I spent a lot of my post on the caster item changes trying not to say anything definitive. This post is different. For this post, I know exactly how I feel and what needs to be said. The Ionian Boots of Lucidity are way too damn good for their cost. Period.

My philosophy on AP used to be pretty simple; build spell penetration before AP. It was a more effective way to increase your damage output and the spell pen items were cheaper, in most cases, than the high-tier AP items. Basically, building a caster was always some sort of tradeoff, just like an AD toon. Instead of attack speed, damage, and armor pen, you want CD reduction, AP, and magic pen. Some people would say that the boots just balance out casters against AD toons, but I really think they’re too strong.

The casters in the game have been balanced around the difficulty of obtaining cooldown reduction for a long time. Most of the CDR items were niche tools, designed to help against certain comps but not so great against others. The bread and butter of a CDR build used to be Frozen Heart, but it was only good against AD-heavy teams. Soul Shroud is a support item and wastes a lot of stat points for most casters, and Deathfire Grasp could typically be bypassed for a better AP item. Most casters I saw sat around 20-30 percent CDR and stacked AP. Now, I can have 30 percent CDR as soon as I make 900 gold, which can be as early as level four or five.

For any champion who relies on a rotation of spells – Annie, Ryze, Zilean, to name a few – the boots are insanely good. If CDR is to AP what attack speed is to AD, then these boots are supposed to be equivalent to Berserker’s Greaves. The difference is that mages are built for a big burst and then a period where they don’t do a whole lot of damage before that big burst comes back up. Physical damage dealers rely on individual attacks for nearly all of their damage. Early in the game when their damage is low, Berserker’s Greaves don’t do so much. The Boots of Lucidity, on the other hand, do a lot.

The changes to high-tier caster items already brought the mages in LoL in line with the AD carries for the most part. There are still a couple AD carries with kiting abilities that a mage can’t quite match, but for the most part, a mage’s damage output is just fine without giving them cheap access to cooldown reduction. I’ve lost one game as Zilean since the new boots released, and even in that loss I was better than 2:1 on my K:D ratio.

Since I’ve been away from the game for nearly a week and a half, it’s hard to believe there’s yet another champion already on the horizon. Lux joins the League as Garen’s sister, and looks as though she fights with cattle prods. All of her skills are skillshots, though, so she seems more closely related to Ezreal than Garen.

Here’s what I could gather about her skills from around the web:

Illumination (passive): Lux’s damaging spells illuminate the target for 6 seconds. Lux’s next attack ignites the debuff, dealing 20-180 (depending on Lux’s level) magic damage to the target.

Light Binding (Q): Fires a ball of light towards a target location, binding the units hit for 2 seconds. The units take 80 magic damage. Can hit up to 2 targets with the 2nd target receiving 50 percent effect.

Lucent Singularity (W): Creates a zone that slows enemy units by 13 percent (zone lasts 5 seconds). Can be detonated to damage enemies in the area for 60 magic damage.

Prismatic Wave (E): Passive: Lux’s cooldowns are reduced by 3 percent. Active: Fires a wave to the target location and back, instantly stealthing any allied champions for 3 seconds. Lux is also struck by the wave upon return.

Final Sparkling (R): After a short delay, Lux fires a laser pulse in front of her dealing 250 damage to all enemy units in the area.

Let me just say, this is the most creative champion release in a long time. Invisibility for a whole team? Granted, it’s only three seconds, and it’s a skillshot buff, but it’s one of the most innovative things we’ve seen. The slow orb is also pretty interesting – think of it like a Gragas barrel with an AoE slow effect. On the whole, she sounds much better off than Swain, mostly because she can use all of her abilities from a safe distance.

ByronicHero dropped by the forums today to give us a sneak peak at yet another hero: Ezrael. I’m much happier about another hero release knowing that Twisted Treeline is heading to matchmaking soon. Also, Ezrael is ranged, which adds another hero to the short list of toons I choose from when my team goes all melee. Does that happen to anyone else as often as it happens to me?

Here’s the text from the official post:

As you may have noticed, we’ve been releasing some champions that really challenge existing gameplay paradigms. And this next one is no exception. In addition to a haircut that defies the very laws of physics, the latest and greatest from our design team is sporting some pretty edgy magical abilities. Meet Ezreal the Prodigal Explorer, a champion who breaks new ground – in both gameplay and fashion – here at the League of Legends. If you’re feeling rather passionate about skill-shots these days, start getting excited, because this particular gentleman should really scratch that itch.

So far so good. I am a pretty big fan of skill shots, though I don’t think they’re necessary for a hero to be fun. There is no official word on the ability list, but someone on the EU forums dug up a screenshot of his potential abilities, presumably from the test realm.

Mystic Shot (Q) – Ezrael fires a bolt of energy dealing 40 + 100% of his attack damage as magic damage. Ezrael’s cooldowns are reduced by 1 second if Ezrael hits a target.

Essence Flux (W) – Ezrael fires a fluctuating wave of energy that only hits champions. Enemy champions: deals 75 magic damage and reduces attack speed by 20% for 5 seconds. Allied Champions: heals 75 health and increases attack speed by 20% for 5 seconds.

Arcane Shift (E) – Ezrael teleports to a target nearby location and fires a homing arrow at the nearest enemy unit dealing 80 magic damage.

Trueshot Barrage (R) – Ezrael channels for 1.2 seconds to fire a barrage of missiles dealing 300 magic damage to each unit it passes through. It deals 10% less damage for each unit it hits (minimum 30%).

He’s definitely an odd character, though I wouldn’t quite say he breaks character paradigms. To me he’s like a mix of every “unique” character out there. He’s got a bit of TF, a bit of Nidalee, and a bit of Jax. I can see him benefiting from Guinsoo’s in a big way, and I’m willing to bet a lot of people will build him as a hybrid.

My guess is that we’ll see him live as early as next week. The Mordekaiser preview came just a week before he released.

We’ve all been on the receiving end of an ability power beatdown, the kind where you can’t seem to leave your tower without getting insta-gibbed. There are few things that make me want to play mage more, but it’s not always a walk in the park. Mages walk a very fine line between blowing up the opponent and dying themselves because of low defense and a tiny health pool. Played well, though, mages can be very rewarding.

Playing a mage well requires you to plan further ahead than any other toon in the game. You should have a constant awareness of how much damage your skills will do by the number, not just how much you think you can pull off you enemy’s health bar. A Malphite at half health is very different from a Tristana at half health. For Malph, you have to break his shield before he actually takes damage. Trist, on the other hand, can jump away in most cases. Whichever you choose, you better be confident your spells can either take them down or hurt them badly enough that they’ll run. Part of being a mage is putting yourself into compromising positions for kills. If the kill doesn’t go off, be assured that you’re the next target.

If you’ve come up through the ranks playing mostly physical DPS toons or tanks, I would highly recommend making a smurf account to learn your mages. The playstyle is radically different from the other champions in the game, and learning at a high ELO can be difficult. Once you have a general feel for being the squishiest thing on the map, pick up a few games with friends before heading into the solo queue. The extra experience will give you the edge necessary to enjoy early success