With the end of Season 5 quickly approaching, it is almost that time of the year again, the preseason. This time between the end of the season and the official beginning of the new season is a hectic time where Riot typically introduces many extremely new ideas to the game.
In preseason 3, there were huge changes in the jungle with the addition of the Hunter's Machete and introduction of the "Spirit" line of the jungle items (Spirit of the Spectral Wraith, Elder Lizard, and Ancient Golem). There were also many reworked items (Morello's Evil Tome -> Morellonomicon) and new items (Statik Shiv, Iceborn Gauntlet).
In preseason 4, the major changes went towards the support role with balance changes on all of the supports as well as the addition of the support starting items (Ancient Coin line, Spellthief's Edge line, Nomad's Medallion line). There was also the huge change in how vision worked with the 3 ward limit per champion and the addition of the trinkets.
In preseason 5, we once again see huge changes to the jungle with the removal of the "Spirit" item line, but the addition of different jungle items and the ability to have different Smite effects. The jungle itself received monumental changes with the addition of Smite effects on camps, the Rift Scuttlers, changes to the Baron buff, and the addition of Dragon buffs.
Now that preseason 6 is quickly approaching, it is the time to wonder what changes will be brought to Summoner's Rift. The first question that should be asked is what should be changed. The things that have an option to be changed that I see are:
- Runes
- Masteries
- Summoner Spells (specifically TP)
- Champion Mastery
- Jungle items and camps
- Support items
- Marksman and general AD itemization
Runes
As of right now, runes are not too problematic as there is great variation within the different kinds of runes.
- Marks can be Attack Damage, Attack Speed, Armor Penetration, Magic Penetration, Hybrid Penetration, and even Armor for some supports.
- Seals can be HP, Armor, and the per level versions of them
- Glyphs can be flat and per level MR, flat and per level CDR, flat and per level AP, and Mana Regen
- Quints can be anything
This currently fits Riot's ideals of having the Marks as the damage runes, Seals as the defense rune, Glyphs as the magic rune, and quints as overall runes. Of course, just being in a good spot might not always be enough. While I personally don't see runes as being problematic, it does not make them invulnerable from being changed.
Masteries
Historically, masteries have received changes in every season, and there is no reason to believe that there would be an exception this season. Looking at each section of the tree, the offense seems extremely solid. Every point in the offense tree has its uses and the flow of putting 21 points into it feels fine (the flow for 9 points can be slightly awkward). The defensive tree has some things in it that I think could be buffed or changed, namely Second Wind and Swiftness. I think Second Wind is weak as a mastery while Swiftness is good, but there are things that are better to get. The utility tree has more issues than the other two. Expanded mind, Strength of Spirit, Vampirism, and Inspiration are the ones that I see as the weakest or underused that should be removed or reworked. Riot could keep a large majority of the masteries and alter the tiers instead. I like many of the masteries currently in the game and hope to see many of them stay for the next season.
Summoner Spells
Summoner spells are something that is likely to receive changes. The specific offender here is Teleport, but I'll look at all Summoner Spells.
Currently, the most used summoners are:
- Flash
- Heal
- Teleport
- Smite
- Exhaust
- Ignite
Ones used occasionally are:
- Barrier
- Cleanse
- Ghost
Ones almost never used are:
- Clairvoyance
- Clarity
Out of all of these spells, I think Heal, Teleport, Clairvoyance, and Clarity are the most problematic.
Heal is an extremely powerful spell in the bottom lane as it has the healing for a second person as well as a quick movement speed burst. Unfortunately I think it is too potent. Right now, marksman have almost no other options besides heal. In a 2 v 2 fight bottom, the side without heal is at a large health disadvantage for both members. The other options for marksman would be barrier or cleanse, and while cleanse does see very occasional play for marksman, they are still in a weaker state because cleanse is not a pure combat spell.
Teleport is becoming a problematic spell. As league is transitioning away from pure mechanical skill to more team/map oriented play, teleport is becoming much more important. Previously, it was only top laners that ran teleport, but now the summoner is creeping into mid lane and having two teleports on a team is becoming the norm. The problems with current teleport are that it makes laning dull, makes plays more risky, and generally completely changes the game.
