League of Legends - Skarner Release Patch Notes 8/9/2011

New Skins in the Store

• Sandscourge Skarner
• Earthrune Skarner
• Bloodstone Taric

PVP.net Store

• Added a Purchases tab that contains a history of all your purchases

PVP.net v1.41.17

• Players will now receive a popup message when they attempt to join a game lobby that is already full
• Fixed a bug where Summoner icons were displaying incorrectly in chat rooms
• Fixed a bug where All Random Mode in Custom Games was not correctly selecting your previously used skin for a Champion

League of Legends v1.0.0.123
Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard

• Crystal Slash: Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for several seconds if a unit is struck. If he casts Crystal Slash again while empowered by Crystal Energy, he deals bonus Magic Damage and slows all targets hit.
• Crystalline Exoskeleton: Skarner gains a shield and while the shield persists his movement speed and attack speed are both increased.
• Fracture: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals damage to enemies struck and marks them. Any further damage dealt to marked targets by Skarner will allow him to consume the mark to heal himself.
• Impale (Ultimate): Skarner suppresses an enemy champion and deals magic damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner's target will be dealt additional damage.
• Energize (Passive): Basic attacks lower the cooldowns of Skarner's abilities by 1 second against champions and 0.5 seconds against non-champions.

Akali

• The cooldown before Akali's next Shadow Dance charge and her current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Amumu

• Amumu will now attempt to attack the target after successfully pulling himself to an enemy champion with Bandage Toss

Ashe

• Fixed a bug where Frost Arrow would consume mana if Ashe canceled her auto-attack early

Blitzcrank

• Mana Barrier
  • Fixed a bug where Mana Barrier could be bypassed if the damage taken would instantly kill him
  • Fixed a bug where Mana Barrier would activate when the cooldown expired even if not taking damage
• Fixed a bug where Power Fist failed to grant lifesteal effects

Brand

• Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm would fizzle if Brand died

Caitlyn

• Fixed a bug where planting a Yordle Snap Trap after a trap was recently triggered caused a previous trap to be consumed (as if you placed too many)

Cho'Gath

• Fixed a bug where Cho'Gath could gain a Feast stack when the target did not die

Corki

• The cooldown before Corki's next Missile Barrage charge and his current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Evelynn

• Fixed a bug where Malice and Spite was healing for incorrect values
• Fixed a bug where Malice and Spite's cooldown would be reset upon killing enemy clones

FiddleSticks

• Basic attack projectile speed increased to 1750 from 1500
• Dark Wind
  • Damage reduced to 65/85/105/125/145 from 65/90/115/140/165
  • Fixed a bug where Dark Wind would fizzle when Fiddlesticks died
  • Fixed a bug where Dark Wind was bouncing 4 times instead of 5
• Drain ability power ratio reduced to .45 from .5
• Terrify cooldown increased to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

Gangplank

• Grog Soaked Blade max stacks has been reduced to 3 from 4
• Cannon Barrage
  • Fixed a bug where Cannon Barrage would not grant gold on minion kills
  • Fixed a bug where Cannon Barrage's slow was not always applying consistently

Garen

• Decisive Strike movement speed duration increased to 4 seconds from 3 seconds
• Judgment cooldown reduced to 13/12/11/10/9 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
• Courage maximum armor and magic resistance now 25 at all ranks from 5/10/15/20/25

Heimerdinger

• H28G Evolution Turret
  • Heimerdinger will now place Frost Turrets if he places a turret while UPGRADE!!! is active
  • Fixed a bug where turrets could be moved by Crystallize, Pillar of Filth, and Cataclysm

Irelia

• Irelia will now attempt to attack the target after dashing to an enemy champion with Bladesurge

Jarvan IV

• Cataclysm
  • Jarvan will no longer follow the target while he is in the air during Cataclysm
  • Cataclysm will now create the ring of terrain regardless of whether the enemy can be targeted or not
  • Cataclysm will now be slightly more likely to push targets that the ring lands on into the center rather than out
  • Fixed a bug where Cataclysm could be interrupted by movement displacing abilities such as Crystallize or Pillar of Filth
• Fixed a bug where Dragon Strike reduced the target's base armor rather than total armor

Jax

• Jax will now attempt to attack after Leap Striking if the target is an enemy champion
• Fixed a bug where Jax's attacks could not be dodged

