Page 97 of 318

      Talon, the Blade’s Shadow skillset preview

      August 18, 2011 /

      Riot put together a “mechanics preview” for Talon, the upcoming melee assassin. I’m not sure why it’s a mechanics preview rather than just a skill preview. It seems to be his full skillset, but maybe they just don’t want people to think that the thing is set in stone. Tough to say.

      Regardless, let’s take a look at his skills:

      Cutthroat: An ability that allows Talon to catch his enemies by surprise. Talon leaps behind his target and silences them for a short duration, amplifying the damage of any of his follow up attacks and abilities.

      Noxian Diplomacy: Talon viciously stabs his enemy, dealing heavy physical damage and causing them to leave a blood trail that Talon can use to track them.

      Rake: Talon fans out three blades in front of him that quickly return to him, dealing damage and slowing any target hit in either direction.

      Shadow Assault (Ultimate): Talon enters stealth for a short duration, gaining a movement speed boost and sending blades that deal damage to all enemies in their path flying in every direction. Once the blades reach a certain distance, they pause and form a circle. When Talon reappears from stealth, the blades return to him, once again dealing damage to any opponent they pass through.

      Mercy (Passive): Talon’s auto-attacks deal additional damage to a target that is under the influence of any crowd control effect.

      He seems to be Vayne’s brother or depraved uncle or some such thing, at least as far as his skills/flavor go. It’s tough to get a good feel for his skills, mostly because their so basic. I like the idea of a targeted leap plus a silence, but I can’t really say much about his other skills. Slows are always nice. I’m not sure why he has a tracking skill unless his dash is on a very short cooldown. His ultimate is something I’ll definitely have to see to really pass any sort of judgement on.

      Phreak claims the Talon spotlight has neither jungling or a Trinity Force. I suppose we’ll see on Monday night. Are you excited for Talon?

      Champions, Development, league of legends

      DotA 2 International tournament in full swing

      August 17, 2011 /

      With Gamescom up and running, the DotA 2 International tournament is in full swing, with teams competing for the first place purse of $1,000,000. This is also the first time the world at large has seen DotA 2, a game that, in my opinion, looks fantastic. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed DotA on a very visceral level. It was somewhere in the back of my mind, but as soon as I saw Valve’s take on some of my favorite champions – Windrunner, Beastmaster, Dark Seer, Night Stalker – I felt the excitement of playing the game again.

      I think Valve has done a really nice job with the graphics. Honestly, with as good as DotA 2 looks, I don’t think HoN really stands a chance. HoN’s big selling point up to this point was that it was DotA with “better” graphics. For some reason, though, they changed the names of the items and the champions and made the graphics look all sorts of crazy. DotA 2 actually is DotA with better graphics and, from the looks of things, everything is still the same. I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing on the whole, but I’m willing to say it’s a bad thing for HoN

      I think the key to quick success is for Valve to release at the right time and the right price. No doubt there will be plenty of current DotA players making the switch. According to the livestreams today, some 1.5 million people were watching the International tournament. But I would like to see a vibrant DotA 2 community, including newplayers. I know a few friends who will be playing DotA for the first time in DotA 2, and it is a very different game. Without a fresh community, those newer players will have a frustrating time getting acclimated to the game.

      With the beta just getting started, I could see a DotA 2 launch as late as the end of November. As for price, I’m hoping it’s free-ninety-free, but I also wouldn’t mind seeing a buy-in price. It would hopefully keep smurfs from being too much of an issue and encourage players to be a bit more careful with their accounts. I’m also not sure if Valve is planning any sort of skin system or microtransaction model. If interest is high enough around the game, it makes plenty of sense to do a box cost and then follow it up with microtransactions down the road. Valve could easily make back development costs and then look for more ways to turn the game into a mint.

      Did you watch any of the footage? Are you excited for DotA 2 or content to chug along in LoL? Think you’ll be playing both? Let me know in the comments.

      Development, DotA

      Champ of the Week: Gragas

      August 16, 2011 /

      gragas_splash_2

      I’ve been sneaking some Gragas games in with the final Blitzcrank wrapup, so it only seems fair to make him this week’s Champ of the Week. As anyone who watched Dreamhack can attest, Gragas has the potential to be one of the most disruptive characters in the game. And who could refuse the love of a gigantically fat, barrel-wielding drunk guy? I couldn’t.

      I used to play a good bit of Gragas way back when. I wasn’t very impressed with him when he first came out, but shortly thereafter I started taking him mid and playing him…as tanky DPS. I know, for shame, but it was before tanky DPS was a thing, I swear! Actually, this was back when Trinity Force was rarely purchased, but I absolutely loved that build.

      Now, though, I’m really enjoying AP Gragas. I used to think AP Gragas could only be viable with a solo lane, but I just rocked a game with a Skarner lanemate (who also rocked and may have had a couple kills stolen). Gragas plays like a much tankier version of, well, I’m not really sure who. Gragas is sort of unique in the game, which is part of his appeal.

      So this week, I’ll be giving the fat man his due. If you have build suggestions or questions you’d like answered, drop them in the comments. As always, you can catch a game with me by adding me at “The Wiggin Boy.”

      Champ of the Week, league of legends

      Champ of the Week: Blitzcrank Wrapup

      August 16, 2011 /

      Piltover Customs Blitz.

      It worked out well that I didn’t have time to finish off my Blitzcrank wrapup last night. I hadn’t yet seen the Champion Spotlight Riot put out sometime yesterday, which was for everyone’s favorite steam golem. I wrote the majority of this prior to seeing Phreak’s spotlight, but I’ll add in a couple notes where I think it’s appropriate.

      After spending more than a week with Blitzcrank, I was happy to find that the steam golem still has some life in him. In my earlier posts I was frustrated by the tankiness of a lot of my enemies. Later in the week, though, I got set up against some more average comps, which made Blitz feel a lot more fun.

      Part of my early issues with Blitzcrank were my build, too. I was messing around with Manamune too much, and he just doesn’t need it. While it’s definitely cool to see more than half of Blitz’s health bar turn to shield when Mana Shield procs, it seems like a waste to build around a skill that only activates when you’re close to death. Honestly, a Sheen rush is plenty to give Blitz that little extra durability when he needs it and provide some much-needed extra damage. If you level his Power Fist first, you should have plenty of opportunities to make use of Sheen’s extra damage.

      I want to make sure to point out that Blitzcrank deals excellent damage, thanks to the short cooldown on Power Fist and the fact that it deals double damage. Blitzcrank can crit incredibly hard while still remaining fairly tanky thanks to Mana Shield. That said, he requires farm like any champion, and he can have a pretty rough time farming in lane.

      This is where I think it’s good to talk about Phreak’s spotlight for Blitzcrank. Continue reading »

      Champ of the Week, league of legends

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 Fearless Gamer

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