So..Today I tried AP Graves in ARAM…I never had so much fun in my life.
League of Legends
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So..Today I tried AP Graves in ARAM****…I never had so much fun in my life.
Isn't ARAM a wondrous place?
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**Or how about AD Fizz ?
My friend nicknamed this build "crazy eel"**.
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I use AP Corki on ARAM (harder to use now tho since his Phosphorus bomb isn't automatic any more)
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I almost play only ARAMs so I'm used to see funny stuff
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**Mysterious Changes to Certain Champion Pages:
In an interesting development, there seems to be a mysterious** fog or smoke covering precisely seven of the official champion pages, including:
- Cassiopeia****
- Hecarim****
- LeBlanc****
- Lissandra****
- Twisted Fate****
- Xerath****
- Zed****
**When opening any of the above pages, the background image of each page is quickly covered in a thick sort of smoke, cloud, mist, or fog (whatever you want to call it), followed by a brief pulses of teal light
Here's an embedded version of LeBlanc's** loop****, although each of the champions above have their own. Now that you've seen what's floating around, what do you think it means? What could, if anything, this be a teaser for? Remember that the Harrowing is right around the corner and the Shadow Isles is known to be quite the spooky place this time of year. Riot has also been known to fiddle with champion pages when teasing upcoming champions a la the Jinx graffiti teaser. Maybe it signalling a new Teemo skin - who knows!
Well ZenonTheStoic certainly doesn't judging by his post in one of the reddit speculation threads****!
"That feeling when you work at Riot and have no clue what's going on. Your guess is as good as mine, guys."Be sure to keep on the look out for more clues!
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either a new champion affiliated with them or those champs might get Harrowing skins.
When Jinx had the graffiti thing was Vi and Caitlyn 2 of the champs that had it?
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New stuff (lore wise).
Before we jump in to these two new stories, here's Jaredan with an introduction and additional context on the situation regarding short in-client and (intended) longer website biographies and champion stories:[hide]
"Hey all,
As a member of the Narrative discipline that works on ideation & story, I’d like to follow up with you about where we currently are with champ bios and backgrounds.
Previously, we've communicated two main ways in which the presentation of champ backgrounds is changing: format & location. A while back we started moving away from the older style of 'historical' bios in favor of character stories (think Braum & Gnar), but we've found that issues like character limits and formatting constraints are preventing us from really pushing things further in the in-client lore tabs. Given that the lore tab is also intended to give players a quick feel for a champ's thematic and identity, we've decided to morph it into more of an introductory space that links to deeper story experiences on the website's champ info pages.
That said, we’re frankly behind on all of this. We recently released in-client champion intros for Shurima champions without having their deeper story pieces ready to go. We know this is frustrating and we’re working to get them all out as soon as possible.
Additionally, as I mentioned last week, we've run into some tech issues preventing us from de-linking the champ info pages from the lore tabs. We hope to have this fixed very shortly, but for now we're actually unable to deliver completed stories in the way we've promised.
Because of this, we’ve taken the interim step of stickying the new Azir and Xerath short stories on this board. We hope you enjoy them, and deeply appreciate your continuing patience as we work to bring you the stories you want and deserve.
I’ll be hanging out in this thread for a bit, so feel to leave any questions you may have and I'll do my best to address them.
Azir
Xerath"
[/hide]First up is Azir's short story, Arisen:
[hide] "Azir walked the gold-paved Emperor’s Way. The immense statues of Shurima’s earliest rulers – his ancestors – watched his progress. The soft, shadowy light of predawn seeped through his city. The brightest stars still shone overhead, though they would soon be snuffed out by the rising sun. The night sky was not as Azir remembered it; the stars and the constellations were misaligned. Millennia had passed.
With every step, Azir’s heavy staff of office struck a lonely note, echoing through the capital’s empty streets.
When last he had walked this path, an honor guard of 10,000 elite warriors had marched in his wake, and the cheers of the crowd had shaken the city. It was to have been his moment of glory – yet it had been stolen from him.
Now, it was a city of ghosts. What had become of his people?
With an imperious gesture, Azir commanded the sands beside the roadway to rise, creating living statues. This was a vision of the past, the echoes of Shurima given form.
The sand figures looked forward, heads tilted toward the immense Sun Disk hanging above the Dais of Ascension half a league ahead. It hung there still, declaring the glory and power of Azir’s empire, though no one remained to see it. The daughter of Shurima who awakened him, she who bore his lineage, was gone. He sensed her out in the desert. Blood bound them together. As Azir walked the Emperor’s Way, the sand-echoes of his people pointed up at the Sun Disk, their joyful expressions turning to horror. Mouths opened wide in silent screams. They turned to run, stumbling and falling. Azir watched this all in despairing silence, bearing witness to the last moments of his people.
They were obliterated by a wave of unseen energy, reduced to dust and cast to the winds. What had gone wrong with his Ascension to unleash this catastrophe?
Azir's focus narrowed. His march became more resolute. He reached the base of the Stairs of Ascension and began to climb, taking them five at a time.
Only his most trusted soldiers, the priesthood, and those of the royal bloodline were allowed to step foot upon the Stairs. Sand versions of these most favored subjects lined his path, faces upturned, grimacing and wailing in silence before they too were swept away by the winds.
He ran, taking the steps faster than any man could, talons digging into the stonework, carving furrows where they caught. Sand figures rose, and were then destroyed, to either side of him as he climbed.
He reached the top. Here, he saw the final circle of onlookers: his closest aides, his advisers, the high priests. His family.
Azir dropped to his knees. His family was before him, rendered in perfect, heartbreaking detail. His wife, heavy with child. His shy daughter, clutching his wife's hand. His son, standing tall, on the brink of becoming a man.
In horror, Azir saw their expressions change. Though he knew what was to come, he could not look away. His daughter hid her face in the folds of his wife's dress; his son reached for his sword, shouting in defiance. His wife… her eyes widened, sorrow and despair writ within.
The unseen event blasted them to nothingness.It was too much, but no tears welled in Azir’s eyes. His Ascended form rendered that simple act of grief forever lost to him. With a heavy heart, he pushed himself to his feet. The question remained as to how his bloodline survived, for it most assuredly had.
The final echo awaited.
He advanced, halting one step below the dais, and watched as it all played out before him, reenacted in the sand.
He saw himself, in his mortal form, rise up into the air beneath the Sun Disk, arms wide and back arched. He remembered this moment. The power coursed through him, infusing his being, filling him with its divine strength.
A newcomer formed in the sand. His trusted bondsman, his magus, Xerath.
His friend uttered a silent word. Azir watched himself shatter like glass, exploding into motes of sand.
“Xerath,” breathed Azir.
The traitor’s expression was unknowable, but Azir could see nothing but the face of a murderer.
Where did such hate come from? Azir had never been aware of it.
The sand image of Xerath rose higher into the air as the Sun Disk's energies focused into his being. A cadre of elite guards rushed toward him, but they were all far too late.
A brutal shockwave of sand flared out, disintegrating the final moment of Shurima. Azir stood alone among the dying echoes of his past.
This is what killed his people.
Azir turned away, just as the first rays of the new dawn struck the Sun Disk overhead. He'd seen enough. The sand image of the transformed Xerath collapsed behind him.
The dawn sun reflected blindingly off Azir's flawless golden armor. In that instant, he knew that the traitor still lived. He sensed the magus’s essence in the air that he breathed.
Azir lifted a hand, and an army of his elite warriors rose from the sands at the base of the Stairs of Ascension.
“Xerath,” he said, his voice tinged with rage. “Your crimes will not go unpunished.”
[/hide]Next up is Xerath's short story, Unbound:
[hide]"This was the moment.The singular moment that had cost him so much, that had taken a lifetime of planning. A corrupt empire and its strutting princeling would be struck down under the blankly idiotic sun symbol they both so trusted. The key to immortality, jealously guarded and miserly offered, would be his alone, stolen in front of the entire world. A singular moment of perfect vengeance that would finally free the slave known as Xerath.
Though his master’s helm revealed no human expression, and knowing that the lovingly etched metal could not respond in kind, Xerath smiled up at the soulless hawk’s face just the same, his joy genuine. A life spent in servitude, first for a mad emperor and now a vain one, endless manipulations for and against the throne, a near-damning quest for barely remembered knowledge that almost consumed him—all of it led to this grotesque masquerade of Ascension.
The very word when spoken aloud was an assault: We will Ascend, while you are chained to the broken stone as the sands of time swallow you all. No. Not anymore, and never again. The chosen golden lords will not be taken into the sun’s embrace and made gods. A slave will do this; a simple slave, a boy who once had the misfortune to save a noble child from the sands.
And for this sin, Xerath had been punished with a horrible, maddening promise: freedom. Unobtainable. Forbidden. Should the thought even dart through a slave’s mind, it would be punished by death, as the Ascended could gaze past flesh and bone, deep into one’s very soul, to see its dim traitorous glow. And yet, there it was, spoken by the young princeling he dragged from the embrace of the mercurial mother-desert. Azir, the Golden Sun, vowed that he would free his savior and new friend.
