4.6 PBE Cycle

(Warning: PBE Content is tentative and iterative - what you see may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers! Manage your expectations accordingly. )

Twitch Visual Update

Twitch's VU has sneaky sneaky-ied into the PBE and is now ready for testing!

Before we get to far, here's the feedback thread Ququroon has set up on the PBE community:

"Hey Summoners! Twitch, the Plague Rat, is now ready for PBE testing!
In this VU, you can expect to see new models, new textures, new animations, new visual effects, new sounds, new voice over, and more! This, as always, is for all of his skins as well! One of the cooler changes that we attempted on Twitch was to make all of his effects read better, and feel more satisfying from an audio/visual standpoint. 

We've made changes to two of Twitch's abilities names, to have them make a little more sense to what the gameplay actually is. Expunge has been changed to Contaminate. The previous name indicated that the poison was removed, but this hasn't been true since the gameplay update that came out a while ago. Spray and Pray, an iconic name, has been changed to Rat-ta-tat-tat. We felt that for Twitch's R, he maintains more of an "Aim and Shoot" gameplay, rather than a really frantic ability that can miss, ala Spray and Pray.

• How do you guys like the new VO? Do you feel that this properly captures his character?
• Do the gameplay QoLs aid your experience playing as Twitch? (e.g., the new range indicator on his E)
• How do you feel about the skins? Do they properly capture the fantasy that you already know it for?
• Do you like the new ability names? Do you feel that they better indicate functionality or add to Twitch's character?

Please feel free to leave your feedback in this thread regarding Twitch or any related bugs you encounter. Your feedback here will influence the changes we make, as well as aiding us in our future champion Visual Updates! 

See this thread if you would like more insight into our goals with Twitch, or just to familiarize yourself with him!http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/page/champion-update-new-breed-plague-rat"

Now on to the big cheese!

Twitch

Before and After

For his /taunt, Twitch plays his weapon like a violin.

For his /joke, Twitch eats old cheese.

For his homeguard animation, Twitch runs on all fours.

Auto attack

Each stack of his passive adds a rat head.

Six passive stacks = big rat head

Big swirl then invisible with smoke for Q

Initial swirl VFX from enemies view

Q attack speed buff

E now shoots a line to enemies that it triggers on

E on multiple targets

For his R, Twitch rears back, and starts firing giant bolts as he & his weapon are surrounded by stink

Ult buff on.

Voice over & Special Interactions

Special interactions: Janna, Leona, Singed, Zac and Caitlyn's Traps.

Caitlyn Traps:

• "Must take food!"
• "D'oh, it's not even stale yet."
• "OH! That almost caught my tail!"
• "Now I have to gnaw my leg off. Oh, no, I'm good."
• "This is entrapment!"
• "Oh, not again."
• "Phew, this tastes awful!"

Janna

•  "Stop moving my stench!"

Leona

• "The only thing the sun's good for is what it does to milk."

Singed

• "Wooh, Singed, you smell nice!"
• "I have this uncontrollable urge to follow you."
• "I see why everyone chases you."

Zac

• "You remind me of home."
• "I thought this place could use a little gooping up."

Lore:

"H.I.V.E. Incident Report
Code Violation: Industrial Homicide
Casefile Status: Unsolved
Investigating Agent: Rol, P.

Team responded to report of suspicious character, criminal activity; proceeded to Sump Works, Sector 90TZ. Sector 90TZ notably absent. In its place: sinkhole, smoke, noxious fumes. Interviews with private security indicate urgent need for better private security.

Response team entered sinkhole. Toxic runoff had melted away building wreckage. Two survivors located, one partially liquefied and dripping off catwalk. Six deceased bodies found among wreckage, three of them partial; two appear to predate incident. Suspect seems to have removed jewelry, accessories, and dental implants, then sorted them into piles by color. Causes of death include acute deceleration, caustic liquidation, and/or fatal crossbow wounds. Unclear if lab's destruction was itself the perpetrator's motive or an attempt to cover tracks.

Survivor #1 (Ra Qintava, facility researcher) brought up for interview, but unable to provide statement due to 1) post-traumatic stress and 2) liquefaction of tongue and lower jaw. Awaiting toxin screen and prosthesis fitting.

