[2019] We're the Rioters that created Yuumi. Meow us anything!

almost 5 years ago - /u/LeagueOfLegends - Direct link

EDIT: Thanks for all your questions! That's the end of our Yuumi AMA! We'll continue to bop into the thread throughout the day and answer as we can.

_____________________________________

Put down your yarn and give back that laser pointer! It's time to wake up from a cat nap and ask your Yuumi questions. Starting now, feel free to post your questions and the team will teleport through Book to answer them from 11:00 AM PT to 1:30 PM PT.

These purrrfect felines will be on the hunt for your questions:

Yuumi Information:

Champion Gameplay Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZWEV3bACZo
Champion Spotlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYkvBijQccA
Bio: https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/champion/yuumi/
Abilities: https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/champions-skins/champion-preview/yuumi-abilities

External link →

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by moosebog

So I’ve seen a lot of different yuumi builds but it feels like she’s more impactful when she’s connected to a strong mid or top rather than adc. My question is, is it supposed to be like that?

Yes, somewhat. A consequence of her being untargetable is that among enchanters, she can uniquely follow a diver into the back line and support them without getting blown up. Rather than fight that interaction, we made sure that Yuumi was giving her attached partner the kind of tools a diver, fighter or tank wanted (Movespeed and chase potential being the big ones). She should still be okay when attached to a squishy marksman, but probably not as good as having a Janna right there.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by jrespeed

What you’ve noticed monitoring her play so far that caused her to have such a low win rate?

I think the biggest thing is that the learning curve for playing the champion is steeper than we initially thought. There are a bunch of things you have to do differently to access Yuumi's power. You should be auto attack harassing, which is a very non-obvious thing to do for a support that has the option of being untargetable. You also need to learn when to be on characters other than the ADC, and how to drive the Q missile. She doesn't play like other enchanters; her peel is worse, but her aggressive picking potential is much better.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Aoaelos

What do you think that is the strategic niche of Yuumi? Why should i pick her over Sona or Janna or any other enchantress if my goal is solely to win?

Her untargetablity is one of her strategic niches, you can pick her into comps that have ways to kill Sona or Janna. She has some of the highest safety in the game.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by pedrofracassi

I love the early character models you guys post on the AMAs sometimes (like the gnar riding hecarim kled or thresh with a giant moustache rakan). What did you guys use to represent Yuumi before her model was complete? Can we see? 👀

For the longest time Yuumi was a recolored version of Cyber Pop Zoe

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by justintoronto

Right now I see a lot of Yuumis that just permanently attached, leading to them just Q spamming and healing whenever. Was that a playstyle risk/concern during their development?

We figured some players would want to play it that way. As a playstyle it functions, although the tuning as it is probably makes it lower win rate than we'd like. The good news about it is that Yuumi is the kind of champion where while you're doing that, you'll have the time to explore other things you can be doing. Times to ward, times to auto attack, times to hop between your allies. It remains to be seen if this playstyle still sticks with Yuumi players or if over time they learn to access the full range of her power.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Marace55

Give me your best cat puns right meow!

No.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by march9191

What champs do you think have the best synergy with yuumi?

Basically anyone that wants to chase down enemies. She's very good at assisting champs that want that. Udyr, Nunu, Camille.... Juggernauts and Divers love having a pocket Yuumi.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Momookus

I wanted an anime oppai loli cat girl champion instead I got a literal cat......and I'm not even disappointed. Anyway when you were making Yuumi was it always the idea for her be a literal cat or was there discussion on whether she should be a cat girl or humanoid in some way.

She was always a literal cat. We wanted to do another creature Champion, but not a monster, a cute one, since we don't really have a cute non-humanoid in the game yet

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Sanjarobi

Was Yuumi predestined to be just a cat? Any other designs?

There was some really early stuff where she wasn't a cat, but for the vast majority of the project she was a cat

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Kadexe

Do you think Yuumi works well with melee laners like Yasuo or Irelia?

yes

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by seikunaras

Why do you think the champ is under performing so much?

She is a very unique play pattern, which takes time to learn how to play as against, which I think is the biggest contributing factor. Our playtest team was doing quite well on her in very high elo even before the buffs, but they have played tons of games on her

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by DeathSeesAll

Is there a particular reason why she can not auto attack during her W?

I can understand that you don't want her to build like an ADC while attached to a tank, but as we've seen with "turret" Kog'maw, it shouldn't be a problem to reduce her damage while using her W to avoid this.

