Category: league of legends (Page 149 of 163)

LoL: Finding the balance on TT

TT fight in action.Since Twisted Treeline launched in matchmaking I’ve been able to spend most of my time in game learning the new map. I feel pretty comfortable with the general mechanics but there’s something I have yet to master. As much as I try to fine tune my comps, I find myself overwhelmed or outmatched often on TT and its usually for very different reasons.

As a for instance, I had a game earlier in the weekend in which a Singed/Nidalee/Ezreal completely rocked my world. Both DPS were packing flash and would flee while Singed poisoned my team to death. Granted, our own Nidalee was hesitant to participate in fights to the point of basically losing us the game, but that actually made me realize what’s so tough about TT. The new map exacerbates any weakness in your team, whether it’s the player or the comp. Because the fights are smaller you can afford very few mistakes.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen on TT, and one I keep making myself, is a lack of preparation against your opponent. A lot of teams tend to be very tanky on TT, so it’s important to have a large healthpool yourself, even if it means gimping your DPS a bit. A full-on damage farm doesn’t mean anything if you get bursted down in a blink. By the same logic, you better be able to rip apart those escapable toons. If they’re constantly able to get away you’ll find yourself frustrated and level-gapped from the constant running.

If you’re having comp issues, make sure you’re packing enough DPS. Champs like Mundo and Poppy are popular because they mix high survivability with excellent damage output. Get your squishiest DPS to bring cleanse and hopefully you can make it out of TT with a few wins.

LoL: Shaco bug fixes coming

Shaco background.I’ve been a part of a popular thread on the test realm forums regarding Shaco bugs. If you haven’t played Shaco recently you might not want to start. As fun a character as he is, he’s horribly buggy right now, sometimes to the point of breaking the game.

As a for instance, I was running down a Kat the other day on TT. I had just given her a nice burst to put her at 10 percent health or less. A simple deceive and maybe a two-shiv and she was done. Nothing stood between us but a wide open lane. I press Q, click up next to her and…I go nowhere and stay visible. My deceive cooldown starts and I stare at my computer with a sad dejected look. We still haven’t nailed down why this happens but it’s happened a few times for me and others.

The big one, though, is deceive damage. When deceive allows you to port and stealth it’s not dealing proper damage. I first noticed it when I was attack creeps on Twisted Treeline. I had approximately 155 damage and was deceive critting minions for around 330 damage, almost exactly the 200 percent crit plus the 10 percent damage from the offensive mastery without the bonus 120 percent damage that should be applied by level 5 deceive.

Shurelia has confirmed an upcoming hotfix for this, likely on Monday. It was supposed to have been in today but it got pushed back because of some technical issues.

LoL: The scary state of Jax

Jax.It’s time for another “state of” post, but this one is a little scarier. The subject here is Jax, one of the most hotly contested toons in the game right now. I wanted to give a quick look at some of his potential problems and what the future may hold.

First, Jax is undeniably strong. In my opinion, he’s too strong. His passive is among the best in the game (if not the best by a long shot) and his skills deal incredible damage. He can be extremely difficult to bring down in a teamfight, particularly the new 3v3 game and he can easily solo entire teams if he gets even a moderate level of farm.

The big problem with Jax is that he gets too much benefit from every item. While most characters have to make choices like survivability vs. damage output, Jax gets everything in one tidy little package. Want to go physical damage? Great, have some free health. AP? Awesome, have some free health. In fact, the worst items you can get for Jax are health items. Why would you when you can boost your damage output and your survivability in one fell swoop.

The other problem is the way his damage scales. As though the health bonus weren’t enough, Jax has insane AP ratios. With even 100 AP his Empower -> Leap Strike combo takes huge chunks of health. You just better hope that next attack isn’t a relentless assault proc or you’re as good as dead.

Jax does have a weakness, though: mages. Jax is susceptible to snares and stuns, despite the fact that most Jax players take cleanse. Because mages don’t rely on physical attacks their damage isn’t stymied by dodge chance. It is possible to blow Jax up in one fell swoop but you better do it fast. If he gets close to you it’s probably going to be a four shot.

LoL: The demise of Urf

Urf the Manatee skin.I think we all knew something was up when it came to Urf the Manatee. Riot was toying with us, I could just feel it. But why populate the announcements forum with so much crap about a fake hero? Enter Urf the Manatee skin for Warwick. Yes, Urf the Manatee lives on in a Warwick skin that costs 5,000 RP. Lucky for us, he’s on sale for 99 percent off – just 50 RP!

Here’s the story behind the skin:

Unfortunately, today, the story of Urf Day took a tragic turn, for as Urf was swimming along, dutifully guarding the river in the Summoner’s Rift, he met with a tragic demise. Eye-witness accounts have been unreliable at best, but everyone seems to agree that just before it happened a blue streak was seen darting out of the nearby jungle. A great clamor ensued, followed by the doleful screams of a manatee done wrong. In the end, all that was left of this brave prince amongst sea cows was his skin… and even that was stolen by this most nefarious of perpetrators.

Now any good story needs a moral. So if there’s anything that the story of Urf Day and the story of the Big Bad Wolf have in common, it’s this: deep within every wolf, there is a cunning master of disguise just waiting to get out. Take Warwick, for instance; a giant, bloodthirsty werewolf able to cunningly adapt by blending into even the most innocent of surroundings. He could be anywhere at any time… behind a rock, in the brush, in the jungle, or cleverly masquerading as a lovable, spatula-wielding manatee.

Enjoy Urf Day everyone. If I can fix my internet any time soon I’ll do the same.

LoL: Kennen officially announced

Kennen bg.Curse got an exclusive announcement from Riot earlier today. It looks like we’ll be seeing Kennen, the next in the supposed trinity of ninja champions, very soon.

Kennen appears to be the caster of ninja trio, bringing an array of nukes with which to dispatch his opponents. From the description of his skills it seems he has a skill shot, a short range AOE nuke, a charge that includes a damage component, and a larger AOE nuke as his ult. His passive also grants a stun for every third ability hit on enemy targets. It does sound like he could potentially stun an entire team at once. Take a look at the ability list:

Thundering Shuriken: Kennen throws a lightning shuriken to a target location, dealing damage and adding a Mark of the Storm debuff to the first enemy it hits.

Electrical Surge: Passive: Kennen’s weapon becomes charged every few attacks, dealing extra damage and adding a Mark of the Storm debuff on his next attack.

Active: Kennen deals damage and adds another Mark of the Storm to all nearby enemies who currently have a Mark of the Storm debuff on them.

Lightning Rush: Kennen turns into a pulsating ball of lightning for several seconds, moving incredibly fast and gaining the ability to pass through units. Any enemy unit he touches in this form is dealt damage and receives a Mark of the Storm.

Slicing Maelstrom (ultimate): Kennen creates a storm of shurikens and lightning around himself, summoning down a powerful energy bolt to a nearby enemy champion every half of a second, dealing damage and adding a Mark of the Storm with each strike.

Mark of the Storm (passive): Kennen’s abilities add a Mark of the Storm debuff to enemies. Upon reaching 3 stacks of the Mark of the Storm debuff, the enemy is stunned and Kennen receives an energy boost.

Charge champions are obviously popular on Twisted Treeline and will likely continue to be because of mobility. Ignoring walls is just too sweet to pass up. I’ll be interested to see how the stun mechanic plays out. More news when he hits the TR.

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