Season One Details

[Kail]

Most of my games recently have made me want to uninstall. I'm hoping someone makes a more casual MOBA; I have high hopes for Valve's entry. I enjoy LoL but pretty much hate the community.

Pretty much exactly how I feel.  I find it supremely frustrating that they brag about how they removed randomness from things like damage rolls and ability powers, but then they assign you five other random asshats from the community to be your team, like that isn't ten million times more likely to influence your win/loss.

I can see how this game might be fun with a regular team, but in terms of logging on for an hour or two to play a game, it's up there with running 5-mans in WoW.  You either have to somehow synch your schedule up ahead of time with four of your buddies who also play this game, or you have to put up with random jackasses, or you don't play.

I'll concede that it might be better than other games of this type (I refuse to call them MOBAs, that's the dumbest acronym I've ever heard), but it's still obviously not a game for casual players when the entire game is wrapped around competitive tournament play.

[Der Helm]

Also, an obvious side effect to the Cleanse super nerf just dawned on me.  Characters like Tryn/Yi/etc. that were pretty bad in most cases before but could occasionaly get fed and carry....are now terrible, always, no exceptions.

What nerf to cleanse ? How does it affect them ?


edit to add: I have yet to enter a ranked game, do I miss anything ?

[Thrawn]

Also, an obvious side effect to the Cleanse super nerf just dawned on me.  Characters like Tryn/Yi/etc. that were pretty bad in most cases before but could occasionaly get fed and carry....are now terrible, always, no exceptions.

What nerf to cleanse ? How does it affect them ?


edit to add: I have yet to enter a ranked game, do I miss anything ?

Cleanse now only removes crowd controlling effects, silences and blinds. It no longer removes effects such as damaging debuffs or armor/stat debuffs.

I see you pick Tryn in draft, I take exhaust and ignite.  You can no longer cleanse exhaust, or ignite, or a slew of other abilities.

[tazelbain]

I am surprised how well the servers has held up in the new season.  Splintering the queues from 2 to 5 helped?  I like new locking system in normal.  I wish you could draft in practice.

I am splitting my starts between Teemo and Rammus.  I am try make sure there is always a Xin on my team if I play Teemo (unless we have a Ryze then we melt xin like the cheese he is).  I am still not very good with Rammus if I could figure out how to die less but still get xp during laning I would be doing pretty good.

Any ideas on how to initiate against high CC teams?

[Prospero]

They've turned off a few features. No practice games and no in-game tells are the biggies. It has really helped with server stability, but I miss being able to play a game against bots that I could leave at any time.

If they blow all your CC on you then you've done your job. Hopefully your carries come in and mop them up. A quicksilver sash is a decent way to make sure they blow  all their stuns on you. Getting the carries to come do their job is the biggest problem I have as Rammus. His speed lets him get too far away from his carries, at which point pubbies just run away. I tend to use Amumu a lot just because he has an obvious initiation move that screams "get your ass in here and hurt people."

[Astorax]

I tend to use Amumu a lot just because he has an obvious initiation move that screams "get your ass in here and hurt people."

I'm convinced it's the shiny big circle that does it...moths to a flame.

Rammus only has minorly swirly red stuff to say "HEY FUCKERS, I JUST TAUNTED SOMEONE I WANT YOU TO KILL"...

It's not obvious enough, needs more sparkly.

[Thrawn]

Works too well sometimes.  Occasionaly you ult a bad fight as your team is running so they can get away and then they all go "OMG A FIGHT." And turn around and die when you wanted them to run.  :P

[LK]

I've gotten in the habit of pinging my taunt target, or calling it out over Vent.

Rammus has been doing a lot better for me with competent teammates. Chasing down a runner with Powerball, not knowing if I'll hit at the end (due to bug or Powerball running out) is exciting.

I'm gonna branch out to Mordekaiser soon as I can afford him but I'm 5 wins of my last 6 games (which eradicated a 6 losses of last 8 game before it streak) so I'm feeling pretty good about the game.

Friends + Vent + Competence = Loads and Loads of Fun, regardless whether you win or lose. I'm sorry if this is obvious, I've rarely seen such synergy in my life.

[Dtrain]

This is what you need to survive as Rammus in the early lanes:

Start with Null-Magic Mantle and 2 healing potions. Your biggest vulnerability at this point is against a heavy ranged response, which is usually magic. In the case of a physical ranged resonse from Tristana, Sivir or Ashe, your healing potions will do wonders. And the Null Magic Mantle will help make your Mercury's Treads later on.

Summoner Spells:
Ghost: For chases, emergency lane switches, escapes, and synergy with power ball.
Fortify: As a tank, you should be so far up the defense tree that picking up this mastery is no problem. Also, you may spend a lot of time early game standing under a turret. Just make sure you don't have more than 1 of these spells on a team.

