Have you ever thought of a "Mercenaries" mechanic ala Heroes of the Storm?

darkdill·Mar 19, 2018·2 votes·321 views

In Heroes of the Storm, you can fight against Mercenaries on most maps. Defeating them will cause them to push down a lane and attack your enemies' Forts and Keeps. VERY helpful when used properly. The closest thing we have to this right now is Rift Herald, but not enough players are making use of that.

Now, adding in Mercenaries as an early-game thing would be broken, as it'd result in too much lane-pushing early. But what if there were a jungle item that could be made as a mid-to-late game thing that lets you tame jungle monsters and send them down a lane to attack your enemies? It'd be kinda like Udyr in The Teemoing.

Could this be workable, or would it be impossible?

5 Comments

Dead flag bluesMar 19, 20181 votes

Something like this on Ivern... The dream

darkdillMar 19, 20181 votes

But he wouldn't want his animal friends to rush off into danger!

EbonyBladeJ88Mar 20, 20181 votes

Well, as a fellow Heroes of the Storm player, let's see if we can find any parallels in the LOL JG camps and the Mercenaries often seen on the many myriad maps of HOTS and if such an idea is feasible.

Usually there are 2 types of mercenaries.

The Bruiser Mercs, and the Siege Mercs. Some might have Mercs that apply to that particular map's design, like the Overwatch Map Hanamura or the Volska Foundry. Others just have redesigned versions replacing the Bruiser or Siege mercs (Like the two Diablo maps Infernal Shrines and Battlefield of Eternity replacing the 4 Knight Bruisers with the Shaman and his pet Tigers/Lions and the 2 Trolls/Goldems wielding rocks, cannons or something else with the 3 Goatmen wielding spears) Then the Haunted Mines map (Can't remember the name off the top of my head) and the Towers of Doom have the Pumpkin Heads and the Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman acts like a boss, like many of the other boss camps in HOTS, and one can assume their purpose is similar to LOL's Baron Nashor.

Most of the non-Blizzard game maps (Like the Spider Queen's tomb, Raven-Lord's Keep, Sky Temple) use the standard 2 types, along with a Boss camp on opposite ends of the map. Both are really meant for pushing, one just does it at a distance (Siege) while the other fights up-close and personal (Bruisers).

Splitpushers in League (Like Tryndamere Yorick and I'm sure there are more but can't think of them off the top of my head) usually are able to push well enough on their own. Yorick has his Mist-Walkers and Maiden, for example. They kind of act as Bruiser Mercs would in HOTS. Adding in the pushing power of something like the Bruisers or the Siege Mercs might make Splitpushers nigh unstoppable. Then add in Rift Herald and item 3512 ? Turrets would be falling left and right and the team facing that would be crying for mercy!

Then, let's look at how the Mercs can be stopped. Specialists, like Murky, Gazlowe, Azmodan and Sylvanas excel at stopping Mercs as well as taking them. But no champs in LOL have abilities that can match that, especially on the speed at which they can do it.

Next, I'll talk about the maps. HOTS has a MUCH larger selection of maps than LOL does. LOL has SR, TT and HA (Howling Abyss) along with the occasional Rotating Game Mode that uses a non-standard map (Like Star Guardians, Dark Star, etc). Most of the maps in HOTS are standard 2 or 3 lane maps, while LOL has only 2 mainly-dedicated maps, one for 5v5 and the other for 3v3. Howling Abyss is more akin to the Brawls in HOTS IMO.

Also, we need to keep in mind that HOTS does not have a dedicated "JG" role. Sure, some of the specialists, like Murky, maybe Abathur and a few others I can't think of have those "Bribe" skills in their talent trees that make it easier to get Mercs, but that's not the same as Jungling as it is in LOL. Ganks in HOTS are not the same as Ganks in LOL. The people who gank in HOTS are those that often have Invisibility, like Nova or Zeratul, because they are Assassins. Also, nearly every character in HOTS has at least one mobility-like ability on one of the standard abilitys of Q, W or E. Many of the champs in LOL would KILL to get the same level of mobility of someone like Genji, for example. It's much easier for characters in MOTS to escape ganks than it is for Champs in LOL.

So to sum it all up, I'd say: No. Mercenaries are NOT a feasible idea for LOL. After all, we play League of Legends because it's a different experience than HOTS, or Smite, or DOTA 2 are as a MOBA. Keep copying one another and you'll hardly be able to tell which game is which.

I can see where you're coming from this, I really can. Like you say in the post, Mercs CAN be good when used effectively. You even point out a similar idea was used in the Teemoing mode. But remember, that was a Rotating Game Mode, not a permanent playable map. Adding something like this to the permanent maps of SR and/or TT can have BIG repercussions.

Critmaster GarenMar 20, 20181 votes

rift herald is at least one free turret.

im always grabbing it when i can sneak it, or when we can get it with our jungler. if you get this on someone like yorick or nasus, or triforce garen, you can wreck an entire lane if summoned at the right moment.

its honestly powerful enough as it is.

Teridax68Mar 20, 20181 votes

In general, I'd like it if League rewarded actions in-game primarily by pushing closer to the enemy's Nexus, rather than providing personal increases in power. Having jungle camps provide mercenaries, rather than buffs (or both), could be one way of achieving this. However, I feel Rift Herald is enough for a mercenary-like mechanic, and I don't think League itself needs all that many more extra minions around, at least not without changes to champion pushing power that would prevent certain champions from killing entire camps in a few shots, past a certain stage in the game.

One alternative I had in mind, though, is if killing jungle camps powered up your base in some way a la Nexus Siege Obliterator: killing a camp could grant a charge, and at X number of charges, the Nexus could fire a burst of global power that would kill enemy minions, and perhaps also disable enemy structures for a time. This could be something akin to the objective in HotS's Cursed Hollow, where you'd work towards unlocking a burst of pushing power. This could work even in the early game, as removing minions for a time would allow for a period where you'd get to duel unhindered, without necessarily providing that much pushing power. Because disabling turrets would allow for easier dives, it could also be all the more reason to make turrets much stronger against dives as a baseline.

Additionally, if we're going by HotS-style objectives, I'd also like it if Dragon, instead of providing semi-visible permanent buffs, would instead directly damage enemy structures, a bit like the Sky Temple and Blackheart's Bay objectives. For example, if killing Dragon dealt a fixed amount of true damage to enemy structures (i.e. a dragon would descend upon the Rift and breathe fire at its target), starting with the outermost structure still standing, the objective would always be both relevant and important, without having it bleed into more snowballing via raw power. League needs to drive fewer wedges between teams in combat, and needs to have its leads directly translate to taking down structures: while I'm not 100% sold on mercenaries in League (though it could probably work), I think having the jungle provide more pushing power in general, rather than buffs to champions, could make the game much healthier overall, and could help accelerate matches without making them feel as one-sided.