A promise unkept to this day. The words of a grateful child, innocently oblivious to the impact they would have. How could Azir upend thousands of years of rule? How could he fight tradition, his father, his destiny?
In the end, the young emperor would lose it all by not honoring his word.
And so, Xerath was elevated and educated, eventually becoming Azir’s trusted right hand—but never a free man. The soured promise ate into what he was, and what he could have been. Denied a small, simple thing, the right to live his life, Xerath decided to take everything, all of the things denied to him, all of the things he deserved: the empire, Ascension, and the absolute purest form of freedom possible.
With each step taken toward the offensively grandiose Dais of Ascension, positioned respectfully behind his emperor and flanked by the inept sentinels who supposedly protected Shurima, Xerath felt an unknown lightness he was genuinely shocked by. Was this joy? Does vengeance bring joy? The impact was almost physical.
At that very moment, the overwrought suit of golden armor that was his tormentor abruptly halted. And turned. And walked toward Xerath.
Could he know? How could he possibly know? This spoiled, self-obsessed boy? This righteous, falsely benevolent emperor whose hands were just as bloody as Xerath’s own? Even if he did, there was no staying the killing blow that was already in motion.
Xerath had planned for every contingency. He had bribed, killed, out-maneuvered, and plotted for decades—he even tricked the monstrous brothers Nasus and Renekton into staying away from the event—but he had not planned for this…
The Emperor of Shurima, the Golden Sun, Beloved of Mother Desert, soon to be Ascended, took off his helmet, revealed his proud brow and smiling eyes, and turned to his oldest and most trusted friend. He spoke about the love of brothers, the love of friends, of hard fights won and others lost, of family, of future, and finally… of freedom.
At these words, the guards flanked Xerath, moving in, weapons drawn.
So the princeling did know. Had Xerath’s plans had been undone?
But the fools in armor were saluting. There was no menace to them, they were honoring him. They were congratulating him.
On his freedom.
His hated master had just freed him—he had freed them all. No Shuriman would ever wear chains again. Azir’s last act as a human was to unfetter his people.
The foundation-shuddering roar of the assembled masses drowned out any response Xerath could have had. Azir donned his helmet and strode out onto the Dais, his attendants preparing him for the godhood that would never come.
Xerath stood in the shadow of the monolithic Sun Disk, knowing that an empire-destroying doom was but seconds away.
Too late, friend. Too late, brother. Far too late for us all."[/hide]
Additional Discussion
[hide]Jaredan also stuck around the forums to discuss the newly published stories and answer questions!
When asked about the release of these stories and if we can expect more, Jaredan replied:
"Our aim is to bring you stories with much more regularity than we have in the past. We're learning and leveling up, but we want to deliver stories to you. While we're working out a few things, including tech issues, it's not gone as quickly as we would like, hence putting these first two stories here on the boards while we sort things. More will be coming."When asked about Sivir, her role in Azir's story, and if she will received an updated lore, Jaredan noted:
"Working on it! Sivir was left in a very interesting and precarious place by events in Shurima, we will definitely be following her story further to show the immediate aftermath." He continued, clarifying:
"I just want to be clear, I did not write these pieces. There were two main writers who worked with support from the rest of Narrative to produce Azir and Xerath's stories. We're glad you enjoyed them."
When asked about immediate plans for Kayle's story, his own forum frequency, and the fate of non-faction associated champions, Jaredan noted:
"Quote"
What are you plans for Kayle? Are you going to please stop disappearing for weeks without a word? And finally, when will we see more lore towards the independant characters of Runeterra, like Rengar and Gnar and Nidalee?
There are no immediate plans for Kayle. We're trying to do better, frankly I've just been a really busy bloke, but just speaking personally I should be able to hop on more regularly in the coming weeks. We want to do stories for all of our champions; events give a good focus for a cluster of them, but we do want to explore those characters who exist outside of specific factions."
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**Cassiopeia Hecarim LeBlanc Lissandra Twisted Fate Xerath Zed…What those this characters have in common ?
They all betrayed someone....WOW..:blink:
- Cassiopeia betrayed Sivir = check
- LeBlanc betrayed Darkwill (see Sion Lore) = check
- Lissandra betrayed Avarosa and Serylda = check
- TF betrayed Graves
- Xerath betrayed Azir
- Zed betrayed Shen
The only one that doesn't fit in this category is Hecarim, maybe there will be something with Mordekaiser in the future ?**
Maybe this is all a hint for this year's ultimate skin…I don´t know.
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Cassiopeia Hecarim LeBlanc Lissandra Twisted Fate Xerath Zed…What those this characters have in common ?
They all betrayed someone....WOW..:blink:
- Cassiopeia betrayed Sivir = check
- LeBlanc betrayed Darkwill (see Sion Lore) = check
- Lissandra betrayed Avarosa and Serylda = check
- TF betrayed Graves
- Xerath betrayed Azir
- Zed betrayed Shen
The only one that doesn't fit in this category is Hecarim, maybe there will be something with Mordekaiser in the future ?
Maybe this is all a hint for this year's ultimate skin…I don´t know.
I would say so (skip to about 1:22)
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The Oceania League of Legends facebook page has posted up a short and mysterious video of a unknown banner blowing in the wind. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=450651545076274&set=vb.243324295809001&type=2&theater
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Is that the Blackbeard jolly roger? :ninja:
But in all seriousness it has pirate vibes
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**The PBE was updated
New Splash Art:** Gragas
Graves **Two new summoner icons.
New Singed ability icons:
Passive
Q
W
E
R
** ChampionsSinged
- Fling (E) and Mega Adhesive (W) now both note a target flinged into Mega Adhesive is ROOTED instead of SNARED.
Zilean
- Heightened Learning (Passive) now reads "Zilean and his nearby allied champions received 8% additional experience" from "Increases experience gain of all allied champions by 8%"
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lol That fling icon is actually pretty funny.
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**The Harrowing is once again upon us! This year's Harrowing features the release of Ravenborn LeBlanc and Underworld Wukong, the return of 16 legacy Harrowing champion skins and five ward skins, oodles of discounted bundles, flash sales, and more!
The Harrowing Promotional Page** http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/harrowing-2014/ "The Black Mist rolls over land and sea, seeking the living—leaving them helpless to the half-glimpsed horrors it carries. The poor souls return with the mist to the Shadow Isles. In time, they’ll forget friends and lovers, even themselves, becoming part of the terrible force that grows stronger every year."
The **
"Two new skins:
(975 RP)
** **(1350 RP; on sale for 975 RP through October 28th)both of which are permanent additions to the shop.
Here's a look at the returning legacy content, including all of the Harrowing skins released originally during the 2010, 2011, and 2012 events! These skins will be available between October 24th and November 4th**
- Bewitching Nidalee (975 RP)
- Definitely Not Blitzcrank (520 RP)
- FrankenTibbers Annie (975 RP)
- Haunting Nocturne (520)
- Lollipoppy (975 RP)
- Pumpkinhead Fiddlesticks (520 RP)
- Nosferatu Vladimir (975 RP)
- Mundo Mundo (975 RP)
- Kitty Cat Katarina (975 RP)
- Zombie Ryze (975 RP)
- Haunted Maokai (975 RP)
- Headless Hecarim (975 RP)
- Headmistress Fiora (975 RP)
- Pirate Ryze (975 RP)
- Underworld Twisted Fate (975 RP)
- Haunted Zyra (1350 RP)
- Officer Vi (975 RP)
- Zombie Brand (1820 RP)
**New Summoner Icons
Shadow Isles Crest Icon
"Pledge your soul to the Shadow Isles for 1500 ip during the Harrowing or 250 RP any time afterward"Mark of the Betrayer Icon
"Win three games of Hexakill: Twisted Treeline"Harrowed Puppet Icon
"Give a gift of any kind to a friend before the Harrowing ends"Hexakill: Twisted Treeline
"Hexakill doubles the number of champions on the Twisted Treeline. Bringing twelve champions to League’s most close-quartered map ensures intense gankery and more than a few opportunities to net yourself a coveted hexakill. We’ve bumped up gold and experience rewards across the map and controlling both altars now buffs you as well as your minions. Claustrophobes—and arachnophobes— need not apply. Welcome back to the Twisted Treeline."
