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      Xerath patch is now live

      October 5, 2011 /

      The Xerath patch is now live, following a one-day delay from Riot’s typical release schedule. The patch was relatively short on balance changes, the most significant of which were a token nerf to both Lee Sin and Singed and slight nerf to Morgana’s passive and the AP ratio on Black Shield.

      I’m calling the Lee Sin and Singed changes “token” because they actually change very little about the game. Singed got a quarter-of-a-second nerf to his Poison Trail, which makes the duration line up with his animation, and a nerf to the CC reduction on his ult. Unfortunately, those things won’t keep him from absolutely dominating lanes. He still gets too many stats from Rod of Ages. The regen from his ult still makes him ridiculously difficult to kill, and Poison Trail will still give him the ability to amass a huge farm.

      As for Lee Sin, I can’t believe Riot thinks a 10% nerf to the AD ratio on Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike is going to balance his damage. When’s the last time you saw a Lee Sin stack damage? Never? The problem with Resonating Strike is the execute. The Safeguard nerf is also a little silly. It does nothing to address the fact that Lee can drop 400 damage or so on a target that is standing under a turret without taking any return fire from either the champion or the turret. Sure, those tricks make him fun to play, but OP mechanics are usually pretty fun. Remember when Veigar’s cage could stun for 8 seconds? Yeah, it was fun. It was also horribly broken.

      I’ll have more thoughts on Xerath later in the day. So far he seems a little underwhelming. A solid teamfighter, but he’s either going to take some time to learn well or I’m just going to give up on him. I think I’d much rather have Brand on my team. Watch for the impressions post a little later.

      What are your thoughts on the patch so far?

      Champions, league of legends, News, Patches

      Champ of the (two) week(s): Talon

      October 4, 2011 /

      I’m heading off to a wedding this weekend, so I won’t have enough time to do a proper Champ of the Week writeup in one week. Over the course of two weeks, though, it should be no problem. With that in mind, I’m happy to announce Talon as this (two) weeks’ Champ of the (two) Week(s).

      When Talon first released I was unimpressed. He reminded me a little bit of Akali but without the sustainability. His cooldowns were too long to jump from target to target, he required a lot of damage items to really produce results, and he was painfully squishy. I’ve been spending a lot more time with him recently and I’m starting to come around on Talon. He relies pretty heavily on Doran’s Blade stacking for his early game, but after that he can affect the course of a game as well as a lot of champions. His ultimate can also be devastating to a team in the right circumstances.

      So I’ll be playing Talon for the next two weeks, recording my thoughts and once again putting together a video about his skills. Check back for some more impressions this weekend or early next week. If you have specific questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments.

      Champ of the Week, league of legends

      Public Test Realm is coming back

      October 4, 2011 /

      You may remember a time when Riot had a public test realm. You may remember when pictures like the one at right – the first shots of Ezreal – would show up from time to time because of that realm. I actually remember when Riot gave out a select number of Test Realm accounts. I had prepared to be around for the giveaway, totally forgotten about the timing, but still somehow managed to snag one. It was nice for a while, but then there was the whole crackdown on information sharing, despite the fact that the Test Realm forums were totally public so long as you had a regular forum account and blah blah blah.

      But enough history! Public Testing is about to return. Here are the juicy bits from Udyr’s sticky in the General Discussion forums:

      Over the next few weeks, we will give thousands of level 30 summoners who are active contributors in the community the opportunity to join our Public Beta Environment, where this testing will take place. We initially plan to limit access to summoners who’ve reached level 30 and are active within the community, to ensure those participating in the environment have a very firm grasp on League of Legends.

      Don’t worry if you don’t meet the minimum criteria to qualify; we’ll be adding additional summoners to the Public Beta Environment over time to make sure the feedback we receive continues to shore up our release process.

      I would like to think I fall under the “active contributor” umbrella, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’m also curious what sort of NDA will govern information obtained through Test Realm access.