We went back and forth on this. There was one playtest where Meddler played Yuumi and just built full crit Attack speed. It was... gross.

The major reason is that I don't think a high damage threat champion is compatible with long term untargetability. You could easily put an ADC Yuumi on an Alistar support and now your ADC all of a sudden has an extra 2000 health, 50% Damage Reduction and a bunch of CC.

We could make her auto attacks very weak while attached, but at that point you're now asking your lane partner to position for both their auto attacks and Yuumi's, which is a another constant pain point the bot laner maybe didn't ask for. The Q range asks them to do a small amount of work, and I think that's the right amount.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by henry25555

In my opinion yuumi's release was CATastrophic, she's really weak right now even in the hands of professional support players like Zeyzal. What are the plans to bump her up, is the problem primarily on her numbers or on her kit?

We already put in a huge hotfix buff yesterday. She takes awhile to learn to play though, even for professional players. Our playtest team was having pretty big success on her in high elo, but they have played tons of games on her internally before her release

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Aoaelos

What do you think that is the strategic niche of Yuumi? Why should i pick her over Sona or Janna or any other enchantress if my goal is solely to win?

She's very good at following divers, juggernauts, and vanguards into the backline. Sona and Janna can't really help a Camille who wants to go after the enemy ADC, but Yuumi absolutely can. Yuumi is also very good in a pick comp, because your ult and a max rank Q is an excellent tool for slowing a target long enough for your ally to catch up to them.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by RayFrost

What is that forest that Yuumi goes to in her video? Is where the new assassin lives?

Only time will tell

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Precat8

Her Q ability is really unique what were the prototypes?

The first version of this spell actually spawned the cat from the polymorph of one of Lulu's skins.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by pedrofracassi

Yuumi plushies when????

I would also like to know this.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by All_Fiction

Do all cats in Runeterra look like Yuumi or is it specific to Bandle City only?

Also, was Book created by Norra or was it found somewhere?

She's specific to Bandle City, and as such is also unique compared to other cats in Bandle City. She is one of a kind

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by lavajci

To follow-up along that line of thinking, are there any ADCs that would work well as a solo-lane right now, so the Yuumi can be more of a roamer?

Historically Ezreal can do it or someone with wave clear, but Yuumi really wants to get levels first so she can one, give solid heals and catch with her Q and two, its not in a state of the game where she could run into the enemy jungler while roaming alone.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Dewku

How many of you guys are weebs

Shockingly high.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by MaliciousMetal

Okay I got a few!

Would Yuumi get along with Skarner?

Why does she refer to Morde as a big metal cat, is it because of his awesome new horns or is there another reason. Other than Morde totally being the kind of villain who'd have a cat to stroke with his clawed gauntlet...Which is probably why he kept Veigar around.

And lastly. When are we getting a Nekonomicon skin for Yuumi?

Nekonomicon was one of my favorite things that I saw posted in r/yuumimains right after her release. I can't believe I never thought of it.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by march9191

Do you think yuumi might be able to spawn in a new meta of the support going mid or top?

Probably not, bot control has historically been too important, but I'm not really an expert. I'd be real happy if different champions were enabled to go bot lane because of her, though!

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by TheBossVeigar

Was she ever a yordle in development? Or was she always planned to be something other than a yordle?

She was never a yordle

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by xXdimmitsarasXx

How do you feel about the community reaction to her entrance in the game?

We figured she'd be weak on release due to the learning curve, but we underestimated by how much. Hoping that the hotfix pushes her out of meme territory, but we always kind of expected players would need some time to get used to her play style.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by KawaiiKoshka

Is this related to the decision to give her a lower base attack range (500)? She would lose in a poke war with other ranged supports from her low stats anyway, and if she can't auto attack while attached, it seems like it was made to deter her from auto attacking in general

The range decrease was because at high levels, Yuumi can just auto attack harass for free, and dodge every counter attack by attaching to her ally. At 550, Yuumi's harass was super oppressive.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by DudeLikeYeah

What are some of the scrapped abilities from her kit?

So many.

I tried making her ult something that she would use to attach to enemies, the most hilarious of which was a version where she would push the target across the whole map until they hit a wall, then dash back, regardless of where they were. It often failed to do much since the targeting was hard, but when it worked, it was hilarious watching a cat tackle you across the map then Nope right out.

