League of Legends - F2P MOBA (like DOTA) part 2

[Hacp]

My god, more game play changes.

"Hi, we're riot. We have no hope of making a remotely balanced game, so we'll just make major changes to random champs every other week to keep you on your toes."

I don't prefer the method riot employs to balancing, but you should understand what Riot is trying to accomplish. They are trying to avoid a state of stagnation, where only a small pool of champions are played at the competitive level. This happened in WoW, where only a certain comp(Rogue, Priest, Mage) was played, and people soon lost interest in the PvP scene, despite there being millions of active players.

And unlike WoW, where the Raid scene drives the popularity of the game, the competitive scene drives the popularity of LoL. A large portion of players play league because they saw a tournament game, and then wanted to try it out. So to have the competitive scene stagnate would be horrible for LoL in general. This drives Riot to balance around tournament play, and balance frequently. They want a variety of champions and strategies to be showcased because it is good for business.

 

[festa_freak]

I don't think most lol players care about the tournament scene, myself included. I don't care about all the little balance changes. they are so small most times that they don't affect a player of my calibre. I don't think theres been a big change yet on a champ I play a lot. The biggest one was the fiddlesticks change to dark wind :/

As an aside, LoL community, don't rage about 'noobs' and tell us how much we suck in normal game modes. Go to ranked if you are all that. Thank you.

 

[Fenixgoon]

I don't think most lol players care about the tournament scene, myself included. I don't care about all the little balance changes. they are so small most times that they don't affect a player of my calibre. I don't think theres been a big change yet on a champ I play a lot. The biggest one was the fiddlesticks change to dark wind :/

As an aside, LoL community, don't rage about 'noobs' and tell us how much we suck in normal game modes. Go to ranked if you are all that. Thank you.

any game that has (or desires) a competitive scene is going to need these fine balance changes *because* players of high skill levels are going to take every advantage they get. if one champion works better than the rest, then you're going to make sure you get that champion every time (or prevent the other team from doing so) in order to win.

 

[thejunglegod]

Diana is so damn strong. So so strong,

Yep. She is bloody strong even after the nerf. In one of my games, a level 9 enemy Diana 2-shot our level 10 Ashe. I donno how that happened, gotta try her out, cos her burst damage is outta control. She's definitely getting another nerf soon.

 

[zebano]

Yep. She is bloody strong even after the nerf. In one of my games, a level 9 enemy Diana 2-shot our level 10 Ashe. I donno how that happened, gotta try her out, cos her burst damage is outta control. She's definitely getting another nerf soon.

It's not just the high base damge, it's the fact that the shield refreshes so she can effectively tank for a short periods of time. Honestly her base damage is what needs nerfed IMO give her more scaling and less to start with. I really like the AP top bruiser MPen builds on her though lich bane is so beast it's hard to pass up. Haunting Guise, Abyssal, Sorc Shoes just does tons of damage.


Anyway regarding patches Riot clearly doesn't have any choice but to do that given that they have a competitive scene and most of the minor changes (i.e. changing a 1.0 scaling to .9) really don't impact us, just the very best players. Anyway I much prefer jungling Cho to jungling Diana right now, the guy is awesome and his NOM NOM is better than smite for buff control - I've played only 2 ranked games with him in the past week and I've stolen 2 barons.

I also agree he's always felt a bit too small.

Anyone going to try to grind out higher ELO? I'm going to try to get myself above plat before the season ends around Oct 13.

I'm back in gold after an extended stay in silver. The only way I'm going to even attempt a platinum grind is if they have some awesome prize for them that gold doesn't get (S1 Jarvan skin went to gold and Plat).

 

[zebano]

Well just broke 1600 a few hours ago, I don't have that many games under my belt this season (79 so far, trolls are OP making me lose placement matches ).

And I have a smurf 30 that I helped get Mal out of ELO hell with, I'd be more than happy to duo with you on that if you needed help doing the same as the sheer amount of troll at <1300 is still amazing to me lol.

Maybe the smurf makes a difference but man duo queue is 20x harder than solo queue IMO.

 

[Kabob]

I got an email from Alienware, they're supposed to give away more Samurai Yi codes again today although I do not know when. Either way you have to have an account with them to get a code (which is difficult to sign up for when the servers are slammed).

http://www.alienwarearena.com/giveaway/league-of-legends-bundle-giveaway

*Edit* Nevermind, PAX doesn't officially start until tomorrow so the codes will probably start then.

 

[Maleficus]

Maybe the smurf makes a difference but man duo queue is 20x harder than solo queue IMO.

nah, when there were no trolls, me and mystic rolled our games pretty ridiculously.

 

[crownjules]

Maybe the smurf makes a difference but man duo queue is 20x harder than solo queue IMO.

You get an ELO boost when you duo queue, so you're getting matched up with/against higher ELO players than when you solo. But that is hopefully countered by the fact that you have one less point of failure (AFKer, troll, bad player) on your team.

Also the PAX Arcade Sona skin looks awesome.