      I wish I could say more about the relative value of Test Realms. I’m sure it will be good for Riot to get a couple thousand people testing new patches before they go live. I hope it will streamline the patching process a bit so that we can have a regularly scheduled patch day. But I also realize that a PTR comes with all kinds of headaches, and it’s just another place for players to run amok and do things that will ultimately detract from the value of the game, the community, and the testing appearance. Here’s hoping the initial test group has as few trolls as possible.

      league of legends, News

      Champ of the Week: Trundle Wrapup

      October 4, 2011 /

      It’s long overdue, but the Trundle Champ of the Week wrapup is finally here! I went with a little more casual commentary style based on some feedback. Let me know if you prefer it to a more scripted style.

      My first few games with Trundle went so amazingly well I couldn’t help but think the League’s only real troll might be a little overpowered. He’s incredibly quick in the jungle, has the tools for ganking early, has the damage output for sustaining into late game – where are the weaknesses? His one weakness is probably that he’s melee. Seriously. I think that’s his only weakness.

      The flipside to all of that is that no one plays him. Like, no one. In the 50 or so games I’ve played and recorded, I’ve been the only person to play Trundle. I think this is mostly due to the fact that his skills are not exciting. You don’t take big chunks out of your opponents. You don’t get to stun people. If you miss your pillar by the slightest amount it continues to stand as a lasting monument to your failure. His ultimate is utterly boring.

      Despite all that, he’s still powerful. In the video above I show a lot of different ways that Trundle contributes to the team. I think the most important thing you can do for a team as Trundle is to build tanky. Get an early GA and then follow up with some damage. The GA allows you to tower dive early and survive into late. It de-prioritizes you as a target in those early teamfights, which gives you the freedom to choose your targets carefully, make the best use of your ult, and rip through a team.

      Skills and Items
      When I play Trundle, I like to focus on beefing up defensive stats and debuffing enemies with Rabid Bite and his ultimate, Agony. I level Rabid Bite first, and then alternate between Pillar of Filth and Contaminate. Both skills provide great benefit with each level, so I just go back and forth, grabbing his ultimate at levels 6, 11, and 16.

      For items, I get a Wriggles, Merc Treads or Berzerker’s Greaves (don’t forget, Contaminate gives him CC reduction), Guardian Angel, and Trinity Force. If the game goes beyond that point you can either get a Banshee’s for survivability or the damage item of your choosing. I would personally go for Infinity Edge, but if the enemy team doesn’t have much in the way of Exhaust or Ignite, go for a Bloodthirster. You will probably be the last man standing more often than not, and that Bloodthirster only adds to Trundle’s sustain.

      If I Could Change One Thing
      If I could change one thing about Trundle it would be his ultimate. The skill is definitely strong in its current form, but I would like to see it offer a little more punch. I think Riot could easily shift more damage to the front end, improve the animation a bit, and increase the cooldown. Yes, increase the cooldown. I know his ult is great for killing dragon and Baron and the occasional golem if you’re low on health, but it’s just too boring in its current form. I think we would see a lot more Trundle players if he was just a bit more exciting to play.

      Don’t forget to Subscribe to the Fearless Gamer YouTube channel for notifications when my newest videos are up. I should have Veigar later this week but I am heading out of town for a wedding so I can’t promise anything.

      Champ of the Week, league of legends, Video

      Making a ranked run with Talon

      October 3, 2011 /

      Since Dominion launched I’ve found myself drawn more and more to Talon, the newest assassin to join the League. I had a hard time loving him when he first launched, but I’m really starting to understand his strengths, even in a duo lane, which can often be frustrating as a melee champion.

      I’ve been playing him here and there, but mostly in solo queue ranked. As it currently stands, I’m 8-0 and headed into my 9th game. I’m not sure what to take away from the experience so far. Right now my ranking is somewhere around 1300, so it’s not like I’m playing a marginal champ and succeeding at high ELOs. Still, I am succeeding, and usually pretty wildly.

      I think the bigger lesson for me has been that there are champions that just take a little time to learn, and when they click, they really click. I originally thought Talon was meant to be a highly mobile melee champion, using his ultimate for escaping teamfights or stealthing in for the attack. I’m actually having the most success playing him as an almost Akali-like teamfighter – running straight for targets, making them very dead, and then following up with a whole load of AoE damage. Talon isn’t particularly mobile or survivable, but he can easily kill a target before the target can kill him, and that’s what an assassin should be about.

      Champions, league of legends

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