Red Post Collection: Inside Shadow Isles podcast, Scruffy on new champs/updates, Legends Rising Ep. 3, & more!

Posted on at 9:23 AM by Moobeat
This afternoon's red post collection includes a new podcast on the Shadow Isles,  discussion from Scruffy on champion updates, context on recent PBE changes & reverts, episode 3 of Legends Rising, & more!
Continue reading for more information!




Table of Contents


Inside the Shadow Isles with the Foundations team 

With the recent lore updates for Yorick, Elise, Evelynn, & Maokai on the Shadow Isles page, writers Graham "Dinopawz" McNeil and Rayla “Jellbug” Heide are tagging in for the most recent League Podcast dedicated to all things Shadow Isles: 
"Welcome to the latest League Podcast, a series in which we take you behind-the-scenes with the people who help make League possible. Expect new guests and new stories every couple of weeks or so, and make sure to hit us with those comments and ratings so we can keep striving toward a Challenger-tier podcast. 
This week, writers Graham "Dinopawz" McNeil and Rayla “Jellbug” Heide give a glimpse into developing the story of the Shadow Isles and its inhabitants."

RSS Feed 
You can also find the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher, or check out past episodes here!"

Riot Scruffy on New Champions & Updates in 2017 and Class Updates

When asked how many new champions are planned for 2017, RiotScruffy noted:
"Quote:
Any idea how many champs you are aiming for next year? 4 a year is just way too few.
We hope for 6-8, but quality comes before quantity. So far 4 this year and we have more coming."
RiotScruffy continued:

"Yes, I hope we can deliver on 1 (or even 2) champs with a reasonable skill floor in the next year. There is a great elegance to some champs where the mechanical skill requirement isn't crazy, but there are still lots of nuanced ways to make plays. 
See: Singed, Blitzcrank, Morgana, Lux"
As for how many champion updates they hope to hit next year, RiotScruffy continued:
"Quote:
And how many VGU's can we expect next year?
I think we're aiming for 4-5 but like everything, things could go faster or slower than our goals"
On the idea of having "too many" champions, RiotScruffy Permalink
"I definitely agree with your core argument that more is not better. Over time we have been gradually shifting from TONS of new champs and 0 updates to less and less new champs -> more quality of new champs (and more updates). 
Rough estimates off the top of my head:
2010 : 24
2011 : 24
2012 : 24
2013 : 8
2014 : 6
2015 : 5
2016 : like i said probably 6 
This trend is definitely deliberate to focus on only making the few additions that will actually add something new and essential to the game. 
A side point that you bring up about how managing 130+ champions is extremely complex and possibly reaching the ceiling of what is legitimately possible. We are constantly thinking about what systemic changes to the game we could or should make to make this a sustainable and scaleable future. 
Things like: 
  • Limited draft modes (like original DOTA RD)
  • Rotating sets of champs that are "in play" (like things that Magic The Gathering does with cards and sets)
  • Shifting some more of the "make new champ" resources into big VGU style updates
  • Other crazy ideas like - In a best of 5 every time a champ is picked, they are cut from the pool for the rest of the series 
These are very loose conversations at this point and we haven't found anything that we all agree is the right move for LoL, so don't expect that any of these are coming soon or in the pipe. Though I would appreciate and value your opinions/feelings on these types of directions."
RiotScruffy continued:
"Quote:
Speaking about champion variety at pro level, what about reworking the current pick & ban system? Perhaps a more advanced snake draft could work, especially since most champions are already getting their strategic identities and niches set in place.
We are actively working to improve the pick ban system for both pro and non pro play."
RiotScruffy continued:
"Quote:
Would the rework team ever do like a group of visual updates for champions who need visual,vo and lore updates but not really gameplay updates?
(Ex:Kayle, Morg, Blitz, ect)
We used to do more of these but we found that their impact with players (from our surveys and metrics) was a lot lower than the ones that delivered the full package (gameplay, art, theme). 
As we update stuff, everyone else moves up and up the list so someday, they will be our highest value choices."

