Ability Level-Up Queueing

League of Legends is about players showcasing their mastery of the game. Skirmish outcomes are heavily influenced by a player's personal skill, and how they execute their champion's abilities. This is a fundamental game design philosophy Riot Games adheres to when designing the game. However, there's a specific case that causes players to lose a fight based solely on fighting with the UI/keybindings.

The speed at which a player puts a point into their abilities after levelling up can determine the outcome of fights. More specifically, this happens often at levels 2 and 6. How fast a player can put a point into their ultimate after they hit level 6 can win the fight for them, or the other player misclicks and doesn't put a point into their ultimate, and they are unable to use it. Losing a fight because you didn't level up your skill fast enough really sucks.

I've come up with a solution that has a largely positive impact on the game experience for all players, as well as having secondary effects that solve issues like putting a point into the wrong skill. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any sort of downside to this. If you can think of any, please, tear apart my idea so we can improve it.

The Solution

Currently, a "+" appears above our skills when we level up. Players may then select a skill to level up.

My suggestion is to give players the chance to queue a point into a skill, which will be applied when they next level up.

At level 1, you'll be able to put a point into one skill. Immediately after, you'll be able to queue another point.

For example, I will put a point into my Q at level 1. I'll then queue a point into my E. Once I hit level 2, I'll immediately have my E available to me, and I'll be able to queue another point.

Players will also be able to undo a queued point, and put it into another skill instead if they change their minds at any point before they level up.

Issues Resolved using Ability Queueing

• Being unprepared for a level 2/6/any other level engage because you couldn't put a point into your ultimate fast enough.

• If you put a point into the wrong skill, you'll have an opportunity to fix it before you actually level up.

• For new players, they may forget to put points into their skills as they start playing the game. With ability queueing, if they do miss a level up, they'll be able to plan for that next level up when applying a point. This gives them some leeway when it comes to ranking their abilities.

Potential Negative Effects

• Some players might feel that ranking your abilities fast is part of the game. This is the main debate here. Personally, I don't feel levelling your skills is a part of an interesting gameplay pattern.

TL;DR - A system that allows us to put a point into one of our skills before we level up, when we level up the point is applied. The option to undo the queue will be available, minimizing the chance of levelling the wrong skill.