There’s a suite of abilities in League of Legends that falls under the old, unnervingly-named MMO umbrella of crowd control. Though kettling is mercifully unimplemented, effects like Silence offer a modicum of control over the opposing team.
Too much control, in some cases. Riot have lately stripped three champions of their silencing prowess – and lead designer Ryan Scott is on hand to explain why.
Silence spells prevent the target player from casting abilities or activating items for a short duration. But LeBlanc and Cho’Gath have had their silence timers slashed, and Kassadin has lost the ability altogether. Why, Scott?
“Silences are a problem when the character can kill you solo – it removes response,” tweeted the lead designer.
“This is why we haven’t lowered say, Fiddles’ or Soraka’s. Additionally, some old ones are too long – like Rammus/Fids’ CC was.”
Fans pointed out that Riot could solve the issue by assigning silence only to classes like disrupters – rather than solo specialists like assassins.
“Agreed,” replied Scott. “This is why we tend to see this pattern on old champions where we had a looser grasp on such things.”
Scott also noted that Cho’Gath players shouldn’t expect a “compensation” buff to follow the nerfs – as the void terror is “really strong without”.
Have any of you lot found your favourite champion de-silenced this morning? Or perhaps you’ve only ever been at the wrong end of the ability?
Thanks, Reign of Gaming.