When asked about any work on "psuedo assassins" like Pantheon, Diana, or J4 in the pre-season assassin class update, RiotScruffy noted:
"Most likely none of those champs will be touched in the assassin update. J4, Panth, Aatrox, Diana etc are all prime candidates for the Diver (a fighter subclass) update."
RiotScruffy continued:
"Quote:
While I agree that all of those champions are Divers and not Assassins, I believe that the Assassin update would be an ideal time to go through and make those champions less Assassin-ish. (Higher base defensive stats, lower ratios? or perhaps lower damage but lower cooldowns?)
Yea, we could definitely do some work on them, but we are going to spend time exploring small changes to the other assassins that aren't getting work - fizz, shaco, etc."
When asked about working on Divers as the next update, RiotScruffy commented:
"Quote:
Is that supposed to be in the midseason? I'm just asking because I was under the impression that it was still up in the air on whether vanguards or divers would be after assassins.
It's not set in stone yet. We know divers need work as well as vanguards so they're both strong options."
As for vanguards, RiotScruffy also added:
"Quote:
they probably want to differentiate between gragas and sub optimal ice boar gragas
Mostly this - theres a bunch of champs that step on each other like grag, sej, amumu, malph, zac etc. 
(this is an oversimplification but) They all have AOE initiation and CC so they can be interchangeable based on who's numbers are better. 
In general it would be about making them all bring something special to the team game if we wanted to tackle that class."

Recent PBE Changes/Reverts Discussion

Next up we have some discussion surrounding various 6.19 PBE cycle changes and reverts.
When asked about the recent revert to tentative Anivia changes that involved having "chill" and "ice" effects for the purposes of E's damage bonus, ManWolfAxeBoss shared:
"Quote:
Thanks for the quick updates on the situation. Out of pure curiosity, what made you ditch the chilled/iced mechanic altogether? I was actually starting to like the idea of increasing the skillcap while still leaving anivia players some room to have their pre-nerf damage back in case of skillful plays.
Not ditched completely, just for this patch. Doesn't mean we're shipping it for certain, but it's going back to the dev table for a bit longer. 
Basically, team didn't feel confident enough in direction and balance to ship it yet. Needs more time to cook."
Following the partial revert to Kog'Maw's Marksman update in a recent PBE update (context here!), Riot Axes confirmed Kog's W cooldown now starts on hitting the button rather than after the effect:
"Can confirm - the cooldown starts on hitting the button again."
When asked about reverting some of Kog'Maw's base stats back to pre-marksman form, Riot WaveBreak noted:
"We are currently not reverting all of his base stat lines back to pre-rework status, but will adjust them as necessary once we see how the partially reverted kit performs in the current live state of the game. 
That being said, we are planning to revert his base attack speed and attack speed growth for 6.19 as they are more closely bound to to the feel of his reverted auto-attack paradigm. Q will also keep its post re-work attack speed bonus for now. All of these are subject to tuning after we understand his new power level though! We will definitely be monitoring him closely and thinking about ways to improve him holistically as we go."

Meddler on Nasus

When asked if Nasus will get any sort of changes in the near future, Meddler commented:
"Quote:
Many Nasus players feel he doesn't feel rewarding for how risky of a pick he is. While many of us can still be successful on him, it's not the way we'd prefer as its a really cheesey and unhealthy way to play (low interaction afk split pushing). Many of us want changes to him but realize straight buffs may be out of the question. He's an ancient champion with an old design, I think he needs several big changes to bring him up to par in today's game in a healthy way.
I think it's pretty likely we'll do some small scope work on him sometime later this year. Probably more just general balance stuff, or small functionality tweaks, than any form of rework though. He's probably a bit weak at present, current assessment is that he's got a reasonable decent core to him though."
Meddler continued:
"Definitely feel he's a juggernaut. 
Some form of pre mitigation heal's a possibility I could see, don't think it's been discussed so far though. Thanks for the suggestion."

