Friday, March 16, 2018

Red Post Collection: Quick Gameplay Thoughts: 3/16, Kai'Sa Champion Insights & More

Today's red post collection includes Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for March 16th, including potential 8.7 changes, Kai'Sa Champion Insights, a new /Dev on some of the music of League and how it's made, & more!
Continue reading for more information!


Table of Contents


Quick Gameplay Thoughts: March 16 


Here's Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for March 16th, including thoughts on 8.7 changes including Swain, Rumble & more:
"Hey all, 
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 put 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 
Some possible 8.7 changes 
Some potential 8.7 patch changes below. 8.7's a small patch, particularly since we're approaching midseason so are putting some time into that. It'll be on the lighter side as a result, with a fair bit of it made up from things that didn't make it in time for 8.6. Early on in the 8.7 development cycle we'll also be more focused on systemic changes than champion stuff, a bit of extra champion balance work is likely to make it in later though. 
Champions 
  • Swain nerf. Most likely candidates are Q CD (might have lowered it too far) and Q damage. Still figuring details out though, nothing solid yet.
  • Rumble buff. Straight Q and R damage buffs from 8.6 were ok but don't think they were targeted enough at Rumble's problems. Trying to do a bit more as a result.
  • Ahri changes (still working on clearer highs and lows, plus general strengths and weaknesses).
  • LB changes. More likely to be in 8.8 at this point because there's some visual effects work still needed that's not on track for an 8.7 release. Possible it still makes it into 8.7 though.
  • Kayn changes that should smooth out transformation point gain over game time. Likely to be a slight buff and should help lane Kayn a bit more than jungle Kayn too. 
Runes 
  • Manaflow Band nerf/reshape (reduces mana gating too much)
  • Presence of Mind reshape (too strong on its best users, not strong enough on many others)
  • Numbers tuning on some other runes that are just not balanced well enough (e.g. Approach Velocity is weak, Celerity is strong etc) 
Items
  • Still working to make Locket more contextual (good some games, bad others) and probably less effective against single target burst champs
  • Looking at Ninja Tabi, given they're really dominant choices for the boots slot and can have a very large impact on some lanes. Number of things we need to figure out here, including how much they're just too good a general choice, how much they're just too strong, how important they are as a safety valve to AA champs, how much of a safety valve (or excessive counter?) to Lethality, what the right mixture of Armor versus other defensive effects is etc. We're trying to avoid solving a couple of problems only to replace them with other equally large ones. 
Non LoL related game design: Floating Combat Text in Diablo 3 

Interesting article below where some of the Diablo 3 team talk about their approach to building a better combat text approach, including problems they had to solve around localizing for different languages, delivering both satisfaction and readability, working well with a variety of different hero builds and appropriate use of color. Well worth a read if that sounds like your sort of thing. 
https://eu.diablo3.com/en/blog/19996041/engineering-diablo-iiis-damage-numbers-22-01-2016"

When asked for details on the Ahri changes that were testing on the PBE, as well as potential Karma changes, Meddler noted:
"Quote:
Hey Meddler, a couple questions for you:
  • I hear that Ahri's rework/partial revert was pulled to work more on her W. Will she be getting a completely new W? (Apologies if this has been answered already)
  • In light of all these recent partial reverts (LB, Rengar, Ahri etc...), has this direction been considered for Karma? It seems that a lot of her gameplay issues stem from those 5.10 changes (I could be wrong).
Ahri - changes weren't ready in general for 8.6, hence they got delayed to 8.7. That won't include a replacement W. That'd take a much larger amount of time, art included. Right now we're trying to get some quicker improvements to Ahri since artist time's being used on other projects. 
Karma - still expecting we'll do some form of smaller update to her this year. I think she's got a lot of issues that were present before the 5.10 changes, so I don't feel going back on those would solve a huge amount of things. Would want to look whether the removal of the shield bomb in particular though has worked out as planned or not (not certain either way personally, but believe it would be worth digging into certainly)."

On the LeBlanc changes that were testing on the PBE this cycle, Meddler commented:
"Quote:
Are there any considerations about a slight change in direction on the LB rework? Namely, to counteract her complete loss of the ability to actually deceive people, instead of Diana-ing them?
Probably not. I think our desire to make LB more of an illusionist/deceiver was what created a lot of the problems with the previous update. Thematically that's a strong match for LB's character, in terms of what gameplay players liked about LB up to that point it was a secondary note though. There's some of it on the mindgames around the W and the use of the clone passive, but LB's historically been about a combination of windows of burst, mobility/slipperiness and dexterity I'd argue. If she was a brand new character would certainly want much stronger alignment between theme and gameplay. Cost of trying to get that here's been too high though."

As for Presence of Mind, Meddler noted:
"Quote:
What are your thoughts about Presence of Mind? I agree it can be too strong on some champions, but I'm not sure about the goals here. 
Last PBE cycle we saw a "20% max mana regeneration" iteration, the same one that got removed from Morello and currently no item has.
Something like the old Morello passive is likely, from memory paired with another effect (we were previously trying some XP on takedown as well, I think right now reduced ult CD is being tested instead)."