Her unattached Q went through a lot of iteration, at one point it was a missile that would cook for about a second, then fire off at some of the fastest speed of any missile in the game. We tried a bunch of versions where unattached Q was a separate spell that was about setting up fights and attached Q was about capitalizing on it.

u/endlesspillows had a spell I thought was super cool where she would throw out a boomerang orb like Ahri Q, but then you could cast your spells from that orb to get extra range/aoes.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Kadexe

What was the most extreme version of Yuumi's W that you tested?

The one we shipped was pretty close. We talked about if she should ever be targetable at all, and what that would mean for a champion. There were versions where she was untargetable during the travel time as well as when attached.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by Kadexe

What was the most extreme version of Yuumi's W that you tested?

There was one version where it didn't have a cooldown at any point in the game (kinda like what it is now after level 11). Her laning against melee supports bot was close to unbeatable. There was another version where she was unstoppable while using it so she would just buffer all CC heading towards her team.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by DotAGenius

More of a comment than a question, but I am worried that a lot of new players will main Yuumi to start and climb, then negatively impact games when they cant play her (bans, nerfs, etc.) because her playstyle is inherently different than the rest of the champion pool (for instance, not having to worry about positioning during laning phase or crutching on other people for map movement in the midgame).

We saw something similar with Mercy in Overwatch, where players who climbed with Mercy couldnt do much once she got nerfed because they had not developed "core skills" important to playing Overwatch.

It's still way too early to tell, but from what Ive seen, Yuumi could be starting a similar issue; so I guess my question is whether that is a concern and, if so, are there plans to make her more relatable to other champions while keeping her unique kit?

Thank you.

I think it's too early to tell. The way we've been playing her internally still has you doing normal support things like warding, harassing, buying active items ect, but we're still gathering data on how the community is playing her.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by AForgottenSnowflake

Were there any other abilities you considered giving Yuumi, that while fitting the character just didn't fit her kit at all? I figured maybe something with portals might have been considered given Book's story.

Also, I love Yuumi a lot. I know she's getting a bit of a bad rep right now, but I do fully believe it is due to the fact that a lot of players suddenly became support mains with the new champion. So because she isn't a killing spree kind of support like Pyke was, people are saying she is weak. As a support main who plays a lot of healing champs like Nami, Soraka, and Taric, I think she is a wonderfully fun champion who can be extremely powerful in the right hands, and the right comp. ♥

We actually tried a spell where she would do a mini-ryze ult to teleport anyone in a circle around her to the targeted position. It was way too much safety granted to her ally, who if ever CC'd would just be whisked away, but it was a cool portal call out.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Vekkna

To start, I'd like to thank the champ designers for making the first champ in 5 years that I both want to play and am capable of playing. And that I actually want to continue playing!

Question: It's still early, obvs, but I've had solid success using Coin, rushing Deathcap, stacking AP runes (Eyeball, Focus, Storm), and using Q mostly to zone or check bushes. At 1 item you're basically worth a BF and ~50% MS.

Have you seen any success with these sorts of builds, or is Q deliberately intended to be ranked first and W last?

I'm glad you like her!

Q is definitely supposed to be the first max, and W maxed last. Your W doesn't really scale with levels so much as it scales with items in the game. If you level it up at level 3, for example, you're gaining the extra stats on your support item and your ADC's Doran's blade. Compared to the extra stats you get from Q rank up, it's not even close. I do like the AP build personally, but if you want to be threatening your enemy, I think you need to be putting points into Q.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by TheBossVeigar

What was the main reason for not considering making her a yordle? Was it because she'd be too similar to Lulu?

We wanted to make a non-humanoid, since we haven't made one in awhile and Yordles qualify as humanoid. Specifically we wanted to make a non-humanoid Cute champion since all our current non-humanoids are monstrous

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Youseph_Seraph

Are enchanter supports going to receive more attention? I mean, the last enchanter was released in 2013 and the enchanters that received some work between that period were just Janna and Zilean mini-gameplay update and Taric VGU (this one is a mix between an enchanter and a warden). As a enchanter support main, I'd like to see more enchanters.

Why is Yuumi made to be a female support? The only 2 male enchanters were released back in the early league days...

We made Yuumi specifically because we hadn't made an enchanter in awhile. I'm not sure when the next one would come out, but we always try and make sure that we're making champs for all player types; it can just take awhile some times.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by SilverEmpress

What was the decision-making like around what her Q would do and be like?