Skills:
1st: Power Ball (Chase down/flee, crowd control, damage, all things that are vital to survival and getting kills in early lanes.)
2nd: Taunt (or if things are really bad already, Defensive Ball Curl.)
3rd: Defensive Ball Curl (or Taunt if you picked up Defensive Ball Curl 2nd.)
Except for always leveling your ult (of course,) max skills in the following order: Taunt, Defensive Ball Curl, Power Ball

Items to buy:
1st: Heart of Gold. It provides Health and Armor, which you're going to need, and gold, which you may have noticed, is not easy for Rammus to earn. Eventually it will become a Randuin's Omen, but only after you feel good about your cash income.
2nd: Mercury's Treads. Magic Resist, which you need. Reduces CC effects by 35%, which is AWESOME for an initiating tank.

Strategy:
I hate to say it, but Rammus completely fails at pushing early lanes. Think of a Jax with a Guinsoo's auto-attacking like crazy and cracking skulls with every 3rd hit. whackwhackSMASHwhackwhackSMASH. Now take the complete inverse of that impression and that's Rammus. You're pretty much the anti-push. So that's the bad news - the good news? You're pretty much the anti-push. Nobody in their right mind is going to tower dive you if you have played it smart and have at least 1/3 of your hp. Also, when setting up ganks, you can isolate the squishy in the back with some skillful powerballing, and keep them where they don't want to be for a second or two longer with taunt. Of course your lane-mate has to finish the job, and that's where your disappointment may set in - if your lane-mate and you don't mesh together perfectly it is not worth your time to pursue a gank. Be realistic with yourself after a couple levels together and ask yourself "Is this guy going to get some kills if I give them some set ups, or should I let the tower do the work?" If you're ever unsure, pick the tower - you won't feed, and your tower will stay up.

While the basic concept of initiating offensively early lane with Rammus is simple, execution is what matters. Spend some time getting very familiar with power ball's hit box - it's deceptively large. Later on you can use your taunt to reposition an enemy closer to your allies - but starting out, your taunt doesn't last long enough, so don't try it. Think of it as a 1 second disable that makes your auto-attacks more effective. Later on it will make a huge difference, but don't stress right now if you powerball before or after the taunt - just make sure you connect with it. And of course, defensive ball curl when they try to fight back.

Tower hugging. There, I said it. There is no shame in tower hugging if you: A) Stay alive, B) Keep the tower up, C) Deny the enemy gold and D) Make your own gold. Stand just under the tower as the push advances. Take a step or two up to meet the creep just as they are coming into range. Let the first couple of hits go in while attacking. Turn on defensive ball curl. If any enemy champs are foolish enough to advance with their creep wave, taunt them, allow them to hit you once, and walk back towards your base. For bonus points, power ball them before they can run away. Also, don't forget your mastery spec'ed fortify summoner spell - if you think you'll need it after all that. Be very aware of MIA calls - while it's easy to hold off 2 summoners in this situation, 3 can be trying. Also, being the frustrating tar baby that you are, set up some ganks with your other lanes.

Edit: Forgot to mention managing the creep front line. When you tower hug like this, remember to stop attacking to keep the front line just outside of tower attack range. Try to only attack on last hits. You don't want your enemy to feel safe coming up to get minion kills - taking them on a little taunt walk into the tower's range should keep them in check.

Also, once you hit level 6, Tremmors will help you deal with any massive creep waves the opposing summoners cook up - and net you a handsome profit into the bargain.

I'll cover the other part of your question later in another response.

[tazelbain]

Hmm, first time I have hear mantle start.  It does make sense.  Most good harassing skill are magic. I'll have to give tower hugging some thought.  Right now it seems pretty fail unless people you are laning against are pushing hard.

[Dtrain]

Well, I don't recommend it as a default tactic - if your lane partner has the sauce to get the kills, go all out to support them. If not, tower hug - because Rammus' early game really is that bad. Just be sure you make that decision at some point, and be resolute in what you've decided.

[LK]

Mantle going into treads is a nice investment, but I still like Doran's Shield a lot. I'm not sure how much Mantle does for you...

[Der Helm]

I have been fairly succesfull with Rammus since i got him and I usually start with the health crystal, because from there it is only 500g for the Heart of Gold. I then save up for a second one, after that I get the boots of mobility. Together with ghost and Powerball, I can be on any place in the map in seconds, helping with ganks or even (*gasp*) gank myself a bit. 2 HoGs keep the cash flowing till I get time to farm a bit with earthquake. One builds into a very nice tanking item "Someones Omen", I think.

