In League of Legends, the new Patch 12.4 went live today, Wednesday, February 16th. The update mainly introduces the new, rather mean LoL champion Renata Glasc. Riot Games is also taking initial steps to curb the “Supporter Top-Lane” strategy, which many find frustrating.
What kind of new champion is this? Today, the new champion Renata Glasc has been launched: She is a supporter. But unlike most supporters in LoL, who are sweet, squeaky, and nice, Renata Glasc is a grumpy and cynical capitalist.
Her meanest trick is “Hostile Takeover”; she can pit enemies against each other.
The gameplay concept of the new champion and especially her background have already been extensively celebrated before the release. Players see her as a welcome addition to LoL, an “older, muscular lady” – something that has been missing so far. And the idea of mowing down one’s own team also seems to appeal to many.
What is this strategy that is annoying? In the last patch, a new meta especially established itself on the top lane, playing supporter Janna with the summoner spell Smite. The champion was rarely seen on the top lane but roamed around the lanes and was also found in the jungle.
Normally, a champion in LoL cannot simply neglect their lane, as they would miss out on too much gold and fall behind. However, with supporter items that grant passive gold and new mechanics, this strategy has now become possible.
Pros like Alphari complained about this strategy – for real top laners, who are used to playing tanks, it was inconceivable to now choose such an “improper strategy” and mess around as a supporter.
Strategy Oversteps Boundaries of What Constitutes a ‘Healthy Measure’
This is how Riot Games wants to curb it: With today’s patch, Riot Games is taking action against the strategy. It is said to “overstep the healthy measure”; something they want to observe in early game incursions.
They also announced that they will take stronger measures against this playstyle in future patches. It is stated: “The problem definitely requires a concrete solution.”
Initially, there are these changes:
- GOLD VALUE BOUNTIES: Gold value bounties (i.e., bounties for CS) are now based on the number of gold-earning items for supporters in each team, rather than assuming that each team has one of these items.
- OBJECTIVE BOUNTIES: Enemy gold leads now lead to significantly less frequent activated objective bounties when your team has at least two gold-earning items.
- TRIBUTE/LOOT (PASSIVE) – PENALTY FOR FARMING MINIONS: You receive less gold for excessive
(4 minions per minute)⇒ (2 minions per minute until minute 5; thereafter 4 minions per minute) minion kills. This gold penalty is now also tightened during the first 5 minutes of the game. (Everything else unchanged)
You can read the full list of all changes with all nerfs and buffs in the sources.