Returning Ward skins
During the event we also have also have the return of several spooky ward skins! You can permanently add each of these wards to your collection for 640 RP each!** Tomb Angel Ward
Haunting Ward Bat-o-Lantern Ward Widow Ward Deadfall Ward This year's Harrowing also features FLASH SALES that will rotate every six hours. **"In an unprecedented phantasmic phenomenon, a group of skins’ regular prices are reduced for six hours before resetting in favor of a new slate of skins. Early research into ectoplasmic evidence has yet to uncover a way to predict which skins will go on sale–or even the discount rate. All we know for sure is that skins go on sale for six hours at a time and then it happens all over again. Happily, you can check the “On Sale” box in the skins tab of the Store to see what skins are on tap.Disclaimer: Riot won’t be held responsible for the actions of ghosts so we aren’t offering retroactive refunds for these sales."**
During the Harrowing, Mystery Gifting has also been tuned to offer twice the chance at any of the skins from above! "The Mystery Gift swirls with every skin of Harrowing’s past and present! Better yet, Harrowing content bursts out of the chest at a 2x rate!" -
well the fact that that flag icon is called 'Mark of the Betrayer" looks like you were right on the money on the betrayal connection between all those champions with the mist covered pages Ugly-chan
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well the fact that that flag icon is called 'Mark of the Betrayer" looks like you were right on the money on the betrayal connection between all those champions with the mist covered pages Ugly-chan
**I also noticed this, maybe this is a teaser to the new champion that was leaked some time ago, "Kalisto" a female "vengeance seeker" adc.
I liked the new video, and LOL, there are people saying that the puppet master in the video will be a new champion. I think that the girl in the video is "Kalisto".
My money is safe, I already have all the Harrowing skins I want (but the new LeBlanc skin is wonderful, it´s a shame that I don´t play with her), let´s have a good time with hexakill in TT.
Also, It's not as if I want you to call me Ugly-chan or anything, b-baka.**
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**I also noticed this, maybe this is a teaser to the new champion that was leaked some time ago, "Kalisto" a female "vengeance seeker" adc.
I liked the new video, and LOL, there are people saying that the puppet master in the video will be a new champion. I think that the girl in the video is "Kalisto".
My money is safe, I already have all the Harrowing skins I want (but the new LeBlanc skin is wonderful, it´s a shame that I don´t play with her), let´s have a good time with hexakill in TT.
Also, It's not as if I want you to call me Ugly-chan or anything, b-baka.**
I don't think there was any champion tease in that video IMO just a Harrowing theme video. the puppetmaster nor any of the characters within the puppet show didn't really stand out to me.
Ah gomenasai I didn't overstep a boundary by addressing you with -chan did I? Should have probably asked first. ;^^
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New stuff in the PBE (Preseason) Smite Rewards
The "killing monster after you use smite on it " rewards for each camp has been changed to a charge system. Each camp now "sparkles" when it has a charge of it's buff and smiting it will now give it's bonus instead of having to specifically kill it after using smite. Each camp can only give the reward once per spawn.
**The large monsters in each camp now glow to let you know they have their bonus:Krug's new on smite bonus has been changed to stun for monsters and minions and bonus true damage to a tower.**
Dragon Slayer buff
- Unique Passive - Devastating Smite changed to "Upgrades Smite to Devastating Smite, which can be cast on enemy champions, dealing true damage and reducing their movement speed by 50% for 2 seconds.
Killing Large monsters increases the damage of your next Devastating Smite cast on a champion, up to a maximum of three large monster kills."
**Jungle item enchants have all been buffed
( Remember, this is a new system, enchants are applied to each of the new Hunter's Machete items and HM requires smite to buy )
- Health increased to 500 from 450
- Now has +25 Armor
- No longer has 10% CDR
- No longer has 5% movement speed
- Now has Unique Passive - Tenacity
- Ability power increased to 90 from 80
- Now gives 10 Magic Penetration
- Attack damage increased to 60 from 45
- Lifesteal increased to 10% from 8%
- Renamed to "Devourer" from "Stalker"
- Attack speed increased to 50% from 40%
- Now deals 40 magic damage on hit.
- No longer gives 10% CDR
- Passive reworked to "Devouring - Killing large monsters increases the Magic Damage of this item by 1 and Champion Kills or Assists increase magic damage by 2" from "Basic attacks grant +6% attack speed for 8 seconds (stacks up to 4 times) and deal 24 bonus magic damage"
- Now reads "Blocks 8 damage from single target attacks and spells from champions" from "Blocks 8 damage from champion basic attacks"
New Item
Other
Nunu's Consume (Q) tool tip has been updated to reflect the new mobs on the Summoner's Rift update.
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**3 new things:
1°) To avoid any confusion regarding the availability of the two new** **Harrowing skins, the Ravenborn LeBlanc and the Underworld Wukong pages have been updated to clearly note that both skins will leaving the shop and be going into the Legacy Vault on November 4th!
2°) In a thread asking about the fate of Fiddlesticks' lore with the recent changes to lore and if he will be refitted to be part of the Shadow Isles, Carnival Knights replied****:** **"Hello! I'm currently the guy taking a crack at Fiddlesticks (still in the early stages, nothing concrete). For the current iteration I've decided to keep him separate from the Shadow Isles, if nothing more than to keep SI from being our Spooky Scary Champ megamart. Plus, I think he fits in better elsewhere anyway :)
One of the things I want to preserve is the core of Fiddle's personality, while expanding on his origins and purpose. I'm throwing in a bit of Lovecraft and Alice in Wonderland to the early drafts (I also took a couple suggestions from the forums), so hopefully the result is a bit of creepy absurdism with a hint of something-wicked-this-way-comes. We'll see if we end up using any of it, but I'm definitely trying to do him proud!"**
As for Nocturne and if he'll be getting similar treatment, Carnival Knights noted**:** **"He was one of my options along with Aatrox and Poppy, but I went with Fid (and took a crack at Poppy) because cosmic horror and puppets pretty much make up the entirety of my wheelhouse. Well, that and youtube sketches. But last time I checked we didn't have a magic death scarecrow watching Cute, Win, Fail in his underoos.
Not sure where he ended up, though I know who would've taken him immediately if they had the option."**
When asked how many champions each writer is tackling at any given time, Carnival Knights shared**:** "Yes. Writers tackle about one to three at a time, with short foundational stories thrown in every week as prompts/practice/inspiration. Some do more, I do less. As opposed to a full-time writer, I'm (as my forum badge says) the ambassador to the writing team, so I have a bit less writing work and bit more leeway concerning what I'm able to poke at between inquiries."
3°) In a reddit thread asking if the mysterious Puppeteer from the "Tales of the Black Mist: The Harrowing" video is actually based on the long cancelled Tabu champion concept, Jaredan noted: "The Puppeteer isn't based on the concept you mention, he's just his own kind of fella." -
Weren't they saying that the voodo lands are practicaly untouched lorewise a while ago?
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**@Maxterdexter: The only champion that has a connection with voodoo lands is Annie, Fidd was from the IoW and Nocturne "is" from the TT (now Shadow Isles).
"Tabu" was a canceled champion, kinda a witch doctor (from DotA ).**
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**PBE update:
A small change in the** **Reaper Soraka skin.
A new monster** **in the jungle.
Tooltip:** Scuttle Crab
Large Monster - Area Buff
180 second respawn time
An elusive wandering pacifist. Slowing or Rooting this monster causes it to take massive damage from attacks. Killing this monster grants a Speed Shrine in this river, granting bonus Movement Speed to allies who pass through and passively providing vision.Champion
Nocturne
- Unspeakable Horror ( E) now includes "Nocturne gains massively increased movement speed toward feared enemies."
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I like to jungle Nocturne. I bought a skin with him (which I recommend never doing…I was weak), and I've heard he's a champion who's never been buffed. This is good news to me. Small, but nice.
I also love how this new scuttle crab is a monster that's utterly harmless but can be killed for profit anyway. Within the context of the game, it's hilarious that every jungler now will be picking on this innocent little creature. How cruel.
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**More stuff:
Reaper Soraka (color update) video:
Singed new combo video:
Scuttle crab:
Desolating Smite (Ranger's Trailblazer's Smite uprade) now also restores 20% of missing health and mana.
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**Strange Message on BR Forums
A strange message by a red account called "Fabulist" (Storyteller),the same account that told the story of River Spirit Nami earlier this year, has popped up on the BR forums to share a** **mysterious message:
[[/U]In the original Portuguese] **No começo, muitos me chamavam de "Fabulista". Eu escrevia contos e histórias para entreter as pessoas. Tudo o que eu queria era, por meio das minhas palavras, dar asas à imaginação de meus leitores. Há cerca de um ano, tudo isso mudou drasticamente…
Agora, eu escrevo para não esquecer.**
Não sei mais se o agora que presencio é minha realidade, ou se não passa de um sonho. Sim, acredito que há uma história por trás de tudo, mas… e se nem tudo for somente uma história? O que fazer destas visões sobre ilhas assombradas e nuvens de almas inconsoláveis de lugares que desconheço?
Meu sono intranquilo - isto é, quando consigo dormir - pode estar pregando peças em minha mente frágil. Ah, repouso, por que foges de mim?