Karma

• The cooldown before Karma's next Mantra charge and her current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Katarina

• Katarina will now attempt to attack the target after teleporting to an enemy champion with Shunpo

Kayle

• Holy Fervor
  • Armor and magic resistance shred increased to 3% from 2%
  • Fixed a bug where Holy Fervor was shredding the target's base armor and magic resistance rather than total armor and magic resistance

Kennen

• Thundering Shuriken ability power ratio increased to .75 from .66
• Lightning Rush
  • Energy cost adjusted to 100/95/90/85/80 from 100 at all levels
  • Ability power ratio increased to .6 from .55

Kog'Maw

• Updated Living Artillery's reveal particle effect

Lee Sin

• Lee Sin will now attempt to attack the target after dashing to a champion with Resonating Strike

Leona

• Shield of Daybreak cooldown reduced to 11/10/9/8/7 seconds from 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
• Zenith Blade
  • Mana cost reduce to 60 at all ranks from 60/65/70/75/80
  • Particle adjusted to more accurately reflect the area of effect (actual area of effect unchanged)
  • Leona will now attempt to attack the target if she uses Zenith Blade to jump to a target
• Solar Flare cooldown reduced to 90/75/60 seconds from 105/90/75 seconds
• Fixed a bug where Eclipse would break enemy spell shields on activation

Lux

• Updated Lux's autoattack to feel more responsive and increased its missile speed
• Light Binding cooldown reduced to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds

Malphite

• Brutal Strikes mana cost reduced to 50/55/60/65/70 from 55/60/65/70/75
• Ground Slam
  • Radius increased to 400 from 350
  • Mana cost reduced to 50/55/60/65/70 from 60/65/70/75/80
• Fixed a bug where Unstoppable Force sometimes failed to pass through Crystallize, Pillar of Filth, and Cataclysm

Maokai

• Maokai will now attempt to attack after using Twisted Advance if the target is a champion

Master Yi

• Alpha Strike
  • Master Yi can now use Wuju Style and Highlander while Alpha Strike is active
  • Master Yi will now attempt to attack the target after using Alpha Strike to teleport to a champion

Mordekaiser

• Fixed a bug where Mace of Spades was providing the diminished Spell Vamp effect even if used against a single target
• Fixed a bug where Children of the Grave would fail to clone targets if they were nontargetable when they died (Sanguine Pool, Alpha Strike, etc)
• Fixed a bug where Children of the Grave could clone a clone

Morgana

• Updated Morgana's autoattack to feel more responsive and increased its missile speed
• Base movement speed increased to 310 from 300
• Dark Binding cooldown reduced to 11 seconds from 12 seconds.
• Tormented Soil mana cost reduced to 70/85/100/115/130 from 70/90/110/130/150
• Soul Shackles
  • Stun duration adjusted to 1.5 at all ranks from 1/1.5/2
  • Cooldown reduced to 120/110/100 seconds from 120 seconds at all ranks
  • Shackle activation time reduced to 3 seconds from 4 seconds

Nasus

• Attack range increased to 125 from 110
• Soul Eater lifesteal increased at earlier levels to 14/17/20% from 10/15/20%
• Wither
  • Cooldown reduced to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 15 seconds at all ranks
  • Mana cost reduced to 80 from 100
  • Wither will now reach its max slow even if its duration is reduced (ie: by tenacity)
• Spirit Fire
  • No longer has a 0.5 second delay before taking effect
  • Now deals half of its damage initially and the other half over the duration -- initial 55/95/135/175/215 (+0.6 ability power) Magic Damage and 11/19/27/35/43 (+0.12 ability power) Magic Damage each second for the next 5 seconds
• Fixed a bug where Siphoning Strike sometimes gained extra lifesteal

Nidalee

• Bushwhack
  • Updated Bushwhack's reveal particle effect
  • Fixed a bug where Bushwhack was reducing the target's base armor and magic resistance rather than total armor and magic resistance

Nocturne

• Paranoia
  • Nocturne will now attempt to attack the target after using Paranoia
  • Paranoia no longer grants assists for limiting enemy vision