Search-and-rescue discovered apparent shantytown constructed from refuse. Recovered items include:

57 waterlogged romance novels, illegible, with edits made in crayon
108 bottles, unlabeled (possible toxic runoff or discarded shampoo remnants)
200 pounds chewing gum (possible installation art project)
1 jar toenails, labeled by toe/finger, date, and mood
Survivor #2 (Valori Olant, Sludge Analyst) in recovery; regained lucidity following prolonged therapeutic electrocution. Statement transcript excerpt follows:

V.O.: GOT TO DO SOMETHING -
NURSE: She's lost so much blood --
P.R.: Her co-workers lost a lot more than that --
V.O.: IT'S STILL OUT THERE!
P.R.: Ma'am, I need you to focus. Tell me what he looked like.
V.O.: LIKE A RAT! (pause)
NURSE: Like a what?
P.R.: You mean, small? Beady-eyed? Sorta rat-faced -- ?
V.O.: I MEAN IT LOOKED LIKE A GIANT GODSDAMNED RAT! (pause). WITH A CROSSBOW! (pause).
P.R.: (to nurse) Can we moderate her painkillers -- ?
V.O.: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING! IT'S A HOMICIDAL, PSYCHOPATHIC, GIANT FREAKING RAT! 
IN A WAISTCOAT!
P.R.: Nurse?
NURSE: (injecting Olant's arm with sedative) On it.
[EDIT]
V.O.: We were just scientists, working on refining human waste into inexpensive baby formula... [EDIT] I saw -- I don't know how else to -- this crazed, enormous RAT -- screaming at us! Kicking over vats! Spitting on our food! [EDIT] The lab was sealed. Nowhere to run. Chemicals flooded in through the sprinklers... [EDIT] I woke up in the dark. Well, the acid had melted my eyeballs. I could SMELL the twitchy bastard inches from my face. It said, 'NOBODY STEALS TWITCH'S JUICE!' cackled wildly, and skittered off... I can still smell it in my mind. OH MY GODS, I CAN STILL SMELL IT--''

End transcript. At this point victim began screaming; has yet to stop. 

[UPDATE: Qintava, Written Testimony]
Suspect summary, as reported:
NAME/KNOWN ALIASES: ''Twitch.''
SEX: Male(unconfirmed).
AGE: Unknown.
HEIGHT: 4'9'' (hunched) 
WEIGHT: less than 99 lbs. (wet). 
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Is a giant rat. 
STATUS: At large; armed, extremely dangerous; DO NOT ENGAGE.

H.I.V.E - Enforcing Progress!" 

New Twitch Ability Icons

[ Note: While these were added to the files, they don't seem to be hooked up in-game or in the air client just yet. ]

A set of fancy smelly new ability icons to go along with Twitch's VU have been added!

    
Left to right: Deadly Venom [Passive], Ambush [Q], Venom Cask [W], Contaminate [E], Rat-Ta-Tat-Tat [R]

Updated Twitch Skins

Kingpin Twitch

520 RP - Legacy skin

Whistler Village Twitch

520 RP - Legacy skin 

Vandal Twitch

975 RP

( Note: His cheese is bugged on the PBE )

Gangster Twitch

975 RP

Medieval Twitch

Refer a Friend Reward

New Skins

Atlantean Syndra

[ Note: When Syndra levels her abilities to max rank, the appearances also change. I tried to line up similar frames for the pics but some might be off a little - the changes are mostly color/size/intensity ]

Max Rank Q

Max Rank W

Max Rank E

Max Rank R

Max Rank R also slightly changes the appearance of your orbs.

Loading screen image

SKT T1 Skins

As with the TPA skins, the SKT T1 skins for Jax, Lee Sin, Vayne, Zyra, and Zed all share one splash art.

SKT T1 Zed

750 RP

SKT T1 Jax

750 RP

SKT T1 Jax has been updated (4/4 Update) - his auto attacks now have a bonk sound to match his weapon.

SKT T1 Lee Sin

750 RP

SKT T1 Vayne

750 RP 

SKT T1 Zyra

750 RP

New Ward Skin

SKT T1 Ward Skin

640 RP

Shop image

Kog'Maw Q Updated

 Kog'Maw's Q now has a very brief "shield breaking" particle to signify it's armor/mr reduction.

Singed W Ring

Singed's Mega Adhesive (W) now has an indicator ring that pops up around the goo.

[ Clarity ] Aggro Display Changes

Here's Rayven with more info on the changes to how Aggro is displayed - it's now an icon above the health bar.