I would not underestimate Rammus' early game. I too pick powerball first, but I almost always get the shield second and taunt at level 3. I also level shield before taunt, because the defense gain and damage reflect ist just to nice. More than a few times, people underestimate just how hard rammus is to kill when I throw my shield up. My lane partner gets a few hits in, they panic, I taunt, they die on my shield or my partner kills them. Works rather well and I am almost completely PUG these last days.

Lorekeep, we need to play together, I'd love to play with a good Rammus on vent, especially since I just now bought the new Champ, Xin or whatever he is called.

[DLRiley]

If your below level 30 your no longer allowed to play ranked games.  . So grind you scrubby noobs  . But they do have evidence that that justifies the ban. http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=43920&d=1279678401

[Hoax]

Nice work by Riot.

[LK]

Thank god. All my friends were asking me to play ranked games, and I told them I wanted to wait until Lv. 30 so I can be at my full potential mechanics wise. Glad to see Riot has prevented them from asking the question now.

Helm, I'm on most nights, we could use a good Xin Zhao to balance out our team of Anivia / Taric / Zilean / Rammus that we seem to usually be playing.

Anyone else notice severe lag spikes during last night's games? On separate games there were many hiccups.

[Thrawn]

Yes, and I had the best lag spike ever.  I'm farming mid as Taric, they jump me with four.  I limp back under tower alive but barely where the game starts to lag.  So we end up O for 4ing them while we are all lagging terribly under our tower.

[DLRiley]

There are plenty of scrubby level 30's that can suck my balls one at a time. The trick to them is to not play between the hours and 10am and 11pm.

[Dtrain]

Ok, a few things that help initiate as Rammus, deal with CC, and make sure your team comes along too:

Strategy:
Always check your teammate's status. Try not to engage with anyone under 3/4 hp, unless you know you can trust them - they'll just run off. Make sure that carry in the jungle is setting up an ambush, and not just jungling or running off to another lane to farm creep.

Jockey for position. Feint and weave. Power ball is great for this. The more they move as a unit, the more chance you will have of someone going where they are not supposed to. Of course this requires a team with a little patience, so you may need to remind them to chill out a little. And of course, don't chase to deep, and beware of traps - have the situational awareness to know when the moment has passed, and it's time to retreat to within your team's effective range.

Don't just smack into someone because you can - pick your target, and have a plan for what you're doing with them. Sometimes you want to use ghost, power ball to close distance and connect with a high hp champ, then taunt a squishy and run back into your group with them. Because you went forward an initiated, your team should be right behind you - and usually that means they're going to attack the first target of convenience - which you want to be Ashe, rather than Cho'gath. I previously used flash to bypass enemy champs to get at the squishy - which works pretty well if you aren't expecting a heavy CC response.

Items:
Mercury Treads - I used to pick these only in heavy magic teams, trading off with Ninja Tabi against physical teams. Lately I have gotten so much value out of reduced snares, these have become my only choice. As a high initiate tank, getting your mobility back a second or two earlier can mean the difference between a good engage and a poor engage.

Banshee's Veil - It's not the first +HP item I finish, but against a magic heavy team, it might be my second. Not only is it +HP, it's +Magic Resist. The +Mana isn't a huge selling point, but it's not wasted on Rammus. Of course, the spell block every 30 seconds is the reason you want this - it keeps them from disabling you so easily, and let's you proceed with your initiate. It's particularly effective coming out of ambush with ghost and powerball running.

Aegis of the Legion - By itself, it's not amazing. In a team fight, it's usefulness is only really great through the mid game. However, this is the item that gets that wild rabble on your side thinking like a team. Buy it, and tell them you are doing so as you start to build for it. It's a psychological reassurance that reinforces your position as initiator/tank.

[LK]

Lotta Rammus love on this forum!

Edit: Speaking of which, show your Rammus love! Amumu plushie would be great but I want a little Rammus. http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=178435

[Dtrain]

And one last thing: your Randuin's Omen.

Once the skirmishy mid-game team fights that I described earlier are over with, either your team or the enemy team is going to feel confident enough to make a hard push on the other base, and stay in force. I'd say you should make this decision when you feel confident that you can survive 5-10 seconds of a tower's agro. This is the point when you want to buy the omen (you should already have a Heart of Gold from earlier.) Omen will change how you fight for 1 reason: slow - your ability to significantly reposition an enemy using taunt will diminish. Enemy champs have a 20% chance of being slowed for 3 seconds when hitting you, and Omen has an AE active ability that slows movement speeds. The Warden's Mail used to build the omen has a similar speed debuff on hit, so don't buy that up either until you're ready for the comitment.

