Panda Annie: A Skin Review

With the Chinese New Year fast approaching, we've all known that a set of brand-spanking new holiday skins were on the cards; the five new skins were released today and included Warring Kingdoms Xin Zhao, Warring Kingdoms Jarvan, Jade Fang Cassiopeia, Dragon Wing Corki and finally (my favourite) Panda Annie.

If I could afford to buy all of these skins, I probably would, but as it stands I cannot. Since I don't really play bruisers too often I was stuck between Jade Fang Cass' and Panda Annie. In the end I chose the Annie skin.
Therefore, this blog will be a review of the Panda Annie skin.

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Images:

Panda Annie Splash Art

 Annie with Tibbers

Annie's W:

Annie's E

 Recall Animation

My first impressions from the Splash-Art:
I was grabbed immediately by the artwork for this skin and I knew it was something I would purchase at some point in my League future as soon as I saw it. Riot once again went with the high finish we've become accustomed to for the art and the finished product shows Annie in motion with some background detail giving the impression of a battle scene. I love this addition and the encorporation of fireworks onto Tibbers' back; it really makes them feel like a weapon and sets the scene. The art is fiery, eye catching and really impressive to me. Annie looks like a totally adorable and bad ass. I love the finish, the style, the colour palette... everything. All the elements work incredibly well, the only reservation I have is Annie's face, particularly around the eye area. It looks slightly too mature and adult, especially with the thick, long lashes and it isn't quite as perfect as the rest of the skin. This doesn't really bother me, though and the many positive aspects to the art more than make up for it in my opinion.

In-game appearance:
As for the skin in-game, it was very true to the splash art and equally adorable to boot. The only difference is that her hair appears very blue in-game, but I like this change. It's clear that the light produced from the fire in the art-work somewhat muted the shade, but it's great that it's translated to the in-game environment so well - the colour even matches her little trousers! Her dance animation and voice over hasn't been altered for the skin, but there have been changes to the spell animations, the appearance of Tibbers and recall animation.

Spells:
Firstly, all fire produced from Annie in this skin features curling tendrils of flame, which is characteristic of the stereotypical Chinese fire depicted in drawings. Her W spell is particularly impressive and ornate for the graphics and really quite lovely (but also deadly and all-consuming, which I love).  I couldn't catch a shot of her Q, but when cast Annie hurls a large fireball at her enemy. Even her E is more elaborate and decorative and I love the thought and finish that has gone into this skin, even down to the knap-sack of fireworks on Tibbers' back. All together, this skin is rather explosive when played in-game.

Recall Animation: 
This is what I love the most about this skin. In her recall animation, Annie enlarges her (Panda) teddy bear to the size seen in the last image on this blog and promptly begins to cuddle it until she reaches base. Here it disappears and she falls to the ground, bumping her small behind before standing. It's beyond adorable and a wonderful finishing touch for this skin. Quite frankly it makes me want to take her home and give her cookies and milk.

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Overall, I adore this skin. It's a perfect addition to her collection and very in-keeping with her visual overhaul. There has clearly been a high attention to detail paid in the construction and concept of this skin and it's maybe my favourite Annie skin to date. I was looking forward to this addition to my collection, but was worried that the actual skin may not live up to the hopes I'd developed after the release of the splash art. However, Riot certainly didn't disappoint me and I couldn't be happier with the final product.

This was definitely 975RP well spent!

Thank you for reading,
Garnet. 

New skins on the horizon for Jayce and Blitzcrank

This blog entry is further to an original report made by LoLking.net. The full, original article can be viewed here:  http://www.lolking.net/news/new-skins-jayce-blitzcrank.  

With several annual holidays just around the corner, it's an exciting time the League of Legends store and I can feel my wallet saying it's mournful goodbyes to the few notes I have in there at the prospect.

It's no surprise that a new Valentines skin was on the horizon for 2013 since the release of Heartseeker Vayne in 2012, the question was to whom that skin would belong. Well, according to the successful League website LoLking.net, two more skins have been added to their model viewer. In their most recent article they published images of the in-game appearance of the new skins that would be coming out for Jayce and Blitzcrank and can be viewed below.

The images above are full property of LoLking.net. 

Judging from the images and the fact they feature Jayce wearing a white tux complete with romantic, red rose accessory, it's reasonable to speculate that this will be the Saint Valentines Day skin for 2013. I have to say Jayce looks rather charming in his new attire and I definitely can't wait for the splash art. I wonder if they'll go down the cool, sleek, James Bond route or be more Austin Powers cheesy with it.

