Red Post Collection: Ivern hotfix buffs, Ask Riot on Doom Bots, Dragons, & Balance, DnD Friday in RGMQ, & more!

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Table of Contents 

• 10/7 Patch Update - Ivern Buffs
• Ask Riot: Doom Bots, dragons, and balance 
• [LCU] Now Testing: Ranked
• [LCU] Alpha client patch .11 changelog 
• [RGMQ] Definitely Not Dominon this weekend & schedule  
• Meddler Grab Bag
• Quick Hits
• REMINDERS

10/7 Patch Update - Ivern Buffs

The official 6.20 notes have been updated to reflect a hotfix to buff Ivern's base stats:

"Mid-Patch Updates

Ivern Balance Update 

The Green Father hasn't been out for long, but it's clear that would-be Ivern mains are having a tough time finding success on the Rift. We're targeting two specific issues for now: letting him take better advantage of Brushmaker's basic attack buff, and helping him scale better into the late-game. (The magic resist line is more of a 'buff fix' to make Ivern's stats consistent with most other champs.) 

General

• HEALTH GROWTH STAT 74 ⇒ 90
• MAGIC RESIST 30 ⇒ 32.1
• ATTACK SPEED 0.625 ⇒ 0.644 
• ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT 2.8% ⇒ 3.4%"

Meddler on Nunu

In a boards thread inquiring about Nunu being too strong with his 6.20 changes, Meddler noted:

"Our current thoughts on what we'd likely hit on Nunu if he continues to look too strong:

• Base AD to 57 base and 3.5 per level (from 59 and 4.0). Effectively a reversion of the AD buffs in 6.20.
• Bonus HP per consume stack to 2% instead of 3%.

Still evaluating how he's doing of course. Looks like he's overbuffed at first glance, that might settle over the patch though."

Ask Riot: Doom Bots, dragons, and balance 

Ask Riot is back and this week their answering questions on doom bots, dragons, and game balance:

"Welcome to Ask Riot! 

This week, we’re talking champ balance, Doom Bots, and dragon names.

When are Doom Bots coming back? Are there plans to add them to the Rotating Game Mode queue?

As some of you have probably already seen on PBE, the Doom Bots of Doom are back! 

Doom Bots is probably one of the most script-intensive modes we ever made. That hasn’t changed this time around either, with some of the new things we’ve ‘cooked’ up for you. :) It’s easily one of the most complex to develop, hence the long absence. But it felt like the right time to bring the Doom Bots back -- you might even say they’ve been… ‘summoned’… by a new and sinister presence. An old evil…. 

As for adding them to the RGM queue? I think we probably will. Much like Ascension after the Shurima event or Legend of the Poro King after Snowdown, we’ll probably add the Doom Bots of Doom into the rotation to bring some spicy fun to the weekends. 

L4T3NCY, Lead Designer Rotating Game Modes
As far as I know, the name of the dragon with Tristana is Riggle. What's the name of the dragon with Lulu?

Many moons ago, we announced that Lulu’s dragon was an alternate fantasy of her faerie companion, Pix. However, we’ve put a lot of effort into telling deeper stories about our thematics over the years, so allow me to indulge you with an alternate fantasy to that alternate fantasy. 

For Tristana’s dragon, the name “Riggle” came about rather easily. He hatched from his egg like an awkward dancer finding his footing on the floor. All he ever wanted to do was go places and eat good grub. Happiness was a simple concept to him. It quickly became clear that a suitable name would be as simple, cute, and playful as its owner. 

Lulu’s dragon, on the other claw, has a name, but it’s much more abstract. In fact, the name is near impossible to pronounce in any modern language that we know. It’s kinda what you expect a warm, crackling fire burning steadily in the hearth of a stone castle to sound like, while strong gusts of wind press against the heavy, barred windows. There’s also a feminine pitch to the name, akin to the gentle whine of the violet wildflowers that have grown and entangled themselves around those bars. 

Put all that imagery into a feeling and then into a sound and you’re probably in the right synesthetic ballpark. 

kantayams, Writer, Personalization

When thinking about balance, how much of a focus is a champion’s win rate? Is a 50% win rate for every champion the goal/ideal?

A champion’s win rate is a useful indicator as to which champions we should look at, but it’s not directly representative of whether a champion is balanced/unbalanced. Context’s really important, with a lot of factors potentially making a number misleading at first glance. 