Pantheon

• Heartseeker Strike
  • Now does a better job of hitting targets on top of Pantheon
  • Damage increased to 13/23/33/43/53 from 4/6/8/10/12
  • Scaling adjusted to a .6 bonus Attack Damage ratio from a .2/.25/.3/.35/.4 total Attack Damage ratio
  • Now fires 3 strikes instead of 5
  • Cooldown reduced to 10/9/8/7/6 seconds from 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced to 45/50/55/60/65 from 70 at all ranks
  • Channel duration reduced to .75 seconds from 1.8 seconds
• Spear Shot
  • Damage increased to 65/105/145/185/225 from 16/28/40/52/64
  • Now scales off of a 1.4 bonus Attack Damage ratio from a 1/1.15/1.3/1.45/1.6 total Attack Damage ratio
  • Certain Death now causes Spear Shot to critically strike for 1.5x damage
• Aegis of Zeonia
  • Cooldown adjusted to 13/12/11/10/9 seconds from 12 seconds at all levels
  • Stun duration adjusted to 1 second from .7/.9/1.1/1.3/1.5
  • Pantheon will now attempt to attack the target after using Aegis of Zeonia
• Grand Skyfall
  • Jump channel time reduced to 2 seconds from 3 seconds
  • Land time reduced to 1.5 seconds from 2 seconds
  • Edge damage increased to 50% from 33%

Renekton

• Fixed a bug where Slice and Dice was only reducing the target's base armor rather than total armor

Rumble

• Fixed a bug where The Equalizer would fizzle if Rumble died

Shaco

• Jack-in-the-Boxes can no longer be disabled or pushed by effects like Crystallize

Sion

• Fixed a bug where Enrage would consume health if Sion canceled his auto-attack early

Teemo

• Noxious Traps will now 'level up' if Teemo ranks up his R slot while the traps are active

Trundle

• Fixed a bug where Rabid Bite was not blocked by Spell Shield, Shroud of Darkness, or Banshee's Veil

Tryndamere

• Bloodlust heal per 1 fury increased to .65/1.15/1.65/2.15/2.65 from .5/.95/1.4/1.85/2.3
• Spinning Slash
  • Base damage increased to 70/100/130/160/190 from 60/90/120/150/180
  • Bonus AD ratio increased to 1.2 from 1
  • Fixed a bug where Tryndamere was not gaining the proper Fury upon using Spinning Slash

Urgot

• Noxian Corrosive Charge will now update as the target gains or loses armor

Warwick

• Infinite Duress
  • Fixed a bug where Infinite Duress would sometimes tick only 4 times
  • Fixed a bug where Infinite Duress could sometimes break early even if not interrupted

Wukong

• Wukong will now attempt to attack a target champion after using Nimbus Strike
• Cyclone Attack Damage ratio increased to 1.2 from 1
• Wukong is now properly considered melee for items and spells that differentiate between melee and ranged characters.
• Fixed a bug where Crushing Blow was shredding the target's base armor rather than total armor

Yorick

• Omen of War attack damage ratio increased to 1.2 from 1

Items

• Quicksilver Sash is now unique
• Tears of the Goddess, Manamune and Archangel's Staff now display your unique bonus mana in their tooltips.

General

• Made adjustments to reduce the load time for games
• Made adjustments to how death and kill streaks work
  • Dying to non-champions no longer resets kill streaks or increases death streaks
  • Assists now reduce (not reset) death streaks
• Using Summoner Teleport on a ward will no longer reveal the ward through fog of war to enemies. Instead, it will destealth the ward to be seen if an enemy is near and reveal the teleport particle through fog of war to enemies
• Allied champions can no longer block targeting of an enemy champion if they are standing on top of one another
• Added a new in-game option for "Borderless Window Mode" that allows people to alt-tab more efficiently
• Attack-move improvements:
  • Attack-move targeting is now more predictable (now targets closest enemy)
  • Attack-move will now target visible wards
  • Changed attack-move cursor color to red from green
• Added new keybindings for "Self+Smart Cast" for abilities and Summoner spells. Casting with these binds will first try to Smart-Cast the ability; if there is no target or an invalid target under the cursor, it will attempt to Self-Cast the ability
• Fixed a bug where clones did not show items in their inventories
• Fixed a bug where certain particle effects would not show up if using the minimap for targeting
• Fixed minor tooltip errors on Kayle, Soraka, Nasus, Sona, and Renekton
• Fixed a bug where some Energy runes were giving less Energy than their tooltip stated
• Fixed a bug where several spells were triggering on-cast events more than once
• Fixed a bug in which players could get stuck in a "dead" state until they disconnected and then reconnected

Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard - A New Champion Approaches

Lore:
Centuries ago, there lived a race of creatures as ferocious as they were wise. The brackern were unusual beings blessed with the earth’s primal magic, embodied in the form of crystals. Their kind knew of an arcane ritual to bind their life’s essence to a crystal, communing with the magic embedded in it. With this power, the brackern thrived in the Odyn Valley, protecting both creatures and crystals alike. Despite attacks from those looking to claim the primal magic, it seemed that nothing could get past the brackern’s defenses. Nothing, that is, until the devastation of a Rune War.
A vicious battle was fought near the Odyn Valley and the unleashed chaotic magic poisoned the crystals. The brackern began to grow sick and die, and no amount of defensive magic could reverse the effects. To avoid extinction, their only course was to hibernate underground until the wars stopped. The strongest, most intelligent brackern hibernated closer to the surface to awaken first and assess the world’s condition for the return of their race. The recent mining operations and violent escalation in Kalamanda were enough to awaken the first of these vanguards. When Skarner burst to the surface, he lashed out in anger and confusion. Reason eventually won out over his anger when he realized that the agents of the League who found him were simply functionaries. Skarner was invited to the Institute of War to share the brackern’s story. In return, the summoners told him about the history that his kind had slept through. Much had been done to curb the unchecked use of magic since the Rune Wars, but it was obvious that the world was not yet safe for his kind to reawaken. For now, however, there is a place where Skarner can use his power to change the world into one to which his kind could eventually return: the League of Legends.
”The humans have not yet learned to control their magic – what once was Kalamanda is now a crystal scar on the history of this world.” – Skarner
Abilities:
Energize (Passive): Basic attacks lower the cooldowns of Skarner’s abilities by 1 second against champions and 0.5 seconds against non-champions.
Crystal Slash: Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for several seconds. If he casts Crystal Slash again while empowered by Crystal Energy, he deals bonus magic damage and slows all targets hit.
Crystalline Exoskeleton: Skarner gains a shield and while the shield persists his movement speed and attack speed are both increased.
Fracture: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals damage to enemies struck and marks them. Any further damage dealt to marked targets by Skarner will allow him to consume the mark to heal himself.
Impale (Ultimate): Skarner suppresses an enemy champion and deals magic damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner’s target will be dealt additional damage.

PS Vita Release Delayed - No More 2011 Holiday Portable

An interesting turn of events has happened; Sony is pushing back the release of their much hyped portable system, the PS Vita — the PSP’s worthy successor. It was first announced at E3 that the Vita would be coming to North America and Japan this holiday season at two price points: $249 for WiFi, and $299 for the 3G model. Has the recent, dramatic price cut by Nintendo to their 3DS system thrown a wrench into the Sony machine?
According to Sony’s big man in charge, Kaz Hirai is not calling this a delay but rather just a precaution to make sure that there is enough software to go in line with the portables launch. This would make absolute sense seeing as this was the issue with the much sought after 3DS — despite its wide appeal it couldn’t break on the scene like Nintendo intended without a killer line up of must have first-party games and third-party support.
“The PlayStation business is a key pillar,” the Kaz-man said. “The video-game industry is evolving constantly. My expectation is for the PlayStation business to remain at the forefront of this very dynamic industry.”
What’s this mean? Well, not a whole lot but that Sony doesn’t want their system to be another failed experiment that takes a whole year or more to finally see returns. But this does mean that Christmas sales will be non-existant and gamers and kids everywhere will have to tell their parents to hold off on getting their presents until the dang thing finally comes out — with no exact date specified.

As many of you know if you are an avid League of Legends follower, Riot Games has a big announcement to make this week regarding something new.  Well the day has finally come and the news it out everyone.  League of Legends is releasing a new map, no it's not Magma Chamber, but the new map seems interesting, since the new game mode is a fast paced PVP environment.  It is similar to capture points from FPS games, but this time translated to the MOBA scene.  The games according to Riot Games lasts approximately 20 minutes, which faster then most games on average on Summoner's Rift 5v5 match ups.  The objective in this new game mode is to essentially defense your nexus from the opposing team from channeling and depleting your nexus energy to 0.  Seems simple, straight forward enough, but how is the map set up and is there any kind of protection, only time will tell.  The new map and game mode will available for live preview at Gamescon and at PAX Prime for those that are able to attend those events in Europe and the US.

