In the next few weeks, League of Legends will change the way how damage works, making kills more rewarding and fights less “burst-y.”

League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Bryan “Axes” Salvatore took to Reddit to inform players about their plans to slow combat down. “We'll be talking about upcoming changes intended to slow the pace of combat down within the next few weeks,” he commented.

Riot Axes went on to say that while pursuing a fast-paced version of the game, the development tended towards more damage and reduction of time to kill. “We believe League of Legends is best when it is on average be [sic] fast-paced and exciting,” he said, “I think it would be fair to say it has overcorrected towards damage.” This, according to the designer, has impacted two things:

  • Game Clarity – telling what exactly killed you, and telling what you should have done differently, and
  • Skill Expression – rewarding hitting abilities, rewarding good mechanics, and “earning a kill.”

The game now revolves around frontloaded damage. Squishy champions and roles become the butt of one-shots, offering neither game clarity and skill expression. Maybe these will happen less:

Slowing the pace of fights might be a worthy thing to look into, but players should expect the game as a whole to change should damage adjustments be made.

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