That includes things like: 

• Average number of games players have played on a champion. A champion with a really experienced playerbase will have a higher average win rate for the amount of power in the kit, so it might be appropriate for their win rate to be above 50% when balanced.
• How difficult the champion is to play. A character with a really high skill ceiling, who’s hard to play initially, should, all else being equal, have a lower win rate than the average champion (newer players will struggle a lot, so a 50% win rate means experienced players will be way too strong).
• What the champion’s presence says about team comps. Tanks and supports generally have somewhat higher win rates because their presence on a team tends to mean that team has a better than average team comp. Assassins especially by contrast often have lower than average win rates in part because they’re often picked on teams they’re not a good fit for or into games where they’re not a good choice. The assassins themselves may have balanced kits, but the situations players are choosing to use them in can depress their statistical performance.
• The different ways in which a champion is played. A champion who’s balanced, or even strong, in one position, or with one build, might have a weak looking average win rate if a significant amount of their play’s using an alternate build, or in a less effective role. 

Win rate is impacted by a lot of factors, so it can’t be a sole indicator. 

Meddler, Lead Gameplay Designer

Have a question? Head over to Ask Riot and sign into your League account. Check out the Dos and Don’ts, then ask away. 

ASK RIOT 

We promise to read every question, but we can’t guarantee they’ll all get answers. Some questions may already be answered elsewhere, and some won’t be right for Ask Riot. This isn’t the best place to announce new features, for example, and we might skip conversations on issues we’ve talked about in depth before (though we can clarify individual points). 

We are listening, though, so keep asking. We’ll make sure your questions are heard by the Rioters working on the stuff you’re curious about."

When asked about the repeat of info on the winrate discussion, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

I'm amazed that Riot still feel the need to answer this question about Winrates. If it hasn't been said 10 times already in 5 different places all over the Internet I'm ready to eat my hat. This is said and said again and then repeated one more time for good measure, every month or so...

It is one we've answered a lot in the past, so for a lot of people it's a super familiar answer. At the same time though it's also one of the most common questions we've been getting in the Ask Riot submissions recently, so there do seem to be a lot of people who haven't seen that previous discussion. Given it's a pretty important subject when it comes to talking about game balance we feel it's important to repeat every so often."

[LCU] Now Testing: Ranked

Ranked is headed to the League Client Update alpha!

"Can you smell it? Something smells like… ranked. 

We've been teasing it for a while, but it's finally here: Summoner's Rift ranked is coming to the alpha during this patch. 

Ranked uses the same animations and design that we introduced alongside Normal Draft, so if you've gotten used to that, it shouldn't feel too different. We've taken care to crush any and all bugs that could cause serious client failures when queueing up in ranked, but we want testers to be aware that this is still the alpha, and we're still working out some performance kinks. If a crash causes you to dodge, you will lose LP, and there's nothing we can do to get it back for you. It's not at all likely, but we want you to be aware of the risk. This close to the end of season, we’re taking this very seriously and will be monitoring stability closely to ensure we take all the necessary steps to mitigate potential issues. 

This patch also introduces the new eSports hub and a few visual tweaks like Champion Mastery celebration animations in the end-of-game screen. Now it's less like "you got champ master 7, gj or whatever" and more like "YOU GOT CHAMP MASTERY 7 SWEET TURKEY SANDWICHES WHAT A GOD!" 

Custom games are still in the works. We're targeting next patch for them right now (but, as always in the alpha, things can change). 

It's still not too late to sign up for the alpha if you haven't already!"

[LCU] Alpha client patch .11 changelog 

 Below is the introduction from Cactopus& [the full changelog can be found here]:

"We're back! We took a break last patch to focus on some performance issues, but now we're steaming ahead with the release of the ranked Summoner's Rift queue. 

As always, be sure to take surveys as they pop up and submit feedback and bug reports using the buttons on the client's alpha homepage. The alpha discussion board is the happening place for alpha testers. 

Not yet signed up? Here's the application form."

[RGMQ] Definitely Not Dominon this weekend & schedule  

Definitely Not Dominion returns this weekend in the rotating game mode queue! Look for things to kick off around noon server time and last through Monday evening!

 The rotating game mode queue schedule has also been updated to reveal the ??? as the recently announced return of DOOM BOTS OF DOOM - Doom Bots will have back to back weekends October 21st - 24th & 28th - 31st!
 Additional information on the new and improved Doom Bots available in our 6.21 PBE coverage.

"From the original clone-tastic One For All to the sand-strewn battlefield of Ascension, featured game modes provide unique spins on the classic League formula. It’s time to kick things off with the next game mode in the rotation: Definitely Not Dominion is now live! 

