The lead designer of Teamfight Tactics, Mortdog, answered many questions in an interview with the streamer Blaustoise. It was about both the future of the auto battler and specific design decisions.
What did Mortdog reveal about the future of TFT? Currently, the first beta season is running in Teamfight Tactics. But that will change soon. The second season is said to be not far away.
It might come with patch 9.18 in the second week of September. This patch is expected to be “top-notch” and contain many changes.
Accordingly, the tests for 9.18 are supposed to be extensive. We are currently at patch 9.16b, which was released on August 22.
Spectator Mode and Balance Decisions
What new features are still in development? In the interview, Mortdog also talked about a spectator mode. This is said to have a high priority at Riot Games, as it would enable real tournaments.
Blaustoise also asked the developer about new items, which he confirmed. When asked, Mortdog also confirmed tenacity items. These are items that reduce the duration of crowd control effects like stuns.
Why do developers make balance decisions? In TFT, balance plays a crucial role. Accordingly, a lot of the conversation revolved around this topic.
Players repeatedly present change requests to the developers. Mortdog stated:
We plan to rotate champions regularly. Players suggest, for example, to rework Wild. But why should we make major changes when Wild might not even be around in four weeks?
Furthermore, TFT had a clear vision of a rock-paper-scissors scenario:
- Void creatures should beat Noble and Guardians.
- Noble, in turn, should beat Gunslingers and Archers.
However, it turned out that Void creatures and Noble are simply too strong in general. Further adjustments may occur here.
What balance changes have already been revealed? Moreover, Mortdog has already teased some future adjustments:
- The ghost armies (when the number of players is odd) will also receive the origin and class bonuses in the future, so that the fight is no longer a “free win”
- The Rapid Firecannon will likely be weakened in the future
- Miss Fortune will be adjusted again. She should feel more than just a second Aurelion Sol.
- Gangplank will likely be nerfed, but first, his items will be adjusted
- Leona’s stun will definitely be nerfed
- 3-star champions often are not worth creating. The developers plan a rework, possibly +20 to all their base stats, which would be a possible but boring change.
Initial changes could already come with patch 9.17, which will also bring a new champion.
With patch 9.16, four Hextech champions entered the game. We’ll show you how to stand up against them:
