Riot Games Shares Insights on Balancing Assassins in League of Legends
The lead gameplay designer of League of Legends, Phroxzon, recently provided detailed explanations on the team’s approach to balancing assassins. In a Reddit thread, he aimed to offer more transparency to players regarding the changes made to assassin champions without engaging in defensive arguments.
According to Phroxzon, the team had to make tradeoffs and acknowledged that it is impossible to please everyone. He discussed the criteria used to balance assassins and addressed criticism of the strength of Haste in the meta.
Phroxzon highlighted three main criteria considered by the balance team. Firstly, the team focused on assassins’ combos, emphasizing patterns that are only possible when a champion is extremely ahead or the opponent is in lower MMR brackets. As an example, he mentioned Leblanc’s QRW combo.
The second criterion is the strength of standard combos. The team aimed to incorporate moment-to-moment gameplay in these combos while ensuring that snowballing can be countered, so that teams do not feel entirely powerless against assassins.
In an effort to facilitate counterplay, the team adjusted the power curve of assassins to the midgame, rather than having them dominate too early. This makes it easier for opponents to counter their snowballing.
A player’s demonstration of the power of Haste on assassins, specifically Zed’s almost nonexistent W cooldown when fully built up, ignited controversy within the community. Many players called for a nerf to Haste on these champions. In response, Phroxzon explained that Haste allows assassins to have increased burst damage and carry potential, but also emphasized the importance of counterplay.
To balance assassins, the team focused on introducing non-damage-oriented stats on assassin items or adjusting a champion’s AR/HP/MR per level. This approach boosts win rates without pushing their burst damage to extreme levels. Phroxzon argued that Haste provides a more balanced solution compared to pure damage or Lethality.
Lastly, Phroxzon pointed out that base damage on assassins’ items needs to be low, limiting their early-game power while still allowing them to individually eliminate squishy champions even when behind.
Players reacted positively to Phroxzon’s transparency, praising the designer’s efforts to address complaints. They appreciated his ability to handle backlash effectively.
Upcoming Balance Changes in Patch 13.20
Apart from the insights shared by Phroxzon, players can also expect additional balance changes in Patch 13.20. This includes buffs for Jinx on October 12.
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