In Season 2 the Utility tree was much maligned and generally avoided, save for the first nine points. Nothing it offered was particularly compelling, with some supports opting to ignore it in favor of the Defense tree. Season 3's revisions make it significantly more competitive.
Obligatory mastery calculator links:
Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/
Unlike the Defense tree, which was almost completely uprooted, the Utility looks very similar to its previous incarnation. However, plenty of masteries have been shuffled around and altered, and the results are generally very good.
The first tier now features Wanderer, once known as Swiftness. The frequently taken 2% Movement Speed mastery now only works out of combat, cementing its place as a tool for roaming, clearing wards, and traveling back to the lane. Meditation, the Mana Regen mastery, has also been moved to the first tier, but is otherwise unchanged. These simple changes belie the larger ones coming in the remaining tiers.
Mastermind, once the final mastery in the Utility tree, has been moved all the way to the second tier. It now costs three points and only reduces summoner spell cooldowns by 10%, but the change in accessibility is notable. Scout still appears to be something of a throwaway mastery despite its buffs, but will at least be useful in specific situations. Expanded Mind is now in this tier without any other alteration. Also of note is a new mastery, Artifacer, which reduces the cooldowns on item active abilities by 15%. Overall this tier presents some interesting choices, especially given the increased importance of item actives.
The third tier still sports Runic Affinity and Greed without change. Transmutation, however, has moved and in its place are Biscuiteer and Strength of Spirit. The latter of these two was moved down from the penultimate tier, and received a notable nerf to compensate. Seeing as how it was practically never taken in Season 2, and the addition of new mana items in Season 3, this seems a fair trade. Biscuiteer is a one point mastery which grants the player a one off item at the start of the game. The Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation heals 80 Health and 50 Mana over 10 seconds, roughly adding up to one potion's worth of restoration. This is a new and interesting precedent for masteries, and makes another appearance in the next tier.
Explorer is a one point mastery which grants the player a special ward at the start of a game. It only lasts 60 seconds, but nevertheless represents an opportunity to detect invasions, avoid face checking, and control brush. Vampirism combines the old Life Steal and Spell Vamp masteries into one, forcing carries who wish to load up on sustain to make sacrifices in the Offense tree. Wealth has received a slight buff, granting 25-50 gold, which opens up new starting item possibilities such as Cloth Armor + Crystalline Flask. Only Awareness is unchanged.
The only notable change to the penultimate tier is the new Pickpocket mastery. This mastery grants 3g (5g if you're melee) every time you auto-attack an enemy champion (on a 5 second cooldown). Theoretically one could gain 3.6-6gp10 from this mastery alone, if your opponents were accommodating. In practice it will be worth far, far less, but as Greed is commonly taken for a mere 0.5gp10 per point, one would only need to auto-attack a champion once or twice per minute to match that value. Unless you're jungling, you should definitely grab this mastery if you're this deep already.
The final Utility mastery is Nimble, which increases Movement Speed by 3%. That's a significant boost for one point, considering that in Season 2 it cost four points for 2% Movement Speed. Placing this mastery so deep in the Utility tree is clearly Riot's answer to the Movement Speed stacking that was rampant in Season 2. If a champion wishes to zoom around with 400+ Movement Speed at level 1, they now have to sacrifice significant offensive and defensive potential.
The Utility tree is true to its name in Season 3. Every mastery in the tree somehow enhances player choices and actions. Whether it's reaching a location sooner, using abilities or items more frequently, getting items faster, or leveling more quickly, the Utility tree clearly enhances a champion in very different ways than the other mastery trees. Compared to Season 2, the new Utility tree is a compelling place to invest points even for non-Supports.
Showing posts with label masteries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label masteries. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Season 3: Defense Masteries
After a brief interruption due to a national holiday involving the mass consumption of plump fowl, the examination of Season 3 masteries continues. Today we'll look at the new Defense masteries.
Again, you can follow along using these mastery calculators:
Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/
It should be immediately apparent that the Defense masteries have changed fairly dramatically. While a few of the old favorites remain untouched, almost everything has been at least moved, if not replaced entirely.