De vez em quando, me sinto sozinho. Normal; a carreira de escritor tem estes momentos em que você tem mais a companhia de seus personagens do que de, bem, gente de verdade. Às vezes, eu faria de tudo para saber que estas vozes do além têm algum motivo…
[[/B]Fan Translation****]** **"In the beginning, many called me "Fabulist". I would write tales and histories to entertain people. All I wanted was to set my reader's imagination free, through my words. Around one year ago, all changed drastically…
Now, I write not to forget.
I don't know if what I witness now is my reality, or if it's nothing but a dream. Yes, I believe there's a history behind it all, but... what if it all isn't just a history? What to do about these visions about haunted islands and clouds of inconsolable places I don't know about?
My restless sleep--that is, when I can sleep--can be cheating my fragile mind. Ah, rest, why run away from me?
From time to time, I feel alone. It's normal; a writer's career has these moments where you have the company of your characters more than, well, real people. Sometimes, I would do anything to know that these voices from the beyond have any motive..."**
**Could this be related to OCE's banner video? The mysterious fog on champion pages? Who knows!
Is Lulu… evil ?
In a boards thread posing the question "Is Lulu Evil?", Carnival Knights swung by to offer his thoughts as a writer:** "When looking at Lulu it's important to consider English fairy tales, particularly those involving the fae realms and things like elves, gnomes, and dwarves. These creatures are not particularly violent or cruel within the expectations and boundaries of their own society, but have little understanding or empathy for humans and/or human culture. This isn't because they're evil, it's because they're far removed from humanity as whole.
Lulu is very much the same way. She doesn't understand that to many, her magic isn't a game - she grew up among the fey, where changing forms and wild magic are extremely common, and where things like audio/visual perception and the concept of death don't necessarily mean the same thing they do to the rest of Runeterra.
She's not a sociopath. She's a child who never grew up."
He continued, discussing the foggy details of Bandle City and Yordles in general: "Bandle City has remained largely undefined until very recently - which is why there's a big rocket ship in the middle and the art looks like one of the earlier trading posts in Oregon Trail. Like Targon and Icathia we have traditionally had loose interpretations of what could be there, smaller faction-oriented stories and the like, rather than any big-picture stuff. Foundations has been working hard in that regard, rebuilding a vision of Bandle City that plays to the innate strengths of Yordle characters and society.
What I can say is that Yordles, as they have always been, are a eclectic bunch that excel at pretty much anything they set their minds to. But Runeterra still doesn't know very much about them, and whether or not they stand unified in really anything is still a matter of scholarly debate. Why are some inventors and some warriors? Why do some fight and some explore? Why is that very short magician laughing maniacally, and who decided to build a death robot with toilet plunger feet? That whimsy and mystery defines Yordles much more so than any traditional standard, so if you're looking for an overall theme right now, that's probably your best answer."
**The Size of NautilusIn a thread about why Nautilus looks so massive in the "A New Dawn" cinematic but so smallin-game when compared to the visually updated Sion, Riot Scruffy commented:** "When we were evaluating Sion's new size during development, we compared him to a bunch of the other tanks in terms of size. A few of them (like maokai, malphite etc) seemed like they were smaller than they should be in game.
We should take a look at Nautilus and see if there's room for him to get a little size bump. He's definitely never going to be as big as he is in the cinematic, but there may be a bit of room on him. No promises tho."
**Potential Follow up Soraka ChangesFollowing her gameplay update in patch 4.17, Vesh commented on a few tentative Soraka changes he hopes to test for an upcoming patch:** **"I'm looking into a number of potential changes for her in the patch after this next one. The missile speed was actually put in so you could see how many hits you got on Q and then choose whether or not to heal an ally before they reached you (because they heal more when you're at lower health) as a small optimization. Also, having them move too fast would disrupt a lot of the clarity of the enemy seeing whether or not they were hit and where Soraka's healing is coming from. We could possibly speed them up some, but I'm not sure if that's the place I really would want to buff Soraka.
Right now I'm primarily looking at her E cooldown (possibly raising it), her W range (possible increasing it) and her Q cast paradigm (changing it to fixed travel time instead of variable depending on distance. this would be a nerf at close range but a buff at far ranges and will also increase how understandable/usable the spell is for a number of players).**
All of this is tentative though, but those are the things I'm looking at primarily. She might not need any of that at all but we will be testing some changes. I'm more concerned with usability/fairness than power right now because it's hard to get a good power read with all of the preseason changes being tested right now. For instance, with the new Dragon granting increasing buffs, Soraka is naturally more powerful because she allows certain junglers to take dragon extremely early with her heals."**** -
Good news everyone - the **updated Summoner's Rift will soon be pushed to live for an OPEN BETA!
Here's Riot Aeon with more information:** "For almost six months, we’ve had the updated Summoner’s Rift stewing on PBE as we made tweaks and changes based on your feedback. Although we’ll continue to refine and optimize, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at right now, so we’ll soon be moving onto the next phase: open beta! Once the 2014 season is officially wrapped, we’re going use a staggered rollout during preseason, pushing the updated map onto live in stages to help ensure server stability. Here’s the order for our planned rollout:
- Stage 1: Team Builder and Intro Bot games
- Stage 2: All normal modes, custom games, and all other bot modes
- Stage 3: Ranked
We expect this rollout could take several weeks and we may delay stages if we run into bugs or server stability issues. That said, our plan is to push it out as fast as we can while making sure its appearance is toaster-friendly and doesn’t Lee Sin kick our servers into oblivion. Finally, while this is still technically a beta (we're planning to continue to update Summoner's Rift–for example, expect updates in the next couple of patches!), the updated Summoner’s Rift will eventually completely replace the old one, so there will be no separate queues to play on the existing SR. This’ll allow us to focus our resources on improving the updated SR, and avoid splitting the team’s focus by having to make the upcoming preseason changes on both. From the entire team that worked on this update, we truly wanted to thank you for your feedback! We can’t wait to face you all in-game on Summoner's Rift Riot Aeon"
-
**Reaper Soraka splash art
Updates to two new splash arts:
WukongSinged** Summoner's Rift Login Theme
-
Thank god they fixed that Wukong splash art. It was by far my least favorite of the new splashes. Kind of wish Reaper Soraka was a bit more monstrous instead of gothic Soraka.
-
I think I'll stay with Celestine Raka, although this one is nice as well.
-
**"We Are Vengeance" & Other Mysterious bits
The teaser previously seen on the** **OCE LoL facebook page has been posted on the general League of Legends Facebook page with the text "We Are Vengeance".
This same three skull / spear banner can be found on the "Mark of the Betrayer" summoner icon that is part of the Hexakill: Twisted Treeline rewards and on the top right side of this year's Harrowing login screen. This teaser also features the same dark mist and teal light that has been spotted on seven different champion profiles.
Now for a few other points of interest that are circulating around:
Following up on the initial BR forum post by the "Fabulist" account from earlier this week, the "Fabulist" account has now become embraced by the darkness and has been answering questions. You can find community translations of the Portuguese to English posts here: Set one, Set two, and the latest set. Fabulist seems to becoming more and more hostile as well as answering questions as "we". Spooky.
The Italian League of Legends facebook page** has also posted up this image:
The same creepy head image is also present on the Harrowing promo page , the Shadow Isles crest summoner icon, and, as Becca Roberts
, on banners at the Lucca Comic and Games convention in Italy where they are "celebrating the Harrowing and Italian National tournament Finals".
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Preseason 2015: Increasing Strategic Diversity As the end of the 2014 ranked season **draws near, we are quickly approaching PRESEASON 2015!
Here's Ypherion with a developer blog on the upcoming preseason goals and an overview of some the changes:
** **"With the 2014 season winding down, we’re once again just around the corner from the time of chaos that is preseason! Rest assured this isn’t chaos for the sake of chaos or disruption for the sake of disruption; the preseason is an important period of downtime between ranked and professional play to set the foundation for the next year of League’s evolution. Over the coming days we’ll publish a series of dev blogs going in-depth with our preseason changes, including the jungle (again!), objectives, anditems. While these won’t cover 100% of what’s coming, we wanted to cover the big topics before getting to the fun. For now, let’s kick things off on a higher level.Preseason: Just the Beginning** Preseason is our chance to set the stage. It’s the beginning, not the end. There will be a lot of changes to League over a short period of time and, with so many variables at play, we’re expecting the game to be disrupted, imperfect, and require a lot of tweaking over time. In other words, while we’re confident we’re taking the game in the right general direction, we’ll correct course as needed as we see the changes unfold. While we’ve been testing preseason internally for months, no matter what we do, players will have put hundreds or thousands (nearly millions?) of times more hours into these changes in the first week than we ever could. We’re looking forward to seeing what you’re all able to do with this slew of new mechanics and content, and we’ll be looking for your feedback. **On to the good stuff!