On Phase Rush, Meddler commented:
"Quote:
"Numbers tuning on some other runes that are just not balanced well enough (e.g. Approach Velocity is weak, Celerity is strong etc" 
Does this mean Riot will shift the power back into Phase Rush if Celerity gets nerfed? Phase Rush is already awful and just straight up nerfing Celerity is a big hit to Phase Rush users specifically.
Planning to buff Phase Rush at some point yeah. It didn't make the cutoff for 8.7 planning though (too far down the list versus other work)."

And when asked about Unsealed Spellbook, Meddler replied:
"Quote:
Any updates to unsealed spellbook? I remember you saying a while ago that Unsealed Spellbook was being changed to bring back older summoner spells (such as Clarity), although nothing has been said about it recently. Is this still on the table? I really miss using Clarity on Summoner's Rift especially, and Clairvoyance and Revive would be pretty fun to see too.
Still on the table and being actively worked on. Possible it makes 8.7, didn't mention it in the main post though because still uncertain about that. Will likely involve just Clarity coming back initially, with possibility of adding other older spells too over time."

 When asked about Shurelya's Reverie, Meddler commented:
"Quote:
I had a question about Shurelya's Reverie. I haven’t played long enough to be around when it was first in the game (people told me it was a reintroduction not a new item). What kind of champions use it? The cost makes me think supports, but the AP and passive made me think close range battle Mage or something?
The old version got used on a mixture of supports and tanks generally, with the occasional other user as well like Olaf. That was back before Righteous Glory was in the game though, which skews hard towards tank users, so we're angling this version of Shurelia's more towards enchanters and possibly the odd mage."

Maple Nectar commented on Edge of Night:
"Quote:
Meddler any buffs for Edge of Night? because this item should be good choice instead of Duskblade if u buff with good way like +60 65 ad +300 HP it can be good for 3100 gold item.
We don't have any plans on it currently. We'd talked about it super briefly and opted against doing anything for now, but as we're spending some time looking at assassins we'll take action if it seems we have the room!"

Kai'Sa Champion Insights

Here's Dyquill with a new champion insights article covering our most recent champion: Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void!
"When her world was reduced to predator versus prey, Kai’Sa became a survivor. Despite years spent on the edge of the Void, she remains uncorrupted and unconsumed by the uninhabitable purple doom. But no matter how many nightmarish creatures she outlasts, she’s encumbered by a constant struggle for life. 
The Daughter of the Void has a symbiotic second skin, a parasite-turned-bio-armor that would probably eat her if she didn’t feed it so well. While still hunted by endless horrors, she’s learned by observation and has evolved her own highly effective feeding habits. As both a character and a champion, Kai’Sa occupies a unique role: a vulnerable target that’s also a lethal predator. 
THE HUNTED BECOMES THE HUNTER 
“I never thought this would work,” says Jeevun “Riot Jag” Sidhu. “It’s a scary term, ADC assassin. I was just waiting for someone to tell me, ‘Please stop.’” 
The goal was to make an aggressive marksman, someone who fought in-your-face, up-close and personal. The twist would be their ability to force engagements and pick fights when it suited them—a “high agency” champion, in gameplay design lingo. 
Kai’Sa needed a kit that gave her not just options, but choices. “The hallmark of a good ADC is intelligent target selection,” says Riot Jag. Normally, marksmen do this from a safe distance, sniping targets and attacking from afar. But Kai’Sa has ways to demonstrate that you’re more than just a kiting bot who keeps out of the thick of it. 
Thematic Study for an Unnamed “Void ADC”
With her ult, Kai’Sa can be literally anywhere in a team fight, making plays other ADCs couldn’t dream of. Your Maokai just made a Twisted Advance into their backline? Kai’Sa can follow up instantly, diving deep with a buddy and blowing up any enemy unlucky enough to catch the crowd control. But there’s a price to pay for that kind of mobility. 
“She’s the first champ in… I think five years? With absolutely no crowd control of her own,” says Riot Jag. “She’s just there to do damage.” Not to mention that while she’s got a few ways into a fight, she has exactly zero ways to get out. 
In the end, that’s what removed much of the dread from the phrase “ADC assassin.” Kai’Sa is forced to outmaneuver and outwit opponents through agility and forethought, rather than taking them down with brute force and better burst. 
A NEW VISION FOR THE VOID 
While it was always known that the next marksman would be geared towards all-in offense, it was never a given that the character would be from the Void. 
“We were exploring a Zaunite life-essence-drainer for a while,” says Willem “Riot Tokkelossie” van der Schyf. “But everything about this champ felt very predatory, so tying in to something that was an actual predator made sense. The Void kept coming up as a way to explain that animal instinct.” 
Champion concept exploration: an ex-Purifier, a “vampire,” and a human bonded with a Void virus.
While the team was exploring possible sources for her predatory nature, they found a concept that complemented the aggressive playstyle they envisioned: a Void “jetpack.” Not only did it have a distinct visual read, or silhouette, but it instantly suggested both speed and power. 
The jetpack idea helped clarify the unique take on the Void embodied by a champion that was more agile than brutal. 
“We homed in on a vector shape for her. Her whole body takes the shape of a chevron, like an arrow pointing forward,” says Riot Tokkelossie. “Everything about her feels like she’s moving.

from
http://www.surrenderat20.net/2018/03/red-post-collection-quick-gameplay_16.html
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