Riot Discusses Why League of Legends' Ornn Lost His Unstoppable Effect

Ornn's changes several patches ago pushed the champion out of a pick/ban status, but many Ornn players lament the loss of his Unstoppable effect most of all.

While the dramatically increased cooldown on Ornn's Bellow's Breath (W) was a hard blow for the champion as the creator of a League of Legends boards post explained, the loss of the ability's Unstoppable trait hit harder. Couple that change with the nerfed duration of the Brittle effect, and some players questioned whether Riot Games changed the champion in the right way.

Riot Maple Nectar, a gameplay producer for League of Legends, appeared in the thread not long after the players voiced their opinions to offer some context on why Ornn lost his Unstoppable effect. The Rioter explained that there were two main things that Riot liked about the Unstoppable trait, those two pluses being that it allowed for satisfying outplays and was a unique skill that's seldom seen on other champs.

"It provided a satisfying high moment for Ornn when he outsmarted his opponent/s by blocking their cc," Riot Maple Nectar said. "It was a unique skill test on a tanks kit that players could master."

However, the ability was ultimately removed, something that could've been guessed just from looking at the pros and cons Riot Maple Nectar listed. The negatives of the ability that Riot didn't like doubled the positives with problems like the low cooldown being highlighted alongside a lack of feedback for those trying to fight an Unstoppable Ornn.

"You didn't get much in the way of feedback when playing against Ornn when your cc was blocked," Riot Maple Nectar continued. "At times it could even just feel like a bug, 'Why didn't my stun work?' or you just had to accept that a guy walking at you breathing fire was immune to cc (kind of a weird thematic)."

The Rioter continued to say that the low cooldown, damage, and Brittle effect the ability included meant that Ornn could and should use the ability pretty much whenever it was available. Ultimately, the Unstoppable trait was just one too many effects on such a powerful ability.

"Unstoppable added another mechanic to an already loaded spell when factoring in the passive. You got damage from the w, damage from the brittle proc, zoning power from brittle even if you didn't proc it, a knockback if you attacked them while brittle, a shield, cc immunity...might be forgetting something. When stacked on top of eachother, it somewhat trivialized the importance of lane phase for Ornn - meaning he was typically able to make it through unscathed, and even if he fell off post lane phase, it meant his opponent had little opportunity to gain or press a lead against him in very the most critical part of the game for them."

Riot Maple Nectar added that there are probably many more points that factored into the decision, and while straight-up removing an effect isn't always the best choice, Riot felt it optimal in Ornn's case.

---

ComicBook.com & Warner Bros Home Entertainment are teaming up to bring one lucky Justice League fan the prize pack of a lifetime! Click here for the chance to win a big-screen TV, a copy of the movie and more!