Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Red Post Collection: Trials Update: Week One, Return of the Rainbow Fluft Icon, & More

Today's red post collection includes the week one update on the Trials event, details on the return of the Rainbow Fluft Icon, updates to the Universe, and much more!
Continue reading for more information!


Table of Contents


Trials Update: Week One 

Here's Bilby with a week one update on the Trials event:
"It’s been one week since the Mid-Season Trials began, and House United has taken the lead. Here’s the current standings: 
HOUSE UNITED: 1ST
HOUSE WARBAND: 2ND
HOUSE FACELESS: 3RD
HOUSE COUNCIL: 4TH 
This week will be worth more points than last week, so these standings are far from final. 
You have three more weeks to get in the game. Earn points for yourself and your house through missions and MSI watch rewards until June 2, 2019, at 11:59 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, and 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. 
Good luck."

The Rainbow Fluft Icon Returns! 

Here's Riot Cashmiir with details on the return of the Rainbow Fluft icon to support IDAHOTB:
"Last year we debuted the Rainbow Fluft Icon to support IDAHOTB, aka the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. If you didn’t get a chance to pick up the adorable icon, don’t worry because this year we’re bringing it back with a little added kick. 
Show your support for an inclusive worldwide gaming community by purchasing (and equipping) the Rainbow Fluft Icon for 1 Blue Essence. Instead of the rainbow spawn-in animation from last year, players who equip the icon this year will have a unique homeguard animation that leaves behind a sparkling rainbow trail whenever you leave the fountain. And, as a little added bonus, you can equip a custom background in your profile, too! 
You can grab the icon, background, and animation until the end of patch 9.10. So grab a friend and see if you can make a double rainbow all the way across the Rift. 
Learn more about Riot Games’ efforts to build a more inclusive world for players everywhere on riotgames.com."

Universe Update: Yordles!

The Universe was updated with new stories and updated Yordle bios, as well as new images from Bandle City:

Bandle City Region Page
GEOMETRY OF TRANSIT 
Certain pathways can only be opened with a series of specific gestures, often defined by peculiar symbols inscribed nearby. This particular portal opens to a deep cavern, when the low tide reveals a pattern of runic circles, filling the indentations with sea water.
DEEP IN THE BANDLEWOOD 
While there are portals whose positions can shift over time, there are many that stay rooted in a single location. The magic of the spirit realm occasionally ebbs back and forth around such places—known as bandlewoods—and affects the local flora and fauna in strange, unpredictable ways.
Tristana Bio

Lulu Bio

Yuumi Story: The Biggest Catch

The Whispering Doodad

Zac changes coming to PBE for 9.11

Here's Riot Maxw3ll with details on Zac changes testing on the PBE this cycle:
"Hello friends! 
We’ve been following some excellent conversations regarding where Zac landed after his rework in 2017. After assessing players' feedback, we ultimately decided that we went too far in pulling damage out of him in our quest for a more CC-laden tank. We agree that part of Zac’s pattern of diving the back line and doing damage is core to who he is as a champion and unfortunately, Zac players felt that after diving in, he wasn't able to accomplish anything more than just knocking people around. With that in mind, we're reverting his reworked ultimate and W. 
Full Changelist:
Q - Stretching Strikes
COOLDOWN :: 13-9 seconds >>> 15-9 seconds 
W - Unstable Matter
Now does 2% of a target's max health per 100 ability power as magic damage 
R - Let's Bounce
REMOVING OLD ULTIMATE
NEW ULTIMATE :: Zac bounces 4 times gaining 20-50% movement speed over the duration, but is unable to use Q or E and can't attack. The first bounce deals 140/210/280 (+40% AP) damage on a target, reduced by 50% for subsequent bounces on the same target. The first bounce on a given target knocks them back for 1 second, and all bounces on the same target slow by 20% 
The ultimate is a straight revert to what it was before we changed Zac-- four AoEs, each 1 second after the last that do damage and knock up once per cast. The W is another revert, where we basically just added in the AP ratio we took out. Q is not being changed, but the cooldown is a little longer to pull more power out of Zac’s CC and into his damage. This should open up build paths for AP bruiser Zac again, although we expect full tank to still be the default build. 
These changes should be on PBE soon for testing/feedback, with a tentative plan to ship the final changelist in 9.11. We hope to generate some conversation on what y’alls opinions on this list are and go from there."

