League of Legends

[Soren37]

Udyr just seems to be overall strong. The ability to switch between a stun, shield, an AOE AND as AS/AD steroid does give him a pretty strong presence.

When he's fed though, dear fucking god. I hate him.

[BK-201]

Isn't Udyr the fastest jungle? He's pretty strong and versatile since he can tank and deal damage. :/

[Soren37]

I think Olaf has the fastest, but Udyr seems to be the strongest jungle, for the same reason you said, he's extremely versatile. I think if you rune it right and get the right starting items with his R, he can start at golems, and then work his way around. This means he pretty much starts at level 2.

[BK-201]

I think Olaf has the fastest, but Udyr seems to be the strongest jungle, for the same reason you said, he's extremely versatile. I think if you rune it right and get the right starting items with his R, he can start at golems, and then work his way around. This means he pretty much starts at level 2.

With masteries alone, at small golems any jungler can hit 2 instantly. Udyr generally starts at wolves, clears before 1:55 and then heads to Blue. Fairly sure all junglers can do this. Also, there Tiger Stance jungle was faster, though not sure after its nerf. His versatility isn't what makes him a good jungler, rather the fact that he excels at what is needed for jungle.

[Solanum Tuberosum]

nope, nope

phoenix stance has always been faster, people just did tiger stance because it was "so much better" at ganking. phoenix has always been clearing jungle at about 3:30, and now you can even go faster with a good leash on blue, tiger has been always hovering around 4:00 minute clear, and now it's even slower with the nerf to his AD ratio... now people are hopping onto the phoenix bandwagon again, lol.

for olaf, if you take the safe path, then you are a slow jungler, if you take the risky path, you are hella fast, (about equal to udyr phoenix)but if you were to be disrupted, you'd die easily. he's not a top jungler, at the moment. the other junglers just outclass him in other ways. (even yi)

[BEST TRYNDAMERE PLAYER]

Even with the nerf to tiger stance I still jungle with tiger. A really nice trick you can do is Q at fountain so you get the dot pre-loaded and then when you start your jungle you can tiger stance again 2 seconds later to double dot. With a leash on blue you will take like only 100 damage killing blue buff without having to use a health pot. Although if you jungle with tiger stance it is highly recommended you have AD quints and reds before you do it.

[Solanum Tuberosum]

^yup pretty much thats tiger

[Soren37]

So, news!

New champion, Talon. Here's his mechanics.

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/news/talon-mechanics-preview

Seems to be an in-and-out type dps character. Can't say I'd like to play him though. Combo I'd probably use is Q->R->W->E and auto-attacks (duh). He also seems to be a bit like Vayne, in the sense that he can pick out one champ at a time, but not multiple ones. Also, I don't understand the description for his ult.

Second thing, I'm actually getting a little bit tired with the amount of champions that they're releasing. I know that Riot is only a staff of 300, but there are maintenance issues that should be worked out, mainly with regards to server load and dependency. I know they try hard, but maybe they could do a NA Split like they did for EU? Also, having 70+ champions gets tiresome with trying to remember how to combat. I'm half-inclined some games to just go "BV and Thornmail, I quit" because they're easy to use to shut down the enemy.

Finally, I'm falling in love with Morgana. I love her abilities, and it's fun to play as her. Just need to learn how to aim her skillshots better (I've never really played with skillshot champs).

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

@ soren, noo?? anivia is best support, that video is #1 at showing the best guide for supporting anivia

wat

NEEDS MOAR TARIC

Far as Udyr jungle goes, yeah, Phoenix Udyr is easily the most efficient. I really like how Tryndamere jungles, because he can go for a while, it's easy for him to shut down a counterjungle and even to counterjungle himself, and he ganks like a truck provided your CC connects (or even if it doesn't - Youmuu chasing works for that). I really want to try Trundle (of course, that'll take some IP grinding) because he seems like one of the sexiest all-around junglers there is.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Anti-Social Kitty

[BK-201]

So, news!