Omen is great for a defensive response to a team push - you can make use of your ability to tower hug, but be prepared for the enemy to want to fight it out right under the tower, or even to ignore you. Depending on which team members are moving on the tower, and which are in the rear rank, you can either fight it out at the tower, or disable the tanks they put forward with Omen's active, and move on the rear rank of squishies. If your team has great coordination and good CC,  you can rely on them to disable the front rank, and move with you on the squishies in the back having saved your taunt and omen's active.

On offense, the tactics are roughly smilar, but by this point you should have gotten over your fear of towers.  Fight under them. Soak the damage while your team works on a kill.  If 1 or 2 enemies tries to guard a tower, and you have as many of your team with you, a couple of creep and decent health, ignore that tower and walk right at those enemies. They will either stand and fight (and die to concentrated fire,) or run like a bunch of monkies, leaving you in good position at the back of the tower (where you can use DBC, and/or tremmors to deal with any new creep waves,) as your team stands at the front of the tower bringing it down.

[Dtrain]

Lotta Rammus love on this forum!

Edit: Speaking of which, show your Rammus love! Amumu plushie would be great but I want a little Rammus. http://www.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=178435

I love me some Rammus, but I've recently started to get into Shen, I hate to say. Already I'm getting more kills, but I can see my tanking strategy needs to change a bit in order to have the same number of assists.

[LK]

I've been finding myself getting Omen less and less over Frozen Heart, especially against an all Melee team. I'll get the HOG for early game buff and bonus gold, and upgrade it when I have time, but I keep forgetting to use Omen when I have it on me.

[Thrawn]

Rammus deserves some love, he's very fun to play.  But Shen is just plain better right now :P

[Prospero]

I don't love Shen for initiation. He's a better tank overall, but I don't think he inits nearly as well.

[Dtrain]

I don't love Shen for initiation. He's a better tank overall, but I don't think he inits nearly as well.

Agreed - that's my problem with Shen so far to a tee.

I'm thinking about working a Rylai's Crystal Scepter into my build much earlier for use with Vorpal Blade - I'm hoping the combo will work like a poor man's powerball to help isolate my target - either straight off in a fight, or after taunting and repositioning. Of course Shen's taunt doesn't last as long, so it's kind of the worst of both worlds. The range from which both actions can be performed is a decided advantage though.

[Prospero]

I tend to play Shen as a babysitter and rely on the rest of team to start the fight. With taunt you can keep them off your squishy and your ult can shield the poor schmuck they beat on first.

I really want to try a tower pushing build with Shen; stack armor and attack speed and use his feint ability to tank the tower some. With his teleport he should be able babysit fairly well even far away from his team. TF can do it beautifully, but I think Shen could be even more obnoxious with Feint.

[Xeyi]

So apparently since season 1 went live you can find your elo for normal games recorded in log files.  This may be slightly redundant now ranked games are here, but as someone who has barely played since the patch I thought it was interesting anyway.

http://forum.leaguecraft.com/showthread.php?tid=8029&page=1


Seeing as leaguecraft is down half the time I'll paraphrase it here:

    Open a recent log file where you've played a normal game. (located in LoL folder\air\logs).

    search for:
   

Code:

elo =

    There is an elo entry for every summoner in that game, with summoner names appearing a few lines after the elo for that player.

 
Apparently mine was 1596 after the last game I played, now I just need to work out what that means 

[LK]

Wuh oh. I don't think they wanted that to get out...

[Xeyi]

It's a pretty huge goof if they didn't.  It seems lolbase are going to start listing them in their next update as well.

http://www.lolbase.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=128

[Thrawn]

Higher then I would of guessed for how casually I've been taking my normal games since the patch, 1877.  

[tazelbain]

Went 5-0 with Rammus yesterday. Not feeding in the early game anymore.  The mental game of figuring how much physical vs magic the opposition has is really key to having the items needed to properly tank.

[Thrawn]

I'm seeing a lot more teams lately that are just a bunch of very high hp/hard to kill characters and a couple carries.  Is this where the new meta is?  Might have to start building bloodrazor before bloodthirster on Ashe.

[LK]

High HP, good escape mechanisms so you can't get focused, and lack of CC on the opposing team makes for one tough to kill SOB.

I'm seeing more Shacos that emphasize their unkillable nature by building HP, Guardian Angel, etc. and just letting Shaco's high base damage abilities do the trick.

I found out my Normal ELO is almost 1800. I guess that's good? Our three-man premade (all around the same ELO) got paired with a 1985 and a 1283. Both sucked ass. We lost hard, but thankfully faced them again next match and kicked their motherfuckin' ass. It felt gooooood.

Blitzcrank is mighty in the wake of these "I'mma just gonna run off and not let you guys kill me neener."

[Xeyi]

I found out my Normal ELO is almost 1800. I guess that's good?

There was a dev post some time before ranked games went live that said ~1% of players were currently 1800 or above.  I'd try to find it for you but the site is down.