If you’ve ever looked at a death recap in game, you’ve no doubt noticed that the recap doesn’t show all of the damage that killed you. Hell, it rarely shows 30 percent of your terminal damage. The system may finally be catching an update next patch according to a red post made late last night.
Wiksy, an Associate Software Engineer for Riot, said this:
I have some death recap changes that should come out next patch.
The system itself was in a pretty bad place, so it required changes from both code and design (thanks to Coronach who did all design-related changes). For example it did not have enough data to figure out where the damage actually came from, and the event array was not big enough so that it would be full before all relevant events were processed…
Anyway, please try death recap after next patch is out, and give me some feedback. It should at least make the damage source and numbers more accurate.
Let’s hope so. A big part of getting better with this game is being able to accurately assess what happened in a fight. I would love to see a WoW-style combat log implemented, but in the meantime a reworked death recap should do just fine.
It’s finally happening. Dragons are finally coming to League of Legends. I know, I know – there’s been a dragon in League of Legends for a while now, but can I play that dragon? No, I can’t, so why bother talking about it.
The next champion to come to the League will be Shyvana, the Half-Dragon. Her name is a little confusing, mostly because of the graphic that accompanies her post. As you can see above, Shyvana appears to be a full-on dragon. My guess is that the version of her in the comic represents her ultimate. Could she be a Nidalee-style champ with a toggled second form? I would actually love that option. I really enjoyed Nidalee, though I haven’t played her in a while. Keep an eye out for more about her this coming weekend.
The fall release schedule has been pretty underwhelming so far. Most of the big titles have had their release date pushed back, though we will see Battlefield 3 tomorrow. Personally, I’m not much of an FPS fan these days, so I’m holding out for the RPG/ARTS games that are yet to come.
For now, Diablo 3 is my number one pick. I played the hell out of Diablo 2 back in high school and college and I’ve actually picked it back up to get in the mood for the next addition to the franchise. I’m surprised how much enjoyment I can still get out of a game that is nothing more than a gear grind. There’s still something fun about it, despite it’s gross imbalances, too. Why can Hammerdins kill everything in the game with such ease, even with a relatively easy-to-find kit? Why are high runes such a crapshoot? Why do immunities even exist in this kind of grinder?
I’m going to avoid answering those questions and instead offer some advice. If you’re thinking about going back and playing through Diablo 1 and 2, I’d highly recommend checking out the Reddit server, at least for your multiplayer Diablo 2 experiences. I played some Battle.net not too long ago and immediately ran up against the game’s big problems – bots and duping. High-level items are so common it’s silly. With Reddit’s private server, though, the economy is pretty balanced and, more importantly, the players are friendly. It’s been nice to go back through some of my favorite classes and specs, finding help along the way from generous players.
You can find out more about the Diablo 2 Reddit server at the server’s subreddit. I’m playing there under the account “thewuggler” if you happen to join.
Out of this fall’s games, what are you most looking forward to?
Riot posted the patch preview for the upcoming Graves patch some time last night. The video includes some decent champion changes, including Skarner buffs, but it’s missing some key champion nerfs that are long overdue. Gunblade is getting some nerfs, which are aimed at “hyper-carry” hybrids like Jax and Akali, but the changes will only really affect Dominion.
Skarner is getting across-the-board buffs – attack speed per level, mana cost reduction on Crystal Slash, duration increase on Impale. It’s a nice set of buffs that should make him much less mana dependent. Honestly, I think he might become the flavor of the month with these buffs. Skarner was in a decent spot, I think he just needed some mana adjustment. Now I can see him as an overwhelming solo top or jungler.
Corki is getting an adjustment to Gatling Gun that should make the damage output from the skill more consistent. I’m not sure why Corki is on the change list, though I haven’t seen him in many games recently. In fact, the only ranged carry I see with any consistency these days is Caitlyn. I would love to know when we’re going to see a couple adjustments to her kit.
The other serious changes made to the game all have to do with Dominion. There’s less ambient XP so the “hyper-carries” get to endgame more slowly. Gunblade spell vamp no longer stacks, and Gunblade is getting stat nerfs to bring the power benefit more in line with the cost.
I thought it was funny that Phreak played Akali for a large portion of the patch preview and yet there was no mention of nerfing her. I’ve thought Akali’s burst was broken for a while now, and after learning to play her using Westrice’s guide and some practice, I can’t believe she’s remained in the game in her current state for as long as she has. I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the hesitation to nerf her is that a lot of people are playing her now and a lot of those people don’t know what they’re doing. A big part of Akali’s playstyle is wrapped up in prepping her lane opponent for a kill before level six. At level six she outlanes virtually every single character in the game. This isn’t just on Noob Island either; it’s at every level of the game. Akali was used to devastating effect in the New York tournament this weekend and was the biggest reason Team Dignitas beat CLG.
It looks like the most exciting thing coming this patch will be Graves, unless of course you’re a Skarner devotee.
The League of Legends Public Beta Environment went live this week, starting with email invites to summoners who had been active members of the forums (and yes, a Rioter did confirm that the invites were based on summoners who had made posts in recent months that had been well received by the community). I wasn’t lucky enough to get an invite, being that I avoid posting on the forums as much as I can, but I was still able to create an account through a signup link one of the invitees was kind enough to spread on the forums.
It’s tough to say just how helpful the PBE will be. The first couple hours were bug-riddled, and if just anyone could sign up for a beta account I would imagine the realm is going to be fairly flooded. Of course, maybe that’s what Riot is after. Maybe it’s more about load testing the patches with the added benefit of catching bugs via the scattershot method – throw enough testers at the problem and someone is bound to find it.
I’m mostly hopeful that the PBE will bring back instantaneous champion releases on patch day. I’m not sure why I’m so bothered by it, but I really don’t like that the patch launches and the champion launches later in the day. Oh, I should also point out that the PBE has no NDA, so people can talk about whatever they see on the realm. That also leads me to believe that there wont’ be serious content testing going on.
