Xelnath with new interations on Yorick's kit.
( This is a continuing series of developement for Yorick's rework. Check out the rest of the discussion: 1, 2 , 3, 4 )Xelnath popped back up with a new idea for Yorick's kit, this time focusing on spirits as an ammo system to fuel his ghouls.
"I had this idea for a Yorick kit come to mind while I was sitting in bed tonight.
What do you think? Clarification: Spirits are ghoul ammo. Can't make ghouls if you have 0 ammo."
When asked about the numbers on the above kit, he reiterated that these sorts of things are just brainstormed ideas so imagine them with balanced:
"Best not to fixate on numbers. Imagine it has something appropriate there ;)"
For clarity on the above, he also added:
"I guess this wasn't clear.
Casting "W" on a ghoul turns it into a baneling. (suicide bomber unit)
Otherwise, ghouls are like elise spiders that chill with Yorick."
He also shared this thoughts on Yorick's ghouls, which seem to be the biggest complaint from Yorick players.
"If every single person who reads this thread doesn't have misgivings about at least one of my iterations, it means I'm not doing my job. The point of having an open exploration is to understand the kind of responses people have to them.
There's three major models for an alternate unit controlling champion:
Summoner - Big Effect + Buddy that lasts (Annie)
Pet - Permanent Buddy / Helper (Orianna/WoW Hunter)
Minion - Disposable units (Elise)
Yorick is clearly supposed to be in the minion category. This means he can't feel too attached to any specific unit but keeping his total minion count down should be meaningful.
Right now I'm exploring a Pikmin / Captain Olimar space where he can use minions in different ways. I agree the lantern flame is a bit weird. What if it was more like:
[E] Ghoul Rush - When cast on a location, one of yorick's ghouls will rush to that location, dealing damage to anything in the path. This ability can be re-cast until all of his ghouls have dashed.
Then you use E + Q combos for harassment. E + W combos for all-in heavy damage."
Explaining the problems with Yorick's current ult:
"Yorick's ultimate is the reason he can't be good late game. It's also the reason that he has an absurd midgame power spike, but players cannot consistently optimize him due to the dependence on allies understanding his kit.
The min-max case on Yorick's ultimate is extremely niche and extremely swingy. That's the reason it needs to die. That ultimate is holding the rest of Yorick back."
Xelnath then busted out a revised version of his newest kit pitch:
"If we consider the new "E" to be "Go over here, Ghoul", then you are moving a ghoul from your backline into the front line, then transforming it.
Here's a revised tooltip. "
"Okay, so what do you think of this idea?
[Q] -> Make all ghouls aoeWhen asked if he was opting out of sustain on Yorick's kit, Xelnath commented:
[W] -> Makes a ghoul you cast it over turn into a kamikaze bomber
[E] -> Makes a ghoul rush to a location.
That seems more interactive than elise spiderlings already. Am I missing something?"
"Summoning new ghouls *is* sustain, since they absorb a part of the damage he takes."
While discussing if Yorick's abilities should be AP or AD based, Xelnath stated that Yorick will be either one or the other - not hybrid.
"The problem is that if you have more than one damage type, then you are incredibly hard to itemize against. See Irelia getting all physical damage.
Players generally build resistances based on what items they see you build, so that means if he's AD, he'll be doing physical damage. If he's AP, he'll be doing magical damage, except on auto attacks.
I'm fine going one way or the other, but I'm not going to do a hybrid."
As for the names of his abiltiies :
"Okay, I don't think its worth the mental burden to preserve the ability names while designing mechanics. Names are a powerful lever to communicate mechanics conceptually.
I'm not going to reliniquish that communication tool in a venue where idea communication is key."
After much more discussion, he arrived at his most up to date iteration of Yorick's kit:
"Okay, here's the latest spin.
Q) - Used for melee combat and wave clearing, or proxy harassment via distant ghouls.
W) - Used for catching enemies and sub-tower sieging
E) - Used for escaping or catching an enemy unawares. A little bit of hard CC.
R) - Used for awesome swarmy moments."
ZenonTheStoic on PBE Aegis + Locket changes
If you follow the PBE news, you have already seen the news that Runic Bulwark has been removed, Aegis has been nerfed, and Locket of the Iron Solari now builds out of Aegis of the Legion.
He's ZenonTheStoic with a few comments on these changes:
"Hey guys!
Remember that these data-mined updates are always incomplete and most importantly missing a lot of context. We're very cognizant of the issues facing you when you go up against a double AP comp. We do believe, however, that old Bulwark just gave too many stats for free to your entire team. It was never a trade-off; it was always a must buy.
Our thinking at the moment is that we want selfish MR to be a meaningful decision (and we're working on items to support this; items that would go out concurrent with the Bulwark changes) and that the Aegis line needs to be less good at selfish protection if the team aura is to be the decision point.
Please hold your torches and pitchforks until you see the real patch notes :)"
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