I think the attached version is really cool; being able to direct it like that is pretty neat. But... I really wish it had a small AoE on it, even if the AoE was only on her Q when she's not attached to anyone. I've found if you're in a situation where you have to be by yourself, pushing a wave even slightly can be very hard.

We wanted her Q to be something that Yuumi players would have to invest some focus in while attached, since they wouldn't be burdened with move commands. It would be one of our few opportunities to do a high-demand input like that.

There was an AoE on it for awhile, but we cut it for a few reasons. The most major one was because Q is a highly reliable spell, we wanted minions to be more of a point of safety for enemies. Ducking behind minions, but still taking a percentage of the damage, plus spell thief + scorch proc often led to more poke than we were comfortable with. We didn't want the only counterplay to be 'run away the whole screen and wait.'

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Mechanickel

Was Yuumi too strong with allowing her passive to get reduced by landing autoattacks and/or abilities? It feels like something that should happen when playing with her and it was a bit awkward to realize that it does not happen. I feel like it makes the lane phase not too interactive because you don't want to put yourself in the open as often.

We had a few versions that reduced CD's on Yuumi for auto attacking, but I wanted there to be points in time where it wasn't a mistake for Yuumi to just be chilling on her ally. Players want to play the attach support to attach, and if you're constantly being rewarded for auto attacks, then you feel like you're missing out when your attached.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by CynicaIity

When designing enchanters what are the different tools or design niches you consider?

Some people like to simplify the role down to just heals, shields, and stat buffs, so internally what are the different things you are willing to try or boundaries you can push in order to make the role more dynamic and differentiate new champs from other enchanters?

We knew we wanted to do this attach mechanic, so we started looking for things within that wheel house to differentiate Yuumi from other enchanters. The most natural path wasn't what she was providing (heals, shields, ect), but who she could provide it to. Because she follows you anywhere, completely safely, she can hop onto a diver and follow them to the backline and buff them, which is just something Janna and Soraka can't do.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Chocolatebeany

At /u/RiotMaxw3ll, is there any reason for yuumi to have extremely low base mr? IMO the untargetability doesn't really warrant that given that she also has one of the the lowest health pools, and if she still needs a buff it could probably be changed to standard ranged champion mr growth.

There were a lot of instances in playtests where she would get out of situations that we really felt like she should have died in. Getting caught warding super far from her allies, for example. But with two E charges plus a large range dash to safety, she wasn't getting punished enough. It's possible we went overboard there, and that we should've hit something else.

The other thing is that a high level optimization for Yuumi is to unattach to take skill shots for your ally, and I didn't want Yuumi to just blank enemy poke, so doing this had a meaningful cost.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Scienc3_HS

What where some of the most hilarious bugs/champion models or stories you encountered while making her?

Also how did you choose the name? I like it very much and I think it's very fitting.

In order to make the attachment work, we had to overhaul how other attachments work (including things like Kayn, Lamb and Wolf, and Nunu's snowball). There was one test where Kayn ulted someone under turret, they died, and then he was stuck there. He got blasted by the turret and died, but when he respawned, he was still stuck under that turret, so he just kept respawning and died over and over, unable to move.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Karna47

What was the worst thing to code about her? Im assuming having her jump on a champ could create so really weird interactions like Zed going into his ult.

The attach mechanic for sure. There are so many intricacies, timing issues and bugs that were created. /u/RiotLtRandolph is downright a hero for getting it all working.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by OpalP

What were Yuumi’s prototype names/appearance/abilities like? Was she always a cat or did the concept start out as something different altogether?

Once we saw the concept art for a cat with a book, everyone was sold, and we changed her playtest name to Catbook. It remained that for a long time until we got the final name in. We still call her Catbook from time to time.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Trickquestionorwhat

Which ability did you guys intend to have her max first, or did you try to make it balanced enough that it depended on the player's playstyle?

Q for sure. She needs a more poke oriented style to succeed in the early game, which is why the rank ups for that are so powerful. You can max E sometimes, but I'm not sure if its every really better than Q.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Clotzy

Does it not worry Yous the yummi is completly locked to a support role , when every or champion can pull off a secondary role to some degree ,

Not really. It actually lets us have some freedom, since we don't need to worry about the additional pro power of having it be a flex pick.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by ADD_ikt

Which champions do you think yuumi work well with?

I recently got smashed by Kled Yuumi. I think it's secret op. Any other secret op duos.

