The epic conclusion of the 2015 League of Legends World Championship is past us. SK Telecom 1 earned the top prize for a second time, and with their victory the 5th pro season comes to a close. The downtime between seasons is usually a time for Riot to pull the trigger on more overarching game adjustments not fit to unveiled during the season. This “Pre-season” will be no different.
Big past Pre-Season changes have included introducing the now vital trinket system, adding jungler specific weapons (officially legitimizing the position), and adding new objectives like the Rift Scuttler. All of these things have changed the complexion of the game in major ways, and this year’s pre-season looks to want to do something similar. We will get into the bigger, infrastructural changes in the future, but I just had to highlight what is the big initiative I’m most excited for: an overhaul of the Marksman role.
I don’t play Marksman often, honestly. I would rather Support with a beefy Nautilus or go top lane with Garen or Tahm Kench before I’d ever be a squishy glass cannon. That said, maybe the most coveted, well protected and most targeted roles on the team belongs to that slot. People like feeling powerful, being able to erase the enemy with seemingly little effort. I get it. My problem with the role is that there isn’t much difference between any ranged Marksmen. We all have the same goals and the same path to achieve them. Even someone like Ashe, who is feared for her global ultimate attack that can stun a group of enemies from anywhere on the map, still just stands around and shoots things. This sort of drab similarity is exactly what Riot hopes to dissolve before Season 6 starts.
Riot wants to take the same approach they applied when they overhauled the item selection and specific character loadouts for the Juggernaut, a sort of tanky melee fighter character who stands in the center of a fight and harasses people, and apply it to Marksmen. Juggernauts found their item selection was more diversified after patch 5.16. This meant that, even though there are many characters who could fit the bill, they didn’t end up taking the same grocery list of items all the time. That particular character archetype has since found a new sort of life in pvp. Darius and Garen aren’t good and evil versions of the same kit, anymore.
A marksman (or ADC for you old schoolers) is pretty much built the same way across 90% of the characters that fit the role. Rush an Infinity Edge – a big sword that does lots of damage and makes critical hits way more painful – a soon as possible. Follow that up with Berserker Greaves, which are boots that make you move fast and attack faster. From there, find your favorite Attack Speed boosting item (usually Statik Shiv, but Phantom Dancers and Runaan’s Hurricane are viable too), maybe a life steal item (Bloodthirster or Blade of the Ruined King) or something more defensive (Banshee’s Veil), and finish it off with some armor piercing (Last Whisper). Works every time.
But that’s sort of boring. It reduces the game down to which characters naturally use the same set list of items the best, thanks to their stats and abilities. This is why you saw Jinx and Tristana pick so many times during the World Championships. The meta dictates that they are the Ladies of the Realm. Riot hopes this mentality’s days are numbered.
The first step is to change some of the most quintessential marksmen who, over time, have become sort of nebulous and samey with one another. Graves, Caitlyn, Kog’Maw, Quinn, Miss Fortune, and Corki will get their kits adjusted, and if what happened to the likes of Skarner and Mordekaiser are to be examples, things could get very interesting in the picks/bans stage next season.
The second step, add more items! Some of the additions do a good job of filling in some gaps between two go to choices, like the Rapid Firecannon. Besides adding attack speed, critical strike damage, and movement speed like a lot of other items, it also features a moving/attacking passive charge like the Statik Shiv. The difference here, though, is that it grants extra range and magic damage when fully charged, and all of your souped up attacks work on towers. No longer do you have to just hope having a really high number in the AD stat will be good enough – Riot recognizes that sieging is becoming more and more of a big deal, and they’re addressing it by making it easier. Welcome to Siege City – population you.
My favorite of the previewed items is a tie between two newcomers that will most likely fill the same slot. Lord Domink’s Regards and Mortal Reminder are both items with very specific sorts of targets in mind. If you want to hurt the tank badly in the late game, grab the LDR and let its awesome passive ability – that does bonus damage against champs with higher total life than you – grant your wish. Reminder is for those pesky supports and champs who regen health well like Garen or Aatrox, as it inflicts Grievous Wounds, an ailment which lowers the amount of healing a target gets. This sort of dynamic, super focused option makes each game really unique. You have to play the other team, not just follow your Mobafire build by the numbers.
How these changes will effect the game in a concrete way remains to be seen. There’s only speculation possible, at this point. None of the items have real numbers attached to them yet, and none of this stuff has showed up in the PBE, or public beta environment. But sprucing up one of the most important roles in the game is always something to get excited for. Keep your eyes on the League of Legends Wiki for up to date info about all of this changes, and tell us what you’re most excited for on Twitter @CurseGamepedia.