pacov pacov

pacov's League of Legends general discussion thread - strategies, etc #3

pacov's League of Legends general discussion thread - strategies, etc #3

Update 5/25/2017

  • This thread is all done.  I've lost interest in jibba jibbing here, but its been fun.  Thanks for all the memories.  
  • I am streaming from time to time on twitch - generally just when I'm trying hard in ranked though.  If interested, you can check that out here:  https://www.twitch.tv/pacovdumptruck
 

Well, I started a thread back in Dec 2011 that’s seen a lot of activity (some 922,000 views over the course of a few years apparently...).  That thread had a good deal of tips/strategies/discussions about League of Legends from new and old players alike.  You can find the previous thread (now archived) here:  https://forums.joeuser.com/413863.  I think its time to start fresh with a new thread.

What’s this thread all about?
For those that followed the previous thread, the type of content you see here will be fairly consistent to what you are used to.  Please consider this a place to discuss LoL related content as you like.  I'll do the same and treat the thread as a blog as well where I talk about what’s going on with me in LoL.  Feel free to jump in and join the discussion if you like.

Quick background on me
I played a lot of Demigod as pacov/cheesuscrust. Back in August 2011, I started getting heavily involved in League of Legends, and folks from the community were kind enough to help me figure things out.  I play LoL most nights, stream, make videos and it’s my main gaming interest.

Some links 

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Reply #376 Top

Hey guys I did get internet tonight but I ended up having a few people over and got to drunk to play games. Maybe tomorrow! This email was hard to type lel! 

Reply #377 Top

Currently having install issues... think it has something to do with the registry... which I have no real experience in... keep getting a weird error.  This is what i posted in the league forums... if any of you have any input that'd be swell.

 

"This installer database contains the logic and data required to install League of Legends"
This is my error </3.
I think it's a possible registry error, but I'm not a registry expert and have no idea how to fix.
Everything including pando media booster, and adobe are uninstalled and there are no riot files currently in my system. Please help if you're awesome.

The details underneath (idk if they help or not) read:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: LeagueofLegends_NA_Installer_05_07_13 (1).exe
Application Version: 3.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 51824025
Fault Module Name: LeagueofLegends_NA_Installer_05_07_13 (1).exe
Fault Module Version: 3.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 51824025
Exception Offset: 000d8acd
Exception Code: c0000409
Exception Data: 00000000
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 039d
Additional Information 2: 039dbe875969cab7dbafc7ffbb0dade4
Additional Information 3: 1eae
Additional Information 4: 1eae077122ca1205d61bcf963f19e5a9

Reply #378 Top

I have no idea re: that problem, bro.  Don't think you explained it well enough for me to help either.  You will probably want to open a ticket with LoL support and/or check their kb.

So, you uninstalled the game for w/e reason and now are trying to install it again?  And you get some FU popup saying the game won't install when you try?

 

So, I've been enjoying my primarily MC only games lately - I guess with the exception of a bit last night.  Prior to yesterday, I ended up with a decent enough crew of folks where at least the games were fairly pleasant.  Even if we had weak this or weak that, folks weren't moaning a bunch anyway.  Yesterday I filled all games and ended up jungling (fine w/ me ofc).  Yet every game had my top lane crying about something or my adc free farming at like the 30 minute mark.  My top lane complaining about not having a recent gank while I go from ganking bot and taking bot tower, taking drag, ganking middle and taking middle tower all within like a 3-4 minute block.  Wanting to ff as soon as we do all that because he's having a tough time top lane.  Smeh.  Ah well, so I was moving my way towards tilt's mcgee, but we switched over to aram... which was frustrating for a game, but I finally started getting a few fun games and had a good time. 

 

 

 

Reply #379 Top

Going to stream some gnar gameplay on PBE on the updated SR map.  Check it out if interested.  Back to NA after this game though.  Live in a few min.  Prob trying jungle gnar

Reply #380 Top

jungle gnar is trash and should not be used.  His clear is great and he's reasonably strong in the jungle itself (and with drag/baron clears), but his ganks are awful.  Trying to time out his passive form change with a gank is just smeh. 

Reply #381 Top

krdax has been reappearing a bit lately.  Saw him in my twitch channel and finally got in some games w/ him tonight. 

In case this random chat between dax and pacov is of any interest re: gnar:

 

Welcome to the chat room!

