Red Post Collection: Meddler Quick Gameplay Thoughts for March 20th, April Sales Schedule, and more!

Table of Contents

• Quick Gameplay Thoughts: March 20 
• April Sales Schedule 
• Galio Bundle and Legacy skins available with 7.6
• *NEW* Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 7.6, Galio Rework
• Quick HITS: Yasuo's Blade, Next New Champion Designer, & more
• Reminders

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: March 20 

Meddler is back with his quick gameplay thoughts for March 20th:

"Hi folks, 

More words below. Hope the start of the week's treating you all well so far. 

Clarity work underway 

We've got some work going on right now aimed at better surfacing various particular bits of information, belief being that some things that could have really interesting and engaging gameplay are being held back by how hard it is to track and appreciate their impact. Some things we're looking at include:  

• Improvements to the the health bar and surrounding UI to allow it to convey extra information clearly (status effects like the gold invulnerability UI we added last year) 

• At least a couple of additional end of game stats (likely candidates for a first round at least are damage to objectives and vision granted) 

• Attribution visual effects that will be used for a range of spells and items that don't currently create a clear enough link between caster and target (e.g. a general looking blue zap that's used if you're on blue team and target someone with Mikael's, Exhaust, Face of the Mountain etc)  

Not certain yet when those changes will be ready, possible some of them are in mid-season though. 

More balance changes being tested 

We're about to start a new PBE cycle tomorrow, all going according to plan. Since my last post we've also started looking at a few more potential changes, which include: 

• Alistar - buffs to passive and E (update last year made him healthier we think so should be able to put a bit more power into him) 

• Camile - W no longer healing off non champions, W slow scaling by rank instead of a flat 80% ( targeting laning phase sustain and gank assist) 

• J4 - buff testing shifting W from bonus shield per champ nearby to max health scaling (part of our pass on junglers that need a bit of help) 

• Volibear - buff to R, with more bounces and improved bounce logic (another from the jungler pass)   

Ninja Tabi

Mentioning this again since it seems to be a point of some confusion at present. We have no current plans to nerf Ninja Tabi. They are being bought a lot, that looks like a natural reaction to a lot of games with multiple AD threats/champs buying Lethality however, rather than Ninja Tabi themselves being way out of line. Right now at least we'll be leaving them unchanged as a result (they're a counter that's being used as intended)."

When asked about plans for Rift Herald, Meddler shared they will likely rework or remove it:

"Quote:

Meddler can I ask for your thoughts on if you have any plans for Rift Herald for either removal or rework

I expect we'll rework or remove RH this year sometime still, unsure if mid-season or pre-season though. Removal would only happen if we didn't find a rework approach that worked."

When asked about the previously mentioned Lissandra changes in works, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

any news on Lissandra ? and how exactly is her passive going to be"satisfying" ?

We haven't found passive changes we're happy with. Might end up going with simpler power buffs as a result and then revisit the passive again at some point."

As for the reverted Morgana W buffs from last PBE cycle, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

@meddler. what are ur plans for morgana? you said that she would get a small buff, but i noticed that the buff on the pbe got reverted

We'll probably look at her again very soon, nothing currently in testing though."

On the current state of LeBlanc, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

Any thoughts about leblanc situation? Did you change your mind and now you want to keep her in this state?

Still watching gradual adaption to different rank up orders generally being optimal, then we'll reassess."

When asked about the recent Lee Skin skin teaser, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

Meddler care to make a comment on the 10 sec video that went live on lol twitter?

Looks like a very short video designed to suggest something's happening without giving much detail to me."

And for this thoughts on Malphite and Rammus, Meddler shared:

"Quote:

If this is the case, why were Malphite and Rammus nerfed after the Marksman Update when you would literally see 3 ADCs on a team sometimes? 

Why do you apply certain logic to one case, but not another? 

If there were 5 APs being picked on one side as part of a meta (just hypothetical, even if unlikely), would you nerf (old) Galio if he became popular as well?

It's possible we nerfed Rammus and Malphite for being too strong when they were just good meta reactions, I admit it's been long enough I can't recall the details from 5.24 and 6.4 respectively. We want to separate out genuinely overpowered from temporarily effective due to game state, we'll certainly get it wrong sometimes though."

Meddler also commented on Vi, noting no current plans to nerf.

"Quote:

I want to ask if you have any thoughts on Vi, meaning any plans for a mini-rework, abilities rework, will she be included in the Diver class update, and also - have you considered working on her, so that she can have a solid laning gameplay (i.e Making her viable outside of the Jungler Role, such as Top lane? Finally, does Vi fill the standards of an up-to-date example Diver/Bruiser, much like you stated that Camille fullfills those requirements for example. Thank you in advance for your response and have a nice day! 

No current plans for Vi. She's got some counterplay issues in some circumstances, but is generally in a reasonable spot. 

I don't personally feel Camille meets the standards of what a good diver looks like at present (weaknesses aren't clear enough in particular). I do believe with some small to moderate work we can get her to a good place though."

When asked about the new post game stats mentioned in post, Riot Rayven commented:

"Quote:

Shielding done. Please.

Bottom line is: more robust stats are coming with an emphasis on utility focused champs and classes. Not just the initial offering. 

What else are you guys most interested in (other than shielding, healing, and soaking damage)?"