Welcome to the newest mode to join the rotating roster. 

We've given the old Dominion some fairly heavy surgery. Originally designed to be a long-term engagement experience as a permanent queue, we've shifted into a short-term experience more befitting a rotating game mode. While this isn't the same as original Dominion (definitely not), it still holds the essence of 'capture and hold' gameplay Dominion was iconic for, but with a lot more punch! Let's get into the new stuff. 

Changed map: 

We've removed the bottom two towers from play, making a total of 3 capture points around the map. Relegating two players to an eternal 1v1 while a 4v4 kinda happens across the rest of the map wasn't working. We sealed a wedge along the bottom behind walls and a fountain-style laser will zap you if you go near those points. This means each team will ALWAYS hold at least 1 point for minion spawning. The new map layout looks something like this:

Storm Altar: 

The center Storm Runes have been replaced with an altar you can capture for a temporary combat buff. The Nimbus Storm buff gives you 3 charges that do 4/5/6% max HP true damage on any spell or attack. While controlling the altar, all allied team members also generate a free charge of the Storm Nimbus every 4 sec while in combat. Great for siege breaking and uprooting enemy teams that are dug-in on a point. 

Ultra Minion Relics: 

Near the sealed bottom two points are two Ultra Minion Relics, one for each team. Capturing the enemy team's Ultra Minion Relic will summon an Ultra Minion for your team in the next minion wave. These are serious minions. They capture much faster than any 1 champion, definitely deal out punishment and are extremely tanky. 

Backdooring to capture these still feels good if successful, but the defending team doesn't need to go through the “chore” of “recapping” anything now. These Ultra Minion relics are capture and forget, respawning again a short time later. 

Trinket change: 

All players now have a Seer Stone trinket which provides a short range burst of vision. On the Crystal Scar with so many bushes and face-checks, this can be very handy for scouting Ultra Minion relics or staying safe as a squishier champions. 

Minion spawn & pathing changes: 

Minions used to disappear after capturing a point and it could feel really bad to spend your time pushing a big wave up to a point for capture, only to have it disappear afterwards and not continue on. Minions now spawn from ONLY the bottom 2 points, and walk clockwise or anti-clockwise respectively around the map. If they capture a point, they will KEEP ON GOING to the next point. This tug-of-war wave style for minions feels more satisfying for wave pushers and captures. 

As in any rotating queue game mode, we’ve specially tuned Champion Mastery so you can earn points in the mode. You’ll also be able to earn keys for your wins and loot chests for your (or your premade’s) S­-, S, and S+ games. NOTE: As with other rotating game modes, you cannot earn champ mastery 6 or 7 tokens in Definitely Not Dominion. 

Definitely Not Dominion is now available and lasts through the evening on Monday (we’ll shut it down very early Tuesday morning--usually between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM).

We’ll be trying out different things with the rotating game mode queue over the next few months, such as potentially turning it on longer depending on how popular it is, changing the mode cadence or what modes are available. We’re looking for your feedback as we go, so let us know. GLHF!"

Meddler Grab Bag

Next up we have a handful of boards posts from Meddler   on Rylai's, bots, and more!
In a thread discussing Nami's recent performance at the 2016 World Championship and inquiring if there were any plans for changes, Meddler commented:

"We don't currently have any plans to nerf Nami. She's getting some Worlds play certainly, and is looking pretty effective, but not excessively so at present. We're also coming up to pre-season, which will shake things up a fair bit balance wise. We'll reassess after that as a result."

When asked about thoughts on Rylai's Crystal Scepter changes for preseason, Meddler  noted:

"Exact changes are still under discussion. General problem statement is that it's too universal. Having all your abilities slow is something that should be a deliberate choice you opt into, and make trade offs for, not just a default item on so many AP champs. That issue's magnified by the HP given by Rylai's, given health's the most universal stat we've got (everyone can always use it, and more's always useful, even if it's not the ideal stat for a specific champ). 

One of the directions we're considering is a pretty dramatic change that strips the health off entirely, replacing it with mana or something like mana+CDR. That's got some substantial cost to it, given it effectively removes Rylai's as an option for a lot of champs who have traditionally bought it. Possible it's the healthiest approach however. It might also mean we'd want to make other slowing items (Dead Man's Plate, Randuin's Omen or GLP) better options for champs no longer able to use Rylai's well. 

