Red Post Collection: SSW, TPA, FNC, SKT skins leaving soon, Abyssal Scepter Rework Iceboxed, Meddler on LeBlanc, &more

Riot Reinboom here with an update for the Abyssal Scepter rework.

To the short of it: We're iceboxing the changes (holding them until a much later date). It will stay on PBE but won't release.

We're still interested in the new Abyssal design and continued testing is enticing but we don't feel "soon" is the right time for the change. 

What was the original goal with the new Abyssal Scepter:

We've had difficulties in the past with making aura items as satisfying as they are impactful. 

Abyssal Scepter has been one of our worst cases for the aura satisfaction issue (more on this in a sec) and so it was selected (at the very start of the season) as an opportunity space.

The pulse mechanism is an attempt at concentrating the power an aura brings in these smaller windows. In order to work in this space more easily, we deliberately narrowed the potential champion use pool intentionally (e.g. cutting it away from mages).

Passive auras have tended towards low satisfaction due to most players not actively tracking the fluctuations in their stats, especially once in combat. For many ally-supportive auras there are other types of assistance to help combat this effect. You travel with your team more than the enemy team, so noticing aura changes is more likely. Auras tend to be somewhat of an expectation from supportive or utility-centric characters and so they are easier to expect. We also call out in chat whenever a teammate purchases an ally-supportive aura item.

For aggressive auras, such as Abyssal, these tools break down and make the problem exceptionally hard to read. As it's an effect that ultimately contributes to "more damage", it also tends to be lost in the high number of damage amplification sources in the game. The result is that, even if it's personally satisfying, the actual impact it has for the output of an entire team tends to be significantly undervalued. We wanted to fix that both for the sake of Clarity and so players can actually understand the power it brings.

Why it's going on ice box: 

Though we like the new Abyssal directionally, changing it does pry open a lot of holes it's acting as a bandage for. Having a good mage magic damage defense item, for example. 

We also believe now is not the correct time for the item and would like to do more work in supporting the spaces around it first."

When asked about releasing both the current Abyssal Scepter and this new version as separate item, she noted:

"The flat penetration is pretty functionally different than percent penetration.
Due to the guaranteed low amounts of resistances we give to all characters, flat penetration acts more as a squishy killer than a tanky dude killer. Adding it pretty severely warps who the item is good against and who it's good on. 

Releasing both the old and the new one isn't ideal. In that world we'll be left with the old Abyssal (and all of its issues) and nothing to change it into. Effectively, we'd be left with the same problem that initiated the change."

As for the powerful combo of this now shelved Abyssal Scepter rework and Sunfire Cape / Cinderhulk, Reinboom noted:

"Certain champions being unable to use new abyssal isn't an issue with abyssal so much as a space other (possibly new) items could explore. 

The sunfire stacking effect is a mild concern. Since it invests pretty hard into MR and without any CDR to empower their lockdown it actually makes the tanks more vulnerable to the primary role that would actually hit them (Marksman). Which isn't as bad as you may imagine. 

Stacking the two does work on tanks / tanky dudes that can more easily opt out of CDR though such as Singed. 

I was investigating a slightly different damage pattern to deal with that anyways that may return when the item comes back."

Error with Sejuani 5.10 changes 

While Sejuani was slated to receive a nerf to her W damage in patch 5.10, there was an issues and the changes did not actually go through!

Here's a note from 5.10 Patch notes on the situation.

"Heads up: Due to a behind-the-scenes mistake, we only changed Sejuani's tooltip and not her actual in-game damage. In other words, no functional power change has been made but her tooltip will read otherwise. We're going to get this change into the next hotfix or the next patch. Sorry!"

Ekko Login and Seconds Theme on Soundcloud

Following Ekko's release earlier today, both the theme from Ekko: Seconds and the Ekko login screen have been added to the League of Legends soundcloud!


Be sure to check out the League of Legends Soundcloud for more LoL Music, including past login themes!

Nautilus and Shyvana Price Reductions

Now that Ekko (our 125th champion) has been released to live, Nautilus and Shyvana have had their prices permanently reduced!

• Nautilus lowered from 6300 IP / 975 RP to 4800 IP / 880 RP!
• Shyvana lowered from  4800 IP / 880 RP to  3150 IP / 790 RP!