The 2023 League of Legends preseason draws to a close, and Season 13 is knocking on the door. As a result, fans all over…
League of Legends Developers Explain How Next Update Will Punish Mid Lane Players
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Riot Games is testing new changes to League of Legends, and this time around it could put more pressure on midlaners who are "excessively" moving to other parts of the map.
As a primary role, the middle of the map is usually filled with champions such as assassins, mages, loyal rogues, and more. While some tend to stay in their lane, Season 10 was rife with players choosing to roam and find advantages on the map early in the match.
While this aggressive playstyle is viable, Riot is going to be testing some changes ahead of the preseason patch that should make these players think twice before leaving their Rifts region.
"We're testing a very simplified version of the middle tier cut," explained League Lead Gameplay Designer Mark Yetter. "Slight resource cuts and a stronger push threat overly penalize roaming."
The team is working on a change that will make mid-cannon minions, also called siege minions, cost 10 gold less for the first 14 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, those same minions will get a 30% increase in attack speed when attacking towers.
Cannon minions are especially important for champions looking to reach early game power peaks. If they cost 10 gold less, it won't hurt the mid laners, but as a result, it will give them more incentive to farm as much as they can in lane.
Such a compromise will put more pressure on these players to either participate harder in the game if they have to roam to replenish lost resources, or simply stay in lane to work on their CS (creep score) in order to accumulate gold.
Another non items related Preseason Preview before PBE. We're testing a very simplified version of a midlane agency reduction.
—Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) September 25, 2020
Small resource reduction and stronger push threat to punish roaming excessively. pic.twitter.com/4ig5mhqqqP
Meanwhile, if the player leaves their lane unattended for too long, the enemy can push the cannon wave hard to start crushing the turret. After all, the improved firepower of the cannons opened the lane faster for the mid laners who were left to farm.
The natural reaction to this change is that people say it only tells players to move around more since the gold in the mid lane has been reduced.
In order to solve the problem with wandering players, the League community suggested changing the experience values on the map.
For example, gaining experience in the bot lane will make these players more prepared to defend against a wandering mid lane and punish them with a lackluster gank.
Once the change hits the PBE, Riot will look into how the changes to Cannon Minion will affect the midlane, but it looks like they're experimenting with different ways to suppress roamers before next season.
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