Wukong, the Monkey King Review

Wukong, the Monkey King is the newest champion to enter the ranks of League of Legends' finest warriors.  Wukong is Riot Games' rendition of the famously known Monkey King.  Wukong, is considered a bruiser/tanky DPS and can be somewhat of an assassin due to one of his abilities.  Wukong definitely meets the idea of the Monkey King being a devious person however as a speedy agile and combination skilled champion it does not.  It meets one side of Monkey King that everyone knows him for, which they do well with Wukong's ability Decoy or his W ability.  This ability allows him to create a copy of himself and go stealth for 1.5 seconds before the copy attacks and disappears.  This is a great ability to add an escape ability, but also provides the sense of being a trouble maker since he can hide and plot other attacks while his decoy keeps people occupied.  However, this ability only truly fools those at the lower ELO level in my opinion as a stationary target is kind of obvious that it is the clone and therefore will not be attacked. Wukong makes for a great early game with his poke harass combination of his E ability, Nimbus Strike allowing him to dash in and deal damage followed by his Q ability, Crushing Blow.  This is great in the lane for harassing, but sadly the damage seems to fall off late game.  His damage overall falls off as the game progresses and he is only really capable of taking down the opposing team's carry if allowed to reach them, which is rarely the case as Wukong is a slow melee champion with just boots and a lack luster ultimate that is great for CC.  However, aside from that the damage is lackluster as it can never reach close to its full damage even with armor penetration from players getting armor items.  This isn't a bad move really in Riot Games' part as a tanky DPS should not be able to do massive amounts of damage.  However, for a bruiser that is melee having lack luster survivability and mediocre damage makes him a fun champion to play with his abilities, but lacking any form of role on a team.

I believe that Wukong needs some minor buffs to help him compete with other bruisers as there are others out there that just are capable of doing more damage and closing the gap easier on opposing team carries.  That is not to say that Wukong currently is not flawed currently on the live version of the game as his Q ability is bugged along with other champions that have a percent armor and magic resist shred.  Currently these abilities only shred off the opposing champion's base armor and magic resistance instead of their total, which is quite a big flaw on Riot Games' part to release a champion who's core abilities revolve around lowering their opponent's armor in order to deal any kind of significant damage.

Wukong's ultimate is fun to use as it is Garen's, Judgement ability mixed in with a bit of Rammus', Powerball and Blitcrank's, Power Fist.  His ultimate is great for CC and early game damage but for an ultimate it deals lackluster damage due to armor and the fact it can easily be stopped from doing any damage at all.  His ultimate can easily be made useless by any form of CC that is a stun, snare, or slow.  For an ultimate that is a core part of his damage this is a little unacceptable as Garen's, Judgement has a remove slow and partial slow immunity tied into it and is only an ability.  Wukong's is similar but is an ultimate with no such thing to prevent him from not dealing any damage and practically being ignored for the rest of the team fight if his ultimate is stopped.  Wukong's movement speed and abilities have some synergy, but lack in one key feature to allow him to deal any damage without having to rely on items.  Wukong lacks no other CC aside from his ultimate to close the gap as a melee character.  Wukong's, Nimbus Strike provides a dash for a gap closer, but without any kind of slow, champions can easily escape him before he has any chance of auto attacking or even doing a E to Q combination unless the Q ability was pre-queued up similar to a Jax player would do with Empower and Leap Strike.  As a tanky DPS, his damage becomes sub par as he replaces much needed damage for survivability.  If built oppositely with damage, then he becomes easily killed with no survivability, while still dealing lack luster damage unless built with some form of burst like critical strikes RNG.

Despite Wukong's many flaws he is a fun champion to play, but still very hard to place on a team and feel satisfactory in any form of team fight when his ultimate can easily be stopped or deal mediocre damage.  As for fixes to Wukong, I will not say he needs much, but as of right now while his Q is bugged he could use some form of immunity with his ultimate or at least a possible chance to knock up champions twice during its duration.  Another would be to have some form of slow or daze stun effect on his Nimbus Strike so that he can actually catch up to and land melee auto attacks on the opposing champion so he is not just wasting his mana.  Overall, Wukong needs some form of utility to be useful on the team and useful in any 1 versus 1 fights as champions can usually get away freely if they have more movement speed then Wukong does.  Some minor movement speed buffs to his base movement speed similar to Pantheon's movement speed so as to catch people and get away a bit easier, which will be great for Decoy traps and team strategies.  This is my assessment of Wukong as of right now, but if and when the bug on his Q gets fixed by Riot Games, then Wukong may be a force to be reckoned with for damage similar to Ezreal who has no real form of CC until Trinity Force is bought in order to catch up to opponents.