Strategic Diversity** **This preseason, we’re looking for ways to support more strategic diversity in League of Legends. If your eyebrow is raised right now, you’re not alone - ‘strategic diversity’ is a pretty vague and abstract idea. It’s not just a buzzword to us, but a deep focus of our design philosophy going forward, so to keep everyone on the same page we’ll be breaking down what strategic diversity means to us and how we’re working to increase it in this series of posts.
The Path Less Traveled** When we talk about strategic diversity, it’s a conversation about the ways you look to win - the different paths to victory your team can take. Mechanical skill (insane Lee Sin ward kicks) and tactical decision making (funneling through the jungle to set up a perfect Orianna ult) are important elements of skill in League. We’ve focused a lot in the past at ensuring that tactical and mechanical mastery are powerful and, while we don’t want to change that, we do want to enhance the impact and variety of strategic gameplay. **Through the years, players have discovered a bunch of viable strategies like teamfight-focused (deathball) strats, split pushing, siege / poke comps, objective control, and more. In the past, when one of the aforementioned strategies was so dominant it crowded out all others we didn’t have a whole lot of options to bring it back in line other than nerfing the champions that were critical to its success. Think Shen back in his split push heyday or, more recently, Ziggs and stall comps. Since we believe that League is at it’s best when multiple strategies are battling it out on the Rift, we had to target champions to bring strategies in line to allow others to emerge. We’re hoping the path being set by the 2015 pre-season will allow us to create an ecosystem where multiple strategies can prosper… and kill each other.
Some Nitty-Gritty** A common theme you’ll notice is a focus on specialized offense but generalized defense. What this means is your offensive strategy is going to be strengthened by specializing into it. If you want to opt into a specific strategy, you’re best off picking a team comp and purchasing items that enable this strategy. For defending against this specialized offense, however, we’re going to provide players with the tools they need in a way that makes counter-strategies available to nearly any team comp (for example, an item that will let you engage on an elusive poke comp). This is the intent of many of the changes to objectives or items; they are available to most comps most of the time and can be leveraged as needed. This allows us to add more power to strategic decisions without games just being decided in champion select. **Another major focus is on deepening the demands on players and champions so that there are more ways for a champion to express strength and power. This will be most apparent in the jungle where we want demands to be greater than “can you gank super hard?” We’re looking to re-introduce value to junglers who can clear quickly or safely (think Season 2) as well as keeping the value of junglers who hit lanes hard, fast and early.
Quick Preview** **We’ll be experimenting with changes to objectives (towers, dragon, and baron), the jungle (a new camp, spawn times, difficulty, items, rewards… well, all of it really), items (more situationally powerful actives!) and some core systems (stats per level, death timers, how health / mana regen works). It’s a lot to take in and will take even more time to master in-game, but we’ll walk you through it as we go deeper into the design decisions behind these changes in the coming days. Every change is geared towards laying a foundation which can support more strategic diversity - no matter which champ you choose on the path"
No Caitlyn VU this year
In a brief response to a few fan art images of an updated look for Caitlyn, IronStylus** confirmed that Caitlyn will not be receiving a VU this year "1) Can confirm no Cait VU this year." **Updated Summoner's Rift will have new music
When asked if the updated Summoner's Rift, which is going into** continued****: "Quote With the new audio engine, are there any plans on adding stings/cues for certain event flags? For instance, would individual players hear a rise in action as they are about to enter combat with a Champion, is there a trigger for Baron/Dragon, etc.?
" He
No is a perfectly acceptable answer, just curious! We've spent a lot of thought on what would make the best musical experience when you play, and part of that is reacting to the progress of the game and the environment that the player's champion is in. I think it's about finding a healthy balance between supporting game play, giving emotional context and also having a certain interest and musical character in the music itself. And with that in mind, we just saw down as a music team and tried to compose some neat musics!" On reddit, Praeco also noted the new music will not go out with the initial release of the updated SR: "To chime in quickly here: The new music will not go out with the very release of the updated map, but will follow shortly after." -
Good news everyone - Server maintenance for our next patch, Patch 4.19, has been scheduled!
On November 5TH at 3:00 AM PDT for NA, 5:00 GMT for EUW and 02:00 GMT for EUNE, servers will go down for maintenance and the 4.19 patch will be applied.
Here's NA version of the Network Operations maintenance announcement:
"On 11/05/2014, starting at 01:30 PST, ranked queues will be disabled in preparation for patch 4.19. At 03:00 PST, the servers will be shut down and all games currently in progress will end in a draw and stats will not be recorded. We estimate the battlegrounds will be unavailable for 6 hours.As an early heads-up, download times for Patch 4.19 will be lengthy as we release the last files needed for the upcoming Summoner's Rift Update open beta. Please plan accordingly!"
Here's a small list of things we should see in 4.19 based on the PBE:
-The Rest of the updated Summoner's Rift open beta assets!
-Reaper Soraka
-Singed Model / Texture updates
-New Singed ability icons
-18 New splash arts - Blitzcrank, Ezreal, Gragas, Graves, Janna, J4 Kayle, Rengar, Rumble, Shaco, Shen, Singed, Talon, Tristana, Udyr, Veigar, Wukong, Zilean
-Summoner's Rift Login Screen
-Shortened In-Client Lore Changes for Shadow Isle champions
-The 2014 ranked rewards - Victorious Morgana, ranked team wards, summoner icons, etc. ( although these will not be handed out until after November 11th!)
-Several new shop assets (gifting images)
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Upcoming Texture Rebalances (TU)
AmumuVancouver Amumu Pharaoh Amumu
Almost Prom King Amumu Re-gifted Amumu (The sad robot skin is not going to receive a minnor TU) Caitlyn
Officer Caitlyn
******Arctic Warfare CaitlynResistance Caitlyn **Safari Caitlyn
Sheriff Caitlyn******** (The Headhunter skin is not going to receive a minnor TU)
Ezreal
Explorer EzrealStriker Ezreal****
(The Pulsefire, TPA and Debonair skins are not going to receive a minnor TU) Fizz
Tundra FizzGragas** Gragas Esq.
**Hillbilly GragasScuba Gragas** (The Vandal, Super fan, FNATIC and Oktoberfest skins are not going to receive a minnor TU) Kog'Maw Monarch Kog
****Caterpillar KogJurassic Kog Reindeer Kog****** (The Sonoran and the Lion Dance skins are not going to receive a minnor TU)
Mordekaiser
Dragon Knight Mordekaiser(The Infernal and the Lord skins might receive a minnor TU, the Pentakill skin already had a TU)
Renegade Talon (The Crimson Elite skin is not going to receive a minnor TU) Udyr
Black Belt UdyrPrimal Udyr (The Spirit Guard skin is not going to receive a minnor TU) Urgot
Battlecast Urgot
Butcher UrgotGiant Enemy Crabgot Vladimir
Blood Lord Vlad
**Count Vlad **Marquis VladVandal Vlad****** (The Soulstealer skin is not going to receive a minnor TU) Zilean
Groovy Zilean
**********Shurima Desert Zilean
Time Machine ZileanOld Saint Zilean****
Riot made a "how not to feed with Sion" guide.****** Is Sion better in top lane or the jungle?
I almost exclusively play Sion in the jungle. In a top lane 1v1 situation, Sion can run into some pretty bad matchups against mobile or cc-heavy champions who can prevent him from consistently landing his abilities, so pick him wisely. In the jungle, neither of these factors are a problem because jungle camps are too manly to cc you or dodge your abilities! I also really like jungle Sion because pure tank junglers are pretty rare nowadays (other than Rammus or Maokai). Sion fills a late-game, pure-scaling jungle-tank-with-cc niche that’s very valuable for almost any team comp. Additionally, Sion’s ult is just insane for ganking.This doesn’t mean that Sion isn’t a good option for top lane. He’s worthwhile as a toplaner because he’s a safe, tanky champ who can wave clear well and maintain a strong lane presence even with low solo-kill potential. You just have to make sure you’re playing to his strengths. Poke often and take good trades when you can land Decimating Smash, but don’t overcommit to all ins.
Overall, Sion’s a great addition to any team because he absorbs so much aggro and draws so much attention in fights thanks to his cc potential. Keep in mind that Sion’s an offensive tank rather than a defensive peeler like Maokai, so he feels right at home when he’s smack in the middle of the enemy team!
How do you build Sion?
There are two main ways to build Sion: AD or tank. I think the AD build, aka “Zombie Sion,” is kind of suboptimal because building tanky allows him to get the most out of his cc, scaling, and ult’s diving potential. If you want a little extra damage, a Hexdrinker or Brutalizer can be a good pickup, but generally you want to build for survivability. HP, armor, and MR are the keys to an effective Sion; get as beefy as possible as quickly as possible.
The tanky build is also getting a boost with patch 4.19—currently, Sion really benefits only from offensive items when in zombie form, but now defensive stats and items will boost his passive’s duration.What’s your skill order?
It’s tempting to max W first, but you don’t get much benefit from maxing shield first because it scales better with items (health) than levels. Q is definitely the better option because it gives you a lot of damage, which helps with jungle clear.
