[2021] Will Aurelion Sol ever get buffed?

Ya, the trickiest part is that his theme (space dragon!!!!!!) is very attractive, but mechanically he isn't the most appealing champion to most players.

For Asol players he brings something interesting/unique that isn't overwise offered. This can be a big plus, but it makes any sort of rework tricky when the primary goal of the rework would need to be to broaden his mechanical appeal.

It really depends on how you want to define viable here. In terms of power he is (and has always been) one of the strongest champions.

This goes a bit deeper into skill curves, but he has a high skill floor (and his skill tests are not highly mechanical, that is easier to read/appreciate, but are very strategic). On top of that he is very different than other champions so his skill tests (mechanical, tactical, and strategic) don't transfer to other champions very well, and familiarity with other champions don't transfer over well to him.

This is to say that for hardcore Asol players his winrate is likely MUCH higher than we are seeing, and his currently high winrate is likely lowered by new Asol players giving him a try. To be clear, I haven't looked into his one trick winrate or anything to verify this, but I suspect this to be true given what we have seen, and we saw something similar happen on PC at one point.

So when thinking about how do we make him viable, I'm terms of power, he is. But in terms of being viable as a broadly appealing champion I think he would need to shift from a highly strategic champion to one with more clear mechanical/tactical appealing gameplay patterns.

He has a fantasy that many people enjoy and if you were brand new to the game playing as the space dragon sounds like a fun thing you might latch onto. But many players, understandable so, tend get more enjoyment out if less strategic, more tactical mechanically intense champions. So there is an argument to push him more in that direction, but that risks losing what current Asol players enjoy about the champion.

Edit: viable could also refer to viable as a new player friendly champion so it really comes down to the goals, are and what you are asking about as viable. Sorry that sounds hand wavey, or like I'm side stepping the question. Goals are really what shape design, and there is alot of extra complexity here.

The low playrate high winrate is an interesting case. I was actually talking with another designer, who has worked much closer with the PC team than I have, about this the other day.

It's one of those things that's tricky for me to explain in text, but here is my attempt.

Facts His fantasy (Space Dragon) is broadly appealing. He has a unique/unfamiliar play pattern with a high skill floor. Success with Asol comes more from large strategic plays (roaming/ganking/macro plays), than smaller tactical plays (1v1 lane combat, mechanical outplays, flashy highlight video type stuff) that is generally appealing.

This creates an interesting (and actually more common, than I expected) situation.

A player finds the idea of the champion appealing and tries them for a few games.

Because his gameplay is unfamiliar and his high skill floor, the player does poorly and likely loses each of these games.

They drop the champion and try someone else.

Because Asol has a low playrate this player makes up a larger than normal percent of Asol games (not substantial with one player, but remember Asol has a broadly appealing fantasy that players want to try).

(Number here is made up) Say 1/10 of players that try Asol stick with him and LOVE him, they love the fantasy, his unique gameplay is something they can't get enough of him, they win games.

Basically the broadly appealing nature of the champion, and high skill floor are likely lowering his winrate... and his winrate has always been high.

This is what PC has seen with the champion, we having dov into him at this level in Wild Rift, but I suspect this is true and his winrate for Asol players is likely VERY high. This is super anecdotal, and not something the team would take into account for balance changes, but when I see Asol players on here talk about there winrates with the champion it's often 60%+.

As for your second point about not getting a buff to help his playrate. Playrate is taken into account for balance changes, but a light buff isn't going to shift his playrate. In order to buff him to a point where his playrate is average he would need a crazy HIGH (likely 70%+) for Asol players.

Tldr This isn't an issue with his power level so power level focused buffs won't fix it. This is an issue with his gameplay-fantasy. And he would need adjustments in that area.

I wouldn't say that, the two games are different and we have champions with tweaked abilities. But he has this same problem in PC so if either team could find something appealing that worked to broaden his appeal, while still appealing to Asol players I suspect both games would want to move in that direction.

We aren't actively working on him right now, but he is a topic that comes up a lot. It's really a matter of finding what we can chance without changing him too much. Basically it's a narrow target that everyone has ideas about, but nothing that gets everyone saying "hell ya, that'll do it!".

No problem I love these kinds of topics and he is a very interesting champion. He has a lot of things going on that make him a tough champion design problem. Like you said cosmic dragon is appealing and we do wish that he was appealing on the mechanical/gameplay side to match it.

Though he is far from under-powered, he unquestionably strong, and I suspect even strong than we think.

He was more popular, still not very popular, when he was even more crazy OP. That was when the game was brand spanking new and he was sitting at around a 60% winrate across the board (higher than any champion has ever had in the game). That winrate would likely grow as players became more familiar with him, and for hardcore Asol players his winrate must have been through the roof.

Players weren't playing him because of the fantasy, it was basically a free win to pick him they were being bribed with his power. Like I have said plenty of times he is still one of the strongest champions, and likely the strongest in the right hands. Yet he is unpopular.

You are right that the average player prefers micro over macro plays. Macros plays are harder to appreciate, and feel, and that is what Asol is all about. A buff to his power level doesn't change that.

It's not much of a placebo if it actually help his winrate vs certain champions. But as the the idea itself, players are smart there isn't a buff that we could do that would make the average player FEEL he is strong that wouldn't also make him crazy OP. And something small wouldn't make average players better at him without boosting the power of an already powerful champion.

Even if there was a placebo buff we could do the issue isn't his power level. It's a combination of things that basically boils down to him having a high skill floor, with low satisfaction for most players, and an unclear way to judge success/express power.

Seems unlikely the balance team would do that, Asol has always been strong, he might just not be the champion for you, if your interested in playing him I suggest checking out some guides and roaming with him more.

As for Rengar, he has been on the stronger end for a bit and is always a frustrating champion when he gets ahead. If your struggling with him too then it maybe don't dive in 1v4?