Clairvoyance and Clarity are legacy spells. They were around when the game first existed and have their uses, but are outclassed. Clairvoyance is a good spell, but the issue I see with it is that you can not replace any of the other summoner spells with it. Before, supports typically ran Flash Clairvoyance, but nowadays supports run Flash Exhaust or Flash Ignite. Clairvoyance can not take the place of Exhaust or Ignite here because there is no combat effectiveness to it like Exhaust or Ignite. The same is true for all other roles, they can't give up a summoner spell for a Clairvoyance. It also doesn't help that Clairvoyance exists in the game as the Blue Trinket.
Clarity conceptually makes sense as a spell, but its application is next to useless in League. If you run out of mana, you just back and if you have Teleport, you teleport back to lane. There is no real heavy mana gating that would warrant the use of Clarity, especially over a different summoner spell.
Champion Mastery
Now this is not balance related, but I do hope to see some changes occur with champion mastery. Riot introduced this on May of 2015 and was generally well received by the community. The biggest issues with it were how the points were accumulated and the ease of getting champion mastery. What I'd like to see is more levels, as well as possible bonuses for getting to high mastery on a champion. Something small like unlocking a chroma for a champion would be great. Riot has the start of a great system here and I hope they expand on it.
Jungle Items and Camps
The jungle typically receives changes every season. Different things like camp difficulty, camp experience, and how "healthy" the jungle is are typically tweaked. The new mechanic that can be changed in the jungle is the camp specific buffs when Smite is used on it. In its current state, the Smite buffs are great and all have their very clear-cut uses, but changes in strength and duration could still occur.
The other thing that will likely see a change is Poacher's Knife. By itself, it is a fine Smite upgrade. The reduced Smite makes it so that you can take more camps, while the movement speed really makes it feel like an in-and-out mission. It has a clear cut use, but the issue is that all of the other Smites are just better to get. Each Smite is put into one of four different jungler categories, Blasting Smite for farming junglers, Chilling Smite for ganking junglers, Challenging Smite for dueling junglers, and Scavenging Smite for control/counter-jungling junglers. One thing is that the pure counter-jungling style is not that strong and not that popular. Options are to buff Poacher's to make it more attractive, or to change the jungle to make counter-jungling more valuable.
Support Items
The support items have been extremely successful so far, we have seen Zeke's Herald, Mikael's Crucible, Locket of the Iron Solari, and Banner of Command see play, as well as the Ancient Coin, Relic Shield, and Spelltheif's Edge lines of items, and of course, Sightstone.
One thing that is for sure being changed is Sightstone. Riot Meddler has brought up Sightstone in some posts and Riot is apparently adding more upgrades for the Sightstone instead of it just being Sighstone -> Ruby Sightstone. With this in mind, I do wonder what kind of approach Riot takes with the Sightstone upgrades. Do they give different upgrade paths with different small items to make upgraded Sightstone a ball of stats, or do they give it utility boosts like boot enchantments? The criteria that Meddler has stated for Sightstone upgrades is that they want to avoid making Sightstone appealing for too many positions and to make it so the Sightstone upgrades don't feel like must get upgrades. Either way, I am excited to see what Riot will do with Sightstone this upcoming season.
Marksman and AD Itemization
Marksman has become an increasingly stagnant role. While other roles have large variation in what to build depending on situations, Marksman stick with a single build with very little variation. Champions usually have a specific build that is dictated by the usual first item, so we have the Infinity Edge Marksman, the Blade of the Ruined King Marksman, the Trinity Force Marksman, and the Bloodthirster Marksman. Afterwards, there are almost no variation. The questions a Marksman can ask themselves are should I go Statik Shiv or Phantom Dancer, and should I go lifesteal item or get Last Whisper. I hope that something similar to the AP Item changes that happened in patch 5.13 happens for AD Items, as well as trying to introduce some more items that can be legitimately considered as options.
While I'm excited for the upcoming 2015 Worlds Finals, I'm just as excited to see what changes will be brought to League of Legends in Season 6.