For top lane, maxing Q is still good as a clearing tool, but E is also a good fallback. When you’re losing lane or can’t directly fight your opponent, you can still have some impact on the lane from a distance. Against ranged opponents, max E for better reach.Have any ganking tips?
Although Sion’s mobility is pretty low without his ult, Sion’s pre-6 ganks can be potent because his E delivers a powerful ranged slow. The best way to gank pre-6 is to approach the lane along with the enemy minion wave and flank the enemy from behind (grabbing an early pink ward or Sweeper is key). Throw out your E to slow the enemy and have your ally chain their cc with yours. Your Q covers a lot of terrain, so use it to trap your opponent and force them to choose between four unsavory options: getting hit with your Q, taking a suboptimal path to avoid your Q, suffering high damage from your ally, or burning Flash. None of these are great options, and your opponent won’t be pleased.
Sion’s ult is a very powerful ganking tool. If used correctly, you’re guaranteed to get something out of it, whether it’s an objective, kill, or the enemy’s Flash. The easiest way to use Sion’s ult is to barrel right down the lane because your enemy won’t have vision and the lanes are pretty straight, so you can charge your ult fully. Just remember to ping your ally to warn them that you’re on your way!
Sion’s ult has a pretty long cooldown at early levels, so use it wisely. Without your ult, you lose a lot of map pressure and playmaking ability due to your otherwise low mobility. Any advanced tips or high-level stuff to know?Sion is a force to be reckoned with, but he’s not a good duelist; don’t try to pick fights when you’re alone. His real power is forcing the enemy into bad situations for your teammates to capitalize on, so make sure someone is around to follow up!
You are an initiator. For team fights, find covered positions from where you can ult onto the enemy team. It’s your job to cause disruption and chaos, so get behind your opponents when they’re grouped up and charge right into them—you’re almost guaranteed to hit one of them with a devastating blow. Plus, you’re placing your team’s tanky cc machine right in the middle of the enemy, which is exactly where you want to be (as long as your team can follow up).
There are two scenarios that you’ll run into after successfully flanking and ulting the enemy team from behind. Here’s how you’d play them out:- You ult a priority target (one of their carries). Great! Q the target and use your W (you can use W while charging your Q; it won’t break Q’s cast). If you got this far, you’ve done your job.
- You ult a low-priority target, like their tank. Don’t Q the tank! E the enemy team’s highest-priority target and then follow up with Q and W simultaneously.
A fully-charged Q is tough to land, but you don’t always have to land it for it to be useful! You can use Q to exert zone control and steer the enemy in a particular direction, like toward your teammates. You might not get the kill (or even the assist), but you’re putting the enemy in an uncomfortable spot and yelling “this is my space, don’t step in it!” It’s sort of a delayed gratification, I suppose.
When you’re trying to land your Q rather than just zone the enemy, think carefully about whether to charge Q all the way or just snap cast it. It’s best fully-charged and saved for a priority target, but don’t hesitate to snap cast Q if it’ll miss otherwise—you can still get the slow off and your team can follow up.
I want to say a little more about Sion’s ult outside of using it in team fights. Although his ult has a long cooldown at early levels, the cooldown scales well with levels. By the third rank, it’ll basically be up whenever you need it, so feel free to use it whenever you can get some good value out of it.
For example, sometimes you’ll want to use it to get out of a tough situation. When ulting, Sion is immune to cc, so you can ult reactively as long as you respond before you’re cc’d. For example, you can ult through a Nami wave if you start ulting before the wave hits you. The other day, I ulted out of a Vayne wall Condemn because I saw the bullet coming. Also, after you ult, you can hit R again to cancel it. It takes a few moments for Sion to decelerate, but you still get the AOE cc the ult provides.
One last little tip: When aiming E, aim at your final target (the enemy), not your first target (the enemy minion).Who are Sion's main counters?
An enemy Morgana is pretty tough for Sion because his abilities are telegraphed so easily, so all she has to do is use her Black Shield on her allies. You also need to watch out for champions like Azir and Anivia, who can create walls and really screw with your ultimate.
In top lane, Riven is a really bad matchup for Sion because she’s highly mobile and can dodge a lot of your abilities. In general, Sion isn’t going to crush his lane opponent; his ideal situation is one where he doesn’t die in lane and just gets to farm until he becomes a super tank. This means Sion wants to be matched up against opponents who aren’t very good duelists or just aren’t very good at killing him, like other tanks. " -
New champion revealed:
Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance
Skills:
Passive
Q
W
E
R
Kalista is a marksman who cooperates with her Soul-Bound to deal substantial sustained damage, access her full repertoire of abilities and wither her enemies under her relentless assault. Kalista’s potential is unlocked by solid communication and cooperation with allies rather than raw mechanical skill. While still capable in her own right, Kalista misses out on Soul-Marked's bonus damage and effective use of her ult without direct cooperation from her ally.
In lane, Kalista follows the familiar marksman pattern of farm and harass with one important difference: Martial Poise makes kiting part and parcel of her kit. With it, Kalista can reposition after every basic attack, hopping in and out of danger to attack opponents and gain superior positioning. Soul-Marked allows Kalista and her ally to speedily crush down each minion, forcing their opposition to farm under turret and nearly guaranteeing a level two ding ahead of their opponents. With the lane pushed, Kalista can send a Sentinel up the river to keep watch for incoming threats. This ability takes some vision pressure off her support, allowing both to spend less time at base and more time dictating the pace of the lane.
For trading, Kalista lands Pierce to proc Rend, poking with terrifying speed. While Kalista decides when to answer Fate’s Call, her Soul-Bound, often a support, ultimately decideswhere it’ll make its impact. If either Kalista or her Soul-Bound land significant crowd control on an enemy champion, Fate’s Call makes the perfect tool to damage and lock down enemies, setting Kalista up to sling the fatal spear.
TeamfightsWithout massive range or a reliable escape, Kalista relies on backline positioning and attentive protection from her allies. Before any teamfight breaks out, Kalista should use Sentinel to try to spot out sneaky enemies on the edges of the fray. With the battle underway, Kalista metes out strong, consistent punishment with basic attacks, staying safe with precise management of Martial Poise. Given time and dependable peel, Kalista’s spears rocket from the backline of every skirmish and teamfight. The damage and stacks add up quick, making Kalista a decisive executor with Rend.
Fate’s Call
The ult’s versatility makes it good for peel, a wombo starter or a rescue for your Soul-Bound—used to its full potential, it can be all three. Against dive comps, a timely Fate’s Call stops a chase dead in its tracks and serves as a counter-engage for your team to follow up. If Kalista’s Soul-Bound is caught out, a quick ultimate spirits them to safety, burning whatever crowd control the enemies expended and offering the option of dis-or-re-engage. Brave Kalista players (and braver Soul-Bound) can kick off wombo-combos or follow up on a hard initiation, creating the space Kalista needs clean up the fight from the back lines.
Synergy Works well with:
Leona - the Radiant Dawn
Tanky supports like the Radiant Dawn are perfect for Fate’s Call. After being tossed into the fray by Kalista, Leona can hang onto Zenith Blade to zoom around teamfights applying crowd control where needed. Bonus points for proc-ing Sunlight and Soul-Marked at the same time.
Janna - the Storm's Fury
On face, it may not seem like a great idea to toss the fragile Janna into the enemy team, but Fate’s Call and Monsoon combine to split enemy teams asunder.
Malphite - Shard of the Monolith
Imagine Fate’s Call and Unstoppable Force smacking sequentially into the enemy team—the area of effect knockup double tap will win you most fights.Struggles against:
Zyra - Rise of the Thorns
Kalista’s slow basic attack leaves her vulnerable to the lockdown of Grasping Roots. The Spear of Vengeance must carefully manage Martial Poise to survive this lane opponent.
Ezreal - the Prodigal Explorer
Ezreal’s kit dulls the edge of Kalista’s spears: He outpokes her with Mystic Shot and can escape the danger posed by Rend and Fate’s Call with a quick Arcane Shift.
Master Yi - the Wuju Bladesman
Highlander causes problems for Kalista since her primary escape tool applies a slow. If Kalista and her ally can’t nail Master Yi with Fate’s Call, she’s likely to be chopped up, Wuju Style.Champion Insights
Kalista, game design by CertainlyT Champion diversity helps us accomplish one of our key goals, that each game of League feels different than the ones before it. Just as important as champ diversity is playerdiversity. Some opponents are risk-averse, some fight early and often. Adjusting to the unique rhythm of each game is critical to success. But League is a team game. Reading and reacting to your allies’ demeanor is equally important to victory. Kalista is for players who enjoy or want to improve at taking the pulse of teammates and working together toward a win.
