Red Post Collection: Context on Sivir's upcoming gameplay changes, preview of next wave of tweaks, Warrior Princess Sivir sculpt, and more!

What better way to celebrate the triumpant PBE debut of Sivir's relaunch than with a Sivir-ific red post collection! This collection features Statikk discussing the tentative Sivir gameplay changes currently testing on the PBE and giving us a headup on a set of changes he's already planning to push in an upcoming PBE update! You'll also find a small quip from Riot Eno on Sivir's audio and Grumpy Monkey sharing a timelapse video of him sculpting the model for Warrior Princess Sivir at the bottom of the post.
Continue reading for more information!

Statikk on Tentative Sivir Changes and Intital Wave of Changes

Here's Statikk with answers to a few of the popular questions and concerns raised on the upcoming updates to Sivir's as a part of her relaunch:

"Going to answer a bunch of questions / concerns being raised here. Sorry that I'm not exactly quoting: 

1) Her low Attack Range is why she is not widely played 

Although I can agree with this statement, I don't think it should automatically lead us to the conclusion that we MUST increase her Attack Range. Sivir I believe will always fill a niche role in the game, but that's okay as long as players who learn and master Sivir are actually powerful contributors to their team and that she is an enjoyable experience to play. 

2) Removal of team-wide Attack Speed boost 

From a design perspective, we decided that a 15-30% Attack Speed boost was one of the most unsatisfying ways we could deliver power through Sivir's kit. Although it did provide a somewhat strategic niche, we felt that the mobility part of her ult was always what was more closely associated with Sivir's identity, so we amped that up instead. 

At the end of the day, we believe it provides more room to buff cool things about her kit. I do have a fear that she might be currently undertuned due to us having a couple of really good Sivir players internally that have done really well on a consistent basis. That's okay though guys, that's the reason for PBE, we can tune what we need to before she hits the Live servers. 

3) Her ult is just a glorified Shurelia's 

In a way, yes you can say that, but it's also important to take into context what she brings to the table relative to her competition. As far as I know, other marksmen don't have access to Shurelia's especially at level 6. Her ult may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think that's okay. It's more important that the entire package is something Sivir players can identify with and enjoy. 

4) Reduction of her base Attack Speed / Attack Speed per level 

This was done for 2 reasons.

1. As a balancing factor due to how much power I wanted to put into the Passive Attack Speed bonus on Ricochet from On The Hunt. If Sivir isn't able to compete with other marksmen, then I would like to investigate buffing the Ricochet Attack Speed bonus (say 50/75/100% rather than the current 40/60/80%) instead of giving her Attack Speed the old boring way. 

2. By making the Ricochet Attack Speed bonus important to her power, this increases the viability of Cooldown Reduction as a good stat on Sivir. CDR Sivir is a super fun build that I would love to see as an effective alternative to the generic marksmen builds that we traditionally see.

Once again, there's still tons of tuning we can do here, so feel free to try her out and give feedback. Thanks guys and gals!"

He also addressed a few other things individually:

On her attack range remaining low, he commented on her relying on othre abilities rather than a greater range:

"Sivir has access to several tools that other marksmen don't. Top-of-the-line wave clearing, a Spell Shield, and team-wide mobility utility. We chose to emphasize those strengths rather than homogenizing and making her more similar to other marksmen."

When asked why her ultimate's attack speed bonus is now attached to her Ricochet ability, Statikk replied:

"This decision was made for several reasons - balance, power curve, and use case incentives. As a note, the AS boost was originally on Ricochet itself. I will admit it's a bit awkward that it exists on her R, but if you think of it more like artificial bonus Attack Speed per level, it starts to make sense. 

We wanted to retain some kind of offensive incentive on her ultimate without forcing Sivir players to make un-optimal decisions about how they wanted to use the mobility part of it. So we ended up separating them into a passive and active.

This also helps us curve out her power better to reflect that of a carry. She still gains a lot of power once she hits the end game at level 16+ instead of power spiking crazily at mid-game level 9 or 13. This allows us to put a lot of power in the Attack Speed bonus while not making her OP."

Regarding her Q's mana cost still being relatively high, he noted:

"I wouldn't agree that it is insanely high, but it's certainly a significant amount. Her Q needs to have a significant cost if it is to remain a potential high burst-damage poke spell as well as a powerful wave clear tool.

We have reduced the Mana cost pressure across the kit by removing the costs off of Spell Shield and On The Hunt. So that should help in this department."

Continuing on the Q discussion, he noted:

"We actually tested several different iterations of the spell. We ended up sticking with the Live iteration since with the new Ricochet, Sivir really doesn't have issues clearing creeps, and we want to make sure hitting clean-cut Boomerang Blades can remain difficult to execute but still meaningful and satisfying when it happens."

Following this he posted a set of upcoming changes in light of everyone's initial wave of feedback:

"Hey guys, 

After reading your feedback and talking to the team, we've put in the following changes (not sure when you guys will get the new PBE build though): 

Ricochet

• Damage dealt to subsequent targets now scales 60/65/70/75/80% from 60% at all ranks 

On The Hunt

• Total duration increased back to 10 seconds from 6
• Initial Movement Speed boost duration increased to 4 seconds from 3
• Cooldown adjusted to 100/80/60 seconds from 80/70/60 

The goals here were: 

1) Make sure Sivir brings top-of-the-line wave clear / AoE damage to the table

2) Make sure Sivir's ultimate feels impactful in its intended use case"

He also dropped off a reminder that W still resets Sivir's auto attack!

"Yes, activating W still resets her basic attack."

Sivir Relaunch Audio Issues

After getting their hands on her relaunch, summoner's noted on the forums that you can currently hear Sivir's new Q sound globally - anywhere on the map despite if she is in range of you - and that her voiceover volume is a wee bit low.