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First off, I hope I’m understanding this correctly. Let me give an example of how I presume the Dragon Slayer buff will work if I kill three dragons in this order: Infernal (AD and AP increased by 4/8/12%), Mountain (AR and MR increased by 6+3%/12+6%/18+9%), and then Ocean (Regen 3/6/9% health every 5 seconds)…
First we kill an infernal: AD and AP increased by 4% (the map also changes to an Elemental Mountain Rift)
Second we kill a Mountain Dragon: We gain the dragon slayer buff so now we have two dragons which means AD and AP increased by 8% from the infernal dragon AND AR and MR increased by 12+6% (instead of 6+3% because we have Dragon Slayer)
Third we kill an Ocean Dragon: Which means we have three dragons and therefore we gain AD and AP increased by 12%, AR and MR increased by 18+9%, AND regen 9% of missing health every 5 seconds
Is this correct? The two things I want to make sure I’m understanding correctly is how the Dragon Slayer buff works and whether it’s possible we will see all three elemental dragons in one match. I know that previously in the Elemental Test Mode where the map changed after the first dragon that was not possible. Instead, we’d see the second elemental dragon numerous times. In that case, in my example if we killed three dragons it would be: Infernal, Mountain, and then another Mountain…
First we kill an infernal: AD and AP increased by 4% (the map also changes to an Elemental Mountain Rift)
Second we kill a Mountain Dragon: We gain the dragon slayer buff so now we have two dragons which means AD and AP increased by 8% from the infernal dragon AND AR and MR increased by 12+6% (instead of 6+3% because we have slayer)
Third we kill another Mountain Dragon: Which means we have three dragons and therefore we gain AD and AP increased by 12% and AR and MR increased by 18+9%
Is my first example, second example, or neither correct?
Alright, well no matter the case, unfortunately there’s a few things I’m disappointed to read. With the way things have been turning out (elemental map changes after the 1st dragon, Elder dragon spawn at 19 minutes, self destructing towers at the 22 minute mark, etc) it seems the devs of Wild Rift are pushing for fast pace games with a short game length. Being someone that enjoys longer, less stressful games with room to breath and strategize, it seems I will not be the player base Wild Rift is catering too. Instead, I’m concerned the player base that is being catered to are those who treat Wild Rift as though it were Mortal Kombat (picking every fight they can find) instead of a MOBA (where towers, objectives, and farm win the game). I’m also concerned scaling champions will be in an even worse position than they once were because given all the news that has been slowly coming forth, early game, snowballing champions will continue to dominate the Rift. It’s now making a lot more sense as to why every champion in the game is about to get their ult cooldowns reduced, otherwise we’d all only be able to press R a small handful of times before the game closes out. I would not be surprised if scaling champions, runes, and items are about to be in worse shape than ever before and in need of some serious buffs shortly after Patch 3.3 drops. Also, press f in the comments for Dragon Soul and the Cloud Drake.
However, on a more positive and optimistic note, I expect the Elemental Map to look even better than it already did (which was incredible already), and the changes to the dragon buffs seem very promising. Although I’ll miss getting the dragon soul, it did feel a bit too overpowered and was probably a nightmare to balance making the Elder Dragon somewhat redundant. The Dragon Slayer mechanic feels promising because it seems to allow for the possibility to both build upon smaller victories and/or comeback from behind. One victory will not determine the outcome of the entire match. Being a support main, I’m very pleased the changes to the dragon buffs seem to have not left us behind, in particular the Ocean Dragon buff with it’s health regen will now feel a lot more applicable to enchanters and tank supports who deal comparatively little damage making vampirism much less helpful.
Considering there are things that I love about the new Elemental Rift and things that I don’t, that’s probably a good sign many different perspectives and opinions are being considered. I look forward to these exciting new changes and commend the devs for all their hard work. GLHF!