 

[RPD]

Well that was a big ass patch. And ever since I've been having issues with my dual monitors. The game loading screen decides it wants to center itself right between both monitors... wth.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Going to start trying to Elo Farm. Any suggestions. I'm thinking me and Smash go duo bot lane. I really really like bot Cho support, if that makes any sense. Enough CC to keep people off your carry and can easily control dragon through Feast.

 

[krnmastersgt]

nah, when there were no trolls, me and mystic rolled our games pretty ridiculously.

On both my accounts this was the case, we can play with everyone at our ELO fairly easily, but we can't be in every lane at once and there's usually 1 lane on our side that's struggling.

Going to start trying to Elo Farm. Any suggestions. I'm thinking me and Smash go duo bot lane. I really really like bot Cho support, if that makes any sense. Enough CC to keep people off your carry and can easily control dragon through Feast.

It definitely has some sense to it, problem is cho can't do much without some decent amount of farm so he's pretty useless mid-game unless he lands ruptures. Bear in mind though many people will dodge/troll when they see you on Cho calling support.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

On both my accounts this was the case, we can play with everyone at our ELO fairly easily, but we can't be in every lane at once and there's usually 1 lane on our side that's struggling.




It definitely has some sense to it, problem is cho can't do much without some decent amount of farm so he's pretty useless mid-game unless he lands ruptures. Bear in mind though many people will dodge/troll when they see you on Cho calling support.

It was probably just successful because we went against some pretty bad players last night. Wrecked 5/0/something as support cho. Gave my AD carry a shit ton of farm because i cold deny the enemy corki all day. Didn't do much damage, but CC and dragon control gave us an easy win

 

[crownjules]

Nunu likely would be a better support than Cho for your needs. Consume does more damage than Feast (it's just not champion targetable) in the early stages. Nunu's sustain doesn't require him to steal lots of CS. His has point-and-click CC that's also anti-AD. And his ult is pretty nasty in fights. And of course Blood Boil is a massive boost to your ADC's damage output.

 

[Kabob]

Samurai Yi code giveaway @ alienware is going on now. They're going pretty fast.

 

[crownjules]

In case anyone didn't see the patch notes yet -

PvP.net 1.66

    You can now disable notifications by using the new “Notification Suppression” feature in the Options menu


League of Legends v1.0.0.146

Akali

    Mark of the Assassin
        Fixed: Now correctly grants the Energy return when the target is killed by the magic damage from her passive


Alistar

    General
        Base Movement Speed reduced to 300 from 305
    Headbutt
        Cast range reduced to 600 from 650


Corki

    Hextech Shrapnel Shells
        No longer benefits from critical strikes
    Valkyrie
        Cooldown increased to 26/23/20/17/14 seconds from 20/18/16/14/12
    Missile Barrage
        Charge time for missiles increased to 12 seconds from 10


Diana

    General
        Base Health Regen reduced to 7 from 10
        Updated model and splash art for Dark Valkyrie Diana
    Crescent Strike
        Damage reduced to 70/110/150/190/230 from 80/125/170/215/260
        Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.7 from 0.8
    Pale Cascade
        Damage per orb reduced to 20/34/48/62/76 from 20/36/52/68/84
    Lunar Rush
        Cooldown increased to 25/20/15 seconds from 20/16/12


Evelynn

    Shadow Walk
        Detection radius reduced to 700 from 750
    Hate Spike
        Mana cost reduced to 14/18/22/26/30 from 19/23/27/31/35
    Dark Frenzy
        While active, Evelynn now ignores unit collision
        Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds from 20
    Ravage
        Cast range increased to 225 from 185
    Agony's Embrace
        Cooldown reduced to 120/90/60 seconds from 120/100/80


Ezreal

    Mystic Shot
        Mana cost reduced to 28/31/34/37/40 from 30/35/40/45/50
    Essence Flux
        Damage reduced to 70/115/160/205/250 from 80/130/180/230/280
        Ability Power ratio increased to 0.8 from 0.7
        Width reduced to 80 from 120


Gragas

    Body Slam
        Charge speed reduced to 900 from 1050
        Mana cost increased to 75 from 50
    Explosive Cask
        Cooldown increased to 100/90/80 seconds from 90/75/60


Graves

    General
        Base Attack Speed reduced to 0.625 from 0.638
    Quickdraw
        Attack Speed reduced to 30/40/50/60/70% from 40/50/60/70/80%


Jarvan IV

    Demacian Standard
        When targeting a location outside of Demacian Standard’s range, Demacian Standard will now be cast at its maximum range in the direction of the targeted location


Karthus

    Wall of Pain
        No longer reduces Armor
        Magic Resist reduction adjusted to 15% instead of flat 15/20/25/30/35


