League of Legends Opens Positions to More Champions This Midseason

Riot Games recently took to their Dev Corner to discuss toggling, input buffering, and more, but they also took an additional moment to discuss something that has been on the table for quite a while now: opening up classes. As the developers look towards a more midseason focus, the decision to open up positions to more classes is back in the spotlight. This is something the League of Legends crew have been quite open with in the past, but now it's time to start applying those desires to the champions in-game.

This change will " allow players who wished to to play champs in ways they currently can't and enable new team comps." Riot Games then added, "At the same time we'd also want to ensure what currently works is still effective - broaden options, not force anyone onto something different. Based on that goal we set ourselves a target of getting mages into bot lane in midseason."

"After a lot of experimentation though we're shifting our approach somewhat there. We tested some large changes, which were very effective in letting mages be powerful bot lane choices. They resulted however in a lot of game balance costs though, some breakdown in interesting/healthy bot lane play and a lot of disruption when done all at once." Because of this, the team is shifting direction a little bit, instead focusing on changes that will improve upon issues already there and then tweaking that groundwork for allowing more positions, "That includes, but isn't limited to, mages in botlane."

"These changes won't radically redefine how the game plays. Instead they'll be part of a gradual process (multiple patches, not just 8.9) to open things up more, avoid balance costs and other unforeseen consequences of changing too much at once. Might see a few champs being played in new ways after them certainly, but not a massive meta overhaul. LoL.com publishing will also be quieter this year as a result too. We'll have one or two patch-specific articles for later changes that are more complex than 8.9's stat/cost tunings, but no website this time."

Riot provided a few examples as to how this will work and what their general goal is regarding opening up positions:

• Changing mid/late game marksmen damage so they're less able to burst squishies but still able to grind through defense stacking targets. That gives other squishy champs longer windows to act later game while still letting marksmen kill tanky enemies effectively enough over time.
• Adjusting mage mana access so they can contest lane against a wider range of champions at early levels but also can't just cast on CD as much mid game onwards (results in excessive waveclear power in particular)
• Increasing the damage AP champs deal to towers,so that, regardless of position, they can contribute more to tower/base taking, reducing dependency on bot lane for that function. Might need to be paired with some increase in tower tankiness so they're not falling faster than at present.
• Making it easier for champions from a range of positions/classes to carry, so teams aren't as dependent on their marksman's damage output every game to be successful. A fed mid, top or jungle champ should more often be a good choice for a team to rally around and support.

League of Legends is constantly evolving, but the way their plans are laid out makes sense and hopefully will make a lot of players happy with its versatility.