Red Post Collection: Champion Mastery Update soon, Twisted Treeline Discussion, SG Lux Concept Art, and more

Hey guys! A few of us have been talking about the state of TT for a bit now and have identified what we feel are a few core issues with mechanics on the map. I'll list a few of them out to share where we're at in our thought processes on where improvements can be made.

Jungle: As many of you have pointed out, jungle is super risky in the early levels and is generally considered weaker at the moment than the support meta. One of the issues here is the amount of experience granted during the first clear, which usually leaves the jungler at low health and in a vulnerable position.

Altars: The altars on Twisted Treeline serve the purpose of creating contested neutral objectives for teams to fight over. We've identified a few issues with the current implementation that we're taking a look at, though. One of the strongest aspects of altars at the moment is increased gold generation, which is a lot of hidden power and it really sucks to be denied that strength when you aren't in a position to protect at least one of the altars. The 10% stat buff is also a bit difficult to appreciate since it's all math and doesn't really change how you play the game. Percentage based stat buffs are also very weak in the early game since increasing a small number by a percentage of itself is underwhelming, so there's not a strong reason to contest the enemy altar early on other than gold denial. Finally, capturing altars isn't exactly an exciting experience as you sit there for a few seconds waiting for a bar to fill up, and if that bar doesn't fill all the way then you get nothing at all for your time.

Vilemaw Buff: Same issue with the altar buff listed above. Lots of power that's difficult to appreciate for both the players with the buff and for the enemy team. Vilemaw should be seen as a way for a leading team to close out the game, or for a losing team to make a comeback. Neither of these events are really occurring with the current implementation, since it doesn't change how you approach playing the map any more than a bit of extra gold would.

General Lack of Comeback Potential: Currently, if you're behind in a Twisted Treeline game, the general hope is that the enemy team makes a mistake and allows you an opportunity to come back. A coordinated team with a lead is difficult to handle, as they're able to move together around the map and push down objectives due to the smaller size of the gameplay space. It's rare to find opportunities to trade objectives due to how quickly the enemy can get to you and punish, as well as due to the fact that there's a much smaller number of objectives overall compared to Summoner's Rift (towers, altars, and Vilemaw are pretty much it, not to mention altars and Vilemaw aren't always available). It's also very difficult to farm when behind since there's a pretty large distance between the towers and where minions meet, with a lot of scary gank paths for enemies to flank.

Overall, we want to maintain the same fast and combat oriented nature of Twisted Treeline while addressing some of these concerns in healthy ways. If you guys disagree with these concerns or have any more to add, please do! We're here to talk because TT has a dedicated player base with a lot of untapped knowledge that we want to hear!

"Good point here. It's definitely frustrating that you have to invest so much into taking an altar when an enemy can completely shut down your attempt with minimal effort."

"I agree that the circumstances around capturing an altar can be interesting, but the method of how you do so isn't. In a vacuum, capturing an altar is standing in place for a bit and then walking away. Adding the threat of an enemy coming to mess with you creates tension (which is good!), but there's potential to have a more interesting base interaction there. I've definitely had moments where I'm trying to take the altar and terrified that somebody is going to pop out of the darkness and murder me!"

Akali Passive Tooltip change and "more" soon. 

[1] "related news, i updated akali's passive tooltip so it would (hopefully) be easier to understand—more akali stuff soon"

[2] "yup! i didn't change the functionality at all, but a lot of players didn't know how it worked so i reworded/colored it." 

[3] "and by 'soon' i mean 'likely in one of the next two pbe updates' depending on how things go in the meantime." 

Star Guardian Lux Concept Art

"RiotNurseFlan 's guidance helped create this fun skin! Star Guardian Lux concept art! #LeagueOfLegends #lux "

/ALL Chat | Should You Ever Surrender?

"On this episode of /ALL Chat, we’ve got champion watercolor paintings, Rachel Corey stops by to talk about her League fan art and Diana lore comic, the TSM house is perfectly replicated in The Sims (flammable accidents included), a truly, truly outrageous pink Taric quartet and a discussion about surrendering. 

Tell us what you think!"

Over on her tumblr, kirryface shared the full version of the drawing art seen during the interview!

Mid-Season Invitational Primer