League of Legends - Overview and comments about new patch v1.0.0.111

(Would have had thing up soon but the review and computer trouble set me back, sorry about that.)

(As usual to make things more clear, I have put my comments in green, hope that helps.)

New Skins in the Store

• Totemic Maokai
• Charred Maokai
• Longhorn Alistar

(I think the Charred Maokai is pretty awesome, definately worth checking out... Longhorn Alistar on the other hand.. it's basically the same model but with cowboy clothes on.  But hey, it's a new skin for him.)

PVP.net v1.29.23

• Created a new UI flow for joining games of all types
• Updated the Friend List UI

(This is easy to look over without thinking about, but this actually might be the fix to fix that has been causing PvP.net to crash, making inviting and playing games almost impossible until everyone reconnects.  Hopefully this fixes that.)

• Runes are now stacked in the Summoner profile

(Makes them easier to use, I like.)

• A new game mode approaches: Co-op vs. AI!
• This mode pits a team of all human players against a team of all AI bots on Summoner's Rift.
• This mode is supported by matchmaking, and allows summoners to join the queue solo or with friends.
• Summoners may choose between two AI bot difficulty settings: Beginner or Intermediate.
• IP and XP rewards are earned, and adjusted based on summoner level and difficulty setting.
• The following bots are enabled for Co-op vs. AI:
• Annie
• Ashe
• Cho'Gath
• Miss Fortune
• Nunu
• Renekton
• Ryze
• Shen
• Soraka
• Taric
• Trundle
• Warwick
• Coop versus AI will be available to play in the coming days after the patch goes live, but not on release day.

(This is a new mode! Finally! This allows you to queue up and play against bots that are a lot more competitive and after watching the video of the Riot staff against them, I'm excited to play against them.  They use tactics, ganking, better play and use summoner skills and they look pretty effective, though they do need to learn not to tower dive that much. Nunu-bot is back and fierce-some as ever! I'm wondering however if they get stat buffed to compensate for runes?

I also am curious to see how the other bots are played, in particular if Warwick or Nunu will jungle at the beginning and if they can be played properly.  Last time I saw Ryze, he was broken and would sit in the fountain.)

(Aw.. I'll try to give an update with what I think about this mode when I can then.)

XP & IP Rate Changes

• We have completely overhauled the IP and XP system in order to make it more fair. Our intention was to leave the overall XP and IP gained by players unchanged.
• Previously, IP and XP were awarded for winning or losing a game. Now, they are granted based on how long the game was, and whether you won or lost.
• In a long game, you will make significantly more XP and IP than before. However, in a very short game, you will make less IP and XP. We found it frustrating to be stuck in an hour long games, and then get what was effectively 30 minutes of IP reward

• When calculating the number of minutes the game took, we only award for actual game time. However, we give all games a small fixed bonus reward, which is to give you credit for time in queue and champion selection.
• Other details:
• We have also tweaked the formulas so that new players get larger quantities of IP in their first 10 or so levels so that they can unlock their first Champions more quickly.
• First Win of the Day remains unchanged – it is still a flat bonus you will receive when you are eligible.
• We removed the no-leave-streak bonus and increased the IP rewards in general to compensate. The reason we did this is because we felt that with the new LeaverBuster system, this was no longer necessary.

(I agree completely, I'm curious to see how much this changes IP gain.  However it might not be as grand if you happen to be steam-rolling teams constantly.  I wonder if this makes IP farming obsolete however? Since IP is gained based on the time of the match now.)

League of Legends v1.0.0.111
Maokai, the Twisted Treant

• Sap Magic (passive): Each time a champion near Maokai casts a spell, he gains a charge of Magical Sap. When he has 5 charges, Maokai's next melee attack drains energy from his target, healing him for a percentage of his maximum HP.
• Arcane Smash: Maokai slams the ground, the force of which knocks nearby enemies back and sends an arcane shockwave forward, damaging and slowing his enemies.
• Twisted Advance: Maokai dissolves into a cloud of arcane energies. He regrows near a target enemy, dealing damage and rooting it in place.
• Sapling Toss: Maokai hurls a sapling, dealing damage on impact. The sapling becomes implanted in the ground, warding a nearby area. When enemies approach, the sapling attacks, exploding in an arcane blast that damages enemies.
• Vengeful Maelstrom (ultimate): Maokai shields his allies by drawing power from hostile spells and attacks, reducing non-tower damage done to allied champions in the area. Maokai can prolong the effect as long as he has mana to spend on it. When the effect ends, Maokai unleashes the absorbed energy to deal damage to enemies within the vortex.