Rayven added:

"We will probably end up doing this later on, but we are starting with something akin to "deaths denied" to cover the super impactful shields and heals."

and:

"Quote:

And "healing done" could be split into "healing on self" and "healing on others". I still have no idea what "healing done" even means. Some games my Marksman will have done more healing than me. Does that mean it includes Life Steal? Health Regen? Does Ardent Censer count for their stat or for mine?

Agree, the existing stat is not very insightful. Life steal junglers can outheal a Soraka in the current system."

As for the previously mentioned Azir mini rework, Meddler commented:

"Quote:

Sorry for nagging, but is there any update on Azir mini-work? 

Last heard it was scheduled for "after rek'sai, but sometime this year"

Hopefully second half of this year sometime."

When asked about Amumu, Meddler noted:

"Quote:

Do you have any details of what the Amumu changes are going to be like, and if he's going to get his very outdated ability icons updated too?

Amumu changes should be hitting PBE tomorrow. They're mainly useability and appreciability tweaks around his passive, plus a brief slow on E cast. 

We don't currently have new icons for him, that's a good call out though. We'll see if it's possible to get a new set done at the same time as we make new ones for some of the tanks in the tank update."

As for when he finds the time to post these, Meddler shared:

"Quote:

Do you do these during your lunch hour? 

I generally write these the night before posting, and then give them a quick double check before posting first thing in the morning or just write them in the morning before my meetings for the day start. 

Lunch was good thanks, with a chicken salad with a side dish of spicy beef on noodles. Was a combination of lunch and work talk with Riot Axes, talking about mid-season changes to crit ADC itemization (testing fairly well so far, so I'm hopeful we'll be able to talk about some details with a few weeks)."

April Sales Schedule 

"Check out all the champs and skins on sale this April! Like previous sales schedules, we’re not posting the exact dates for each champ and skin, but they’ll all be on sale sometime next month. 

Just a heads up – since we’re publishing these in advance, we won’t offer partial refunds on champs and skins purchased before they go on sale."

Galio Bundle and Legacy skins available with 7.6

Galio's champion update hits live with 7.6! The OCE post is already up and mentions a Galio + Skin bundle and Galio's legacy Hextech Galio skin will be in the shop for a few days following release.

(NOTE: These should already be available in the shop even if 7.6 hasn't been applied to your region yet.)

Once 7.6 is out and Galio is available, we'll have a full post - until then check the 7.6 PBE cycle post!

Patch Chat with the Playtest Team - 7.6, Galio rework 

Here's Riot Aesah back again with a new Patch Chat:

""Minions" art created by inkinesss 

Hey guys! Welcome to Patch Chat, a Dev Corner thread we make to talk about our new patches every two weeks: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-76-notes 

I'm Aesah on Riot's Playtest Team, a group of Diamond+ players who play with the new champions, reworks, balance tweaks, items, and map updates before they are released. It's our job to the test the changes that our designers come up with and ensure that we're introducing positive changes to LoL in terms of both balance and fun. We'll be watching this thread to answer as many questions as we can. 

Apart from the long-awaited Galio rework, 7.6 is a relatively smaller patch. Warlord's Bloodlust has been rebalanced to be better against tanks. Some champions that recieved buffs include Aatrox, Fiddlesticks, Cho'gath, Gnar and Miss Fortune while on the other end, Varus and Quinn were nerfed. 

All of us on the Playtest Team are avid gamers so feel free to talk to us as fellow LoL players! 

• Adam "Afic" Cohen
• Ben “Cezium” Burkhardt
• Don “Aesah” Ding
• Nicolas “Gleeb” Haddad
• Dan “penguin” Hardison
• Robert “ROBERTxLEE” Lee
• Rob "King Cobra" Rosa
• Nicholas “Nickwu” Smith
• Blake “S0be” Soberanis
• Trevor “ThEntropist” Thernes
• Arnor "TheLastAirbender" Halldorsson"

Quick HITS: Yasuo's Blade, Next New Champion Designer, & more

[Quick Hits is our own collection within a red post collection, often including easy to digest stories, specialized information, and/or repeat info you may have missed in other posts!]

1) Yasuo's Blade - League of Legends - MAN AT ARMS: REFORGED


2) On the next new champion, Riot August shared that BeatPunchBeef  is the designer for the next new champion.

[1] "I just did early ideation and laid down some early frameworks. BeatPunchBeef is the official designer." 

[2]"The next champ is the last one I got to ideate on before leaving for R&D. I'm so jealous BeatPunchBeef gets to make it because of how cool it is. He and EndlessPillows are doing an excellent job. 

It's not going to be something you expect. Hopefully you guys will love it."

3) ZenonTheStoic commented on reddit that he is the designer on the new champion AFTER the next new champion.

4) When asked about the total production time for the Galio champion update, RiotMEMEMEMEME shared:

"Quote:

How long did it take untill the concept of the reworked Galio was finished?

Once production started I'd say around 6 months, but Solcrushed, Johnodyin, and Lonewingy were working on the core Galio for 2-3 months prior."

5) When asked about the 2016 WC SKT skins, Kindlejack noted they will not be 750s:

"Quote:

And can I ask about quality of the skins like will they all be 975 or similar tier again or was that a one time thing to appease the initial backlash of first 2nd set of SKT skins

We knew last year that the change needed to be an ongoing commitment. We'll continue to try new things with world championship skins but this year's won't be 750s."

Reminders

To round out this red post collection, here are reminders on current promotions or limited time events!

• The next  Chroma for IP Sale hits March 22nd - April 5th!