Xrekkegtavun: I was hoping for a small discussion on ideal early builds

Xrekkegtavun: a lot of people seem to favor early ad for laning, then just straight tank for mid-late
Xrekkegtavun: adapting builds as necessary
1pacov1: i was mostly interested in figuring out where he can be played effectively
1pacov1: i think we are just going to see a major problem with his kit
1pacov1: even out of top lane
Xrekkegtavun: that being his passive?
1pacov1: its super easy to see when he's going to have his passive change
Xrekkegtavun: aye
Xrekkegtavun: I have a sinking feeling we're going to see a million and one adc gnar players :<
1pacov1: he's fun to play, but i think he's going to be trash
Xrekkegtavun: sad
1pacov1: oh he'll be a worse adc
1pacov1: quite terrible imo
1pacov1: bruiser just the only way imo
Xrekkegtavun: mhmm
1pacov1: hmmmmmm
1pacov1: they aren't going to change his visual on his change tho
Xrekkegtavun: He needs to be telegraphed
1pacov1: so, he'll just be a crap top... and an unreliable tank
Xrekkegtavun: but, yes, he's a tank half of the time
1pacov1: in the jugnle he's bad because of the unreliable form change
Xrekkegtavun: Riot made something cool, but it has some fundamental issues
Xrekkegtavun: I wonder if they'll change it at all
1pacov1: they wont change it
1pacov1: all those posts by them about "visibility"
1pacov1: this champ is that
1pacov1: its just dumb and useless tho. If you could trrigger it at will.. maybe that would work
1pacov1: but they wont do that either
Xrekkegtavun: I feel like there needs to be a way to diffuse your tantrum when you actually have 100 of it

 

Reply #382 Top

Everything is figured out!  I am back on league... for some reason the main installer wouldn't work for me... had to use one from 2011?  oh well... as per the past, i won't be on early enough to play with some of you on some days... but any of the late-nighters i should be 100% free to play with <3

Reply #383 Top

The Riot designers already explicitly state that their intention is that Gnar should be unreliable. In fact, the designers flat-out said that they do NOT expect Gnar to be used in competitive play without the entire team build around him.

Build is going to be something like Shyvana: BotRK, maybe a Brutalizer, into typical tanky dps items.

He'd build Trinity Force with his gigantic base AD, but, eh, no mana. Plus, BotRK gives him much better chase potential in Mega and kite potential in Mini. His cooldowns are also really high early game, although much more manageable later on, hence the Brutalizer. Another thing to pay attention to about jungle Gnar is that his boomerage would fly over wraith wall, altering midlane to you being there (similar problem Nocturne has).

Stuff like diffusing tantrum or having it not go off is directly opposed to the (extremely healthy) design that Gnar has. His kit has a huge number of knobs that the designers can use to balance (autoattack/lvl he gains, cooldowns, rage generation, transformation delay, base stats in each form, etc).

Remember how much visibility Yasuo has with his 3rd-Q. And yet he's still able to hit people with his 3rd Q, despite it behind the only skillshot that gives an entire 2 seconds of warning! Just because the opponent is away of his transform doesn't make it useful. A 10 second zone is no joke, and was one of the reasons for the Gold Card TF nerf last year. Not to mention the obvious indication is actually beneficial to his team: he can set up some strong tower dives with his Mini -> Mega E.

Gnar also fits a unique role: that of a ranged bruiser. Which is a space that only really Urgot occupies, and Urgot functions more as an anti-carry/initiator/poker than Gnar's more "second-in" tanky dps nature.

Now, i'm not arguing that he is going to be mega-OP or anything. He could very well be weak. But his kit has one of the most inspired designs from a game-theory perspective, which means he will actually probably become a very balanced character once he gets a few tweaks post-release.

Reply #384 Top

Quoting awuffleablehedgie, reply 383
The Riot designers already explicitly state that their intention is that Gnar should be unreliable
End of awuffleablehedgie's quote

See when you say that, my mind immediately translate that into.... oh... well... that's a great idea.  A champ that you cannot use without being a twat.

Quoting awuffleablehedgie, reply 383

other thing to pay attention to about jungle Gnar is that his boomerage would fly over wraith wall, altering midlane to you being there
End of awuffleablehedgie's quote

That's a bit of a non issue in my understanding and play throughs - wraith camp is easy to hit the creeps without the boomerange going over the wall (it slows and starts to return when you hit the 1st creep). But he's flat out garbage in the jungle due to unreliable passive.

Quoting awuffleablehedgie, reply 383

Now, i'm not arguing that he is going to be mega-OP or anything. He could very well be weak. But his kit has one of the most inspired designs from a game-theory perspective, which means he will actually probably become a very balanced character once he gets a few tweaks post-release.
End of awuffleablehedgie's quote

I read most inspired and I turn that into "champion that does not work in this meta."  I see him as being decent in top lane, but really kind of garbage when it comes to team fighting.  I mean, even consider a late game push with your team driving up mid.  He needs to land aa's to charge his passive.  If you can't do that, you have no stacks to change form.  So, you even more so need to get folks on your team (he can be played in solo queue, right?) to let you get charged up either close to full stacks or to full stacks.  And if you hit full stacks, now you have a limited OBVIOUS window where you can engage. 

I say all this stuff admitting I actually enjoy playing as him btw.  He's a fun champ... I just think he's a fun champ that doesn't bring much to the team. 