Divers. They love extra move speed, survivability, and catch potential.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by BellyDancerUrgot

Ever gonna get that reverse yuumi skin where the book is riding the cat?

Also are rengar and yuumi friends in the kitty rengar alt verse?

I'm still holding out for BatCook.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Hextech_Avenger

In early iteration of the character, were there any ideas of granting the person you were attached to a percentage of Yuumi’s MS?

Yeah, actually. Constant MS creates issues where in lane you can chase down the enemy laners for favorable trades, so it was better as a spell that you had to pay a cost for.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotJag - Direct link

This question is for RiotMaxw3ll. Why are you such a memelord?

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Zezimaz

Hi! thanks for the AMA, did you guys consider her Q being AoE? or maybe proc something similar like lundens echo? thank you

We did! We wanted hiding behind minions to be reasonable counterplay, so we took the AoE off of it. The damage + scorch + Spell Thiefs + Aery was often enough that the poke even through minions was too much.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by moodRubicund

Did she used to have more portal-related powers with her book while in development? There are other attach-supports in other MOBAs like Abathur from Heroes of the Storm, who have global presence as well. Portal powers would seem to work well with a global presence-skillset yet they seem totally irrelevant to Yuumi, who doesn't use portals to do anything except get back to base.

We tried a couple. Her ult was initially concepted as a portal that would summon spirit creatures, but that didn't work for a variety of reasons. She had a spell where she would set up a mini-ryze ult and teleport anyone standing on it away, but it gave way too much safety to Yuumi's attached ally. If they were ever CC'd, Yuumi could just pop them away.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by PClicious

Your champ sucks and this is not banter. It literally has 2 skills (E-R), everything else is useless. D4 here.

I'd encourage you to put more time into her, she's a pretty difficult champion to pick up!

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by RedShirtKing

The mid-patch update to Yuumi so soon after her release may be the largest I've ever seen. What do you think caused that discrepancy between where you thought she stood in power level during PBE testing and what we saw on the ranked ladder? Do you think bumping up her numbers across the board is enough of a fix to get her into a healthy state, or are there other changes you might be considering now that the playerbase at large has gotten a hold of her?

The learning curve on the champion was longer than we were hoping/expecting. Players from the team are having success with her on live, but it seems like the skill for her don' translate as well as we were hoping. We still need more data to figure out exactly what we should be doing from here on out.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by Rammed

Fully utilizing the passive, baiting pressure abusing the fact that the w cooldown goes down while in an ally, not building her like a normal support

Yeah, knowing when to be attached and when to be unattached in lane is a big optimization point, as well as mechanical usage of the W to avoid skillshots (Yuumi should be able to avoid Blitz/Thresh/Naut hooks 9 out of 10 times, and Alistar engages pretty reliably too).

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by Plecsius

any funny glitches/interactions you ran into while testing her?

There was one time she attached and everything worked correctly except for the whole untargetability thing. She immediately ate an entire Lucian culling to the face and died.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by C3ntra

Those of you that designed her kit, do you think that you succeeded in bringing the original fantasy to the game?

Also, what was the first thought that brought Yuumi into existence? What was the spark of inspiration? Was it along the lines of “let’s put a cat in LoL,” or “What if we had a support that constantly sticks with teammates to help them?@

The initial pitch for the character was always "support that attaches to their allies." I do think that Yuumi's kit creates a mentality of co-dependence and a 'we're in this together!' kind of feeling.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by cinox

do you really think is it good designed heal, i mean the worse your adc trade you are more rewarded ? Played few times against her if you poke her and they are hugging turret you will lose in sustain battle, she heals more than soraka almost. Anyway well designed champion, i do like her kit and unique playstyle. Only problem have with her E(heal)

The heal scaling dependent on low health is specifically to encourage the Yuumi player to stick it out and fight with their ally rather than leaving as soon as they're low. Your best chance to turn fights is in the most dire of moments!

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by NotEfe

what are you guys thinking about the way subreddit reacted to yuumi? is she really that bad as the subreddit says or do you guys have another opinion about it

I thought the reaction was appropriate for what the data said - with a 30% winrate day one, she's clearly hard to learn and we underestimated that internally, and you're also not going to want the 30% winrate champion on your team when commonly champions that are in the low 40 percents are considered really weak. Now my personal opinion, after the buffs she's definitely OP.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by GustingWind

As a support main myself, I find that Yuumi is very reliant on the positioning of your ADC. Was the intent always to be hoping that your ADC would be in the right spot when you needed them? This is especially critical to her ult, which I have definitely screwed up bc my ADC is running away instead of facing the enemy!