New champion, Talon. Here's his mechanics.

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/news/talon-mechanics-preview

Seems to be an in-and-out type dps character. Can't say I'd like to play him though. Combo I'd probably use is Q->R->W->E and auto-attacks (duh). He also seems to be a bit like Vayne, in the sense that he can pick out one champ at a time, but not multiple ones. Also, I don't understand the description for his ult.

Second thing, I'm actually getting a little bit tired with the amount of champions that they're releasing. I know that Riot is only a staff of 300, but there are maintenance issues that should be worked out, mainly with regards to server load and dependency. I know they try hard, but maybe they could do a NA Split like they did for EU? Also, having 70+ champions gets tiresome with trying to remember how to combat. I'm half-inclined some games to just go "BV and Thornmail, I quit" because they're easy to use to shut down the enemy.

Finally, I'm falling in love with Morgana. I love her abilities, and it's fun to play as her. Just need to learn how to aim her skillshots better (I've never really played with skillshot champs).

Not sure. If he's tanky he'll be played more of a bruiser that's able to chase given his ability that causes them to leave a trail though we'll have to wait and see.

Those are two different departments as far as I'm aware. It's like having multiple people in a hosptial and saying there are too many of one profession, and moving people around would fix that problem. Rather, they should hire more people to maintain servers. Last time I checked, DoTA and HoN had more champions/heroes than LoL. Thornmail doesn't work well as an AD counter, as Lifesteal + LW completely rips apart Thornamil, Frozen Heart and Randuin are superior. I really don't feel that the champions are that hard to remember though and their counters are fairly easy to figure out.

[Grace]

Not sure. If he's tanky he'll be played more of a bruiser that's able to chase given his ability that causes them to leave a trail though we'll have to wait and see.

That would be nice... if they didn't outright say he was going to be fragile. Think assassin, in all senses of the word. Fragile, but deadly. Not liking the fact that is only stealth inducing move is his ult. Could be good, if used properly is what I'm thinking at this stage. Otherwise, likely to be dead weight.

[BK-201]

That would be nice... if they didn't outright say he was going to be fragile. Think assassin, in all senses of the word. Fragile, but deadly. Not liking the fact that is only stealth inducing move is his ult. Could be good, if used properly is what I'm thinking at this stage. Otherwise, likely to be dead weight.

Later reading they did say he'd be squishy :/. He really has no place in the meta unless he's capable of jungling as he would most likely be zoned out by AP's due to their range and damage. Stealth is something they're looking to change so IDK why they decide to nerf things against their design policy yet continuing creating champions like that. We'll just wait and see I guess.

[Soren37]

Wouldn't he most likely be placed in the jungle OR in the bottom lane? He's an AD Carry, and his Q silences the target, which any AP Carry would hate to have. Sure, he might be zoned by them, but a lane switch would fix that, or just being overly aggressive with Q and ganks.

[Soren37]

Wouldn't he most likely be placed in the jungle OR in the bottom lane? He's an AD Carry, and his Q silences the target, which any AP Carry would hate to have. Sure, he might be zoned by them, but a lane switch would fix that, or just being overly aggressive with Q and ganks.

[Hippoman]

I'm not interested in Talon. He's a little too...serious for my tastes. I tried playing HoN over last week, and one thing that really bugs me is that every champ is such "SERIOUS BUSINESS". You could replace about half of the roster's names with

Grimdark McBloodragedrinker and not much would change.

I like my midgets in helicopters and outrageous gemknights.

[BK-201]

Wouldn't he most likely be placed in the jungle OR in the bottom lane? He's an AD Carry, and his Q silences the target, which any AP Carry would hate to have. Sure, he might be zoned by them, but a lane switch would fix that, or just being overly aggressive with Q and ganks.