(I have been excited to play Maokai since I saw him leaked in a gaming magazine! He looks very fun and I love the DoTA influence from him.  The abilities seem a little odd for a supposed tank but they look fun anyways with a powerful ultimate.  I'm excited to try him out! Hopefully he isn't another off-tank tough mage champion however, which might be the case.)

Akali

• Fixed a bug where the sound of Mark of the Assassin could persist after her target died

(Aw, I actually liked the sound of that.  It should stay on their dead body until it disappears like it's saying 'if you stand here, Akali can still jump in and murder you!)

Amumu

• Base damage increased to 47 from 45
• Base armor increased to 18 from 15
• Tantrum passive physical damage reduction increased to 2/4/6/8/10 from 1/2/3/4/5
• Despair mana cost reduced to 8 from 10 at all levels
• Despair now has a new particle to match the area of effect

(Amumu is buffed here pretty well, increasing his toughness and making his Despair less mana intensive overall, he to me is a tank that is becoming less played than others, so hopefully it will help.)

Anivia

• Fixed a bug where Flashfrost stunned for 0.75 seconds instead of 1 second as the tooltip stated
• Fixed a bug where unlike other skillshots, Flashfrost could not be cast from out of range
• Glacial Storm
  • Initial mana cost increased to 100/150/200 from 25/35/45
  • Cost per second reduced to 40/50/60 from 50/70/90
  • Slow duration reduced to 1 second from 2.5
• Rebirth
• Armor/magic resist modifier changed to -40/-25/-10/5/20 from -40/-20/10/40
• Rebirth now always shows the passive in the passive slot, and an additional buff in the buff bar with the current status (ready, active, or on cooldown)

(I remember this being talked about it the patch preview, developers found her storm able to be layed down too easily, so now it's mana is increased initally, cost reduced overall and now granting more slow, making it more useful.  Flashfrost may more useful now and Rebirth is now less useful end game, letting her become more tanky mid-game, not sure what to say about that since I don't play Anivia often.)

Dr. Mundo

• Fixed a bug where Infected Cleaver's PvP.net description was incorrect

(...)

Fiddlesticks

• Base magic resistance reduced to 30 from 35

(Seems like a lot of the hard mages in this patch are more susceptible to magic now, nothing too important though.)

Irelia

• Fixed a bug where the Transcendent Blades cooldown tooltip was incorrect

(Insignificant.)

Karma

• Spirit Bond now properly assigns assist markers to allies that receive the haste bonus
• Fixed a bug where Spirit Bond would break friendly spell shields and not apply the haste bonus
• Fixed a display bug where Spirit Bond's beam would appear at Karma's feet for enemy players

(Pretty significant bug fixes actually.  Karma becomes a lot less useful when she constantly breaks Morgana spell shield's and Kayle ultimate's and now with it, you can gain assists for it, which is actually something I noticed when I supported a mate in a game playing laning Udyr and caused him to become extremely fed.  I'm surprised that Karma didn't get nerfed a bit.  Her farming potential and damage is pretty large, even with support items.  But, I guess overall she is pretty balanced if you compare her farming potential to someone such as Morgana.)

Kog'Maw

• Fixed a display bug with Bio-Arcane Barrage attacks on several skins

(Never noticed it anyways if a Kog'Maw had it on, too many attempting to avoiding rounds of artillery.)

LeBlanc

• Fixed a bug where the sound of Sigil of Silence could persist after her target died

(Hmm... Sound of Silence, eh? Interesting... Should the skill be completely quiet anyways? Anyway...)

Nasus

• Fixed a bug where attack damage granted by Fury of the Sands was not showing in your stats/character sheet
• Fury of the Sands now updates the buff tooltip to explicitly state how much attack damage granted

(I actually forget about this buff stats so it's nice to make it more noticeable, besides the health and life drain.)

Olaf

• Fixed a bug where Undertow could hit the same target twice

(They really want to make sure that Undertow is completely balanced, eh? Brolaf must have added this himself...)

Pantheon

• Heartseeker Strike now deals damage slower - it takes 0.5 seconds longer to deal full damage
• Grand Skyfall now has a small area near the center that deals full damage (previously it was impossible to deal full damage to any target)

(Interesting, no not the buff-nerf that Pantheon has been getting to his main skills every SINGLE patch.  I always thought his ultimate did full damage in the middle and the surround radius doing less damage.  This should buff his skill a lot more and give reason to actually leave the circle when you see it on the opposing side.)

