Dear RiotRepertoir,
As long as you've been making the rounds recently, I was wondering about your thoughts on a few things. There isn't a unified theme here, just some musings I've had bouncing around for a while now.
If you can't/won't respond to them all, that's fine. I'll take what I can get! (Your forum time is precious after all.)
(TL;DR's also included.)
The first is about the relationship between grievous wounds and healing.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=WcNJEOBp,comment-id=000e,timestamp=2018-01-14T22:56:01.928+0000)
I disagree GW is OP. It's the primary factor keeping champions like Vlad, Mundo, and Soraka in check. I do agree it's too easy to obtain.
Riot has 2 problem when it come to grievous wounds.
- Without GW, you have no effective way to deal with sustain heavy champs.
- With GW, you have to balance those champs around the assumption that the opponent will always buy GW.
Personal approach (had I the power): Make GW situational. What this means is, reduce passive application and make it something that both parties have to play around. This lets people have a response to sustain, while not mandating that Sustain be viable through the response. Good examples of GW implementation under this concept: Varus E, MF ult, Kat's ult, Ignite. Bad examples are Executioner's, and bramble vest. Of course, GW shouldn't be a champion specific counter. So examples of how the items could be replaced for general use. . . Bramble Vest: Half effect VS melee champions. Bramble is meant as a response to ADC lifesteal. It does it's job reasonably well for that. This change is just meant to ease the burden a bit on people that actually have to close the gap. Thornmail: Deals double damage to shields. The goal of thorn mail to to make tanks not a walking med-kit for the enemy ADC. The damage is already negligible and shields aren't meant to be an ADC tool anyway. Executioner's Calling: I love this item. Probably because it's a staple buy on Janna (for some reason). But remove and replace it with below. Executioner's hood: Support item. +health. Passive: Deal 5-15 bonus damage on-hit, doubled against non-champions. Active: Create a <Varus E> for 5 seconds that inflict Grevious Wounds on enemies that touch it for 2 seconds; 100 second CD. Morellonomicon: Reshuffle the stats to make this not a rush item. I like the idea of Morello being used to secure kills, and not a general counter. That said, making it a rush item for every mage in the game seems a tad unfair when the goal is to make GW a situational effect. All the sustain heavy problem champions: Nerfed sustain. You had to see this coming. With GW becoming a lot harder to apply, Riot doesn't need to balance these champion in the assumption that it will always be in play. This should make dealing with them feel a bit more fair for everyone else.
Bring on the down-votes.
.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=A7LBtoKc,discussion-id=TaijPHAm,comment-id=00c8,timestamp=2018-02-07T04:24:32.207+0000)
I'm going to go slightly off-topic asking this. But from a macro level, is increasing the access to Grievous wounds a good idea? Not being a rush item may balance out at first glance, but removing the restriction means healers have no way to work/play around it. This also applies to Bramble (to a lesser extent) and Executioner's.
Concern: Simply having unavoidable heal reduction would seem to necessitate balancing healers around the assumption that they will always be under GW. To function under reduced effectiveness, their default effectiveness is then increased. The buffed base effectiveness then makes GW a prerequisite to fighting them. Do you have any concerns about creating a circular arms race along this line?
tl;dr I'm concerned about the arms race that passive GW application brings to the game. Are there any plans to make it more dynamic and less of a universal consideration?
Second is relevant to the current player base's (or at least, the LoL Forum's) dissatisfaction over ADC influence.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=VqQee7Nz,comment-id=000b,timestamp=2017-09-13T21:11:47.653+0000)
Personally, I agree that ADC's present an issue. But they're ultimately a symptom of larger problems.
- range > melee. Riot doesn't do much to mitigate this at a macro level; and often band-aids melees to mitigate at a micro level.
- AA damage > spell damage. Again, at a macro level and in a vacuum. AA's have high scaling 1.0 AD (up to 2.5 with crit), the lowest max (and average) cooldown in the game, and are resourceless.
- Structures. Excluding Ziggs, there is no way to kill structures with abilities. Very few champions (and sheen) have abilities that can even affect structures.
ADC's"Marksman" benefit from all three of these core game mechanics. That's why they will always be necessary. Before we even begin looking at individual stats and kits, ADC's have macro-level advantage.And before "that guy" posts, supports aren't a core problem. Their state (role, class, champion, and itemization) are also symptoms of their own problems. But, for the most part, their influence applies equally to every one (regardless of game state). That's why they tend to vanish when ever the meta even remotely allows it.
.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=fM8agrOK,comment-id=000b,timestamp=2017-11-06T07:52:44.028+0000) My personal complaint about ADC's is the strangle hold they have on the game's power distribution. Especially this last season. Generically, they have. . .
- Strong sustain (Life steal and low mana usage).
- High consistency (Right-clicking from range)
- Highest Damage (Multiplicative scaling, woo!)
- The game's best objective taking ability (Structures only affected by AA's and Ziggs E)
- And RNGesus (Crit chance)
Their strengths need to be diluted. This isn't about them consistently killing others or not killing others. It's about them being the single strongest class in the game; to the point of being mandatory at all times.
tl;dr Basically, as I see it, ADC's have 3 core game play advantages that directly cause them to strangle their team's power budget: Range, Resource restriction, and structure damage. Are these being looked at? (Especially in light of Riot's new interest to add non-ADC's to bot lane?)