He's not an AD carry, he's an assassin. Anyways, you don't play Ashe/Corki/Vayne/etc. by running into crowds. It's just not viable. Tryndamere requires an endless rage skill to perform this role, and is considered much worse than ranged AD due to their ability to stay away from getting hit. Eve and Twitch are the only(?) assassins we have atm, and they do poorly in lane. How he matches up against AP is dependent on range I guess.

@Hippo, have you seen Talon's spotlight? Assassin in purple armor gogogogo :p.

Edited August 19, 2011 by BK-201

[mytony]

I have not tried this game.

[Solanum Tuberosum]

I dunno, you don't know how a champ really is until you see them in action, I remember when Rumble was released, people said he was UP, then DREAMHACK, holy shit, that guy was banned like always, shit. Usually people need some time to find what builds and playstyles are most effective on characters.

IMO, I think Talon might be nice in an AOE comp with his ulti... I think his solo laning shouldn't be too bad, he has a gap closer like Katarina, and a somewhat rangey nuke with his cone blade thing.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Piemanmj

[Soren37]

Speculation is fun though. In all seriousness though, he could be an effective ganker because of his teleport and silence. If he can get a mage with that, they're pretty much done. Even if they try to run, he can follow them.

Actually, do you guys think that the blood trail will follow through brush as well, or no?

[Soren37]

Sorry for the double post, but we're going on a completely new trail here.

Changes

-Jax Leap Strike and Empower base damage decreased by 15.

-Kayle per level stats increasing, Reckoning gives more damage amplification, hybrid Kayle coming back as Reckoning is gaining an AD Ratio

And sadly, the death of the healers.

-Nidalee's heal is losing AP ratio and getting a mana increase. Javelins are costing less mana now, and getting a better cooldown. Panther form has gained more armour, MR, and AP ratios

-Sona's Aria of Perseverance is having its base heal and AP ratio dropped. The aura now doubles the armour and MR buff to both Sona and her target. Minor tweaks to increase damage, and bug fixes

-Soraka's Astral Blessing is getting a better armour buff and duration, while the cooldown is increasing. Starcall now does more MR shred with a lower CD. Increased base stats. Infuse has a lower cooldown.

-Taric's Imbue now has a higher cooldown, but now decreases cooldown by 4 seconds. Base AS increased.

Quote Phreak

"We want our healers to be more combat-oriented" 00:56

"The goal here is to make these champions have a reason to get into a fight and engage in combat" 01:01

"We like when champions really want to get in there, not just sit back and toss out heals" 01:05

Support champs were known because of their ability to keep you in lane for freakin' ever and not running out into combat like a suicidal maniac. However, Riot does not seem to get that healers don't fight. If you look at any game that has healers/RPG elements in it (TF2, D&D, FF, FE, Phantasy Star, WoW, etc.) all the healers are weak things, but that's because they can stave off death, provide buffs and assistance to your allies, or completely turn the tide of battle.

Making healers combat-oriented ruins their entire purpose. Yes, we can all start chaning runes and getting max CDR, but will it turns things around? I don't know. I'll reserve more of my rant for when I see the numbers.

[BK-201]

Sorry for the double post, but we're going on a completely new trail here.

Changes

-Jax Leap Strike and Empower base damage decreased by 15.

-Kayle per level stats increasing, Reckoning gives more damage amplification, hybrid Kayle coming back as Reckoning is gaining an AD Ratio

And sadly, the death of the healers.

-Nidalee's heal is losing AP ratio and getting a mana increase. Javelins are costing less mana now, and getting a better cooldown. Panther form has gained more armour, MR, and AP ratios

-Sona's Aria of Perseverance is having its base heal and AP ratio dropped. The aura now doubles the armour and MR buff to both Sona and her target. Minor tweaks to increase damage, and bug fixes

-Soraka's Astral Blessing is getting a better armour buff and duration, while the cooldown is increasing. Starcall now does more MR shred with a lower CD. Increased base stats. Infuse has a lower cooldown.