As for Blitzcrank, I have no idea as to what the name of this skin will be, but it is very I-Robot or Tron-esq feel (or even Eve from Wall-E?). The silver casing with blue core and embellishment are definitely continuing the high-tech direction we've seen in some of the recent Steel Legion skins, so we'll see if this is going to be an extension of the franchise or not at a later date.

As soon as splash art is released for these skins I will produce an article discussing them, but this is all we have to go on for now so stay tuned for more information!

Thank you for reading,
Garnet. 

Thanks to my friend, fellow leaguer and VH'er Axeldin for passing on this article to me. 
All images (c) LoLking.net. 

The Steel Legion franchise: A skin review

With the start of season 3 comes a whole new "spark" to the League of Legends and what better way to start it than with a twin set of brand-new skins for two of our favourite Demacians?

It was high time for Garen to get a skin with decent artwork (if any champion needs an artwork upgrade, it's Garen) and it's been a while since Lux got a new skin. Therefore the release of this pair is exciting indeed and signals the start of a new wave of skins scheduled to be arriving this Spring.

In this blog, I will review the splash art for both skins but, in lieu of poor personal funds, will only review the in-game performance of Steel Legion Lux, as I usually don't play top-lane bruisers. Below is the splash art for both skins.

Steel Legion Garen

Steel Legion Lux

Reviews

Steel Legion Garen Splash Art
The first adjective I could assign to this artwork was "old school". This art is much more matte in finish than some of the new splash art we've been seeing from Riot, much like the Aether Wing Kayle skin. However I like the realistic, gritty feel the art brings to these champions. Garen's art especially depicts an image or toughness; he's definitely a warrior ready for battle on the fields of justice. The calmed, determined nature of Lux's expression also reflects the champion's personality in a slightly different fashion; the notoriously chipper and determined Lux seems to have gotten slightly more serious air. Riot seems to have used these two skins to paint a strong picture of "harder times" and this is, in my opinion,perfect marketing and artistic tools.

Personally I don't know how Garen players feel about his new sword, it seems slightly more awkward to wield than his usual weapon and the lightning produced from it seems uncharacteristic for Garen who is an AD Caster. It does seem that Riot are going down the lines of building a technologically advanced future; notice that Garen's armour is the same colour as Aether Wing Kayle? She has brand new wings, he has a brand new sword. When looked at in that way, the choice of weapon in Steel Legion Garen begins to make more sense. The only thing I don't like about Garen's artwork is that, frankly, he looks rather obese. I know Garen is typically broad of shoulder and thick set, but his abdomen seems to have swelled exponentially in this skin and is rather awkward looking in my opinion.

Steel Legion Lux Splash Art:

As for Steel Legion Lux, having played her in-game I have to say that her in-game animation and appearance does rather outshine the artwork, which by no means grabbed me at first glance. I expected her face to carry some cleaner lines, but I do feel that this fits the overall feel of the artwork. "Old school" is definitely my adjective of choice here. Personally I would have preferred a more cutting-edge finish to the art, but I do also appreciate the grittiness of it. Similarly I would have liked the yellow tips and finishes to her weapon and armour to have been silver, like Garen's, rather than yellow. Right now her staff feels like a traffic baton or the light you see on a snow truck. Aside from this, though, I really like the new take on the weapon; it feels much more useful rather than decorative and pretty now, which is definitely appropriate for the tough image emphasized in the franchise.

Steel Legion Lux In-Game performance:
Personally, the in-game experience of this skin is what makes it. Despite the fact that, like in the Commando skin, Steel Legion Lux feels slightly chunky when played, the in-game play of this skin is really great. I have included some screenshots of the in-game of this skin take on Treeline in a bot game for ease of capture.

Q - Light Binding

W - Prismatic Barrier

E - Lucent Singularity

R - Final Spark

Each spell now comes with a new sound effect, staff animation and sometimes a graphical change to it's after effect. Her E now features a golden centre, but the her Q remains the same after casting. In the case of the latter spell, however, the cast animation is much improved. It's highly futuristic and really quite nice, featuring crackling electricity around the end of her staff. Similarly the appearance of the staff when using W also features this new effect and that is really nice to see from Riot. Furthermore her R now feels all the more devastating and beautiful as a result of the changes. Generally, I simply really love the in-game action of this skin with all it's additions and intricacy. The sounds and effects are futuristic and machine-like, which is completely fitting the picture painted by the splash art.