ZenonTheStoic on Taliyah

In a boards thread discussing Taliyah and the removal of the spell cast lockout for Taliah's W, ZenonTheStoic popped in to explain:
"Here's why I originally put a spell cast lockout on Taliyah's W: 
  • I wanted to give the player breathing room to press the W button a second time.
  • I was very scared of W into E as a best case burst scenario 
Here's why we reached the decision to remove the lockout: 
  • It felt really awful not to be able to cast anything else if you got the W combo down quickly. It felt like you got better at W (you're quicker now) but the game won't let you use that hard-won skill
  • It turns out that we can either have proper spell queueing during a delay or good communication that a spell cannot currently be cast, but not both. This is one of the areas in the game we're working to improve. Either way, the experience was not up to our standards. 
It also turns out that I was wrong to be scared of W into E. Ranges and cooldowns make this combo reasonably balanced. 
The things we're struggling with right now on her kit are her wave clear (which we've hit very hard. It was meant to be a strength, but it was clearly excessive), the difference is usefulness of her ult between coordinated and uncoordinated play (we always knew this was going to be trouble but signed ourselves up for it because the skill is cool), and how much she falls off late game. Her theoretical DPS is absurdly high, but the later the game goes, the more of a premium there is on getting your damage out INSTANTLY, and her Q means she always has to wait a minimum of 2s to get one rotation out. Again, if you do the math? Her late game DPS is off the charts: At 40% CDR, she has a 2.4s CD spell that deals 420 + 1.2 AP. That's just the one spell. But then you look at actual data and we see there are very few champions in the game who fall off late game quite as hard as she does. 
Remember that ours is a game that's never done. Obviously we'll continue working on her and we'll get her into a good spot."

Legends Rising Season 2: Episode 3 - Revolver

Episode 3 of Legends Rising Season 2 is out! Check out Revolver:

"ClearLove's highs and lows within the Chinese scene have seen him go from one of the most loved players, to one of the most vilified, and then back again. As EDG loses Spring Finals and must watch MSI from the stands, ClearLove must again become the heart of his team and carry them to Worlds. Also, Revolta and Smeb strive to lead their teams to victory in their regional spring finals. 
Legends Rising Season 2 follows some of the game's greatest pros through the hard work and sacrifice necessary to achieve greatness, in a six-part series. Do they have what it takes to become a legend?"
Previous episodes of Legends Rising Season 2 can be found here:

Live/Play Miniseries - Series Finale Trailer

The miniseries finale for Live/Play airs September 15th! Get ready with this teaser trailer:

"Who’s got your back no matter what? Watch the Live/Play series finale on September 15."

New Ekko Merch Soon

UPDATE: New Ekko Merch available!
The official Riot Games Merch facebook shared a teaser picture implying new Ekko related merch is coming soon!
"Looking ahead to tomorrow. . .it's time."
Keep an eye out for more information soon!

New Pentakill Album still in the works

It's been a while since we last heard news of the next PENTAKILL music album but Praeco popped on reddit to jokingly note:
"Quote:
Holy shit praeco is alive. QUICK ask him questions about Pentakill.
just had our big drum recording session 1-2 weeks ago. now editing drums and still recording the last few vocal bits. mixing in a month or so. 
and of course, then sit on it for 5 years and release it for christmas in 2021. 
i hear christmas sales are the way to go for metal music. "
Our last news on the new album came from April of this year when Praeco shared a few samples on twitter - [1] and [2].

You can find the original Pentakill album SMITE AND IGNITE [here].

REMINDERS

To round out tonight's red post collection, here are a few reminders on current promotions or limited time events!
  • The 2016 Worlds Pick'em is available now through the 29th! Earn summoner icons and more by participating and guessing correctly!

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