Katarina

    Voracity
        Cooldown reduction on kill or assist increased to 15 seconds from 10 seconds
    Bouncing Blade
        Base damage increased to 60/95/130/165/200 from 50/85/120/155/190
        Ability Power Ratio decreased to 0.45 from 0.5
        Mark detonation Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.15 from 0.2
    Sinister Steel
        Ability Power Ratio decreased to 0.25 from 0.3
    Shunpo
        Damage increased to 60/85/110/135/160 from 40/70/100/130/160
        Cooldown reduced to 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 from 14/12/10/8/6
        Fixed: Tooltip now states the correct Damage Reduction amount (15%, not 20%)


Mordekaiser

    Increased the size of his model


Nunu

    Ice Blast
        Slow duration reduced to 3 seconds from 4


Rengar

    Unseen Predator
        Now leaps directly on top of the target instead of slightly behind them
    Bola Strike
        Fixed: Bola Strike will no longer fail to cast


Shen

    Shadow Dash
        Cooldown increased to 16/14/12/10/8 seconds from 10/9.5/9/8.5/8


Teemo

    Toxic Shot
        Fixed: Poison damage now works correctly at higher Attack Speeds


Twitch

    Expunge
        Base damage increased to 40/50/60/70/80 from 20/35/50/65/80
        Mana cost reduced to 50/60/70/80/90 from 70/75/80/85/90
    Spray and Pray
        Reduced cast frame to make his attacks more responsive


Warwick

    Fixed: Warwick's passive now has a buff icon, and will work properly on consecutive hits


Items

    Abyssal Scepter
        Aura range reduced to 600 from 1000
    The following items will now display a targeting indicator to show whether you are placing a ward inside of a bush: Wriggle's Lantern, Vision Ward, and Sight Ward
    The following items will now display their cooldown on the item itself, rather than with a buff: Maw of Malmortius, Hexdrinker, Banshee's Veil, Guardian Angel, Sheen, Lichbane, Trinity Force, Tear of the Goddess, Archangel's Staff, and Manamune
    Fixed: Wards no longer list that they have 20 Attack Damage

With every patch, we strive to improve the look of the game in varying degrees. We recommend that you have the latest available video card drivers installed.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Nunu likely would be a better support than Cho for your needs. Consume does more damage than Feast (it's just not champion targetable) in the early stages. Nunu's sustain doesn't require him to steal lots of CS. His has point-and-click CC that's also anti-AD. And his ult is pretty nasty in fights. And of course Blood Boil is a massive boost to your ADC's damage output.

Feast 1000 true damage against monsters at level 1. Consume does not AND its champion targetable, which rips through carries.

Also AOE silence is really big and knockup + slow > Slow.

And Cho has a decent amount of built in sustain to keep up.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Those are good comparison points to Cho, but the real reason that I find Nunu to be an absolute beast is Blood Boil, that just makes carries come alive if they have even a single AD item. His slow is also a target ability and lowers attack speed of the opposing carry in lane as well, and it's got a short enough CD to just keep someone slowed forever. Cho definitely has some uniquely good points but I'd still say Nunu is the safer pick if you trust your carry, at least Cho has nice base damage if your carry sucks

 

[crownjules]

Geez, the Arcade Sona skins are selling on Ebay for $20+. Why would people buy that when it's in the Riot store for half that amount in RP? Anyone in here going and would be awesome enough to pick me one up?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I love how we went duo bottom with smash, and we had literally 4x the farm by 20 minutes. We had 160 minions to their 40 minions. We could kill the other lane on command.

Rest of the team died 40 times over the course of the game and we lost.

This includes a cho that went 1/10 with fucking battlecast Cho. And in a previous game a Arcade Sona that manged to die 19 times with 12 assist.

Why does this game do this to me. Gained 50 Elo effortlessly last night, immediately lost half of it.

 

[Maleficus]

this is the problem with stacking your duo in 1 lane, you need to command the game from the beginning, utterly destroy your lane then immediately go and start saving the other lanes without losing the adv of your lane. you need to be everywhere all the time.

 

[krnmastersgt]

this is the problem with stacking your duo in 1 lane, you need to command the game from the beginning, utterly destroy your lane then immediately go and start saving the other lanes without losing the adv of your lane. you need to be everywhere all the time.

Yeah I used to run duos with a friend, and I never EVER lost my bot lane during our games together. You need to start roaming and making life difficult for the other lanes, especially ones where your teammate is losing. Otherwise you'll push uncontested at bot for a while and then be facing off an equally farmed top and mid lane together and things just go downhill fast.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I've gotten good results on slowly climbing the ELO ladder. Gained 100 Elo in a day. Then lost about 30 from bad teams. I'm still above 1100 elo though, and will shoot for 1200 this week.

 

[IAteYourMother]

I just learned that Pendragon_ is the community manager for LoL? It's funny because I remmeber playing a couple Inhouse Dota games with him on Ventrilo when I was in high school (circa 2006?) Small world.

 

[krnmastersgt]

I just learned that Pendragon_ is the community manager for LoL? It's funny because I remmeber playing a couple Inhouse Dota games with him on Ventrilo when I was in high school (circa 2006?) Small world.

Him and Guinsoo both started at Riot when it was still developing LoL, hence Guinsoo's Rageblade.