Among the Riot Games employees, the most active on social media is probably the Lead Champion Designer of League of Legends – Riot August. He not only shares about his personal life and livestreams but is also willing to perform some extremely special cosplay. Most recently, Riot August transformed into the main character of the famous series One Punch Man and confirmed that Viego is the balancing target he is aiming for.
True to his word, Riot August later announced the nerf that Viego will face in the upcoming patch 11.17. Here are the specifics:
Riot August: “Below are the adjustments to reduce Viego’s power that we are testing for the upcoming patch. The goals I am aiming for are:
1. Reducing power from the ultimate’s cooldown refresh, especially when this champion is under-equipped or building tank items.
2. Nerfing the flexibility of Viego’s basic attacks by reducing attack range and the detection distance of his Camouflage.
3. Shifting this champion’s build direction towards critical strike items.
Basic Stats
Attack range reduced from 225 to 200.
Passive – Sovereign’s Domination
Health restored when claiming an enemy’s corpse reduced from 8% + (0.025 AD bonus) + (0.015 AP bonus) + (2.5 Attack Speed) to 3% + (0.03 AD bonus) + (0.02 AP bonus) + (5 Attack Speed) of max health of the target.
Q – Blade of the Ruined King
The damage of this skill will interact with 100% of the critical strike chance instead of 75% as before.
E – Black Mist
Camouflage detection range increased from 400 to 450.
R – Heartbreaker
Slow ability reduced from 50% to 25%.
One of the most frustrating aspects of Viego right now is his unpredictability in team fights. The ability to possess the body of a recently slain enemy champion and refresh his ultimate while healing too much makes Viego’s snowball potential in fights incredibly strong. Riot’s heavy nerf to his healing from his passive (from 8% to 3% of the target’s max health) will make Viego easier to take down in fights, and that snowball potential is no longer as terrifying.
Furthermore, the increase in the detection range of Camouflage in patch 11.17 will also reduce the element of surprise in Viego’s ganks as a jungler. Steering Viego towards building critical strike items is also a smart move by Riot Games. Essentially, critical strike items in season 11 provide a lot of AD but have very low defensive stats. If Viego builds these items, the Ruined King will be easier to take down rather than becoming too resilient with fighter items as he currently does.
Hopefully, the adjustments mentioned by Riot August will help Viego become more balanced in the upcoming patch 11.17.