It would be better for riot to stick to amking themed champions than gameplay champions.

painteon·Aug 7, 2019·5 votes·3,400 views

The recent Pantheon rework is the inspiration for this.

His new rework doesnt add anything new gameplay wise. What it does is embolden that one man army, for honor and glory, balls to the way, and testosterone pumped theme that many think of when they think of a spartan warrior. Besides pantheon riot seem to be chasing after the interesting gameplay champions more versus the thematically refreshing champions and I think thats the wrong approach right now. there are many champions with cool gameplay ideas but the ones that see the most play are the ones that also have the cool theme attached to them: lux, yasuo, akali, zed, and ekko. You really cannot go wrong with a wind samurai, hipster ninja, shadow assassin, and time assassin. These are interesting and cool champions that have gameplays that satisfy their themes. Cool mechanics aren't enough, insert qiyana, skarner, yuumi, etc.

Recently, Riot has been making champs and reworks with cool mechanics but themes that arent properly explored. My examples would be Asol and the galio rework. Asol is a space dragon...enough said. They could have built on the space dragon theme in a much more direct way but they went for an interesting gameplay choice that isnt that refreshing to play when you think of space dragon. Galio is another one that fits this category with his rework. I honeslty played old galio a lot and liked his old kit much more because, even as clunky as it was, it fit his theme much better. I honestly am not sure what galio is supposed to be right now. Is he a tanky mage or a tank or just a mage that can go tanky...

All in all, I think Riot should focus on more directly themes that everyone would love to play and let the gameplay flow from that. I would love to see another knight like character in the style of garen, darius, and morde but he focuses on ccing the enemy more than doing damage. themes like that are brushed to the waist side because they have been done before and are too simple, but I think thats what league needs rn.

14 Comments

5050BSAug 7, 20194 votes

What I like about the Panth Rework is that he is strong but not OP in the hands of skilled player.

You can still out play him even vs a Challenger player.

He has counter play. Unlike so many of Riots more resent stuff.

Hats off to the Design Dev for Panth Rework.

PandaNator43Aug 7, 20192 votes

Absolutely agree. (I prefer the term fantasy rather than theme)

Although its best when satisfying gameplay brings out the champion fantasy.

Most of my response's to balance/design decisions are about what brings out the characters fantasy. I think they're getting better and better at this, with a few exceptions. To name a few:

Qiyana was a slight miss imo, but terraforming assassin is a tough fantasy to deliver.
Pyke. If I remember correctly, they started his development specifically with the goal to create an assassin support, because that was a role missing in LoL. So they intentionally started with gameplay focus here, rather than fantasy focus. Pyke is super popular, I'd say they nailed the "assassin support" thing.

The Volibear and Fiddlesticks update shows how dedicated Riot is to champion fantasy in their development process. https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2019/07/fiddlesticks-and-volibear-dev-update-1/

I want a Shyvana rework. The Fire-Fury-Dragborn fantasy should be way more fun to play, but her kit just isn't that satisfying.

**Are there any champion you think have a good fantasy that doesn't come through in their gameplay? Or, which champs do you like their gameplay can't engage with because their fantasy is lacking? **

painteonAug 7, 20192 votes

I like the way shiv is right now but I understand what you mean. We really need a proper dragon like character in the game.

PandaNator43Aug 7, 20191 votes

What do you like about Shyvana ?

painteonAug 8, 20191 votes

AP shyvana was what I spammed for all of season 8. not only was it effective it was fun and funny to watch.

PandaNator43Aug 8, 20191 votes

AP Shv relies on her Dragon form to do anything, right? What was so fun/funny about it? Genuinely curious.

painteonAug 10, 20191 votes

the ap ratios on her dragon form E is nutty. One dragon form E can 2/3's a squishy. it does percent damage so its good against tanks too. Just try it out. Go with liandry's, nashors tooth, and zhonyas. nashors tooth because shyv really relies on attack speed. liandries because damage and health. zhonyas because you are diving head first intot he enemy team.

xelakerAug 7, 20192 votes

Riot couldn't handle making a sandwich without getting their dong in it, how do you except them to not mess up something like new champs/reworks?

painteonAug 7, 20191 votes

i mean...panth.

xelakerAug 7, 20191 votes

that guy who isn't out yet? nah you right, he's perfectly balanced.

painteonAug 8, 20191 votes

Warwick's rework was just like panths, thematically awesome and well balanced in game. Yes he was strong for most of the season till they dropped the hammer but strong isnt op. Well the panth rework looks similarly balanced as far as I can tell, strong but not op.

RagnaveilAug 7, 20191 votes

I mean before him, and 2 mini reworks later, Aatrox's rework fits his theme. He's back to being a drain tank, but has better damage and healthier draintanking.