The addition of sounds and animation changes make you feel like you're getting something akin to a legendary without the obscene price-tag. Admittedly this skin is nowhere near the lines of Pulse Fire Ezreal and I don't mean to compare the two, but the full, altered Lux-package you get when purchasing this skin really does make it great value for money in my opinion. If only the splash art was as fantastic as the in-game, this skin would be amazing. As it stands I don't have any major issues with the splash art, it's just not as eye catching and wowing as I'd hoped it would be. I still feel, though, that this skin is definitely worth the money and I have a feeling there won't be many disappointed Lux players on the field of justice this week... unless they die just before they can get their ult off, of course.

Thank you for reading!
Garnet

The Season 3 Patch: What I expect

The servers are down, the patch notes are up; this can only mean one thing... It's time for Season 3!

With the publication of the 3.01 patch notes it's clear that some of the power issues encountered during the pre-season changes are finally being addressed.

Full, official patch notes by Riot can be found by clicking here.

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Annie visual upgrade discussion

Classic Annie: New Splash Artwork

On an aesthetic level, the patch has gifted us with the Annie visual upgrade. This artwork revamp of the classic champion is further evidence of the artistic direction riot is pursuing. This upgrade, along with those added for Nidalee, Vladimir, Soraka, Lux, Tryndamere and Leblanc, show a move towards a more advanced, futuristic style used to give impressions of the champion in motion. In short, the new style is more exciting and stimulating for the imagination and I don't know about anyone else, but it encourages me to play these champions more. 

In addition to her classic skin, Annie received visual in-game upgrades on her Prom Queen, Frostfire and Gothic skins. Since they updated the in-game appearance (opting to forgo any splash art upgrades) of the Nidalee French Maid and Pharo skins it's reasonable to assume that the same treatment will be given to Annie. If Riot do this, it would probably be to encourage sales of the new Panda Annie skin that's coming out soon as part of the Chinese New Year line. If all of Annie's skins get a splash art upgrade they feel "brand new" and, since these older skins would be cheaper than the new ones, summoners may opt for the older skins instead. In any case, if riot have released new splash artwork for the other Annie skins I have been unable to find it. For now, though, these are only my suspicions and when the skin is released I will be giving a full review of it.  

Edit: My suspicions were correct - the splash art for the other Annie skins have not been upgraded at this time. 

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Discussion of champion and game play changes

This section of the post will be more general, with some focus placed on certain champions, items and features

Champions:
It seems from the changes made in this patch, especially those concerning Ezreal, Katarina, Olaf and Shaco, that Riot are trying to undo the upsurge of power seen on some champions and roles in order to return it to those that suffered. 

With the strength of AD items that came forward in Pre-season (most notably that of the Black Cleaver), some champions fell into a state of disuse. Kennen, for example, is known for his viability in both the middle and the top lanes due to his extensive sustain and utility gained after the purchase of a Hextech Revolver. With the pre-season changes he became much less viable in lane against many classic top-laners and the AD casters that in-fluxed to the mid lane. He had a hard time winning trades against a good Riven, Pantheon or Kha'Zix with all their reliable CC, burst damage and gap closers, but the removal of energy cost for his Ultimate means he can use it and still have enough energy to get out of the fight. He can both initiate and disengage and it will definitely help him regain his place amongst viable A.O.E team compositions. 

Olaf's low cool downs meant that barely anyone could go toe-to-toe with him in lane, especially with the reduced price on AD items from pre-season. He merely needed to build a black cleaver for damage and stack health after that, but now there will be longer periods where a wily player might engage upon him and gain the advantage in 1v1's. Whether these changes will make a huge difference to Olaf's bullying presence in lane remains to be seen. 

It also looks like Riot are aiming to increase the viability of some neglected AD Carries and reduce the dominating presence of others. Ezreal is probably the safest ADC in the game right now, but by reducing his base movement speed to 325 from 330 the annoyingly efficient escape power of his Arcane shift may be reduced. The degree of this, however, may be minimal as it puts him at the same base movement speed as Tristana and many other ADC's with inbuilt escapes. The difference between them and Ezreal is that his Arcane Shift has range of 900, a low cooldown of 9 seconds and a mana cost of 50/60/70/80/90 per rank. Compare that to Tristana's Rocket jump, which has the same range, but a flat cost of 80 mana and a 22/20/18/16/14 second cool down per rank and this puts her level of early game lane safety distinctly beneath Ezreal's. Even Corki who is considered in the top three ADC's in the game for safety (along with Graves and Ez) has a range of 800 on his Valkyrie with a cost of 100 mana and 26 second cooldown at rank 1. In summary, then, nerfing Ezreal's base movement speed by 5 will hardly decrease his safety compared with other AD carries and the nerf on his other spells is minimal in my opinion. 