Heroes of Newerth Goes Free to Play

Heroes of Newerth, a MOBA game very similar to DotA made by S2 Games has gone free to play.  The game originally cost $30USD or $10USD if it was on sale for the whole game.  However know their new model is similar to League of Legends that uses microtransactions and is totally free to play.  Those that originally bought the game will now be considered Legacy accounts and those free accounts that either purchase goblin coins their form of RP for those familiar with LoL or reach level 5.  Overall not bad, but the trip and the amount of matches to getting there should be interesting as it is unknown how long that will take.  I guess the MOBA seen is heating up with more and more competition arriving with each passing day/month/year.  So for those of you who play(ed) DotA or LoL and been wanting to check out HoN, now is a good time to do so.

Sony Revealed 3D Gaming TV

Sony's ever popular games console may be about to step up even further in desirability with the recently announced arrival of the PlayStation 3D TV. Sony announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo during June 2011 that they will bring the model to market alongside their existing range of 3D TVs in an attempt to take the 3D games market by storm. Sony are planning to use breakthrough technology which allows two players to see individual different game images on screen by simply pressing a button, revolutionising the existing split screen method, and opening up new potential in the ways that competitive games are played.
The out of the blue announcement firmly places 3D gaming as the one source of 3D content that has true potential to place 3D TV at the centre of our home technology needs. Watching images in 3D naturally increases the feeling of immersion, which of course is one of the key attractions of gaming in general - to take you out of this world and into another where you're in control and slap bang in the middle of the action. With video games attempting to deliver a true 3D experience unsuccessfully for many years, and the Nintendo 3DS not quite delivering everything it promised, it very much looks as if it Sony will ensure that their new PlayStation 3D TV takes the pole position in the race for the best new 3D entertainment of 2011.
Sony have stated that the PlayStation 3D TV screen size will be 24 inches and come as part of a bundle that will include various essential accessories such as active shutter 3D glasses, HDMI connector cables to hook up the PS3 to the TV, and a 3D game which first indications suggest will be Resistance 3. The glasses operate on a rechargeable lithium ion battery that according to Sony needs a 45 minute charge to give up to 30 hours playing time, plus just a few minutes charge is expected to provide a few full hours use. With a planned Autumn 2011 release date there is plenty of time for elements of this bundle to change, and it'll be no surprise to see either different or extra games included.
For anyone who's been following the progress of 3D TV technology over the last year or so, the 24 inch display size might be surprising. On first impressions it does seem on the small side given much of the focus on 3D TV has been on building and selling bigger screen models to increase the immersive feeling that's a major part of watching 3D images. But Sony are aiming this innovation at gamers who are used to smaller screens, they might be playing in bedrooms and other small spaces where standard larger 3D TVs are way too big.
At roughly £320 or around $500 the price might just about be set at the right level, though extra pairs of Sony glasses cost between around $50 - $70 as well. Early reports indicate that the picture quality delivered by the 1080p, 24 inch, edge LED lit display is strong, and other specifications of the model include a 5000 to 1 contract ratio, 2 HDMI inputs, and a 176 degree viewing angle for players. This wide viewing angle looks to be a critical element of the TV, allowing players to sit next to each other exactly as they do now to enjoy multiplayer games and yet still get the full 3D effect.
Other features include a headset port, two HDMI ports, one component port, and two speakers. All combined with an ultra thin display. But the ability for players to see different 3D images while playing the same game is of course the jewel in the crown. The technology uses what's known as quad speed frame sequential display technology, and in simple terms it works by combining the glasses with the TV to send the separate 3D images to the different players.
Most major manufacturers, and Sony in particular of course, believe that 3D games will drive the adoption of 3D TVs even higher, and this looks to be the first real effort from a major games manufacturer to try and prove that point. For an experienced gamer the PlayStation 3D TV could become one of the all time must have gaming gadgets. And for those of us who don't class themselves as hardened gamers, then this new development might be the fuel that sets us on the road. There are already over 100 PS3 3D games in circulation and if the PlayStation 3D TV is successful it will be no surprise to see that number increase substantially.
At the expected price of around $500 this option may just encourage anyone who's been sitting on the fence about buying a 3D TV to jump in with both feet. And the potential for the future is outstanding. Imagine when 3D games get to be paired with motion-sensing controls or head tracking technology, we could be facing whole new ways of gaming. Players could manipulate 3D environments with a wave of their hand. Game play and even player level creation could become far more intuitive than ever before. Should the PlayStation 3D TV be as successful as seems likely, it could open up the doorway to even more new and innovative gaming experiences.
It all sounds good, doesn't it? But there are some drawbacks. The major one is that the dual player mode will only work with 3D games that have been specially created to take advantage of it. Clearly that means that all existing games will be incompatible from this perspective, though of course you'll be able to play them as a single player in 3D. Sony will reportedly have around 100 fully compatible games released by the end of the year.
So we'll need to wait and see what further developments take place. But if the idea of the PlayStation 3D TV doesn't grab your imagination there's an alternative way to hook up your PlayStation to a 3D TV with the recently released Sony combination 3D TV/PC. Known as the Vaio All In One, the combo comes with a 24 inch, 1080p HD LCD monitor, plus a built-in Blu-Ray player. Connectivity to a PS3 is via an HDMI port. At a price of around $1400, the All-In-One could be a better option for anyone who wants to combine 3D gaming with their other online activities.