Anyway, consider what we get in each role. 

  • Support = he can bring some strong cc/positioning, but he's very weak early.  His w brings some good dmg options for dragon control though.  edit - he's trash here imo because he needs to aa to build his charges up
  • Mid lane - could work fine vs most mids imo due to ranged AD.  You need a top lane mage or assassin imo to keep a good amt of damage on the team.  His roam would actually be pretty decent.
  • Jungle - really decent clear in the jungle.  Decent counter jungler as well (can safely get in and out of the jungle).  Weak ganks due to the functionality of his gap closer and the unreliability of his passive.  
  • Top lane - strong top laner.  Decent escape, nice zoning and kill potential.  He's pretty well built for LANING and to a smaller degree split pushing.  He's also garbage for sieging and late game due to the unreliable ulting. 

Builds - I tried AP to be a dringus - he has a 1 to 1 ratio on AP for his w.  At max level, every 3rd hit on w/e does 14% of their (max, right?) health + whatever AP you have.  So, lets say you have 400AP and are fighting a champ with 2k hp.  14% is 280 + the flat 400 dmg you get from AP.  So, you chunk for 680 dmg.  If up against someone with 5k, you do 700 dmg + 400 = 1100 dmg on the 3rd hit.

That build is kind of idiotic, ofc, but it does highlight the strength you get out of attack speed on him Skip the AP and his max W is very strong.  Add in a BotRK and it gets stronger. 

Straight AD build is fun, but silly.  Add on a hurricane for more fun.  As it is on pbe, he applies stacks of his w to every creep on he hits with hurricane.  And you get MS boost whenever you kill a creep... BUT, you turn into your large form and use the ability to use hurricane for a bit. 

Full tank is kind of smeh.  His initiate is too unreliable, but he could def ham it up a bit as he gets more durability and health in his large form. 

Bruiser seems the only viable setup.

Really looking forward to him being released.  I don't think they will tweak his stats to make him work well though.  He'll probably always be a bad pick based on what I've played so far anyway. 

Reply #385 Top

The only way IMO that gnar will be viable is if they make his form change user activable like shyvana's.

Reply #386 Top

That's what I'm thinking as well, but, as he stands, that would skyrocket his power in top lane to god tier level.  It would solve his late game uselessness, though, and make him viable there imo - actually a welcome pick up.  What's probably would be if they kept his passive the way it is for now, but changed the way it worked later in the game.  Either let him freely activate it or increase the timer before the change would automatically take place.  I think he has like between 5-10 seconds from hitting 100% to change forms now.  Perhaps that auto change would take place at later levels after 20-30 seconds, etc.  That would help anyway. 

Reply #387 Top

See when you say that, my mind immediately translate that into.... oh... well... that's a great idea.  A champ that you cannot use without being a twat.

End of quote

We mean "unreliable" in the sense that he doesn't get to remove his weaknesses and mindlessly adapt to whatever the situation needs, like a Jayce, and his ultimate is very conditional and isn't going to be reliably triggered whenever it'd be optimal.

I'd actually say that he is MUCH more consistent that a typical ranged top. In the melee v ranged matchup, if the melee pulls ahead (or outscales, which also frequently happens #Irelia #Jax), the ranged champion pretty much just gets dove over and over. Ranged tops are also usually bad at teamfighting (unless they are more utility/CC orientated mages like Lissandra, Lulu or Kennen), so if they fall behind and can no longer laning, trying to fight 5v5 isn't really an option either.

By being able to build more bruisery and getting a lot of """free""" tank stats, Gnar is going to be much more consistent than a typical ranged champion. Even if he gets stomped in lane, he'll be able to present some form of a front line in teamfights. Similarliy, if Gnar pulls really far ahead, he won't be as oppressive to lane against compared to a really fed Teemo with Nuclear Shrooms and a blind to deny the melee from getting any CS for the rest of the game.

To put it another way as a metaphor:

Gnar is like rolling a die. You never really know what exactly you're going to get (anywhere from 1-6). But you know that, on average, you'll roll a 3.5. He isn't going to be reliable because you won't roll the "6" you needed to win the game or initiate that teamfight everytime, even though you may have played really well for the entire game. But he is going to offer consistent strength over the course of multiple games. Playing Teemo, Quinn or Vayne is much more like flipping a coin. You either stomp or get fucked.

I read most inspired and I turn that into "champion that does not work in this meta."  I see him as being decent in top lane, but really kind of garbage when it comes to team fighting.  I mean, even consider a late game push with your team driving up mid.  He needs to land aa's to charge his passive.

End of quote

My understanding is that it will not be particularly challenging to build rage using his Q on creeps during sieges. His ultimate will be very reliable when doing offensive sieges, because you can build up 90 Rage and then go walk towards their turret. They are forced to either fight you in Mega Form or give up the tower.

