge based off of seeing if they're near an enemy champ... but I feel like a jungler and have to pay attention to lanes, but I'm also a laner and can't just glance over while I'm clearing camps.

MelledoneusApr 23, 20152 votes

This would be a buff to many champions. Shen

SquidblimpApr 23, 20152 votes

I would love this. Much easier to tell if your friend is getting engaged on by enemies and you need to gank, or if they're fine.

warpenguin555Apr 23, 20152 votes

Karthus players jerk off to this idea XD

TmooseApr 23, 20151 votes

But would it show enemy health as well?

warpenguin555Apr 23, 20151 votes

{quoted}

But would it show enemy health as well?

oh nvm i thought that i was only for the enemy team XD

TmooseApr 23, 20152 votes

I mean it could be for both, for players like karthus for enemies and soraka and shen for allies. You can think whatever about it since it doesnt even really exist yet lmao

Crs SivirApr 23, 20151 votes

I think that if it were implemented for enemies it would make it way too easy. Map awareness is a skill that is important, if you don't know that the top laner is at 20 HP when you're Karthus because you aren't actively looking at other lanes I don't think you actually deserve the kill. To have the map automatically tell you when everyone is low defeats the purpose. This applies to champions outside of Karthus as well when teamfighting and not paying attention to smaller skirmishes away from your character.

Ryuku CruxisApr 24, 20152 votes

Well I mean there's this thing on the left side that tells you the status of your entire team in one quick glance...but the minimap is on the whole other side of the screen...talk about effort.

Gotta admit, I consistently ignore that bar on the left side unless I need to know if ally has an ult/summoners. Can't really tell how a lanes doing from ally health, gotta know about the enemy too, so you'll probably end up having to look over even if there were health rings on the minimap.

Would be a nice addition, and might help newer players understand the importance of the minimap. Could also lead to faster and more coordinated play in soloq. Imagine someone, checking the minimap every so often like they should, "wow so and so on our team just got chunked better check that out more in depth for a sec, and see if I need to help or not."

GhostCadillacApr 24, 20152 votes

To start, this is a great idea in my honest opinion and I think it would be nice to have it in game. However, I do have one concern.

If I'm understanding correctly, adding in the champion health percentages isn't your point, and if it isn't that's great because I feel like adding that in would be too much hassle considering how small it is. I think adding in the colors is good enough info to see how low your teammates are because who would have the time to really focus on seeing the percentages? I feel like most players just want the general info (which is indicated by the colors quite nicely). If you intend to add that in, though, I still think it's a good idea so you can have clearer info on how low your teammates are. However, again, I still think the color codes does a great job with indication for your teammate's health.

Also, it's just me, I know there's a bar to the left of your screen showing everyone's hp, mana, ult availability, etc.; but honestly, I look at the mini map way more than that bar. Sometimes I feel like it's nonexistent. With your idea, I again think it'll be nice to have.

Simply put, I can see some great use for this idea and I hope it gets noticed. Here's my contribution! GL!

SIaytonApr 24, 20151 votes

Yeah the percentages wouldn't be in the game, it was just there to explain what the bars represented if it weren't clear just from looking at it >_<

And I completely agree with the party frames. I honestly haven't ever used them. Not once. And I'm in Diamond lol. I prefer to use the minimap to gather all my information about the game.

BottleCapsterApr 24, 20152 votes

Though i am in support of the idea to make the minimap more informative, i do understand some of the issues that the opposition brings up. However i will say that a potential midground is having something like what the original Guild Wars had.

In Gw1, players had an option in the settings that allowed them to move around their UI, which given the number of moving parts, was sometimes necessary if you wanted to keep something in a particular place, or wanted more emphasis on say your party health, your abilities etc. While I wouldn't say we exactly need that type of system, even something as simple as letting us Move that goddamn Team status menu so it was easier to tell allied health, maybe even let us play with the UI's dimensions like gw1 had even.

I figure its at least a mid-ground, and it lets players decide where they want their stuff focused. Maybe you've played a lot of MMOs and are used to the map being in the top right? Maybe you'd like the scoreboard to be a little smaller when you bring it up? Point being though, unless there are some horrible moddy implications to letting us move our UI comfortably that wouldn't be possible otherwise, I think it could be a really cool way to handle things.

SIaytonApr 24, 20151 votes

I like this idea too. I'd love to make the minimap bigger and just get rid of the party frames since I never look at them anyway. Always seemed weird to me that we couldn't customize the UI at all.

N30NP4NDAApr 23, 20151 votes

BIG BIG PROBLEM HERE: You dont actually know how much hp turrets have in the first place

MacDthreeApr 23, 20152 votes

until you click on them, and see their health.

aaronautumnApr 23, 20152 votes

are we talking about allied or enemy turrets? in the case of allied turrets, yes you always know their health, but with enemy turrets, the hp bar doesn't update unless you actually see it.

RaemnantApr 23, 20151 votes

The logic here lol. Why would it matter if the turrets needs to be seen to update? It was seen when the damage was dealt to it. Nothing in this game can damage a turret without vision on it.

aaronautumnApr 23, 20151 votes

I'm not talking about the turret taking damage while in the fog of war. If the turret takes damage from minions or allied champions and you don't directly see it, then the change won't register. Once the turret is in the fog of war, clicking on the turret will show it at the health it was the last time you directly saw it.

Crs SivirApr 23, 20151 votes

Also inhibitor & nexus turrets can regenerate when in fog of war.

Virgin RayApr 23, 20151 votes

This is great for ult sniping, shen ult saves, ganking, teleport ganks, etc. I really want this to happen.

N30NP4NDAApr 24, 20151 votes

This doesnt help shen in the slightest.

SIaytonApr 24, 20151 votes

Sure it does, lets him keep more focus on his lane without clicking around the map. Seeing that someone is low without clicking on the map could easily mean the difference between getting your ult on them in time and them dying.