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Why this game will never be balanced

Mast3rShake·3/3/2018, 3:30:58 AM·1 votes·300 views

Big nerfs are coming for Tristana next patch to weaken her early game because it was too safe. However, from what we saw in LCS play today late game champs are not only no longer strong, but are in fact a hindrance. You now need an adc to be strong at the 20 minute mark to take baron. So, does the balance team remove the nerfs (and maybe some of those just given to Vayne, Twitch , and KogMaw ) because they were made for a now old outdated meta or do they keep the nerfs and bury these champs for the foreseeable future?

It constantly seems that the balance teams swings the pendulum back and forth, never allowing it to rest in the middle by changing multiple factors at a time. Again, I will use Tristana as the example here. So, in 8.4 the buffed the crap out of baron and empowering a baron'd up canon minion makes it basically a siege tank from Starcraft. It completely ruined LCS play in the EU LCS today to the point where the casters were laughing. So, the changes to baron alone with one item have completely swung the game to favoring early game adc's, so Tristana is already out of the meta because of these indirect changes. However, the balance team will still go through with the Tristana nerf which was created to weaken her for a meta that no longer exists because of their changes in the most recent patch.

What riot should have done was make the meta game change first, amping up the baron buff, and then see how that effected the late game champ adc meta. Instead, they nerfed the late game adc's, Twitch Vayne KogMaw Tristana, then created a meta directly after those nerfs that favors early game adc's. That makes no sense and ensures the game will not be balanced because late game adc's are completely nonviable.

You can't nerf late game champions at the same time you push the entire game to early game as well. Either push the meta to an early game meta and keep late game champs viable if a team doesn't take an early baron, or nerf late game champs and leave baron untouched.

Riot does this over and over with champions and item changes as well. It was on display more than ever today in the EU LCS which was some of the worst LCS I have ever seen and I LOVE THE LCS.

If some higher elo players want to jump in here too, I'd appreciate it.

1 Comments

Kyaza3/3/2018, 6:30:29 AM1 votes

I remember reading something a while back about how Riot decides on balance changes, and how it is less about what meta they want to push and more about what they are seeing as frustrating to play against, for instance, Tristana at the moment is a fairly huge lane bully early, so they decided to remove some of her early game range but increase the bonus range she gets. This leaves her in a place where she is weaker overall, but that weakness comes from the place where she should be weak, the early game. as for the Baron changes in 8.4, I can only assume Riot made these changes to continue their overall Season 8 desire for more fighting, making Baron a little stronger of a buff will provide incentive for teams to contest it more, same as we see on the current PBE where they are making Cloud Drake give bonus movespeed in combat as well. Riot seems to be pursuing a Season 8 with more fights. Overall, Riot never tries to "balance" the game, patches are more designed around making sure there is nothing frustrating to play against. Im sure if it becomes a rampant issue, we will see either a revert on the Baron or BoC changes.