Prototype Wukong Changes on PBE Context

Meddler provided a context post on prototype Wukong changes testing on the PBE this cycle:
Hey folks, 
Whole bunch of details here on some Wukong changes we’re going to be testing on the PBE for a while. First off, some context around them: 
  • These changes won't be shipping for at least awhile . We're using art that’s borrowed from other champs/items because we haven’t committed to these specific changes yet. So even if the gameplay were to test really well, there’d still be some delay before we shipped them since we'd need to get the art revised.
  • There are some known bugs present in the modified abilities. Nothing that should have a meaningful effect on testing, but stuff that will feel a bit buggier than normal. Smaller stuff like this we don’t put time into fixing until a set of changes have been committed to either.
  • These changes haven’t been through a rigorous balance pass, so numbers won’t necessarily be representative of what they’d need to be for ship. The mechanics themselves are intended to be representative (e.g. Wukong’s Q heals him), so the specific numbers on the heal by contrast might be about right or might be meaningfully too high or too low. We’ve done enough testing to have confidence they’re not ludicrously off, but haven’t put them through a full balance assessment.
  • In addition to PBE testing, we’re also going to be running this changelist past some players onsite at some of our offices. That will give a more controlled environment than PBE can offer (more even and competitive games for example) and generates different feedback as a result.
  • Finally, this is a gameplay focused update. Things like changing VO, model, full animation update, etc. aren’t on the table at this time. We think that sort of work’s really important, but our docket’s currently full with other champions for it. Some art/audio adjustments are likely, but just those needed to accommodate the gameplay changes. 
Ok, that’s a lot of context that isn’t all that interesting to most readers. Apologies, still important to share it though! Next up, goals of this work: 
  • Add a few points of extra mastery to Wukong for those who want to take advantage of it
  • Make a bit more use of the trickster elements of Wukong’s theme
  • Improve ability satisfaction a bit
  • Avoid fundamental changes to things like ability targeting types (as to avoid a significantly more difficult skill floor for new players or large relearning period for existing players)
  • Improve Wukong’s counterplay, both laning pattern, and reliance on bursting targets
  • Focus on Wukong players, past and present, more than potential Wukong players 
Ok, getting past the context setting which I’m sure a lot of you skimmed past anyway and into the changelist. Again, numbers haven’t necessarily been balanced, so this is much more about the direction of how the abilities work than what a particular number is. 
Passive - Strength of Stone (was Stone Skin) 
Part 1 Crushing Blows - New 
Whenever Wukong or one of his clones damages an enemy champion, they apply a stack of Crushing Blows to that target. Targets take 4% increased damage from Wukong and his clones for each stack of Crushing blows (max 5). 
VFX start small at one stack and get larger with each additional stack applied. 
Part 2 Stone Skin - Redesigned 
When 3+ enemy champions are visible within 1400 units, Wukong gains Armor and MR equal to 20 + 2 per level + 0.2*his bonus Armor/MR respectively. Bonuses last for 6s and renews if enemies remain near. Currently uses the Gargoyle's Stoneplate activation VFX when up. 
Why these changes? 
Wukong’s live passive is functional (gives him power, influences his itemization), but real low on satisfaction. Would like to keep the teamfight survivability aspect though. Trying a double passive, where both parts hopefully have better appreciability and neither needs to be as relevant in all contexts for the passive as a whole to feel better. For the defensive bit, giving him Armor/MR ratios to make mixing in more defensive itemization, if desired, a more sensible choice. For the offensive part, looking to shift some power on the kit away from a team amp to a personal amp and allow magic damage output, whether from Wukong’s kit or elsewhere, to also feel better. 
Q - Golden Magical Staff (was Crushing Blow) 
Now has a passive where Wukong gets 125 range on his next AA after he casts any spell (not just Q). 
Now deals 20-100 bonus magic damage instead of 10-130 (+0.4 AD) bonus physical damage. Now heals for 20-60 (+0.25 AD) health (halved on minions) instead of shredding the target's Armor. 
Why these changes? 
Trying to give him more frequent access to increased range as a way to allow a combat pattern that's both a bit more varied (especially in lane) and doesn't necessarily have to be as bursty. Laning pattern also hopefully helped a bit by some sustain on the kit. Expectation is that basic effectiveness will be pretty easy to access, but extra range will allow a lot of optimizations, especially when combined with other parts of the kit. 
W - Warrior Trickster (was Decoy) 
Clone created now attacks nearby enemies dealing 50% of Wukong's damage instead of exploding for magic damage at the end of its life. 
Clone lifespan increased to 2.5-5.0s (invisibility duration for Wukong himself unchanged). 
Wukong creating a clone and Wukong

from
http://www.surrenderat20.net/2019/05/red-post-collection-trials-update-week.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)