LoL General Chat

[Jelly]

He and his thresh we're able to snowball off of a kill when thresh hooked leona and there was no use in trying to help because urgot does hella damage throughout the game

[The Fush]

He and his thresh we're able to snowball off of a kill when thresh hooked leona and there was no use in trying to help because urgot does hella damage throughout the game

AND I WISH PEOPLE WOULD ACTUALLY REALIZE THIS INSTEAD OF HATING ON URGOT PICKERS ALL THE TIME

[Shanco]

I should really pick up Urgot again, fond memories have been had curbstomping Jinx and Varus, the two carries that annoy me the most

[Shanco]

Hmm, some League videos are getting infected with...something.

Certain YouTubers have had a video or two hacked, revealing a one-eyed...thing for a few seconds. Seems this thing, which has been dubbed "Vel'Koz" by some, is trying to take control of the internet, or something to that effect. Either way, a safe bet is this is something from the Void.

Perhaps this is what Kog'Maw meant by "daddy"...

[The Fush]

Well played, Ryan, well played.

But in case the rest of you don't know, Vel'Koz is the next champion Riot plans to release, and it's already confirmed that it's from the void.

Prepare your bodies.

More details:

Riot and some others made it so that they'd tease us like the way Ryan's shown!

Pretty sneaky of em'.

[Shanco]

Looks like it's a leak, but it appears to be the first of the series of splash art redos that the community was promised.

[The Fush]

Looks like it's a leak, but it appears to be the first of the series of splash art redos that the community was promised.

Is it me or does Ezreal look more like a girl with every new splash art of him that comes out

[Shanco]

Meanwhile, on the topic of Vel'Koz, let's put on our tin foil hats and take a look at this:

Red: Kassadin

Blue: Lissandra

Purple: Vel'Koz

My god...

[Neo]

Nah, it's just you. He looks pretty awesome

[Shanco]

Speaking of looking pretty awesome

[Neo]

Hnnnnnnng

[The Fush]

Nevermind promoting to silver I'm gonna be stuck in bronze forever

I don't get how simply having one bad game causes the entire team to flame on you

We can't all be perfect

[Amethyst]

Meanwhile, on the topic of Vel'Koz, let's put on our tin foil hats and take a look at this:

Red: Kassadin

Blue: Lissandra

Purple: Vel'Koz

My god...

...I don't get it, what are these circles? Am I blonding?

[Shanco]

In the red circle is a silhouette of Kassadin, in the blue circle is a silhouette of Lissandra, and in the purple is something closely resembling Vel'Koz.

So yes you are blonding.

[Amethyst]

Oh. The ground. I was like, are these hit boxes or what...

I'm not sure why kassadin and velkoz would be in ancient frelijord architecture though. that doesn't make much sense to me

[Joker]

Speaking of looking pretty awesome

My...God.

Also Vel'Koz looks pretty damn awesome. I can't wait for his release!

[WanderoftheColossus]

Oh. The ground. I was like, are these hit boxes or what...

I'm not sure why kassadin and velkoz would be in ancient frelijord architecture though. that doesn't make much sense to me

They aren't. It may look like it but Kass and Velkoz are not depicted on the floor. Lissandra is however. And if it turns out i'm wrong, you all can tell me 'i told you so'

however, it is possible that perhaps the watchers lissandra serves are of the same race as Velkoz. Who knows, we'll have to wait and see.

Edit: Incidentally after poking around on the Wiki I found this interesting theory

For a second, imagine that Vel'Koz is one of Lissandra's Watchers.

Now, imagine for a second that the iconic canyon within the Howling Abyss is completely irrelevant to the lore.

"A bottomless crevasse surrounded by an ancient fortress carved into a glacier. [...] Avarosa drove them howling into the Abyss. "

That bottomless crevasse, that abyss... it's the Void. Lissandra wasn't being poetic. The Watchers were literally banished into The Abyss. That gate, set into a glacier, surrounded by a fortress and locked with a carving of Vel'Koz: maybe it guards a portal to the void. Lissandra states that only she knows the true purpose of that place. If this is true: the Iceborn and Voidborn are both servants of the Watchers, and not even Lissandra knows where the Watchers originate from.

"The Watchers return and they are so pleased with you."

Lissandra states that the Watchers return. Present tense. Cho'Gath, Kha'Zix and Kog'Maw. Tentacles can be seen destroying a city in Hired Gun Lucian's splash artwork and luring Kassadin in the the Void.

With the re-write to Sivir's lore, it's made ever apparent that Shurima is connected to the Void.

It's all connected.

Thats what I found on the wiki which would actually be really really cool.

Edited February 6, 2014 by WanderoftheColossus

[Jelly]

Why is it that I go on a win streak and then get three games in a row where my supports go hyper-aggro at level 1 into the enemy's creeps and tries to engage and I can't follow up because I'm just a level 1 Lucian? Like seriously, have some sense and help me push the waves to get level 2 before we engage hnnnnng.