Rammus

• Powerball speed reduced by about 15%

(Now this is what I mean't last patch, this will make it slightly earlier to escape a powerful Rammus and this is what I thought needed change!  This will make jungling Rammus less effective which is good and perhaps [Less Importantly] this may de-throne Rammus as the movement speed king which if you didn't know by using revive and movement speed items you can gain insane amounts of movement speed, which with Rammus's [Rammui?] Powerball made him the fastest champion.  Perhaps Master Yi can provide a challenge now...  No one cares though.)

Renekton

• Fixed a bug where Slice and Dice would remember your order after casting, causing him to move toward previous locations

(Hmm? Sorry?)

Ryze

• Overload
  • Cooldown reduced to 3.5 from 11/10/9/8/7
  • Base Damage reduced to 30/55/80/105/130 from 50/90/130/170/210
  • Mana cost changed to 70/70/70/70/70 from 30/65/80/95/110
  • Missile speed increased to 1400 from 1200
  • Ability power ratio decreased to .2 from .45
  • Range increased to 675 from 600
• Rune Prison
  • No longer deals damage per tick and deals 60/95/130/165/200 damage up front (down from 80/120/160/200/240 over the duration)
  • Ability power ratio changed to a flat .6 from .4/.6/.8/1/1.2 (depending on snare duration)
  • Now deals 5% of Ryze's maximum mana in bonus damage
  • Cast range increased to 625 from 600
  • Duration reduced to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 from 1.2/1.5/1.8/2.1/2.4
• Spell flux
  • Ability power ratio per hit reduced to .35 from .38
  • Cooldown increased to 14 from 9
  • Mana cost reduced to 60/75/90/105/120 from 60/80/100/120/140
  • Cast range increased to 675 from 625
  • Base damage reduced to 50/70/90/110/130
• Desperate Power
  • No longer grants ability power but now grants 15% spell vamp
  • Area of effect damage percentage reduced to 50% from 65%
  • Cooldown changed to 70/60/50 from 50/50/50
  • Duration changed to 5/6/7 from 8
  • Now grants a passive 75/150/225 mana
• General
• Reduced base magic resistance to 30 from 35
• Fixed a bug where Ryze's base mana regen did not get updated properly during the previous patch's revamp
  

(Probably the most significant change I've seen in this patch and it was mentioned in the patch preview.  This is an almost complete remake of the character Ryze!  It looks like a lot but it has a lot of constant themes.  It takes most of his spells, reduces mana use, reduces damage, reduces duration but makes his Overload a 3.5 second cooldown! Less with cooldown reduction! His spells are also longer range, which is important. His ultimate no longer gives more damage, instead giving spell vamp for more survival.  Overall, these changes turn Ryze less into a traditional spell-caster and more of a mage carry.  I've heard mixed responses about this.  Some are happy that he becomes a more interesting hero, instead of one that just throws his spells, runs away until spells come back and does it again.  I've also heard that some do not like the changes - saying that people just don't understand how to play the champion, so they change him.  I disagree with this however, this is a positive change!  It makes him a more interesting champion to play and more different than traditional spellcasters like Veiger or Annie.  Once again, I'm excited to try him out now.)

Sivir

• Boomerang Blade
• Damage reduction to each subsequent target increased to 20% from 10%
• Now scales from bonus attack damage instead of total attack damage
• Base damage increased to 75/120/165/210/255 from 20/70/120/170/220
• Attack damage ratio increased to .95 from .75

(Surprise change on Sivir.  Makes her farming less effective on many minions but more powerful when used as a ranged attack, making it more powerful overall.  I like this change and I'll be trying it out soon.  This will probably encourage Sivir players to level it first for harassment, good stuff.  Another thing to consider is Support Sivir is more powerful with this change, because of her skill doing more damage overall instead of scaling with lots of attack damage, interesting.)

Tryndamere

• Fixed a bug where Undying Rage could not be used while suppressed

(This actually helps Try's escaping ability, making him even harder to kill.  Seriously.)