The Armor and Magic Resistance masteries are conspicuously missing from the first tier, replaced by the Health Regen and Health per Level masteries. The former of these two has undergone a large revision, increasing the amount of Health Regen granted based on how much Health you're missing. Summoner's Resolve and Tough Skin are notable in that they are two of the only masteries in the entire Defense tree which have not been moved or altered in any way.
The second tier features the Armor and Magic Resistance masteries that were missing from the first. Moving them down a tier makes them slightly less accessible, a necessary change given their ubiquitous use at the end of Season 2. Bladed Armor is also now in this tier, meaning all the essential jungle masteries can be obtained with only seven or eight points invested.
In the third tier is Veteran's Scars, the only remaining Defense mastery which has not been altered or moved. Indomitable has been renamed Unyielding, and now only reduces damage from champions. Two new masteries also appear in this tier. Relentless decreases the effectiveness of slows (e.g. a 40% slow becomes a 34% slow), and Safeguard reduces damage incurred by turrets. While the Defense tree is useful to any champion, these and other specialized masteries make it clear that this tree is primarily aimed at helping bruisers and tanks.
All of the previous fourth tier Defense masteries have been removed, leaving the tree completely without Movement Speed or Cooldown Reduction. The new fourth tier is populated by Tenacious and Juggernaut, two masteries which split the crowd control reduction and % Maximum Health once given by Season 2's final Defense mastery. There is also Block, a mastery which reduces damage from champion auto-attacks. This tier is one of the strongest in the Defense tree due to the power of crowd control reduction and the direct effective health benefits of % Maximum Health.
The Defense tree's penultimate tier is also completely different. Defender is an incredibly strong mastery in a team fight, granting up to five Armor and Magic Resistance with a single point. Legendary Armor isn't quite so amazing, but if you're a champion with a strong defensive steroid or defense itemization heavy on Armor and Magic Resistance it can be potent. Good Hands has moved here from Utility, and now only costs one point for the full effect. Finally, Reinforced Armor serves to help protect a tank or bruiser from the crit happy end-game of enemy AD carries. Because both this tier and the previous tier have so many compelling masteries, putting more than 21 points into Defense may be common.
Honor Guard is now the final Defense mastery, and costs only one point for 3% damage reduction. In Season 2 it cost three points for half the effect, making Honor Guard the recipient of one of the largest buffs any mastery has ever seen. If you're going to go deep into Defense, this is a must-have mastery.
Overall, the Defense tree is much, much stronger in Season 3. In Season 2 most everything past the third tier had little to do with actually tanking, or was a very marginal increase in durability. The new masteries are quite the opposite, very few masteries do not relate directly to taking less damage, and almost all have value to one champion or another. Even though the masteries are aimed toward bruisers and tanks, even carries and supports may well be inclined to invest heavily in this tree.
Again, you can follow along using these mastery calculators:
Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/
It should be immediately apparent that the Defense masteries have changed fairly dramatically. While a few of the old favorites remain untouched, almost everything has been at least moved, if not replaced entirely.
The Armor and Magic Resistance masteries are conspicuously missing from the first tier, replaced by the Health Regen and Health per Level masteries. The former of these two has undergone a large revision, increasing the amount of Health Regen granted based on how much Health you're missing. Summoner's Resolve and Tough Skin are notable in that they are two of the only masteries in the entire Defense tree which have not been moved or altered in any way.
The second tier features the Armor and Magic Resistance masteries that were missing from the first. Moving them down a tier makes them slightly less accessible, a necessary change given their ubiquitous use at the end of Season 2. Bladed Armor is also now in this tier, meaning all the essential jungle masteries can be obtained with only seven or eight points invested.
In the third tier is Veteran's Scars, the only remaining Defense mastery which has not been altered or moved. Indomitable has been renamed Unyielding, and now only reduces damage from champions. Two new masteries also appear in this tier. Relentless decreases the effectiveness of slows (e.g. a 40% slow becomes a 34% slow), and Safeguard reduces damage incurred by turrets. While the Defense tree is useful to any champion, these and other specialized masteries make it clear that this tree is primarily aimed at helping bruisers and tanks.