"Hey folks, we are looking for feedback on changes to the way aggro is displayed in the game.

Tl;Dr we are reducing visual noise and improving targeting by moving the aggro display from an outline to an icon above the health bar. 

The current aggro system provides feedback to players when minions and monsters are attacking them. We want to improve that awareness while also reducing the overwhelming visual noise of the outline display (orange blob of doom). 

This change should also make targeting an enemy or neutral much clearer. An outline around a unit now means targeting only rather than multiple things at once. 

We are still iterating on this and have some upcoming supporting features so try it in game and join the conversation. 

Thanks!"

See above wraith's head.

Odds and Ends

Lastly we have a few odds and ends in today's PBE patch.

First up is a "VizObscure" icon in the "championScreens" folder, the folder that houses the summoner spell icons for the AIR Client. No details on what is, if anything.

An updated "Baron_Bar" has been added to the files but is not hooked up / functional in game.

It's super minor but SKT T1 Jax's weapon appears to be slightly rotated.

Balance Changes

* Remember *: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, and sometimes radical changes. The changes you see below may be lacking context or other accompanying changes that didn't make it in - don't freak out! These are not official notes.

Champions

Gragas

• Body Slam ( E ) cooldown reduced to 12 at all ranks from 16/15/14/13/12.

Kassadin

• Mana per level increased to 70 from 45
• Base movement speed increased to 350 from 340
• Null Sphere ( Q ) shield increased to 40/80/120/160/200 (+.8) from 40/70/100/130/160 ( +.6 )[ Context: Kassadin's current shield AP ratio on live is .3 ]

• Nether Blade ( W ) damage increased to 40/75/110/145/180 ( + .7 ) from 45/65/90/115/140 ( +.6)

Rengar

• Savagery ( Q )  bonus flat physical damage increased to 30/60/90/120/150 from 20/40/60/80/100
• Thrill of the Hunt ( R ) indicator "will not alert enemies if you wouldn't be visible to them outside of stealth." It will appears if you enter into normal vision.

• [Context: See this this thread for more info ]

Rumble

• Flamespitter ( Q ) damage reverted back to being half damage vs neutral monsters.

• Scrap Shield (W )  Danger Zone bonus increased to 50% from 25%

• Electro Harpoon ( E ) Danger Zone bonus increased to 50% from 25%

Twitch

•  Expunge  ( E ) is now named "Contaminate"
• Spray and Pray ( R )  is now named " Rat-Ta-Tat-Tat"

Vayne

• Base armor lowered to 9.3 from 13.3.

Zed

• Contempt for the Weak ( Passive ) tool tip updated to 6-10% of Target's max health as bonus damage from 8%

• [ Context: This is just be a tooltip update. No balance change vs live. ]

Ziggs

• Base armor increased to 16 from 12

• [Context: Likely an oversight from the recent rune changes ]

Items

Blackfire Torch

• No longer grants 5% movement speed

Hextech Sweeper

• Total cost increased to 2130 from 2000
• Now builds out of Glacial Shroud + Kindle Gem instead of Fiendish Codex + Kindlegem
• No longer grants 40 AP
• Now grants 250 Mana and 25 Armor

Twin Shadows

• Active "hunt" duration increased to 6 seconds from 5 seconds.

Wriggle's Lantern

• Feral Flare transformation now at 30 instead of 25 large monster kills

Summoner Spells

Heal 

• Health restore tooltip changed to 95 - 475 from 90 - 495
• Now has a recently healed debuff again.

Runes

Intel i7 Seal of Armor

• Armor reduced to 1 from 1.41

• [ Context: If you saw this reddit thread, looks like this promotional rune slipped by unnerfed last patch. Should be fixed now ]

Trinkets

Scrying Orb, Farsight Orb, Greater Orb

• Reveal duration increased to 2 seconds from 1 second.

Soul Anchor ( New, Dominion Only Revive Trinket )

• Active: Consumes a charge to instantly revive at your Summoner Platform and grants 125% Movement Speed that decays over 12 seconds.Additional charges are gained at levels 9 and 14 (Max: 2 charges)

• Note: This new revive based Dominion trinket has been removed from the PBE, likely due to it needing more polish before release. Expect it to return next cycle.

PBE Updates referenced:

• 4/3 PBE Update
• 4/4 PBE Update
• 4/7 PBE Update
• 4/9 PBE Update
• 4/10 PBE Update
• 4/11 PBE Update