I got a chance to spend some decent time with Rumble today, as did many of my opponents, so I feel comfortable laying out my impressions a bit early. Though Rumble is certainly different than I expected, the end result is about the same. He’s yet another in a long list of champions best built as a pseudo-tank.

It’s getting kinda tough to asses these tanky characters because so many other people are playing tanky toons as well. When I’m in lane against Alistar/Taric, Rumble’s damage seems completely underwhelming, even if he can take a beating. Against Ryze, though, he seems perfectly fine (at least in the early game). This is one of the biggest problems with the tanky meta – it skews the balance of power in very big ways. Where I would typically expect tanks to be fairly low damage but high survivability against squishy champs, this new crop of tanky guys deals big damage on soft targets and remains difficult to bring down. I know you’re tired of reading that – trust me, I’m tired of writing it – but it’s important to keep in mind when thinking about a champion like Rumble.

Rumble’s lane presence against soft champions can be overwhelming in the early game. His Flame Spitter is nearly always up, giving him solid harass and the simple ability to push people off their own creeps. It is particularly effective with another CC in the lane. If I’m perfectly honest, I don’t like the way the skill functions. Skills that require facing frustrate the hell out of me, and Flame Spitter is no different.

Scrap Shield is just about as silly a skill concept as Riot has ever conceived. A shield with a decent AP ratio plus a speed boost on a short (5 second) cooldown. Give me a break. This skill saved my ass repeatedly in my Rumble games without requiring a millisecond of thought. If it was up, I was hitting it, and that seemed to work out just fine. The shield certainly isn’t huge, but it’s plenty when it runs on such a short cooldown.

Rumble’s harpoon is easily his worst skill. It seems to do nearly no damage and can be difficult to land at times. The slow is solid when you can land it, especially if you’re in the Danger Zone, but I never found myself thinking, ‘I’m so glad I just landed that harpoon.’

To say that Rumble’s ultimate is difficult to cast would be a huge understatement. I know it’s probably just going to take some getting used to, but the mouse movements required in a frantic gank situation are a little nutty. The damage on the skill is pretty awesome, though, which can be a lot of fun against squishier targets. The ult also has great range, giving you plenty of time to cast, shield boost your way into range, and tear down a target.

On the whole, I think Rumble’s balance is just fine in the current metagame, which is to say I think his design is terrible and that Riot needs to stop putting free damage shields on champions. I’m sure we’ll see some frustratingly good Rumble players over the next few days, but likely plenty more frustratingly bad ones. Expect some slight buffs on him next patch.

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Riot announced the Rumble ability list this afternoon, a list that looks remarkably similar to another champion in the lineup. I’m also pretty worried that we have yet another Tanky DPS champion joining the League. Shield ability? Check. Ranged slow? Check. Damage modifier? Check. Dear lord.

Here’s the list:

Flamespitter: Rumble torches the area in front of him with his flamethrower dealing damage to all units in a cone for several seconds. While in the “Danger Zone,” this spell deals additional damage.

Scrap Shield: Rumble creates a shield blocking incoming damage for several seconds and granting a short duration speed boost. While in the “Danger Zone,” the shield’s strength and speed boost increase.

Electro-Harpoon: Rumble launches a projectile that deals magic damage and applies a stackable slow on the target. A second shot can be fired for no additional cost within several seconds. While in the “Danger Zone,” the damage and slow percentage is increased.

The Equalizer (Ultimate): Rumble calls down a line of rockets over the target location. Enemies in the scorched area take damage over time and are slowed.

Junkyard Titan (Passive): Rumble’s abilities generate heat. When Rumble is above 50 heat, he is in the “Danger Zone,” causing all his basic spells to have additional effects. When Rumble reaches 100 heat he overheats, silencing himself and causing his physical attacks to deal additional magic damage. Rumble loses heat over time.

At first I was worried we had a Blitz clone, but he actually seems to be closer in skill style to Urgot. I am wildly unimpressed by the skillset and, as mentioned above, mostly worried about having yet another Tanky DPS to deal with. From the sound of things, his Harpoon will be extremely easy to land, giving him the ranged harass that often makes Tanky DPS toons such a problem in lane. I’m not excited for his release. Not one bit.

We’re well on our way to a new champion again, this time with a Blitzcrank doppleganger named Rumble. Here’s the blurb:

Harpoon? Check. Flamethrower? Check. Triple rockets? Check, check, and check. Just to be safe, we’ll throw in one mischievous yordle whose mechanical prowess has been used to make the most diabolical machination ever to hit the Fields of Justice. Meet Rumble, the Mechanized Menace. His desire to see you burned, speared, crushed, stomped, blown up, or otherwise grievously injured, has him pushing his war machine way beyond what would be considered safe operating procedure, even if he might blow a gasket. But don’t call him short. That’ll really grind his gears.

I gotta say, I dig his little checklist at the beginning. I’m a little concerned that he’ll steal my boy Blitzcrank’s thunder, but all the same he seems interesting. His skills sound vaguely like Tinker from the Dota days, though I wonder how the harpoon will work out. I bet triple rockets are his ult.