Red Post Collection: Quick Gameplay Thoughts: May 9th, Choose a Champion Update for 2020, & More

Today's red post collection includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for May 9th, the voting page to choose a Champion Update for 2020, details on Trials missions, and more!
Continue reading for more information!

• Red Post Collection: Mid-Patch Updates, Quick Gameplay Thoughts: May 3rd, & More
• 5/6 PBE Update: Skin Tweaks, Tentative Balance Changes, & More
• 5/7 PBE Update: More Skin Tweaks & Balance Changes
• 5/8 PBE Update: Tentative Balance Changes

Table of Contents

• Quick Gameplay Thoughts: May 9 
• Choose a Champion Update for 2020!
• The Trials Begin 
• Behind The Scenes | Giving Yuumi A Voice
• Miscellaneous
• Reminders

Quick Gameplay Thoughts: May 9 

Meddler is back with his quick gameplay thoughts for May 9th, including thoughts on 9.11 changes, Clash, and more:

"Hi folks, 

Usual Disclaimers 

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get delayed or even stopped. If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler 

9.11 possible changes 

We've just done some initial planning for 9.11. Some of the things work will be going into below. As usual smaller balance changes will be assessed and added later in the patch cycle, so this will be far from a complete list. Overall we feel there aren't any large widespread balance issues at present (e.g. entire classes out of line or major game pacing problems) so changes will generally be on the smaller side. As a result we're also starting to shift more work towards investigating possible projects for preseason. More on those to come later in the year. 

• Rageblade Followup 

Rageblade changes (Phantom Hit every 3 attacks instead of 2, Pen to flat 15% rather than scaling by level) are on track for 9.10. We're not doing compensation changes to champs who might be affected until it's clear what sort of changes are or aren't necessary. Putting some time aside in advance, in particular to focus on any champs left in a terrible spot. Expectation is there'll likely be at least one champ who needs a bit of work, given the number of current Rageblade users. 

• Yuumi Followup 

Nothing too surprising here. As usual could also involve a quick micro patch just after Yuumi's launch if she's clearly way too strong or way too weak even for a just released champion. We generally want to give new champs a bit of time to settle down before making assumptions about balance stats, always possible a release will be sufficiently off the mark it's worth acting immediately though. 

• Aatrox Followup 

Less sure if we'll be doing work here or not, given the 9.9 changes are looking ok now post hotfix. Do need to see if they're in a reasonable spot for pro play, given one of the goals here was to lower power in pro relative to regular play so we could buff him for regular play. 

Clash 

Should have an update on where things are up to and the plan going forward that we'll be sharing later this month. Apologies for some silence, we've been heads down working through some technical stuff. 

Wukong changes in testing 

We've been working on a small (ish) gameplay update for Wukong for a bit. It's not finished yet, but at a stage where wider feedback would be really helpful. Plan is to put it on the PBE next week (probably Tuesday). That will come with an accompanying context post on what's changed and why, what's not changing, overall project goals etc. Overall the changes aren't a large departure from Wukong's current kit. The biggest mechanical change being tested is that his W clone now lasts a bit longer and auto attacks nearby enemies instead of exploding. Its attacks apply on hits and deal a proportion of Wukong's AD as damage. 

After some time on PBE (2-4 weeks at a guess) we'll then pull the changes off PBE. Based off feedback received from that and some other testing we'll make a call on whether to proceed with the update or not. Timing of a release if so is still to be determined, wouldn't be immediate though, given need to go from a prototype made for testing purposes to a more polished version of the changes (visual effects adjustments, bug fixing, balance pass etc)."

Meddler provided a little more on Wukong over on the WukongMains subreddit:

"Hey folks, 

Dropping by to let you know there'll be a whole bunch of details, plus playable changes on the PBE shortly. Aiming for Friday, possible ends up early next week though. Those changes are still unpolished (using art from other champs, haven't been through balance testing some numbers might be wrong, some known bugs), so this isn't getting ready to ship the following patch but instead to get wider feedback. I'll drop by here, in addition to other places, if you want to discuss. 

In terms of scope of changes there'll be meaningful mechanics changes worth talking about on the passive, Q, W and E. Ult is basically unchanged. Largest change is probably to the W, where the clone lasts a bit longer (invis duration unchanged) and instead of standing there then exploding eventually it auto attacks nearby enemies (% of Wukong's AD+applies on hits). It doesn't move, but animations have been changed so Wukong pushing 'S' and the clone cast can't be easily distinguished. Increase to dash distance on W cast as well (200 instead of 100). More details on that, goals, other context etc soon."

When asked about Diana changes, Meddler commented:

"Probably hitting PBE next week as well. Context post tomorrow or early next week."

On Rek'Sai, Meddler replied:

"Is probably about balanced in high MMR play at present, looks weak at low MMR. Not ideal, kit's the sort that skews towards high MMR optimizations though. No immediate plans to try and shift that."

On Mercury Treads, Meddler commented:

"Nothing currently planned in that line. Seems like a decent direction to discuss though, I'll pass it on to a couple of folks for them to consider. Could imagine variations that target Tenacity more towards particular circumstances (e.g. some sources are flat and good against single big CCs, another source potentially stacks up whenever you're CC'd so is targeted at chain CC victims)."