Battlefield 3 Classes Revealed

The new classes in Battlefield 3 merges the 7 classes that were available in Battlefield 2. The four classes in Battlefield 3 are going to be support, engineer, recon, and assault. In Battlefield 2 you had a medic class but it was hardly ever used, mainly because you didn't get any additional points for doing your task and the weapons were inadequate to defend yourself. The assault class is now the new medic, and it includes a new feature where you can remove your defibrillator and add a grenade launcher attachment instead. So now you are able to customize each class anyway you want. In previous FPS like Black Ops and Bad Company 2, when you see a player that needs to be resurrected, you can go up and revive the player whether they like it or not. In Battlefield 2 the player had a choice whether if they wanted to be revived or not, which gave them a chance to change class; this feature will be brought back in Battlefield 3. Also the defibrillator will have a longer wait time before you can revive someone again, in Bad Company 2 there were too many people being revived left and right which became really annoying.

The support class will have the ability to give out extra ammo to players who need it, and, like in previous Battlefield games, will have heavier guns like the PKM, which holds more ammo and packs more firepower than a regular assault rifle. They have also included a bipod on these weapons so that when you lay prone you'll have better accuracy when firing.

The engineer class will have the same features in Battlefield 3 like they did in Bad Company 2, anti-tank equipment, and the ability to repair vehicles. Recon will be the new sniper class, which will have team based features on it rather than having players selfishly snipe enemies from afar, but there isn't enough info on this class yet.

Battlefield 3 will include squad leaders like in Battlefield 2, and it will be a 4 man squad. Squad leaders will have the chance to create the squad and the ability to respawn someone at your location. So it is really important for the leader to stay alive and to have your team support you in order to advance through objectives.

Overall they are really making the classes team based so that you work together to accomplish objectives, instead of running around trying to get the most kills. We can expect more features to come as we get closer to the release date.

Leona, the Radiant Dawn Guide

It’s that time again folks.  Another champion released, which means another guide by yours truly, Enryuu.  Leona is Riot Game’s idea of a female tank and quite frankly she does it quite well and meets that role requirement perfectly.
Champion Spotlight:

Abilities/Passive:

	Sunlight Leona’s damaging spells affect the target with Sunlight for 3.5 seconds. When allied champions deal damage to those targets they consume the Sunlight debuff to deal additional magic damage. Bonus damage is 20/35/50/65/80/95/110/125/140 (upgrades every 2 levels).
	Shield of Daybreak Leona uses her shield to perform her next autoattack, dealing bonus magic damage and stunning the target.
	Eclipse Leona raises her shield to gain Armor and Magic Resistance. When the duration first ends, if there are nearby enemies she will deal magic damage to them and prolong the duration of the effect.
	Zenith Blade Leona projects a solar image of her sword, dealing magic damage to all enemies in a line. When the image fades, the last enemy champion struck will be briefly immobilized and Leona will dash to them.
	Solar Flare Leona calls down a beam of solar energy, dealing damage to enemies in an area. Enemies in the center of the area are stunned, while enemies on the outside are slowed.