The Ult case can be frustrating, since there is a split second where you want to cast it and they might jerk you out of the way. That's why you can fully control it while detached as well, if you're worried about your ally's positioning, I recommend starting the ult while unattached until your ADC gets the message to follow up.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Riot_Rainslight - Direct link

Originally posted by Precat8

SHIELDS HEALS CUDDLES

What cant she do?

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by khaot-cerrai

First of all, thanks for making Yuumi, she is everything I like in life made a champion (in my favorite role). Now questions, why is her ult damage so low? Or like in general actually. I remember that even at full build against 1st wave of minions she couldn't even one shot them, is her main role being a healer?

She's not intended to blow people up. It's a huge zone that can sometimes hit the enemy team over long periods of time. The focus for the spell is starting and winning team fights, not blasting an entire team to death.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Riot_Rainslight - Direct link

Originally posted by mazrim_lol

cat

cat

almost 5 years ago - /u/Riot_Rainslight - Direct link

Originally posted by George9946546

OwO

What's this?

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by TheySeeMeTrollinLoL

If she's on the PBE for a while, why can't you guys predict her winrate being low on live servers if it's low on PBE to start off?

Meddler had a good post on this topic a while back, link here.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Krana_lol

Why is yuumi’s kit so so similar to sona in many ways. Just the hability of targeting herself to a champ makes her a bit diferent. Do you have strong rules at Riot to try make every new champ as different as possible from others or is it fine to have such a similar champs?

Also isnt yuumi the cat that we have had making faces for the emotes for so long? How much time have you been working on yuumi because the emotes have clear inspiration from her.

We want new champs to fill roles that no other champion currently does. From a bird's eye view, Yuumi's abilities have a lot of overlap with Sona (poke spell, heal spell, speed spell), the whole package is something very different. Yuumi is much better at being aggressive and picking people off, while Sona is better on the defense, able to snap stun someone that dives you. Yuumi can follow a carry into the backline, buffing them and helping them take out squishies, while Sona is better at buffing the whole team.

I personally think that each champ should have their own niche, but the individual tools they use to get them there are less important.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Riot_Rainslight - Direct link

Originally posted by dengeniul

who in your team watched the most cat videos while making her?

Of course x3

When making the trailer, these were reference for the twitch scenes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gdsueMGUfk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsund4l9XIk&feature=youtu.be

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Auberaun

There was one version where it didn't have a cooldown at any point in the game (kinda like what it is now after level 11). Her laning against melee supports bot was close to unbeatable. There was another version where she was unstoppable while using it so she would just buffer all CC heading towards her team.

Oh yeah, forgot about that XP

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by pm_me_xayah_porn

What has been your favorite champ to pair with Yuumi?

Nunu is hilarious

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by Clotzy

It does discourage player creativity by licking it to support tho , example being G2 playing pyke top at MSI

I think it's cool when stuff like that happens occasionally, but it can really hamper a champion's main role sometimes if they have to be balanced around a role they were never intended for.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by DarkMoonDream

Apologies if this has been asked already, but what is your favorite part of her design/kit?

The attach mechanic just feels fun to use. I'm really glad that its just a viscerally satisfying thing that almost feels toylike.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by RiotCattlegrid

Not a specific cat or situation but it was definitely inspired by their behavior. /u/Jellbug was my cat expert who I would always ask for approval on any cat-like animations.

Not a specific cat or situation but it was definitely inspired by their behavior. /u/Jellbug was my cat expert who I would always ask for approval on any cat-like animations.

u/Jellbug fell on the sword of watching multiple cat videos with u/riotcattlegrid. It was tough for her, I'm sure.

almost 5 years ago - /u/RiotMaxw3ll - Direct link

Originally posted by RiotJag

This question is for RiotMaxw3ll. Why are you such a memelord?

I learned from watching you.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by garzek

Is there any concern, even with the hotfix, that her nature makes her fundamentally invisible in the laning phase? The sheer volume of champions that have a way to completely shut her down -- from engage supports (leona, alistar, blitz, thresh, naut) to stronger defensive enchanters (janna) to mage/enchanters (lulu, karma) to flat out mages (zyra, annie), it's a colossal list of bad match ups for Yuumi and that's predicated largely on her kit, where more than likely the numbers that make her able to have presence in these match-ups make her just flagrantly overpowered in the general case.