As designers, we are constantly trying to help players succeed. Building scenarios that overwhelm or confuse players is simple, laying the foundations for success is the challenge. As such, Kalista highlights the cooperative end-state in which she and her ally are most likely to succeed and offers a tool kit to enable players to reach that state.
It is important to light up the right paths for players, to make the unseen momentarily visible. A champion’s focus is an opportunity to let the player grow their general skill in that area so that they can bring that strength to bear in other contexts. Consider the jungle for a new player: they’re not likely to see the value of farming it, of denying farm from the opposing jungler and of doing all this while controlling larger map objectives. Nunu’s Consume is an amazing tool for jungling that emphasizes a successful way to play. Mastering Nunu teaches the player how to jungle, enabling him to succeed on other champions in that role.
Now think of this in terms of Kalista’s focus on facilitating cooperation: Sentinel
Passive: Soul-Marked—If Kalista and her ally attack an enemy within one second of each other, they deal bonus magic damage to their targetSoul-Marked is designed to reveal effective duo-lane teamplay. Often in bot lane, a fight devolves into two 1v1’s happening near each other, rather than a 2v2 that’s won through cooperation between allies. Sentinel’s passive emphasizes what’s often the optimal play in these situations: focused fire.
Equally important to helping the player understand the criterion for success is giving them the tools to get there. Tools to cooperate are interesting in that they include more than just formal power. In this vein, Kalista’s kit endeavors to facilitate teamwork by resolving incentives for selfish play and visually communicating intent.
Think of the active on Sentinel, it relieves your support (and likely Soul-Bound) of some pressure to keep up vision. That way they’ll more often be available to work together to deal bonus damage and wreak havoc with Fate’s Call. This sort of design allows us to emphasize tighter, more consistent teamwork without making Kalista so communication dependent that you practically need to play in the same room as your Soul-Bound.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Here is a full note for the Patch 4.19
http://www.surrenderat20.net/2014/11/patch-419-notes.html
And here is the splash art for the Victorious Morgana skin.
Beautiful splash art, but in game…not so good. -
Kalista, a champion of aliances and the ability to betray or be betrayed by your support.
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Singed Updated:[hide]
[/hide]Kalista
[hide][/hide]Kalista will have a unique item:
The black spear:
Active, Kalista provides a pact to an ally champion; If accepted, the item is consumed and the pair connects their souls for the rest of the match.
Kalista VO
Special interactions with:Cassiopeia
Graves
TF
Lissandra
Karthus
.
.
And many more.Lore (smaller version): "Kalista is an eternal spirit of retribution, who possesses a cold-burning hatred for all betrayers, deceivers, and traitors. In life, she was a legendary warrior, but while trying to avert tragedy she was betrayed and slain by those she trusted most. Now, she is an undying entity that can be invoked to exact vengeance, but only at great cost: the supplicant’s soul becomes forfeit, bound to her for eternity"
Release Skin: Bloodmoon Kalista (??? RP) "The mists swirl and part, wispy tendrils sliding hungrily across her undead arms. She pulls down her mask, silently creeping along the twisted treeline.
With a hushed growl, she sends her specter to scout ahead. Its reddish glow turns the spooky green forest into an undulating mottled pattern of gray trees and black shadows. Even the moon above seems to dim.By its sinister light, she spots her prey ahead.
Silently, she raises her spear back. The sharp, curved tip flows with bloody energy.
With a grunt, she hurls it, and and springs forward in anticipation.
Blood Moon Kalista has arrived.- An all new model with Blood Moon mask, new armor, new spectral scout
- All new Blood Moon particles, with red and deep blue colors
- A new recall animation, complete with new sounds
Join her ranks, if you are brave."
New Skins
"Battlecast Kog'Maw" (1350 RP) "The adorable "Void Puppy" is back and ready for action and this time, he's fully equipped for battle!
Battlecast Kog'Maw will be 1350 RP and includes:- All new model and texture, complete with all the weaponry you could possibly need on the Rift!
- All new particles! (Explosions and stuff!)
- New animations!
- A new recall animation!
- New VO filter!
You can check out Battlecast Kog'Maw in game now on PBE! We always find bug reports and feedback super helpful, so feel free to comment in the thread below. Likewise, if you've got any questions, post 'em here, and we'll do our best to answer them!
"Battlecast Alpha Skarner" (1820 RP)
"Safecracker Evelynn" (750 RP)
"Constable Trundle" (750 RP)
"Pickpocket Twitch" (750 RP)
"Captain Volibear" (750 RP)
Battlecast Ward (640 RP)
Maokai new Lore
Maokai was once a peaceful nature spirit dwelling in an idyllic forest, but the arrogance of humans brought an end to that life. Now he is a gnarled shadow of his former self, twisted by dark magics that defied the natural order of life and death. Infused with power he never asked for, the mighty treant has become a vengeful force of nature, sundering his enemies with wild magic and iron-hard limbs as he searches Valoran for the means to restore the Shadow Isles to its former glory.Before the Shadow Isles became a land of death, the islands teemed with natural life and beauty. This was never truer than in the isles' sacred forest: a paradise of thriving trees and countless species, both animal and spirit alike. When the king of the Shadow Isles ordered his sorcerers to crack open the barrier separating life and death, the forest served as a well of power the magi drank deeply from.
The sorcerers' ritual succeeded in corrupting the cycle of life and unleashing forces they could not hope to contain. Vitality seeped from every living thing in the Shadow Isles: great trees withered into gnarled husks, people warped into twisted shades, and forest spirits became hollow wisps. Maokai, the strongest spirit of the sacred forest, watched in horror as his world crumbled and died around him. He fought to mend the wound in the world, but could not halt the destruction wrought by human folly. As the ghastly energies sought to overwhelm the great spirit, he made one last desperate attempt to preserve the life of the land. Maokai inhabited the ancient oak at the heart of the forest's spiritual power. There he gathered the essence of the isles into the tree as the corruption of undeath clawed hungrily at anything within reach. Fortified by boundless magic, Maokai could not be consumed entirely, though the spirit was not left unscathed.
Maokai, now saturated with the essences of life and death, became fused with the ancient oak and contorted into an abomination. For ages, pain and grief were the only companions the spirit had. His boughs grew heavy as he wept at the desolation of everything he had known and loved, and his roots tore from the earth as he raged at the reckless sorcerers that had ruined his home. But all was not lost. Maokai had preserved the last vital spark remaining in the Shadow Isles, and with it, the hope of returning life to the land.
Like moths to a flame, the tormented shades of the Shadow Isles were drawn to the living essence within Maokai. The spirit guarded the seed of life from the relentless undead, but Maokai knew he could not fend them off forever. He needed to escape the land of death his home had become, so he cast himself into the sea and trusted in nature to guide him towards a living land. There he hoped to find the means to cast out the forces of undeath and restore life to the Shadow Isles.
Maokai –
''To defy the natural order has consequences.'' -
About god damn time they released Battlecast Skarner
I also love the new Volibear and Twitch skins
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**Kalista
Battlecast Kog'Maw**
Battlecast Alpha Skarner
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Kalista stats:
- Base HP: 517.76 (+83 per level)
- Base Mana: 231.8 (+35 per level)
- Base Movement Speed: 325
- Base Damage: 55.46 (+3 per level)
- Base Mana Regen Per Second: 1.26 (+0.08 per level)
- Base Attack Range: 550
- Base Magic Resist: 30 (+0 per level)
- Base Armor: 19.012 (+3.5 per level)
- Base HP Regen Per Second: 1.2 (+0.11 per level)
Blood Moon Kalista (still no price)
Safecracker Evelynn (750 RP)
Pickpocket Twitch (750 RP)
Captain Volibear (750 RP)
Constable Trundle (750 RP)
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Reaper Soraka is now available for purchase! While Reaper Soraka will normally be priced at 1350 RP, she is sale for 975 RP through November 10th before heading off to the legacy vault on November 21st!
Ah..Good skin, but I will save my money for Blood Moon Kalista and BC Kog (and maybe the Eve skin).
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Holy crap, seems like you've invested quite some time into this, Captain Ugly ! :blink:
Well done !Who's as excited as me for Kalista's release ? I really love her passive and ult. I hope her spear debuff can be applied on multiple targets, like Twitch's passive.
I almost never play adc but I main support and jungler and I can already see the epic combos she can bring to the game. -
Holy crap, seems like you've invested quite some time into this, Captain Ugly ! :blink:
Well done !Who's as excited as me for Kalista's release ? I really love her passive and ult. I hope her spear debuff can be applied on multiple targets, like Twitch's passive.
I almost never play adc but I main support and jungler and I can already see the epic combos she can bring to the game.Cap Ugly doesn't make the vids I think.
kalista looks like an AD version of Nidalee to me
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just bought sorakas new skin.
and yes, Kalista looks awesome. I love the Shadow Isles Theme.
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Holy crap, seems like you've invested quite some time into this, Captain Ugly ! :blink:
Well done !Who's as excited as me for Kalista's release ? I really love her passive and ult. I hope her spear debuff can be applied on multiple targets, like Twitch's passive.
