Category: Champions (Page 13 of 43)

      Rumble to catch a nerf

      June 13, 2011 /

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      I just about jumped out of my chair this morning when I read that Rumble was slated for a nerf. In my mind he’s been overdue for one since the day he was released. He just does too much damage for how much he can tank and how well he can survive/escape damage. He embodies the Tanky DPS metagame while benefiting from an insanely strong early game, thanks to the lack of minion aggro against spells.

      Here’s the quote from Phreak:

      We are probably going to nerf Rumble, though not due to bigfatlp streaming him.

      We had nerfed his cooldown on Q last patch because he was dominating lanes too easily.

      Like with Gragas, Galio, Nunu, Malzahar, Janna, and many others, the European server is generally ahead of the curve on the real “OP” champions. Rumble has been a tournament-ban and tournament-pick champion since his release, he’s a bit too strong, and we’re probably going to nerf him.

      I’m curious to see how Dreamhack plays out and what champions are considered OP. During the Dreamhack qualifiers, Phreak called Rumble the most balanced champion in a long time. I’m not sure if that’s simply based on the order of magnitude by which other champions or OP or UP on release, or whether he’s seen some games that have made him change his mind. In any case, I find it extremely interesting that different regions of the world have different understandings of who is and isn’t OP.

      Champions, league of legends, News

      Riot’s take on the E3 info

      June 11, 2011 /

      Riot has graciously stepped onto the E3 news scene with its own explanations of the champions and features in development for League of Legends. Thank god. That Gamespot video just wasn’t cutting it.

      The video rehashes a lot of the information I’ve put together on Yorick, Leona, and Skarner, though Paul Bellezza did expand on Skarner’s design direction a bit. In case there was any doubt, it looks like Tanky DPS is here to stay. Bellezza called Yorick a “tanky fighter” who can “pretty much tank down anyone.” Skarner is a “vicious and aggressive fighter tank” (the extent to which that’s different from a tanky fighter is unclear) who allows you to “focus on enemies and the more you attack them, the more you debuff them and are able to take them down.” Wedged in between these two is an archetypal tank with some crowd control abilities. If ever there was a bad time to be a squishy, July and August will surely top it.

      I’m hoping that those releases will also come with some itemization/character updates that help deal with Tanky DPS. The idea behind tankier champions is a fine one – longer fights means you get to play the game more – but when it comes at the expense of so many characters and when so much of the playstyle revolves around skills like Jarvan’s passive, the gameplay isn’t very fun. This is the big reason I don’t play Tanky DPS toons – they aren’t enjoyable. It’s fun to get a ranged carry farmed up and burn through enemies. It’s fun to drop Tibbers on a group of opponents and see huge chunks of health fly off. If Riot can find a way to make these longer fights similarly enjoyable, I’ll gladly take the addition of more Tanky DPS champions to the League.

      Champions, Current Affairs, Development, league of legends, News

      Upcoming Champion: Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard

      June 10, 2011 /

      Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard.

      Riot had precious little to say regarding Skarner, but I can already tell that I like the guy. I was a huge fan of Crixalis (Sand King) in DotA, so obviously Skarner appeals to me. The only thing Riot mentioned about Skarner’s skillset is that he might be able to impale an opponent on his tale and drag them around. Sounds like a pretty cool skill. Depending on the range it might even be a sort of Rocket Grab.

      With Skarner, Leona, and Yorick all coming soon, I can’t help but wonder when we’ll see the Monkey King. It’s been nearly two months since his assets were released in a preview video but we still have no word on his release date or his skillset.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

      Upcoming Champion: Leona, the Radiant Dawn

      June 9, 2011 /

      Leona, the Radiant Dawn.

      Riot has a small force at E3 this year, mostly there to show off Yorick and tease a few new champions leading up to Dreamhack. Among the champion teasers is Leona, the Radiant Dawn. Leona is a direct response to the community requests for a female champion. She sports a traditional sword and shield, though it sounds like she’ll harness the power of the sun to control her enemies.

      Riot hasn’t said much about her skillset, other than a potential ultimate idea, which is that she would summon a beam of light on an area that sort of detonates after a couple seconds, stunning anyone still in the beam. If I heard correctly on the video from Gamespot, someone likened the skill to the Hammer of Dawn in Gears of War. Sounds like it will look really good, and probably function a bit like Amumu’s ult, which is one of the strongest in the game.

      On the whole, Leona looks like a pretty cool champion. I like seeing more traditional tanks added to the game. It means good things for balance, or so we can hope.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

      Yorick will be late to the party

      June 9, 2011 /

      Yorick, the Gravedigger.

      In the wake of E3 and leading up to Dreamhack next week, Riot is going to be very busy. As such, the company has announced that Yorick won’t be adhering to the normal schedule of release. Here’s the official word from Tamat:

      The end of Season One is approaching fast, and between the Season One Championship at DreamHack and E3, there’s an awful lot to do here at the Riot Office. Additionally, Orianna was an extremely exciting and edgy new champion, and we want to take the extra time to ensure that the next champion will be just as groundbreaking before we turn them loose on the Field of Justice. For these reasons, we’ve decided to take a bit of break from champion releases and balance changes until after we return from Sweden following the Season One Championship.

      As we draw closer to these events we will be releasing more previews of the exciting content that will be coming sometime after our end of season break. This will include Yorick, the Gravedigger and several more champions along with some exciting new features for PvP.net. Stay tuned for more information as our coverage of E3 continues.

      I’m glad to see Riot communicating these timing adjustments to the player base. It makes perfect sense that they would delay the release, but the forums still tend to explode with “OMGWTF WHERE IS DAT NEW CHAMPIONZ?!?!” if nothing is said.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

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