League of Legends' Bandit Mechanic Being Removed From Support Items

Riot Games is changing the way that League of Legends’ support items once again by upping the [...]

League of Legends Taric
(Photo: Riot Games)

Riot Games is changing the way that League of Legends' support items once again by upping the amount of gold that the items give at the expense of the Bandit mechanic being removed.

For those who don't find themselves playing or autofilled to the support role often, the Bandit mechanic is one of the primary ways that supports gain gold without killing enemy minions. This effect grants gold whenever a nearby minion dies and by poking enemy champions with the effect's recharge rate being delayed if supports start killing minions, an effort to curb non-supports from always buying the gold-generating item. That mechanic is being removed in Patch 8.6 though, a decision that Riot Fearless admitted is move away from the interactivity that's usually promoted in these items.

"This is a shift from our normal values for the item system. Generally, we want items to invite exploration, and we seek to create building blocks that allow champions to find inventive, flexible builds that can express different power for different players or in different contexts," Riot Fearless said. "We should be delighted when players find new ways to gain power from the item system.

The Rioter continued to say that when these items are "poached" by non-support champs, it hurts the support position by limiting what Riot can do to improve it.

"The support items have had a lot of smaller changes attempt to build controls, but they've frequently been ineffective and painful to adjust to over and over. These new changes attempt to go a bit harder, and build stronger protections against farming champions gaining significant benefit."

As a replacement for the Bandit mechanic, the Rioter included a changelist that shows how the amount of gold the items offer will be increased in Patch 8.6 depending on which item is taken.

Targon's Brace & Upgrades

  • GP10 = 4 up from 2

Frostfang & Upgrades

  • Gold per tribute = 20 up from 15

Nomad's Medallion

  • Gold per gold coin = 45, up from 40
  • Expected coin drop down, to 8.5 per 10 minutes from 9 (still to do)

All lines:

  • Charge generation, charge usage,and GP10 deactivate after killing minions or monsters. These penalties are increase dramatically for streaks of CS. (still to do, exploring different ramping models)

The changes will be tested on the PBE before going live in the patch after next.

0comments