All of the previous fourth tier Defense masteries have been removed, leaving the tree completely without Movement Speed or Cooldown Reduction. The new fourth tier is populated by Tenacious and Juggernaut, two masteries which split the crowd control reduction and % Maximum Health once given by Season 2's final Defense mastery. There is also Block, a mastery which reduces damage from champion auto-attacks. This tier is one of the strongest in the Defense tree due to the power of crowd control reduction and the direct effective health benefits of % Maximum Health.
The Defense tree's penultimate tier is also completely different. Defender is an incredibly strong mastery in a team fight, granting up to five Armor and Magic Resistance with a single point. Legendary Armor isn't quite so amazing, but if you're a champion with a strong defensive steroid or defense itemization heavy on Armor and Magic Resistance it can be potent. Good Hands has moved here from Utility, and now only costs one point for the full effect. Finally, Reinforced Armor serves to help protect a tank or bruiser from the crit happy end-game of enemy AD carries. Because both this tier and the previous tier have so many compelling masteries, putting more than 21 points into Defense may be common.
Honor Guard is now the final Defense mastery, and costs only one point for 3% damage reduction. In Season 2 it cost three points for half the effect, making Honor Guard the recipient of one of the largest buffs any mastery has ever seen. If you're going to go deep into Defense, this is a must-have mastery.
Overall, the Defense tree is much, much stronger in Season 3. In Season 2 most everything past the third tier had little to do with actually tanking, or was a very marginal increase in durability. The new masteries are quite the opposite, very few masteries do not relate directly to taking less damage, and almost all have value to one champion or another. Even though the masteries are aimed toward bruisers and tanks, even carries and supports may well be inclined to invest heavily in this tree.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Season 3: Offense Masteries
The masteries revamp is too big a topic to tackle in one post, unless you're one of those noble souls who enjoys reading fifty page white papers, so I'm dividing it up into three obvious sections. Today we'll be covering the new Offense masteries.
You can follow along using these mastery calculators:
Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/
There are only two new masteries in the Offense tree, the least of any, but they are interesting nonetheless.
Spellsword is a one point mastery adds 5% of your AP to your auto-attacks. 5% isn't much, but for one point it's a reasonably strong mastery. AP champions who do a lot of auto-attacking, such as Teemo, Diana, Twisted Fate, and Eve, could certainly get some mileage out of it, though most won't.
Frenzy is another one point mastery that grants a 10% Attack Speed buff for two seconds after a crit. Lethality, everyone's favorite Crit Damage mastery, is its prerequisite. It's an interesting concept, but ultimately feels fairly weak. By the time you have enough Crit to reliably proc the buff 10% Attack Speed will hardly be noticeable. It is only one point, but it's nothing to write home about.
The only mastery outright removed from the Offense tree was Vampirism. Anyone seeking that 3% Life Steal must now venture into the Utility tree instead. Everything else should be familiar, if jumbled around.
The first tier in Offense now sports the Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction masteries, instead of Flat AD and AP. This decouples them from the Penetration masteries they were previously prerequisites for. Having them as prerequisites was always slightly awkward as they aren't otherwise tied to one damage type. Moving them to the first tier also makes picking them up easier for those who would dive deep into the other mastery trees.
The AD and AP per Level masteries fill the holes left in the second tier. What I find interesting about this change is how valuable it makes the first nine points of the Offense tree compared to the rest. The difference in offensive power between a carry who goes all the way into Offense versus one who invests in other trees is very, very slight. Also, Demolitionist has been renamed Destruction and now increases damage done to towers by 2.5-5%, though it costs two points instead of one.
The third tier is almost identical, minus the absence of the AD per Level mastery. Interestingly, this encourages players to take Havoc. It's the only mastery in the tier which isn't one point with a prerequisite, and most champions won't be interested in the masteries they've already skipped. While Havoc has been buffed to 2% from 1.5%, it's still a fairly weak mastery. This is part of why going further than nine points into Offense isn't as good as it might first appear.