[Shanco]

Continuing on the topic of splashes, this one popped up as a WIP

[anethia]

So.

I was forced to play support recently, and I like support, it's just not my favorite (trying to main ADc), and I did way better than expected; so, here's a question.

Would maining ADc's - or at least knowing their scaling, abilities, et cetera - improve your support skills? It sounds so stupid and basic, but I just want to hear opinions. I was doing some support Fiddlesticks stuff along with a Varus. I'd used Varus on my EUW, so I knew lots about him. For example, I waited for level 2 in order to get some good pokes and such, and we went in on level 4 (the Varus wanted it, so I decided to trust him and let him have it his way. Was annoying though, as they kept on trying to land some kind of engagement with Leona's e xD)

They died. Is it just common knowledge to go "Hey, if I fear him, it'll be an easy E for Varus, we'll slow him and we could kill him if I hit my silence, and easily tank any skillshots then just drain them back up?" Or did having knowledge of Varus really help? It's just interested me because it's making me think that maining ADc could help my support skills. What do you guys think?

..Also why do I hate smurfing on my EUW because I'm matched up with idiots 99% of the time? Not blaming them (smurf is level 6 qq), but damn, leaving it for that long has just made me get commonly stuck with insta-lockers, ragers or total idiots who dive their lane opponents at level 1, even when the opponent is at full health? Why do you not recall? I mean sure if you were Jungle Fiddles or someone with good healing abilities, you could go hide and heal health back, but why do you stay in lane when you have less than 100 health? That's just asking the Riven to run up to you and just eat your face off.

/super long post that is going to get a lot of smh's and "dum shiri's"

Edited February 7, 2014 by Alatreon

[Shanco]

I don't know if maining ADC gives you a greater edge than maining top or mid but from what I've heard it certainly helps.

[Ikaru]

there were a lot of words here and i realised i do that too much and stopped myself before i did it again, so read them if you want, but in retrospect what's actually important is communication and your ability to work together as players, and not the champions in question. Sure knowledge of the mechanics and the game overall is important, but a duo lane is one being with two people controlling it; only rarely will it work at an equal skill level if one half does all the work. There's a certain someone I play with that I never ever ever do poorly around because we work so well together, and not because of either of our individual skill. At its core, the game is simple. If you play better, you win.

v tl;dr

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

If you're more in tune with whatever carry your teammate is and their limits and capabilities you'll naturally be able to support them more effectively. If you know Varus excels at poking and overall decent utility you can capitalise on that with your pick and how you go about the early game. His poke is strong, but super mana intensive, so you could get away with picking Soraka to just endlessly zone out the opposition; you could pick Sona to add to the poke yourself, and, speaking of Sona, he also has a CC ult that's easy enough to land and combo with. Say you picked her or Leona or something to either lock them in place with your ult for him to hit his- all the while doing damage with his attacks- or to combo with his after he's landed it, that's better than not knowing what he does and picking something general that may or may not work well with him. The same goes for someone like Ashe. If you have some kind of wombo combo and the other team doesn't, you have an advantage that you should press at every opportunity.

That's your example though- let's consider Quinn who's relatively unpopular. Her passive is one of the best things to trade with early game, especially since it can be triggered twice in very quick succession. If you see that mark and you're a play-making support, you should look for opportunities to do something with it, if anything can be done. She's got a blind on her Q for easy trades, and her W, while not really eliminating it, does reduce the absolute need for wards in every possible place so you can focus on the more important places first. Her E is a gap closer of sorts that re-applies her passive (see above with the double trigger thing) which hurts even in early levels, and way more so when you have crit. Her ult is strange, and not the best in a direct fight unless you're making the plays (if she gets to 6 before the other guy does YOU SHOULD but this goes for basically everyone that isn't Jayce or the like) and serves as her "go in" tool when starting a fight and ends with an execution; the reason it's not too great is that it sticks her in melee range and is 100% all-in, so communication is essential. If you took, say, Thresh or Leona, and landed a hook/zenith blade on a marked target 6+ you go in then and there unless there's an overwhelming advantage on the enemy side and you blow them up or get them to leave at the minimum.

also in 90% of my experience quinn beats jinx so she's automatically the best

[Mashew]

YOOOOO THOOOOO them skarner AND Xerath rework patch notes. Also new icons for Soraka and Ashe. Along with an attempt at chipping away at that mini map bug of doom.

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/patch/patch-42-notes

[Jelly]

THEY PICKED UP SKARNER, NESTLED HIM FOR A LITTLE BIT, AND THEN THREW HIM RIGHT BACK INTO THE TRASHCAN.

[Shanco]

A very interesting patch...

