Riot Games has clarified the system they will use to balance champions in League of Legends, going forward, so maybe people will stop screaming [INSERT CHAMPION NAME HERE] IS OP after every patch. LOL, no they won’t.
Balancing LoL’s champions has been inconsistent and subjective up until now, raising much ire from frustrated fans, suddenly seeing their favourites nerfed while others seemingly run rampant unchecked. This is mostly because balance was applied according to the performance of the top 10% of players. Riot’s Game Design Manager, David Capurro, explained the new process in a recent blog post. I encourage you to read it, if you want more detail.
Basically, they will be considering champion power across four groups (not just the top tier) in order to make decisions about the need for buffs or nerfs.
- Average Play – everyone below the top 10%
- Skilled Play – top 10% of solo queue players, excluding the very top
- Elite Play – top 0.1% of solo queue players
- Professional Play – competitive players in the top five professional leagues (LPL, LCK, LEC, LCS, and LMS)
For Average and Skilled groups, the win rate is the deciding factor, while a combination of champion Pick and Ban rates is used for Elite and Professional groups. All that combined data will inform their decision.
They will be considered overpowered if they cross the top end for ANY of the audiences, and they will holistically be considered underpowered if they are below the bottom end for ALL of the audiences.
It’s nice to see there’s an actual system in place for deciding these things. Now if they could just get rid of the other players, LoL would be perfect.
Via PC Gamer.