Vladimir

• Crimson Pact Bonus ability power gained reduced to 1 ability power per 40 bonus health from 25 health
• Sanguine Pool no longer grants a speed bonus on use
• Fixed a bug where Turrets would sometimes idle while Vladimir was pooled
• Fixed a bug where Sanguine Pool would occasionally not properly draw aggro upon exiting his pool

(And after complaining about Tryndamere I see that Vladimir is now getting a proper nerf, as I was complaining about last patch, again.  It's almost like Riot is paying attention to these posts... [I highly doubt it, hah.]  So now, Vladimir becomes less powerful when built as a mage, now looking more like a proper tough mage and less like a more powerful Amumu.  This pool change also makes him have less of an escape ability, so he's easier to be killed now.  So, in essence making him more gankable.  I was frustrating looking around for a lane to gank and seeing the only one pushing to be a Vladimir with flash.  I'm very excited for this, though about the same effect can be gained if Vladimir decides to get speed 3 boots.  See, in LoL you can overcome things by thinking about it in different ways.  No need to cry, Vladimir fans.)

Zilean

• Base magic resistance reduced to 30 from 35

(Nothing too important.)

Items

• Fixed a bug where Vampiric Scepter improperly showed it could build into Malady

(Not really noticeable.)

• Sight Wards and Wriggle's Lantern wards now have a green top
• Vision Wards now have a pink top

(This is actually pretty good if you're one to pay attention to the placing of wards, such as wardening the bushes in early game.  This will help clarify to stealthed classes on your team to avoid these bushes if you notice a pink top on the ward before it goes invisible.)

• Doran's Shield
• Fixed a bug where it said it provided 9 armor but actually provided 8
• Armor increased to 10 from 8
• Health regen per 5 seconds reduced to 8 from 10

(Kinda funny that they change a bug then turn around and buff it past what it was.  Doran's Shield actually became an overpowered item early game, giving a ton of health regen.  This thankfully puts it back into place.)

• Frozen Heart
  • Combine cost reduced to 650 from 800
  • Cooldown reduction decreased to 20% from 25%
• Glacial Shroud
  • Combine Cost reduced to 425 from 575
  • Cooldown reduction decreased to 15% from 20%
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity cost increased to 700 from 550
• Quicksilver Sash magic resistance increased to 56 from 48
• Randuin's Omen cooldown reduction decreased to 5% from 8%
• Spirit Visage cooldown reduction decreased to 10% from 12%
• Soul Shroud cooldown aura reduced to 10% from 15%

(To save time and make it easier, I will just comment on all of these.  Riot found these hybrid items overpowered for non-support characters using them and getting a powerful amount of cooldown reduction so they've been nerfed accordingly, I can agree with this.  Ionian boots were a bit too cheap, becoming like Ninja Tabi and becoming the boots you bought if you just wanted quick speed 2 boots, which made them very powerful.  In addition to the Frozen Heart cooldown reduction nerf they actually made it cheaper, which is nice considering it's use is mostly specialized.  Finally, Quicksilver Sash buff.  It's a nice, cheap item for tanks or anyone who needs a cleanse but doesn't want to take the item, hopefully this makes it more popular as it was hardly used.  At least those items weren't removed...) 

• New Item: Morello's Evil Tome
• Builds out of Fiendish Codex and Blasting Wand (Total Cost of 2350)
• +75 ability power
• +12 mana regeneration per 5
• UNIQUE passive: 15% cooldown reduction

(A brand new item! ...At first glance.  This is actually built the same way as Deathfire Grasp.  It trades in the active effect for less gold to make the item.  This makes is more useful for Support since the active is not very useful for them and if you think about it.. most support already have a slow to use.  This makes is less useful and just a bit too much gold to buy instead of other items.  I'll be trying it out.)

General

• Added a new UI to better convey Shields on the health bar.

(I haven't noticed this personally, but seen it when watching other's streams of the game, is pretty confusing so it's good to see the fix.)

• Surrender time on Summoner's Rift reduced to 20 minutes from 25
• Surrender time on Twisted Treeline reduced to 15 minutes from 17

(Always a nice option when you're clearly outclassed.  Or if you get a PUG leaver.  Though, getting IP for making the game last longer might persuade to continue trying to win - the option to leave is nice though.)

• Smite now deals true damage instead of magic damage

(Important change! This makes Smite do more damage, doing a consistent amount instead of being reduced by magic resist.  This makes early jungling, getting dragon and baron a lot easier and less worrying.)

• Updated tooltips for Akali, Annie, Ashe, Caitlyn, Cassiopeia, Jax, Malphite, Rammus, Singed, and Zilean

(Rammus: Ok.)