-Taric's Imbue now has a higher cooldown, but now decreases cooldown by 4 seconds. Base AS increased.

Quote Phreak

"We want our healers to be more combat-oriented" 00:56

"The goal here is to make these champions have a reason to get into a fight and engage in combat" 01:01

"We like when champions really want to get in there, not just sit back and toss out heals" 01:05

Support champs were known because of their ability to keep you in lane for freakin' ever and not running out into combat like a suicidal maniac. However, Riot does not seem to get that healers don't fight. If you look at any game that has healers/RPG elements in it (TF2, D&D, FF, FE, Phantasy Star, WoW, etc.) all the healers are weak things, but that's because they can stave off death, provide buffs and assistance to your allies, or completely turn the tide of battle.

Making healers combat-oriented ruins their entire purpose. Yes, we can all start chaning runes and getting max CDR, but will it turns things around? I don't know. I'll reserve more of my rant for when I see the numbers.

Support makes for boring gameplay. Watching TSM vs SK, where SK managed to pick up both Soraka and Nidalee. Any point in harassing was gone. By combat oriented, they mean similar to Alistar, where their net to the teamfights is supposed to less invested in the healing asepct as opposed to other aspects that define them as supports. I'd hold back judgment until numbers and trying them out.

Nidalee's heal was out of line. She has great damage as seen in SK vs CLG, where Nidalee landing multiple spears, completely decimated the tower hugging SK. She already has damage obviously, great pushing abilities (Cougar, pounce, swipe), and having the highest heal ratio on top of that is really strong. They really want to make her ultimate useful though outside of pushing as far as I'm aware. :/

Jax's nerf was needed for sure.

[Soren37]

Jax does have an extremely strong early game. I am kind of glad they changed it.

The reason I'm upset with the changes is because I normally main the healing supports, so it's kind of sad for me to see them change them around. I thought that they were in a pretty good position.

Sorry about the whole "combat-oriented" thing there. I thought that they wanted them to start coming out and attacking more, instead of doing the usual stand there and heal when needed. Making them more like Alistar would be nice, as Alistar is still a support champ, but has some nice damage outside of it.

After hearing about Nidalee right there, I'm glad they nerfed it.

[BK-201]

Jax does have an extremely strong early game. I am kind of glad they changed it.

The reason I'm upset with the changes is because I normally main the healing supports, so it's kind of sad for me to see them change them around. I thought that they were in a pretty good position.

Sorry about the whole "combat-oriented" thing there. I thought that they wanted them to start coming out and attacking more, instead of doing the usual stand there and heal when needed. Making them more like Alistar would be nice, as Alistar is still a support champ, but has some nice damage outside of it.

After hearing about Nidalee right there, I'm glad they nerfed it.

Jax's late game is scary too. :p

It seems that way with Taric nerfs, but at least it encourages his passive to be utilized a bit. It's a small step, but right now supports don't add much to the game outside of a 'mobile health pack' as someone described. Alistar's damage was a bit excessive at one point, with 1.0 AP ratios.

HSGG's Nidalee is considered the best. Watching him chip off 1/3 of an enemy champion's health per spear, and being able to land it consistently is quite scary. Also, 1.25 AP heal ratio with AS steroid is quite good given that she can farm up very well unlike current supports.

[Soren37]

It does encourage him to use his passive more, but it also means sticking your neck out into the fray more, which is something you don't want to do as a support. Taric can be exempted from this a bit, as in the current meta, his opposition is a support and an AD Carry. The support can't really damage him, and the AD Carry is nullified by his W.

And yes, I know HSGG has the best Nid out there right now. I still kind of want to play her, after I become better as Sona, when I buy her.

And I'm still interested in the support champs, I'm just wondering what would have to happen to bring them back up to their old place.

[Soren37]

EDIT: Accursed mouse seems to like double-posting.

Edited August 23, 2011 by Soren37