It just seems to me that Yuumi is a support with the enchanter equivalent of Kayle's power-curve, and it seems pretty antithetical to the purpose of a support.

I think that she's very good into those engage supports because she should never be able to actually get engaged on with her W, letting her harass pretty freely. She's certainly weaker into mages/enchanters though, and has to rely more on outranging them with her attached Q. I think it takes time learning the character before you understand your strength against engage characters, however.

EDIT: Not to say that engage supports can't do anything against her, but their win condition should be to find Yuumi's ADC rather than Yuumi herself.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

/u/Reav3 how did you guys come across the gameplay hook for Yuumi

We started development with the attached support hook, which EndlessPillows pitched along time ago. One of the reasons we settled on a Cat so early in development is that we thought the theme of a Cat would work very well with the gameplay hook since cats are generally seen as lazy, and the Champion didnt have to walk anywhere

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by garzek

Right, Yuumi can't do anything about her ADC being engaged on, and all of the engage supports can just tank her poke without losing HP.

Yeah, it's on the ADC to avoid the engage, similar to what the situation would be like if there were a Sona and they had to avoid being hooked. I don't agree that tanks can tank her poke forever - I would expect Yuumi to be landing most attached empowered Q's + scorch/aery that she uses, as well as autoattack frequently. If these things aren't happening then yes it's possible Yuumi isn't providing enough presence in the lane.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

Could I also ask where the DNA goes after Yuumi

Jellbug and RiotEarp are going to jump onto the Choose a VGU Champ, while Maxwell is starting early exploration on a new champ

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

Are you able to share who the designer would be on the choose a VGU and the DNA on Dan's champ

we are still working out the Choose your own VGU designer. DNA for Dans champ is Dan, LoneWingy and Interlocutioner

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by ancine

Any chances she may get a mini rework in the future. The style of clinging to your ally all the time seems binary and expresses no skill at all. Her getting rewarded by attaching to allies(reduced cd, enhanced abilities for the first few seconds, anything rly) seems to be much better in terms of counter play to kill her and allowing her to express skill better.

Unless your target demographic was specifically players who don't want to put in effort into a match, then that'd be understandable

The style of clinging to your ally all the time seems binary and expresses no skill at all.

Hot take: Yuumi players who are only doing this contribute to her low winrate.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Auberaun - Direct link

Originally posted by Vekkna

an entire Lucian culling

How did she survive to the end of the Culling? 3500 hp full tank Yuumi?

It was pretty late in the game, so she had some HP items, but yes it was probably more like half of a culling :P

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Bwob

She got a pretty substantial buff across the board in the hotfix. Does this mean that you're expecting to have to revert those at some point, once Yuumi players get good enough?

I think so, but we will see

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

And back to Yuumi, long term do you expect her to be broad or niche

We expect her to be broadly appealing to enchanter support players, which could mean shes a bit niche, since its a more niche role

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by IMainStashusAssassin

Does that confirm the assassin is a humanoid at least now that we know Yuumi was the "non humanoid one" that you were talking about? Also, do you guys follow male, female, male, female formula or is there a chance that the assassin is a girl?

We don't follow male, female, male pattern. We shipped Zoe and Kai'Sa back to back

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by NikolayVStavrogin

Hey Ryan, I need you to say ''soon™' for Morde rework so that I can feel like my life is completed. It's a very important step in the process that one should not ignore.

I'll accept "very soon™" also, so feel free to choose.

Extremely Soon

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by IMainStashusAssassin

What about the assassin?? Can we get an estimate in soon's too?

Lol, always appreciate the effort

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

Could I ask if you found a designer for the polled VGU now

Im going to be announcing the DNA for the poll winner with the blog and letting each of them say a little about it

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by Spideraxe30

Ah sweet that'll be cool, could I also ask if Skekses, Reinboom and WAAAARGHbobo are working on anything since their VGU got iceboxed

None of them are on Champions Team anymore, they are on other teams at Riot now.

almost 5 years ago - /u/Reav3 - Direct link

Originally posted by IMainStashusAssassin

Hey what can I say, i'm REALLY stoked on this champion. Tbh I never thought we'd get a new ad mid assassin.

yeah, I'm definitely interested in making more AD Assassins, it is a very underrepresented class for how popular it is

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