Invasion Onslaught is basically a Raid in an MMORPG
..Except you don't have to grind months for gear and then spend time finding a dedicated group to practice for weeks just to get everyone used to the mechanics of the Boss. All you need are people willing to listen and swap roles around if need be, which isn't difficult at all since everyone has every "class" they need for the game mode and they don't have to spend months leveling and gearing a character for the Raid.
Kudos for that - I'd honestly kill for more like this HOWEVER I do have some beef with this.
1: MMORPGs Raids have more worthy rewards then what this game mode is granting us. I get that it doesn't take as much time as an ACTUAL Raid but still.
2: Unlike other Raids where the game is built around being able to effectively dodge the skill shots by having a dedicated dodge key or more helpful "don't stand here" markings, League wasn't really built to have every character be able to dodge everything at any given time. It doesn't help that in some sections this ends up becoming a bullet hell shooter if you're spaceship is slower than molasses and has a "dodge" skill on a 3 minute cool down. League was definitely not built to be able to dodge in a bullet hell shooter and DEFINITELY not from ALL DIRECTIONS WHILE FIGHTING CLOSE UP ENEMIES.
I'm looking at you Vel Koz boulevard (but this can apply to any time there's too many of them on the screen).
It doesn't just punish the player who fails to dodge but the players who stand near them. You NEED a coordinated team to deal with that but dealing with Skarners and Reksais at the same time, dodging them WHILE being in a single circle you're allowed to exist in from 15 or so Vel Koz's you can't even kill isn't super fair.
3: The Final Boss bullet hell all around is ok (after you learn the mechanics - welcome to raiding), but the enviornment to hide behind isn't very obvious. It blends in with the flooring too much and I've played the game mode for over 6 hours at this point and still find myself running into walls that don't feel very obvious to me until after I look at them again. Once you realize "Hey! The Lamp post counts as a wall!" You generally know where to go, but even still I find myself trying to hide behind this enormous pissed off Rift Herald thinking "It doesn't hit from all directions, right? It can't be that unfair, right?"
Doesn't help that EVERYONE (except maybe Poppy but I'm not sure) gets one shot if they're even slightly hugging the Herald at the time. You have very little time to move and if you're not behind a team mate or near a save zone you're boned.
4: I dunno if it's just me but.. I have an nvidia card and if too many enemies spawn I'm carrying a 200-400 ping while trying to heal and shield people as Soraka or Janna. I had it one time as Ezreal and oh boy I didn't have a fun time.
5: I've gotten an S rank multiple times in the game mode but only AFTER did I finish the other missions did you give me this one and the A+ one. Why. Why can't you just have them all in the same thing. Why.
6: You can use the game mode to farm for Honor. This has nothing to do with it being like a Raid, but someone might wanna check that out.
I think the game mode is fun. Frustrating and unfair at points but fun. There's clear ways to strategize, and do certain aspects right, but the execution and balancing could have been a bit better. Juuust a bit.
Some of that strategizing can get more fun to some and more irritating to others by denying the utility people would think necessary for certain sections (Janna, Poppy, Jinx). I still don't think requiring the hardest difficulty was ok for anything other then perhaps the S Rank mission - the others should have allowed the normal game mode for people who wanted the rewards and to have fun instead of over think things and become frustrated.