Still on the subject of AD Carries, Tristana received a 30 mana reduction cost to her Rapid shot and a damage increase to Explosive shot at later ranks in this patch, which will undoubtedly increase her burst damage and scaling into late game. Tryndamere also received an attack speed buff in conjunction to an increase in the leniency of his fury decay by 3 seconds. These changes will hopefully increase his validity in not only the top lane, but also in the jungle where they will improve the safety and efficiency of his ganks. I have to say that it's nice to see some neglected ADC's getting some love from Riot, even if Tryndamere annoys the heck out of me (insert "Y U NO DIE UNDER TOWER" meme).  

Interestingly Riot finally responded to the cries of frustration heard on Summoners rift and Master Yi got a nerf to his AP build. The AP ratio was reduced by half from 4.0 to 2.0, but the overall health regained from the spell was increased, which will encourage a return of Master Yi to his primary AD Carry role, however I'm personally not sure how viable this will make him in the current game play. The nerf to his AP ratio on his meditate will surely show a decrease in AP Yi players, but without the same treatment being given to his Q, his efficiency in the AD role is still questionable. As a mana champion with a low mana pool there's only so much sustain meditate can bring to lane and, without the decent poke provided by the Q on AP Yi, his game play still seems risky to me. This lack of change will also affect the speed of his camp clear in jungle as AD Yi, too, at least in the early-game stages. In any case, it will definitely be interesting to see how these changes pan out over the coming weeks. 

Other nerfs can be seen on Shaco and Cho'gath. In the case of the latter, his silence has seen a reduction in effect time at later ranks, whilst the range on Shaco's ultimate and the duration of his slow have been nerfed. These changes will certainly effect the safety of jungle ganks for both champions, but less so in the case of Cho'gath. His prey is more likely to get away with a shorter silence duration, especially if the summoner misses a vital Rupture. The reduced silence will also likely effect it's devasation in team fights where it's previously been a very strong asset and tide-turner. The reduction of effectiveness during jungle-ganks will apply much more strongly to those slowed by Shaco comparatively.  Furthermore, if the clown misjudges a gank, the reduction on his Decieve (and therefore his escape range) is also reduced and, if facing a mobile foe, he is less likely to get away from a poor gank.

Items:
The shop has seen many changes over the last few patches and this update is no exception. In it we see the reduction on the combination cost of Trinity Force, an adjustment that will definitely be in the favour of late-game carry players such as Irelia. Furthermore the reduction of the health granted by the Black Cleaver combined with the decrease of it's armour reduction statistic will definitely reduce its dominance in game play and will help hopefully AP Mid's cope with the devastating power it brings to the lane with the influx of AD casters witnessed in the past weeks. As an AP mid laner I've found it hard to lane against AD Casters such as Pantheon and Kha'zix with the current shop due to the squishy nature of the champions I play and the gap closers on my opponents. Previously it's been an unproductive option to start with Cloth Armour and five Health Potions, but now cloth armour builds into a new AP item named "Seekers Armguard" which grants armour and AP and has been incorporated into the recipe for the classic AP item "Zhonyas Hourglass" along with several other AP mid staples. I know I can't wait to assess the effectiveness of these changes once my client updates.

Other changes include the reduction in cost and increase in adaptability for the Fiendish Codex. This item now builds into Banner of Command amongst others, but doesn't grant mana regen, therefore it's more universal, catering for even manaless AP champions such as Mordekaiser and Katarina.  This change will allow AP mids to now build two armour-AP items, which will definitely increase durability when combined with health items such as Liandry's torment and Rylais crystal sceptre. This will hopefully bring about the previously seen dominance of AP carries in the mid lane, since they were becoming much less and less viable.

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That's all for now, but I hope to post another blog soon either reviewing the Panda Annie skin or the effect of the 3.01 patch changes, whichever comes first! Also, I have posted a link to the official patch notes video below.

Thank you for reading!
Garnet. 

Patch 3.01 Video: