[4.13] Live Gameplay Forecast
Hey all,
As a result of this being one of the last patches to really react to the game before the World Championships, expect this to be a large patch in terms of number of changes. Probably not in terms of huge scope modifications, but more like small to mid balance tweaks across a number of champions.
As another reminder: these are not promises for what will be in Patch 4.13, rather, they're a forecast of what we are currently working on and the problems we see.
Onward!
Them competitive diversity picks: At the heart of all of this, our core goal with patch 4.13 (and 4.14) is competitive diversity. There are a few champions we're looking to give small buffs to, and others who are, by nature of being the best, skewing picks into who can play against them and who can't. You'll probably see a lot of smaller changes in this line of thought.
Them aggro junglers: There's been a few big discussions going around on this, but we agree that early aggro junglers are still very stifling - particularly in competitive level play. While we're still watching how our tanky jungler changes have rolled out from 4.11, we think there are a few 'top tier' dudes (fine, I'm saying it: Lee Sin, Elise, Evelynn) who can afford a nudge down.
Them hyperscaling marksmen: With the Lucian changes in 4.12 (and Lucian being on the downward trend thanks to hyperscaling marksmen like Koggles and Trist) we're on light watch to ensure the marksmen pool gets a little more diversity. In terms of categorical picks, we'd love if other marksmen had their strategic choices and niches to play, rather than a single 'type' (ie: early game vs late game hyperscalers, etc).
Up today, designer Riot Jag will be hanging out in the comments to discuss some of the things we're looking at in 4.13.
, you guys literally contradicted your mission statement after you gut him(which in itself is a contradiction of your desire for balance to begin with)
, this is simple. His late game is pretty strong. His early to mid game is REALLY weak. Why does his mana costs have to be so ridiculously oppressive? Why must Blue Buff be so essential for a champion so easily counter-jungled?
, you treat him like a precious baby and you're trying so frustratingly hard to retain his strengths, you're trying so UNFAIRLY hard to keep Lee Sin FUN to play for Lee Sin players.
and probably some others. They just need a few tweaks to bring them up to date, their kits are fine, so I hope to see them in these upcoming patches.. fingers crossed
- He's just a weak version of braum
expect for the heal but it's really not noticeable. Wish he's feels more like a paladin.
- his ult is such a long cooldown. He got plenty of weakness like being kited, pretty length cooldown in early game, and can be bullied in lane due to no gap closer to pull the damage. It's justified to make his ult to have a bit shorter cd.
- needs to fix his shield to actual does damage on late game in team fights. His shield is easy to pop with either a bruiser, ap or adc. Suggestion is make his shield scale with hp or still keeps his damage ampler for few second even with the shield is gone.
- Needs more strength to her ability to zone in laning or ampler her team fighting capability.
- his kit needs a more modern form of his kit similar to maokai
. he's too depended on items and needs all of his ability to be lvl 3 to really notice effects.
- have too much items depended. she need cd, mana, hp, and armor/mr. Not very reliable damage pre 6 since she needs to stick to her target and very long cd on all her kit. Needs a more modern form of her kit to not be so depend on every aspect of every stat in the game.
So, I have to question, as far as increasing marksman diversity, do you intend to attempt to bring back high-AD lane bully carries like Graves, albeit in a lesser position than Lucian was, or are you happy to bring immobile, high damage ADCs such as Tristana, Kog'Maw, or perhaps even Twitch back? Do carries like Varus and Jinx meet the criateria for what you want to bring back? I do so enjoy Varus.
changes are extremely drastic on the PBE. His power curve is now extremely towards late game and he is no longer viable as a support if they go through. What puzzles me is he is considered balanced by a large section of the community and professional scene(though not overpowered, which is why he isn't picked often at that level) It seems like a contradiction of this post to make a change of that magnitude.
's recent buffs, while champions that are never played and could be given an easy bump with some number tweaking? 
for instance could benefit from a bit more mana regeneration or lower mana costs in general, 
's ult is still pretty damn expensive even in short bursts, etc.
ult bug? Like, hot damn, how can you have a champion disabled for two seasons.
: Why not include 
in its build path, seeing as it is supposed to help with mana problems, which are really a menace early. Would really like a Rioter to explain the reason with this :)
? To see how the changes pan out?
get nerfs? And 
, too? Maybe the revert of a few buffs he received after the rework?
