League of Legends

Calistas · 2011-01-12T02:40:59.000Z

After saying Rammus couldn’t jungle without Yellows, I, um, forgot to put them back in today and did fine two games in a row =)

That being said, my mana problems went away with a blue crystal and Catalyst - which as has been pointed out, is required in due course anyway. Between catalyst, bits of Sunfire, and then finishing banshees, sunfire, boots, etc, I never felt crippled in either survivability or mana.

In fact, Cayalyst helped Trist and I kill three enemies on the trot as they each tried to help the other.

And have I mentioned yet that I love, love, LOVE how painful Rammus is for the other team? The punt, and especially the taunt are brutal… and watching the magic shield eat soft, high DPS characters is awesome. I just wish I could more easily spot if it was up or not, among a plethora of icons, a busy fight, (and with ball cooling down), it’s hard to tell.

bluemax · 2011-01-12T10:09:58.000Z

Leaked (?) concept art for Magma Chamber.

Hanacker · 2011-01-12T11:36:18.000Z

I thought Thronmail was pretty much a core item for Rammus unless the other team was heavy AP?

Also, I tried Swain for the first time in a noob game with my brother and I like him a lot. He seems like he can stay in lane forever without any summoner abilities. I like champs that seem thought out and all the passives and abilities are useful and work well together. I doubt I’d be able to carry that hard at higher ELO, but getting blue buff and stacking a ton of AP and a little resists made casting Raven feel like god-mode.

JoshV · 2011-01-12T11:46:33.000Z

Rammus is definitely great if played well.

I like interesting passives, like Galio’s that fundamentally change how you play/build the champion. I dislike Nunu’s passive for being lame and not interesting.

Lazy_Shiftless_Basta · 2011-01-12T11:49:14.000Z

bluemax:

Leaked (?) concept art for Magma Chamber.

Haha, oh man, I love that third picture of the grinning trollface toad-demon.

bluemax · 2011-01-12T11:58:42.000Z

Lazy Shiftless Bastard:

Haha, oh man, I love that third picture of the grinning trollface toad-demon.

Here’s the NA press version.

Also some shots of the “graphics update” (aka HoN mode).

Pogo · 2011-01-12T12:01:52.000Z

Reflection shaders = HoN?

Magma Chamber looks like pathways and neutral monsters have a more interesting tactical depth to them.

Pogo · 2011-01-12T12:15:37.000Z

Also, How to Pronounce Xin, you stupid sons of bitches.

JoshV · 2011-01-12T13:30:06.000Z

How do you know he’s Mandarin and not from some fantasy faux chinese land where he’s pronounced differently =)

idrisz · 2011-01-12T13:36:09.000Z

xin = chin!!! CHINK CHINK CHINK…

I can be racist, since I’m chinese!!!

Calistas · 2011-01-12T13:51:34.000Z

Thornmail is… Yeah, probably something Rammus should take on any team that has a couple of phys DPS types. I should try and include it, perhaps a little earlier in my build. Sunfire will do less damage than a taunted Trist shooting me with W up and Thornmail, I guess.

Pogo · 2011-01-12T14:39:19.000Z

Noob zoning guide for checkers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxGQ3gWdrM

I was trying to explain to him during the game how he was a walking sphere of threat as Cho’Gath, and why the enemy laners taking the bush so often were pushing so effectively. Instead he should just watch that video.

JoshV · 2011-01-12T14:51:40.000Z

Interesting vid, would be useful for someone who wanted to improve the AI. (not that it would be hard to improve the AI)

Anti-Bunny · 2011-01-12T14:57:08.000Z

Magma Chamber looks pretty awesome, IMHO.

I still want a 3-team map.

JoshV · 2011-01-12T15:28:11.000Z

I’m surprised they don’t have a one lane map, since their seems to be a contingent of folks that like to go all middle.

I’d also like to see two sliders for custom games. One would be starting Level, the other would be Max Level. Hell, maybe a third slider for starting gold. Heck, a checkbox for allowing respawning.

A 3 Team map would be funny, but like most 3 team games, always you tend to get a side that gets double-teamed, which wouldn’t be much fun.

Hanacker · 2011-01-12T15:40:45.000Z

Too many types of maps would spread out matchmaking too thin, but it would be nice to have maps with weird setups (1 lane, 3 teams, etc.) for custom games. If they were just for custom games they could just be cheap copies of the main map with different layouts.

chequers · 2011-01-12T15:54:50.000Z

Thanks for the link Pogo.

I think a lot of what I have to learn is just what every character does, and what every item does, and what every ability does… God, there’s so many of them! There is more complexity than your usual RTS in here, just in terms of the raw numbers!

I do like Cho-Gath though. Two of the abilities rely on you predicting opponent movement, and the growth mechanic makes him an amazing tank I suppose.

Pogo · 2011-01-12T16:45:02.000Z

In practice games, you see a lot of “IP farm v bots” types of games, join them and pick some random characters. You get to practice skills that you didn’t know existed.

bluemax · 2011-01-12T16:53:17.000Z

chequers:

Thanks for the link Pogo.

I think a lot of what I have to learn is just what every character does, and what every item does, and what every ability does… God, there’s so many of them! There is more complexity than your usual RTS in here, just in terms of the raw numbers!

I do like Cho-Gath though. Two of the abilities rely on you predicting opponent movement, and the growth mechanic makes him an amazing tank I suppose.

Cho was the first champ I fell in love with in this game, feast and the ability to grow super big just tickled my senses. He’s so much better to play now then when I started.

forgeforsaken · 2011-01-12T17:02:47.000Z

I just want to say ELO hell is real. I’m in the middle of a solo ranked game now, and good god is it the worst thing ever. Right from the start the team makeup sucks, while the enemy team is actually a good makeup. Then with the choice of MF, Ashe, or Teemo for mid, they send Teemo, who then proceeds to feed the other teams Kat.

Sigh…