When asked about the upcoming Zac changes, Meddler commented:

"Ult revert's the main change. Designer working on it should have a post up next week with details and their thinking on what is/isn't changing and why. We were hoping to hit 9.10 for ship but getting the old audio for the ult hooked up proved a bit more challenging than originally assumed hence the move to 9.11."

Choose a Champion Update for 2020!

The vote for a future champion update is here! - "There are five options on the table. Which champion should we update next year?"

"A visual & gameplay update is where we redesign a champion from the ground up, including their gameplay, visuals, story, animations, voice acting… the works. It’s an opportunity for us to bring older champions up to modern standards while amplifying what players already love about them. And this time, we want your help choosing one of the champions we’ll update in 2020! We’ve selected five champs we see as high-priorities for updates, and we’re committed to working on whichever one you choose.

You have until 11:59 p.m. PT on May 15 to vote. You may cast your vote at the bottom of the page, and you cannot change your vote after submission, so choose wisely. 

Let’s talk about how we’d approach updating each of these champions. 

Fiddlesticks 

Fiddlesticks has been on the list of champs we’d like to update for a while now, as not much about him has aged well. Our main goal with updating Fiddlesticks would be to push his theme of “terrifying scarecrow that comes out of nowhere” to a whole other level through both his visuals and gameplay. We’d want to preserve his unique mage jungler playstyle as well as his iconic ultimate Crowstorm. We’d also want to add more counterplay and satisfaction to his base kit while building in more synergies with Crowstorm.

Shyvana 

While Shyvana’s overall visual and kit quality isn’t as low as some of the champions in this poll, she falls under the category of champions like Irelia or Akali, who weren’t fully delivering on their thematic promise before being reworked. If we were to update Shyvana, we’d be looking to really bring the fantasy of “warrior who transforms into a fire-breathing dragon” to life. We’d do this by keeping her damaging fighter playstyle while making her dragon form better express the theme of a destructive fire-breathing dragon, differentiating it much more from her human form.

Nocturne 

Nocturne is an interesting case: He’s one of the most popular champions among players just starting out in League, but most of those players quit playing him shortly after trying him out. This suggests that Nocturne’s gameplay and visual fantasies are very strong, but he’s not quite delivering on them in game. If we updated Nocturne, we’d really want to drive home the promised fantasy of a living nightmare, leaving his enemies in total darkness. To accomplish this, we’d want to preserve his iconic ultimate but create a more deep and satisfying base kit to go along with it. We’d also enhance his visuals so that he lives up to his title as the Eternal Nightmare.

Dr. Mundo 

Dr. Mundo’s art and animations need a lot of work, but his kit has held up pretty well over the years, relative to some of the other candidates. If we were to update Mundo, we’d want to execute much better on his theme of a horrifying-yet-hilarious masochistic madman who goes wherever he pleases and does whatever he wants. For his gameplay, we’d want to preserve his niche as an unkillable self-healing super tank—since that’s currently what makes him stand out on the roster—as well as his iconic cleavers. His W and E don’t currently offer all that much satisfaction or decision-making, so we’d be looking to replace or upgrade both of these abilities. 

Volibear 

When Volibear launched, his kit didn’t really land well, and his gameplay has proven unsatisfying to the point where he’s the least played champion on this poll. His role in Runeterra has also evolved a lot since he was released, and if we were to update Volibear, we’d want to make sure he delivers as an imposing, lightning-fueled demigod of the Freljord. For his kit, we’d be aiming to make him less feast-or-famine, while giving Volibear a more unique gameplay identity that stands out in League’s champion roster. His kit changes would have a secondary goal of pushing his gameplay to feel more like playing an unstoppable force who charges his foes with the power of a ferocious bear. 

Some other helpful things to know: The champions who don’t win the vote certainly aren’t out of the running to receive a VGU, and they’ll all be considered for future updates. These champions aren’t necessarily the next five champs we’ll update—we may choose to update other champs first. Depending on how this vote is received, we may consider doing it again, but we don’t plan on deciding every future VGU with a vote. And finally, there’s a chance that whatever champion wins won’t actually be the first VGU released in 2020, mostly because it depends on how smoothly early exploration goes. 

WITH THAT… WHICH CHAMPION WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE UPDATED IN 2020? 

VOTE NOW

Thanks for voting, and stay tuned after the polls close for the results. We can’t wait to see which champion you all choose!"

The Trials Begin 

Here's Bilby with a full rundown on the Trials event missions and rewards!

"The Mid-Season Trials have begun. Earn points for your house (and loot for yourself) through missions and MSI watch rewards until June 2, 2019, at 11:59 PM PT. These missions also lead to personal loot rewards. 

Each week, you’ll receive an update on house standings and points will be awarded to house members. The next update will be on May 13, 2019, at 1:00 PM PT. 

Remember: Only missions that show your house icon count towards your house’s progress. Missions from the Trials Pass won’t count towards the competition. 

Points awarded increase each week so every house has the chance for a comeback. 

At the end of the event, everyone in the winning house earns a golden house emote, in-game finisher animation, and icon. 

It’s time to represent. Good luck."

Behind The Scenes | Giving Yuumi A Voice

"Voice actor Cassandra Lee Morris and narrative writer Rayla Heide visited a cat cafe to discuss cat personalities, inspiration for Yuumi, and how voice-over brings champions to life."