I almost never play adc but I main support and jungler and I can already see the epic combos she can bring to the game.Yea, you can stack it on multiple targets. Also, Runaan's works as well.
Only thing I don't like is the Q, but other than that, great champion. Love her quotes and everything.
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Cap Ugly doesn't make the vids I think.
kalista looks like an AD version of Nidalee to me
Nid/Twitch/Syndra
Yea, you can stack it on multiple targets. Also, Runaan's works as well.
Only thing I don't like is the Q, but other than that, great champion. Love her quotes and everything.
Oh great, that sounds sick. It's too early to tell, but I really wonder what she'll be worth on the top lane. She seems to have rather high base HP and AD.
She could be very interesting in a top/jungler duo, imo, although that doesn't fit the main meta… yet. :ninja: -
Cap Ugly doesn't make the vids I think.
kalista looks like an AD version of Nidalee to me
Yeah, I didn't make the videos, Riot did:ninja:. And don't say that, Just because of her Q ? This makes me sad. She is a new champion with a cool new mechanic.
So, what will be her core items ?
BoRK, Statikk Shiv, Runaan's, IE, PD ?
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
So, in the LoL official site there are informations and the conclusion of the Harrowing.
[hide][/hide]
[hide][/hide]
I
1 Year. The Battle of Knife Straits. An armada from Bilgewater, led by Miss Fortune and Captain Gangplank – sailing together under an uneasy truce – meets the Black Mist head on. Heavy casualties sustained. Fleet scattered.
II
1 Year. The Drowned Anchor. One element of the Harrowing stalled. Reports of a large figure encased in a rusted diving suit seen in the heart of the fighting.
III
1 Year. The Reaping of Smuggler’s Cove. No survivors.
IV
3 Years. The Battle of the Serpent. A Blue Flame leviathan is goaded to the surface by a serpent caller to face the Harrowing. The Black Mist is dispersed before it reaches Bilgewater, but the giant from the depths is slain in the process.
V
9 Years. The Shadow Falls. The Black Mist overcomes the defenses of the Southern Beacon, and it sinks beneath the sea. Its guiding light is now lost to Bilgewater.
VI
14 Years. The Wild Hunt. Hecarim marshals a spectral host and lays waste to the port of Grey Harbor. Despite valiant resistance from the fishing fleet anchored there, all souls are lost. Grey Harbor remains uninhabited to this day.
VII
21 Years. The Death of the Conqueror. The mighty galleon Conqueror is lost to the depths, along with 30 battleships. Some have claimed to have seen the Conqueror riding the Black Mist in subsequent Harrowings.
VIII
32 years. The Battle of Port Mourn. The revenant Mordekaiser leads the Harrowing on a night of slaughter, and Port Mourn falls to darkness. It is said that specters now haunt its empty streets.
IX
17 years. The Crimson Armada. A Noxian war fleet is caught in the Black Mist. Over 30 vessels lost. No survivors.
X
37 years. The Maelstrom. The frigate Light-Bringer’s Bane is swallowed by the sea while sailing to outrun the Black Mist.
XI
49 years. The Shroud. Up until half a century ago, this was the furthest extent of any known Harrowing.
XII
33 years. The Flower of Ionia. An Ionian fleet of unknown size lost to the Harrowing
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Yeah, I didn't make the videos, Riot did:ninja:. And don't say that, Just because of her Q ? This makes me sad. She is a new champion with a cool new mechanic.
So, what will be her core items ?
BoRK, Statikk Shiv, Runaan's, IE, PD ?
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
So, in the LoL official site there are informations and the conclusion of the Harrowing.
[hide][/hide]
[hide][/hide]
I
1 Year. The Battle of Knife Straits. An armada from Bilgewater, led by Miss Fortune and Captain Gangplank – sailing together under an uneasy truce – meets the Black Mist head on. Heavy casualties sustained. Fleet scattered.
II
1 Year. The Drowned Anchor. One element of the Harrowing stalled. Reports of a large figure encased in a rusted diving suit seen in the heart of the fighting.
III
1 Year. The Reaping of Smuggler’s Cove. No survivors.
IV
3 Years. The Battle of the Serpent. A Blue Flame leviathan is goaded to the surface by a serpent caller to face the Harrowing. The Black Mist is dispersed before it reaches Bilgewater, but the giant from the depths is slain in the process.
V
9 Years. The Shadow Falls. The Black Mist overcomes the defenses of the Southern Beacon, and it sinks beneath the sea. Its guiding light is now lost to Bilgewater.
VI
14 Years. The Wild Hunt. Hecarim marshals a spectral host and lays waste to the port of Grey Harbor. Despite valiant resistance from the fishing fleet anchored there, all souls are lost. Grey Harbor remains uninhabited to this day.
VII
21 Years. The Death of the Conqueror. The mighty galleon Conqueror is lost to the depths, along with 30 battleships. Some have claimed to have seen the Conqueror riding the Black Mist in subsequent Harrowings.
VIII
32 years. The Battle of Port Mourn. The revenant Mordekaiser leads the Harrowing on a night of slaughter, and Port Mourn falls to darkness. It is said that specters now haunt its empty streets.
IX
17 years. The Crimson Armada. A Noxian war fleet is caught in the Black Mist. Over 30 vessels lost. No survivors.
X
37 years. The Maelstrom. The frigate Light-Bringer’s Bane is swallowed by the sea while sailing to outrun the Black Mist.
XI
49 years. The Shroud. Up until half a century ago, this was the furthest extent of any known Harrowing.
XII
33 years. The Flower of Ionia. An Ionian fleet of unknown size lost to the Harrowing
So a history of Harrowings victims?
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I´m a huge fan of Lissandra, but her skins are…¬¬
Then I saw this <3<3 :wub:
[hide][/hide][hide][/hide]
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3405364
Riot, please !!!
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I´m a huge fan of Lissandra, but her skins are…¬¬
Then I saw this <3<3 :wub:
[hide][/hide][hide][/hide]
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3405364
Riot, please !!!
Oh god that has to happen now
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I also think that Fire Twirler Draven in the background has to happen
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[Continued] Kalista Discussion
Meddler also had a few comments on Kalista following her champion reveal and PBE debut:
When asked about Kalista being permanent bond to an ally and why this effect doesn't reset if that particular ally disconnects of AFKs, Meddler explained the team's thought process:
"She is indeed. That's something we've spent a lot of time internally discussing but eventually decided was for the best. We want Kalista to form a permanent bond with an ally, since that then means the decision about who to bond with's a really significant and interesting one. Do you bond with your support, and if so which one does your lane partner want to choose? How does having access to Kalista's R chance your chance of lane partner? Alternatively do you bond with your jungler and gain strength during ganks/different opportunities mid/late game in exchange for lack of W passive access in lane? Or do you try going to a different lane than bot and get a lot of jungle pressure? Allowing you to change who you bond with to whoever's optimal at each point in the game diminishes both that gameplay and the feel of a soulbond we're aiming to create between two players for the course of the game.That does admittedly mean that having her soulbound ally disconnect/quit/afk stings even more than a 4v5 already does. Our eventual conclusion though was that we didn't want to incentivize players disconnecting to swap bond targets. Going with a really long DC/afk period until rebinding's possible would get around that, at that point though the point's pretty moot. If you've been 4v5 for 10 minutes the game's probably over regardless. There's definitely an appreciable cost created by making 4v5s even more painful, overall though we felt that the new gameplay we could offer this way outweighed that pain."
He continued:
"Yeah, fair question. This one came down to a cost/benefit assessment of how much should we limit the experiences we can offer and potential for cool moments in most games versus exacerbating an existing problem in a subset of other games. I'd argue we've actually been a bit too risk adverse in the past, limiting or avoiding some really cool abilities that 99%+ of the time would create great gameplay because there were some negative cases.Having said that this is definitely one we'll be watching really closely. It's not the sort of thing we've done as much of before (transfer of direct agency to another player) and as a result is definitely somewhat experimental. If that doesn't overall work as hoped we'll adjust."
Meddler continued, speaking to the decision to allow Kalista the ability to "CC" her team mate and her lack of access to an ultimate when her bound ally is dead:
"There's definitely some trolling potential in there, our conclusion though was that if an ADC on your team's being that trolly the game's probably over regardless. As a result we didn't want to limit some of the cool stuff we could hopefully offer because someone with other trolling opportunities might be annoying every couple of minutes. On top of that Kalista's ally always has the option of trying to escape with the ult of course - being pulled in doesn't commit you to being aggressive with it necessarily.Lack of an ult when her ally's dead's a definite weakness and ulting early's often a good play, as is keeping a really close watch on your ally's health and ulting defensively if needs be. As you say there's also a lot of options on the rest of Kalista's kit and that situation also assumes the enemy's killed someone else before your marksman, which has some benefits too."