On the topic of supports,
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Z7WzIwfj,comment-id=00100000,timestamp=2018-02-25T18:24:28.592+0000)
ADC's aren't the only ones to blame for support itemization. It has always been a problem. Riot has an inefficiency of 4 income streams, and 5 sinks. And they're determined to to band-aid this without addressing the foundational issues it causes.
"Solutions:"
- (Meta) 1 person gets the shaft and isn't allowed to be awesome.
- Feels shitty for that person.
- Passive gold gen.
- Power creeps the game. Which they then counter be raising item prices. Accomplishing nothing.
- Gold gen items.
- If they're affordable, everyone will buy them. Resulting in the above.
- Item Stat efficiency
- To accommodate the support budget, they have to be trash cheap. To be worth buying, they have to be super cost efficient. This makes them powerful early game items that everyone abuses.
- Powerful actives / support effects.
- To not feel like a waste and justify the horrible associated stats, they effects have to be incredibly strong. Which then makes a "protect the Kog" or "Immortal Vayne" meta the most efficient use of resources. Opposite problem of stat efficiency.
- (latest) Scaling bonuses
- Make super strong items, that are borderline useless in the early game. Except if the items are strong enough, they become an incredible mid-game power spike. See Targon ADC's and FQC mages.
Support itemization will always find a way to warp the game, so long as Riot is determined to give everyone equal agency without solving the underlying problems.
tl;dr Basically, Most support problems come back to 1 thing: Insufficient income streams. This cascades into disrupting itemization, power curves, and player satisfaction; as well as creating constant balance problems stemming from attempts to mitigate those disruptions. What are the plans to address (or at least further investigate) resolutions to this?
On the heel of supports, I would also like input on the growing prevalence of Yasuo support Displacements in the game. And, similarly, the shrinking value of tenacity.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=cZTPJaGO,comment-id=000e,timestamp=2018-02-26T00:13:00.391+0000)
I don't think displacement mitigation is the answer. Some champions/abilities rely on the timing consistency.
A better solution would be to reduce the number of unnecessary displacements. A lot of abilities could be changed to stuns with relatively little impact.
dive bomb
Knock-up (Not knock-back)
Knock-up
Ult
Knock-up etc.
Basically anything that doesn't force movement (or context sensitive on the case of Yas ult). Some abilities could justify the knock-up by virtue of power budget (Malphite ult), but it should be made clear that knock-ups come at a cost. I don't blame Riot for leaning on Displacements. It makes balance easier by removing tenacity as a factor. But if a change like this causes Tenacity to break the game, then we have to ask what Tenacity's true roll should be in the modern LoL environment.
tl;dr A lot of Knock-ups (and even some small displacements) don't seem to have a particularly valuable reason to be tenacity/cleanse immune. I assume the growth is because immunity makes them easier to balance (Returning to that arms race debate). But is there still macro-value in having tenacity and all these displacements?
Now that we're on the topic of abilities, let's look at cooldown reduction! Or more specifically, why it's still a thing.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=QT2UiiyT,comment-id=00070001,timestamp=2018-02-08T16:56:20.890+0000)
The real question:
If almost everyone is stacking CDR, why do we have it at all?
. . .
AP isn't a universal stat. CDR almost is at this point.
If every champion built AP in similar quantities, Then I would make the same argument. THat's not the case. Riot has been flooding itemization, of every category, with more and more CDR. At this rate, it will only be another season or two before every champion builds 40% CDR. At that point, it becomes a meaningless stat.
tl;dr (This one is actually pretty short already.) There seems to be a significant growth in the prevalence of CDR in itemization. At this point, it feels like almost everyone is just hitting [near] 40% without trying. And we just keep getting more. Are there concerns that CDR will eventually become a meaningless stat? (Not to be confused with worthless.)
Arcade skins...
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lGcVuAPB,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2018-02-04T17:25:23.106+0000)
Arcade is the cleanest skin line. Confirmed once again.XD
Any plans to bring all other skins (including base) up to their level? ######(Or at least start putting arcade skins in my hex-tech boxes?)
Attached to the update train of thought: Karma.
[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=5EMmvZt7,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2018-02-12T23:06:31.646+0000)
She has no place anywhere. She has some nice things going for her, but her cohesion is a train wreck.
Karma has 3 viable builds with 1 skill each and 2 skills that just... Exist. That in and of itself should be a red flag.
I'll admit, I'm part of the salty old Karma "fans." So I'm probably a bit more critical of her than most. I think there was mention a while back about her getting another look. Any updates? She's just been a mess for so long. . .
Speaking of salty topics: Twisted Treeline.
<Tons of salt>
tl;dr
What is Riot's current stance on this map?
Are there any plans to look at it again in the future, is it forever relegated to the ignore list "friend" zone. Does it even come up at all anymore during internal discussions?
And finally, Riot discussions bring us to our final point:
RiotRepertoir
tl;dr Keep being awesome!
P.S.: I just wanted to bring up a concept I was brainstorming with another poster some time back. Not really expecting anything to come from mentioning it. Just wanted to raise some awareness.
It's an idea to resolve undesired item cross-pollination by gating some of them behind a pre-game "class" selection.
https://image.prntscr.com/image/7aUUni6uQDmvpMjOLvl2xg.jpg
EDIT: Quoting in opening post still doesn't work. Can someone help me out here!?
EDIT 2: Fixed. Thanks, Tèrminus.