Another possible direction's to strip AP, and possibly slow strength, off Rylai's instead. Big advantage there is that that would preserve more of its historic niche. Risk is that it remains too universal given the health, or that we have to hit it so hard in terms of AP/passive strength that it's just mediocre for everyone. 

More thoughts to follow, likely around the time 6.22 (tentative Pre-Season patch) hits the PBE. Very much an ongoing discussion for us at the moment, with people arguing for a range of different approaches here."

Riot Axes added in a different thread:

"Both Rylai's and Ghostblade are likely to see pretty significant changes at preseason."

In a boards thread discussion how bots now use keystone masters as of 6.21, Meddler commented:

"Yep. The team that's working on Doom Bots took the time to do a few things to regular bots since they were working in that area anyway."

Reav3 on Tanks & Itemization

In a boards thread inquiring on potential changes to tanks in a future update  Reav3 noted:

"Quote:

its hard indeed, as tanks also shouldnt be too opressive. maybe giving Tanks really good tank stats over time would be a solution? for example everyone Lategame ekko got 78 armor while a maokai got 97 (19 more, which is not that much if you look at) with MR its even worse, they both got the same amount of mr so they almost the same stats while building tank. 

Tanks used to be tanky and everyone else used to be squishy, nowadays many people are off tank (due to items like Maw, Rylai, black cleaver, titanic) while tanks are even less tanky than they used to be but got more damage as compensation. I understand people want tanks to deal damage and this is why Titanic Hydra got introduced but i think giving them more core gameplay (protecting the team) instead of a gameplay which tend to be kill the adc and mages 

I personally think off tank items are a problem, people should make a choice: Damage or tank or AD/AS but giving them 'semi-free' tank stats is a problem. for example Maw got insane stats, a shield of 350 is 350 health against mages the item also got 40 mr which is horrible... as mages get countered by both health (the shield) and MR while Adc's got countered by health and barely by armor 

40 mr is alot because of the low base mr people have

Yeah one solution is to make tanks naturally more tanky then other classes and make tank items have lower stats as well as maybe passive/actives that work better on tanks. Also possibly making more of there abilities scale with tank stats rather then ad/ap. Lots of possible solutions"

Reav3 continued:

"Quote:

instead of looking to change every champion with high base damage, wouldnt it be easier to look at how cost efficient tank items are right now?
i mean i understand some champions like ekko could be good tank because of his passive+ult , however i feel when champions like akali get build tank too there might be something wrong

I agree with you that tank itemization and how the cast interacts with them is s big problem right now. 

Not sure what the best solution is for that as there are many possibilities. 

This is the primary goal we would likely be trying to solve when we get to the vanguards/tank update. 

This problem alone is why I personally favor looking at tanks before Divers."

Reav3 also added:

"Quote:

What do you see as the core of the problem with tank itemization on non-tanks?

I think the problem is that anyone can buy a tank item and get similar benefits out of it as a tank. If a Mage buys a ADC item or vice versa it is nowhere near as optimal as if they buy a item made for thier class. 

I think tanks should synergize with tank items much better then any other class and that the cost to a non-tank buying a tank item should be higher. 

Just my thoughts though, not sure on the solution yet."

Quick Hits

[Quick hits is our own mini news collection inside a red post collection - including shorter or easy to digest bits and repeat information you may have missed in other posts! Let us know what you think!]

• KateyKhaos tweeted the the upcoming Betwitching Morgana, Bewitching Tristana, and Little Devil Teemo skins will be LEGACY skins! Skins previews in our 6.21 PBE coverage. 

• In case you missed it, Riot LoveStrut posted on the PBE boards to note that BEWITCHING MORGANA will priced at 975 RP not 1350 RP. More discussion on the PBE boards.

• Riot Exgeniar is currently working on a large Master Yi bugfix list on the PBE! Check out his PBE boards post for more information.

• Meddler commented that the 6.21 change allowing Riven to quick combo / cancel animations easier seems to be unintentional and is being investigated. 

"Unintentional change from the sounds of it. We've got a couple of folks looking at it at the moment."

• The Playtest team is back on the boards for 6.20 PATCH CHAT! Check out the thread for more discussion and Q&A.

REMINDERS

• The 2016 World Championship group stages continue with week 2 runs October 6th - 9th! 

• Championship Zed, Worlds 2016 summoner icons, legacy content, and more is available through November 6th! Don't forget to head to the shop to buy your championship jewels for IP to upgrade your 2016 WC summoner icons  during broad cast days!