Tag: lee sin nerf

      Lee Sin finally catching a nerf

      January 28, 2012 /

      They say a watched pot never boils. I say a watched developer never makes overdue changes. Stop watching, people, and Riot just might make a few changes. It looks like Lee Sin is finally going to get a decent nerf in the upcoming patch. It isn’t huge. It’s isn’t tiny. It is a moderately-sized nerf that could actually slow down his jungling and hurt his damage a little bit. I know, I can hardly think of anything to say.

      In the patch preview, Morello categorized the Lee Sin nerfs thusly: “We want Lee Sin players to build damage to get damage.” A revolutionary concept. I’m just happy to see one of the longest-standing top-tier junglers finally get a light tap to the genitals. He’ll still be strong, but he won’t be quite so easy.

      For the rest of the patch, Jax is getting some new survivability on Counter Strike and Riot is changing the critical chance mastery into attack damage per level. I’m actually really happy about that second change. I’ve had several games in which an opponent — sometimes even an AP carry — gets an early two crits in a row and just screws me out of lane. Nice to see that kind of stuff disappearing.

      league of legends, Patches, Video

      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

      Lee Sin Impressions

      April 4, 2011 /

      blindmonk_splash_2

      I’m still reeling a bit from the fact that Lee Sin is real, but that hasn’t stopped me from playing a few games with him. On the whole, I think he’s a much more balanced release than Nocturne, and that makes him feel a little lackluster.

      For the most part, I like Lee Sin’s kit. He has a lot of mobility and his W and E are both strong enough skills that he has some build flexibility. If you’re in a heavy harass lane, level the shield before the slow, and vice versa. I do tend to get one rank of each before level six, just for the utility. Dashing to a minion with his shield has saved my ass more than once. In almost all cases, though, it seems best to rank Sonic Wave first.

      One of my biggest problems with Lee Sin is his ultimate. The damage scales really well, but with all of the dashes in the game it can be nearly impossible to send the target where you want. One wrong step and suddenly they’re flying out of range. It’s often best used as a finisher, which kind of negates the kick functionality. I would love to see this get some kind of redesign, even if it was just to make a dead player fly through enemies just as a live player would. That would make the kick slightly more tactical.

      The energy system is also a source of frustration for Lee Sin, if only because his cooldowns feel pretty short. I never feel like I’m waiting on abilities, just on the energy to use them. Granted, his passive is supposed to help with that, and it does to an extent. Still, it’s frustrating to look down and see 2 abilities grayed out and just wait for more energy.

      I will say, I’ve seen a lot of people who feel the opposite about the character. Some players are in love with him, so my malaise could be related to flavor more than balance. As I write that, it feels more true than the balance issue – I do think there are some changes that would make him more fun/interesting, but at the end of the day I think I’ve seen one too many dashy melee characters. More. Flavor. Please.

      Reviews

      Are you excited for tomorrow?

      March 31, 2011 /

      I am. I’m pumped that Lee Sin is indeed real, though I don’t understand making us wait a few extra days. It’s also weird that Riot called the Lee Sin spotlight from March 29th the “April Fool’s Spotlight,” when the actual April Fool’s spotlight is the real deal. It’s just a strange situation, one I don’t really get.

      I actually think Phreak might not have been lying when he said they weren’t sure about Lee Sin’s power level, even if he was making a joke about the hazy effect on the first spotlight. Honestly, I kind of hope it’s the truth, otherwise the wait makes no sense.

      Champions, league of legends, News, Patches

      Lee Sin abilities announced

      March 25, 2011 /
      attachment-5-php

      It’s looking more and more like Lee Sin might be the real deal, not just an April Fool’s Joke. Riot has announced his official skill list, which includes in game screenshots. It would be an awful lot of work, not to mention a PR nightmare that Riot doesn’t need, to put all of this together just to strip it from under our feet.

      Let’s take a look at that ability list.

      Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike:
      Sonic Wave: Lee Sin projects a discordant wave of sound to locate his enemies, dealing physical damage to the first enemy it encounters. If Sonic Wave hits, Lee Sin can cast Resonating Strike for the next 3 seconds.

      Resonating Strike: Lee Sin dashes to the enemy hit by Sonic Wave, dealing physical damage plus 10% of their missing health.

      Safeguard / Iron Will
      Safeguard: Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both from damage. If a shield is broken, half the energy cost is returned. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.

      Iron Will: Lee Sin’s intense training allows him to thrive in battle. For 5 seconds, Lee Sin gains lifesteal, spell vamp, and armor.

      Tempest / Cripple
      Tempest: Lee Sin smashes the ground sending out a shockwave that deals magic damage and reveals enemy units hit. If Tempest hits an enemy, Lee Sin can cast cripple for the next 3 seconds.

      Cripple: Lee Sin cripples nearby enemies revealed by Tempest, reducing their Movement and Attack Speed for 4 seconds. Movement and Attack Speed recover gradually over the duration.

      Dragon’s Rage (Ultimate)
      Lee Sin performs a powerful roundhouse kick launching his target back, dealing physical damage to the target and any enemies they collide with. Enemies the target collides with are knocked into the air for a short duration.

      Flurry (Passive)
      After Lee Sin uses an ability, his next 2 basic attacks gain 50% Attack Speed and return 10 energy each.

      I haven’t had a ton of time to think through his skillset, but I will say I don’t usually like skills getting complicated with bonus effects, especially if the secondary use requires some action first. I know it’s designed to work as a skill ceiling, but the way Lee Sin’s passive works, any miss will multiply the feeling of penalty.

      I’ll wait to say more until I’ve seen the skills in action. For now, I’m just happy the Blind Monk is real.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

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