I've run it all down for those of you too lazy to look at the site, so here's the low down. Here goes!

Champions - Reworks

• Xerath got an overhaul on his kit along with some new visuals and VO lines. See the notes for more details.
  This rework isn’t driven by a concern for power levels. Instead, like a lot of our reworks, it’s focused on delivering a unique, cohesive champion theme. Xerath’s theme has always been the arcane sniper with huge damage potential. Give him time and the right target, and he can precisely pick off his victims. That said, with Xerath’s old kit, he had so much spell penetration and rapid-fire abilities that players would often just dump all of his damage on the nearest target. We believe his new kit delivers on a better champion fantasy.

• Skarner also got a rework, but not as much of one as Xerath.
  We’re giving Skarner a moderate rework to bring him slashing and impaling into the modern day. Our goals are to improve his overall counterplay, make Fracture a more useful skill and bring him up to current jungle standards. These changes shouldn't have a dramatic effect on Skarner's overall play pattern but they should make his kit feel more cohesive overall.

Champions

• Ashe's Hawkshot passive gold bonus is now 3 at all ranks and the cooldown goes down with rank.
  Basically, we wanted Hawkshot to feel more valuable at rank 1.

• Mundo get skinny cleaver.
  Designers keep watch over Mundo with skinny cleaver change. Now Mundo get no corporate bonus for bad cleaver. This separate good Mundo from great Mundo.

• Evelynn's Hate Spike now travels faster if it's closer to the target.
  We still like the notion behind our last Hate Spike change, but we’re not really happy with how it feels in game. Adjusting the ability’s missile speed still rewards enemies for keeping their distance, but also rewards Evelynn for getting up close and personal.

• Fizz can no longer use Playful/Trickster to dodge targeted spells that have been sent at him.
  unlisted change, may be fixed, dunno. - abbey street

• Kayle's Reckoning does less damage, but her Divine Blessing was vastly improved and Intervention no longer has a mana cost.
  Once she gets ahead, Kayle's burst damage can be overwhelming to play against. While we're taking away some of Kayle's up-front burst, the utility scaling on Divine Blessing should help her and her team get INTO (and out of) THE FRAY.

• Riven's base Health Regen got gutted, but in its place is a buff to Valor.
  We're reinforcing one of Riven’s core philosophies: she's a champion who should rely on mitigating or avoiding damage to be successful. Enemies who harass Riven should feel rewarded for hitting her when her defenses are down, while Riven players can feel better about using her buffed shield to prevent that damage in the first place.

• Thresh's basic attack range has been lowered to 450.
  Thresh's very long range basic attack is a powerful threat in lane, so this change introduces a little more vulnerability to his kit.

• Yasuo no longer generates Flow as quickly. In addition, Last Breath got a slight range nerf.
  We made some general quality of life changes to Yasuo in patch 4.1, but as players begin to master him, we’ve seen how strong he is when played to maximum effectiveness. We looked at areas where we could reduce some of that power without messing with his core playstyle. We were also unhappy with how Yasuo was using Last Breath to engage in fights by teleporting from thousands (and thousands) of miles away.

• Ziggs got a little nerf, particularly to Short Fuse's damage, as well as Hexplosive Minefield's damage to minions (beyond the first mine tripped).
  Our changes to Ziggs in patch 3.13 turned him into monster when it comes to pushing and counterpushing. While we like the philosophy behind the change, Hexplosive Minefield is a little too good as a wave clear tool, letting Ziggs play passively without any repercussions. The Short Fuse change has a bunch of numbers, but the TL;DR is that it’s just a small nerf to Zigg’s early game harass.

Champions - Twisted Treeline

Kha'Zix's Taste Their Fear damage was nerfed (including Evolved Enlarged Claws).

Champions - Insignificant Stuff

These champions received minor changes, mostly bug fixes:

• Ashe
• Akali
• Elise
• Maokai
• Rumble
• Sona
• Teemo
• Yorick

Items

• Statikk Shiv now only crits when the associated attack crits.
• Cold Steel now reduces pets' attack speed as well.

Summoner's Rift

Turrets' damage reduction against champions now only lasts 8 minutes (as opposed to being permanent).

Masteries

Perseverance's effect is halved.

That's all she wrote!

I've played some extensive Xerath on the PBE and I can say this guy is scary as almighty fuck. This is my recommended build for him:

Not necessarily in this order, but I find Archangel's Staff a better fit for Xerath because if you're going to poke, poke hard, and your CC spells aren't the ideal poking spells, thus not recommending Athene's/Liandry's. His Arcanopulse is spammable but has a high mana cost and the Archangel's Staff can mitigate this better than Mana Font. I found a lot of raw power in this build over the Athene's deal.

EDIT: Added unlisted Fizz nerfs. Might be a goof that's fixed in the future but it seems intended if you ask me.