It won't work so well in the jungle, but that's not the death of the champion. Some champs are really strong at jungle skirmishes (Anivia, Rengar). Some champs are not.

He's also garbage for sieging and late game due to the unreliable ulting.

End of quote

Only defensively. As i said above, he's going to be a powerful offensive sieger. Not to mention, top lane is not where you usually bring Siege, it's usually where you bring Dive. It's not like Irelia or Jax have this awesome ranged poke/waveclear. Gnar is going to have a low cooldown, ranged, manaless waveclear. And he still brings the Dive.

 

 

Reply #388 Top

I guess we'll see.  I think you are right re: that whole 3.5 concept you mentioned, but primarily for early top laning.  He really is built for that lane moreso than most champs imo... I think the siege will be bad both offensively and defensively, but I guess we'll see how that pans out. 

In case it wasn't shown in a vid or discussed somewhere, his best initiation combo is getting 100 stacks right as you pop a 3rd stack on your w for the MS boost.  Then, immediately hop using your e, hit a creep or enemy champ, land with your form changed, then ult or cc then ult.  Just commenting in case that's not known really here. 

I really think offensive sieging will be rough for him in a lot of instances because you are quite likely going to be forced to engage at a certain time instead of waiting for the best possible moment to engage.  You might need a dive comp to get around that.

Reply #389 Top

I really think offensive sieging will be rough for him in a lot of instances because you are quite likely going to be forced to engage at a certain time instead of waiting for the best possible moment to engage.  You might need a dive comp to get around that.

End of quote

Riot can tweak the bonus stats on Mega Gnar if that turns out to be an issue. Imagine, for a moment, Mega Gnar gave 2000 bonus hp. With that much defenses, pretty much "any" moment he had his Mega form up, it would be a good time to dive. Although his intial numbers might not be high enough Riot can adjust his bonus stats to make it so that he'll be tanky enough (at level 16) to turn what would normally only be a "mediocre" dive into a successful one.

If that's the direction that they want to take him, at least (i don't think they want him to be the primary initiator - so while i do think he has the potential be an above-average toplane sieger, they probably aren't going to be buffing that aspect of him much).

 

Reply #390 Top

I'm just talking about mid/late grouped sieges.  I think he'll do quite well solo. 

And yah - i doubt they will be willing to super buff the hp he gets to the point that its brainless initiate time.  I just think they need a more diverse system for his form change - be it added time before transforming mid/late game or enabling you to trigger it at will.  Keep in mind that as it works know, if you use an ability when you have 100 stacks, you transform... so even with a 20 second controllable transform window, you can't use abilities and can only aa the entire duration you are at 100 stacks.

 

Anyway, any thoughts on a good counter for him during laning?

Reply #391 Top

Ryze will beat the crap out of him. Slightly shorter range overall (besides boomerage). Single-root shuts down any W initaition and helps setup ganks. Outscales.

Irelia will also do well since she tends to be one of the best melees against ranged champs (she was the one who shut down Kennen back when everyone played him, and she's still been a big pick with the mage-top meta with lulu and stuff). i expect Bryff to interject here and claim that Irelia just gets wrecked by every ranged toplaner in existence and it is only by his amazing skill that is he able to overcome it, but that's not been the case in competitive play.

Darius might also work pretty well against him. i know that the Teemo v Darius matchup is a matchup that Teemo wins, if Teemo plays 100% perfectly, but Darius pull range is only like 10 units less than Teemo autoattack? So the margin of error is extremely small. Since Gnar is going to be even lower range, should mean easier pulls (although Gnar E does offer some disengage if he gets pulled at a bad time), and Darius will have the ability to brawl with Mega Gnar.

i think that he'll work really well against typical tanks toplane, due to the amount of pressure he can put on them early-game, and i don't think that they'll be able to handle Mega form very well in midgame brawls, espiecially with BotRK builds. He'll also work pretty well against melees with only MS-enhancers as gap closers (Shyvana, Udyr, probably Trundle since he can hop behind pillar) due to W kiting and E disengage.

Reply #392 Top

cow, you should try to get this award

 

Reply #394 Top

I am past a week already though :( 

Reply #395 Top

Quoting izDanyo, reply 393

Swan was on a little late last night. Me and BRYCE squeezed in a game with him :].
End of izDanyo's quote
and dadyrus

Reply #396 Top

So last night wasn't a good showing for me, sorry for all those who were included (karl, bryff, cow, pacov)... was fighting with somebody inbetween games (reason for me showing up like 3 minutes late every game sans one, and reason why i just took off).  Please forgive me, and shouldn't be a problem going forward.

Reply #397 Top

Don't worry, ill just buy a mejai's :D

Reply #398 Top

No worries, swan! 

Reply #400 Top

Nice job!  I see you are in your placements for diamond.  Good luck!