With Volibear’s patch came a change to one of the longest-standing mechanics in the game: minion damage versus champions. Minion damage against champions was nerfed by “about 15 percent.” I would love to know the actual numbers behind the nerf, if only because it seems like champions are taking much less damage than even that.
I think the change is problematic for a couple reasons. First, it was a nice way to slow down those heavy physical damage dealers. I know, I know, lane passivity and all that, but I actually think minion damage contributed to lane activity. Riot seems to be confusing “aggressive gameplay” with “mindless gameplay.” Aggressive gameplay doesn’t necessarily mean champ-on-champ battles with no outside influence. Aggressive gameplay, at least as I see it, is encouraging more activity in lane than just minion farming, and minion damage does just that. The more potential damage sources against a champion, the more likely that champion will get low, which opens up opportunities for kills. That’s aggressive gameplay.
Reducing incoming minion damage also limited a lot of the counter options available in the lane. With the old damage, I could be losing in lane but bait an attack with a large minion wave and manage a kill. I had more options, and my opponent had a more interesting decision to make around whether or not he could get the kill. He had to factor in more variables, which means more chance for error. These are all good things.
What I really think Riot should have done is make magic damage dealers draw minion aggro the same way physical harass does. I usually don’t think additive solutions are very good – just look at the current health situation – but in this case I think more damage in the lane is better.
