Category: Champions (Page 14 of 43)

      Yorick, the Gravedigger sneak peek

      June 8, 2011 /

      The latest champion sneak peek popped up last night, bringing us news of Yorick, the Gravedigger. It remains unclear what type of champion Yorick will be, but I like the direction his art is headed. I’m curious how much of his playstyle relies on minions. If too much of his damage comes from minions, I’m worried that we’ll be looking at another tanky DPS champ.

      Here’s the blurb from the sneak peek:

      The true sign of a master is when you’re able to impress everyone with your execution of a skill that might otherwise be considered mundane. So it’s probably quite safe to say that in order to dazzle anyone with your skillful shoveling, you’re going to have to be rather good at it.

      With this in mind, allow me to introduce Yorick, the Gravedigger. In addition to being more adept in the art of entombment than any who have come before him, he makes a point of keeping good company… or at least ravenous undead company. One of those two.

      As I mentioned, I like Yorick’s art direction. I’m looking forward to learning more about him this weekend.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

      Champ of the Week: Nasus

      June 6, 2011 /

      nasus_splash_1

      At the request of SpectralTime, this week’s champ of the week will be Nasus. The big egyptian dog was one of the first champions I had a truly stellar game with. I can still remember getting 30+ kills in one of my early games with him. In fact, if I remember correctly, he might have been the first champion I spent IP on.

      I was visiting my parents for the holidays shortly after I picked up the game and thought Nasus looked cool. I was terrible with him in most cases, though I think his recommended item build at the time (which, as a total noob I followed to a T) was all damage. Still, I managed a good game with him, and I’ve always loved his design and his voice overs.

      I’ve spent a decent amount of time in the jungle with Nasus so I think I’ll be focusing on the lane – setting up kills and maintaining a strong zone. Nasus can be utterly ridiculous if left to farm a lane. He can be a capable offtank, an amazing source of DPS, and is pretty much any attack speed champion’s worst enemy. The Wither/Merc Treads issue will likely still be frustrating, but perhaps Tenacity has given people the confidence to buy different boots early. Check back later in the week for more on the Nasus Champ of the Week.

      Champ of the Week, Champions, Editorial, league of legends

      Champ of the Week: Malzahar wrapup

      June 5, 2011 /

      malzahar_splash_1

      My week with Malzahar was probably the most successful Champ of the Week I’ve had so far, though Nunu may have edged him out. In any case, I can only remember having one truly bad game with him, and that was this evening in a post-cookout haze. Malzahar is just an incredible pick for an AP carry, offering a solid mix of utility and damage without really falling short anywhere.

      One of the biggest things to learn about Malzahar, and something I haven’t quite mastered, is when to use his ultimate. I know it sounds simple enough, but that ultimate is devastating, completely shutting out an opponent in most cases, and it can be used on a variety of targets if played right. There is that unspoken rule – never focus the tank – but if the tank has all of the enemy CC and made a misstep near a tower, a quick Malzahar ult can give your team 5v4 advantage and allow you to steamroll down a lane. The flipside is knowing when not to use your ultimate. Using your ultimate during a teamfight can cost you a lot of damage. A stun or silence and you’ve missed out on a crucial part of your kit.

      Even without his ult, though, Malzahar still devastates teamfights. His AoE silence has excellent utility and the percentage based damage from Null Zone grows quickly with AP. Malzahar has no problem farming, either. At level 3, Malefic Visions hits hard enough to easily farm creep waves with a few auto attacks. With a Voidling proc, Malzahar not only burns through creep waves, he also becomes a strong side pusher that requires two people to gank.

      If I could change one thing about Malzahar it would be the AI on his Voidlings. I lost more to towers than I wanted, and they often danced back and forth in the lane instead of defending me in the midst of a gank. The Voidling deals heavy damage, especially once it levels up. Having a little more control of that damage would probably make him a bit OP, which I honestly think he’s on the verge of, anyway.

      Champ of the Week, Champions, Editorial, league of legends

      More Orianna thoughts

      June 3, 2011 /

      Sewn Chaos Orianna.

      Orianna’s playstyle is engaging enough that I’ve been spending a decent amount of time with her, enough to have some additional thoughts about her just a day after my impressions post. It’s tough to help myself – she’s just so much fun. The ball mechanic makes for an active and powerful lane phase that I find much more interesting than most of the characters in the game.

      Orianna is a return to the poke style metagame, and I’ve actually had the most success with her when I can zone an enemy back to his turret. You’ll definitely need to have some regen, but using the ball to basically sweep the lane can keep an opponent at his turret while you stand outside the turret’s range. There is one limiting factor: mana.

      I have huge mana problems on Orianna, which is why I think you pretty much have to run with RoA/Archangel’s. That build also has the added benefit of being very consistent. I’ve tried rolling with Soulstealer and it just doesn’t feel as good. Because Orianna’s base damage is a little on the low side, I feel like it’s necessary to do everything I possibly can to make sure she scales consistently.

      Champions, league of legends, Patches

      Orianna released today

      June 1, 2011 /

      This morning, the servers came up, bringing Orianna to live play. I certainly wasn’t expecting a patch, though it didn’t include anything other than her release. I haven’t really had a chance to play her much, so I’ll give some basic impressions and instead point you to the spotlight above.

      I think Riot did an amazing job with her animations. She looks good, her spells all look fairly different (though I wouldn’t mind a bit more fanfare for her shield), and the animations are spot on for her basic movement. The voice acting is also excellent (definitely a little Portal-esque as a friend pointed out). To this point, though, I haven’t seen a lot from her in terms of damage.

      The problem mostly seems to be with the base damage on her abilities. Granted, a portion of her damage has been allocated to her passive, but even with a load of AP, her auto attacks don’t seem to hit particularly hard. I think a good point of comparison is Lux, who deals significant damage with her abilities and then procs a nice chunk of damage if she can land one auto attack. Orianna might be great in situations where she is overfarmed and can stand and auto attack an enemy to stack up her passive, but with just an attack or two, it doesn’t feel like it does much.

      The real joy of Orianna is her support skills. Dissonance is an awesome speed buff for allies and adds a nice slow to opponents, and her ult has that perfect reward feeling when it’s played right. Hopefully I have the time for a few more games with her today. Check back either today or tomorrow for my full impressions.

      Champions, league of legends, News, Patches, Video

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