The fourth tier contains Spellsword, Lethality and the Flat AD and AP masteries that used to be in the first tier. These latter two have been buffed by 50%, but are still fairly weak compared to their per Level peers. Lethality has been increased to two points and is half as effective for ranged ADs, essentially dividing its value per point for them by four. Again, the relatively weak nature of this tier calls into question the value of pushing forward.
The final two tiers are almost identical, save for the presence of Frenzy in the penultimate tier and a slight change to Executioner. Executioner now increases damage by 5% against targets at less than 50% health, versus 6% at less than 40%. This makes the mastery stronger as it is now slightly harder to leap frog the benefit when bursting an opponent. Sunder also benefits from the Penetration changes I discussed yesterday, increasing its potential effectiveness by up to 220%. These tiers are strong, but given all the questionable points that had to be invested to reach them they are, by proxy, also questionable.
Offense may be the weakest of the three trees post-revamp, and that may be slightly intentional. The community has a great deal of inertia when it comes to ideas and changes, and in Season 2 the Offense tree was arguably the strongest by far. Its slight disadvantage in Season 3 may be compensation for its current greatness.
You can follow along using these mastery calculators:
Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/
There are only two new masteries in the Offense tree, the least of any, but they are interesting nonetheless.
Spellsword is a one point mastery adds 5% of your AP to your auto-attacks. 5% isn't much, but for one point it's a reasonably strong mastery. AP champions who do a lot of auto-attacking, such as Teemo, Diana, Twisted Fate, and Eve, could certainly get some mileage out of it, though most won't.
Frenzy is another one point mastery that grants a 10% Attack Speed buff for two seconds after a crit. Lethality, everyone's favorite Crit Damage mastery, is its prerequisite. It's an interesting concept, but ultimately feels fairly weak. By the time you have enough Crit to reliably proc the buff 10% Attack Speed will hardly be noticeable. It is only one point, but it's nothing to write home about.
The only mastery outright removed from the Offense tree was Vampirism. Anyone seeking that 3% Life Steal must now venture into the Utility tree instead. Everything else should be familiar, if jumbled around.
The first tier in Offense now sports the Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction masteries, instead of Flat AD and AP. This decouples them from the Penetration masteries they were previously prerequisites for. Having them as prerequisites was always slightly awkward as they aren't otherwise tied to one damage type. Moving them to the first tier also makes picking them up easier for those who would dive deep into the other mastery trees.
The AD and AP per Level masteries fill the holes left in the second tier. What I find interesting about this change is how valuable it makes the first nine points of the Offense tree compared to the rest. The difference in offensive power between a carry who goes all the way into Offense versus one who invests in other trees is very, very slight. Also, Demolitionist has been renamed Destruction and now increases damage done to towers by 2.5-5%, though it costs two points instead of one.
The third tier is almost identical, minus the absence of the AD per Level mastery. Interestingly, this encourages players to take Havoc. It's the only mastery in the tier which isn't one point with a prerequisite, and most champions won't be interested in the masteries they've already skipped. While Havoc has been buffed to 2% from 1.5%, it's still a fairly weak mastery. This is part of why going further than nine points into Offense isn't as good as it might first appear.
The fourth tier contains Spellsword, Lethality and the Flat AD and AP masteries that used to be in the first tier. These latter two have been buffed by 50%, but are still fairly weak compared to their per Level peers. Lethality has been increased to two points and is half as effective for ranged ADs, essentially dividing its value per point for them by four. Again, the relatively weak nature of this tier calls into question the value of pushing forward.
The final two tiers are almost identical, save for the presence of Frenzy in the penultimate tier and a slight change to Executioner. Executioner now increases damage by 5% against targets at less than 50% health, versus 6% at less than 40%. This makes the mastery stronger as it is now slightly harder to leap frog the benefit when bursting an opponent. Sunder also benefits from the Penetration changes I discussed yesterday, increasing its potential effectiveness by up to 220%. These tiers are strong, but given all the questionable points that had to be invested to reach them they are, by proxy, also questionable.
Offense may be the weakest of the three trees post-revamp, and that may be slightly intentional. The community has a great deal of inertia when it comes to ideas and changes, and in Season 2 the Offense tree was arguably the strongest by far. Its slight disadvantage in Season 3 may be compensation for its current greatness.
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