The preseason is always a time for big changes and experimentation in League of Legends, and Preseason 6 will be no exception. Today, Riot Games gave us a preview of the gameplay changes that are being worked on, and there will be more changes not directly related to gameplay that will be revealed soon as well. Here's a quick rundown of the main things that will be changing:
Updating Marksmen
Aiming to have more diversity between Marksmen, so they each feel more unique to play
Like the "Juggernaut" update targeted specific champions, Corki, Miss Fortune, Graves, Caitlyn, Kog’Maw, and Quinn will be looked at specifically for updates
Looking to significantly update Marksmen items, giving more options for how the ADC wishes to play (solo/split-push, ability based, tower pushing, etc.)
Mastery changes
Masteries will feature more focused, high-impact choices rather than many low-impact ones
With each mastery tree, you can pick one out of threee Tier 1 masteries (low-impact), one out of three Tier 2 masteries (medium impact), and one of three Tier 3, or Keystone Masteries (high-impact)
Vision and support item changes
All players will get free trinket upgrades
Giving supports the option of upgrading tier 2 support items into strong tier 3 items, or efficient Sightstone upgrades
Removing Stealth Wards from the shop, forcing teams to rely more on pink wards and wards from Sightstone
Introducing ward "debris": You can now see where friendly and enemy wards have either expired or been destroyed
Starting items
Attempting to introduce more diversity to starting item choices
Doran's items intended to be "generalist" items that give decent, broad stats
Introducing more specialized starting items, like the new AD item Cull, which gives fewer defensive stats than Doran's Blade, but gives bonus gold for killing a certain number of minions
Health potions increased in cost, mana potions removed from the game
There will be options for refillable potions, like the current Crystalline Flask
Due to removal of mana potions, champion ability costs and mana regeneration stats will be re-considered
The Rift Herald
Will occupy the Baron pit before Baron Nashor spawns, giving top laners a Dragon-like objective to fight over
Will grant what appears to be a mini-Baron buff only to the Champion that kills the Rift Herald.
More details
here.
Source/Image Credit: Riot Games