Runes:

These are the runes that I run on Leona.  I use Armor Penetration Marks and Quintessences on Leona to help her deal out physical damage as you will essentially be building Leona as a tank with a hint of tanky DPS.  Leona’s abilities are lack luster for damage in general so having Armor Penetration over Magic Penetration allows Leona to auto squishies down within the duration of her crowd control.  For Seals I use flat Armor and for Glyphs I use flat Magic Resistance.  This allows Leona to be tanky early without her W ability at the early levels and even more tanky when you start putting points into Eclipse later on.
Masteries:

This is the mastery set up I run for Leona, which is a 0/21/9 build.  This mastery set up is a standard tank mastery set up.  I grab everything in the Defensive Tree that could help Leona survive in the lane and towards late game such as the 4% reduced damage talent Tenacity.  There is no point in grabbing points in Nimbleness or Dodge as you have no real runes for that and personally I don’t like the RNG of dodge chance.  I prefer the flat mitigation I get from armor over dodge chance.  In the Utility Tree I grab Greed just to help with gold production on top of your gold per ten items, but if you want you can put that point into Utility Mastery for increased buff duration.  Personally I feel this is worthless because Red or Blue buffs should be going on your carries and not you.  They are nice to have if you get them from a kill, but in most cases you will be the master of assists.
Summoner Spells:
Flash/Ignite
I run flash and ignite on Leona.  Flash is good for escaping as Leona is quite slow so a quick blink for a head start is a nice thing to have.  Also Flash is great for helping Leona initiate a fight.  Ignite is great for the early laning phase for picking up kills and in general nice to have for the healing debuff it provides.
Skill Order/Priority:
Skill Order 1-6:
E>Q>W>W>W>R
or
E>W>Q>W>W>R
Skill Priority:
R>W>E>Q
You definitely want to max out Eclipse or your W ability first, and then your initiation ability E for catching up to champions.  However in the lane leveling up Eclipse early or not is up to you as this depends on who you are fighting against.
Items:

Whether you are soloing top or laning in a duo lane bot, your starting item is the same.  Start off with a Regrowth Pendant and 1 Health Potion.  This will give you both lane sustainability and will allow you to build it into a Philosopher’s Stone on first recall for your gold income.  If possible you will grab both Philosopher’s Stone and Boots, but if not then Philosopher’s Stone definitely is a priority to start your gold per ten income.  After buying those you should farm some more and grab Heart of Gold so that you have more passive gold farm coming in.  Not to mention you get some extra health and regen with these two items.  Afterwards you want to go and rush Sheen and Phage, then turn that into Trinity Force.  Trinity Force is your main damage and burst, so as to make you a threat instead of someone that CCs and is then ignorable when spent.  Afterwards you want to grab a Chain Vest and Negatron Cloak and start turning those into Force of Nature and Frozen Heart.  Turn your Philosopher’s Stone into Shurelya’s Reverie and pick up Banshee’s Veil last for some more magic resist and health.  Shurelya’s Reverie is great for helping your team escape and pick up runaways when they are just too fast.  This item is great for utility and support as a tank, not only does it give health, but for Leona provides some much needed cooldown reduction.  This coupled with Frozen Heart will help her greatly as her abilities are all on fairly long cooldowns.  Some other items you could supplement in for health and to turn her into a tanky DPS are Frozen Mallet, Warmog’s Armor and Atmas Impaler.
Laning:
Leona in the lane is best in the solo top lane.  She can hold her own here fairly well and this allows her to farm freely and quickly get her items.  Leona can pretty much solo carries 1 v 1, but the only person I see her having trouble with is Akali 1 v 1.  The burst is just a bit too much even with Eclipse.  Leona can even handle 2 v 1 top lane if needed.  As for a duo lane, she is definitely capable, but she requires a lane partner that has some form of CC as well or heavy damage.  This will allow you to win your lane in duo bot as you can keep the enemies off your tower and maybe even pick up some kills for some much needed gold.  This will aid you as you will most likely be giving up most of the farm to your lanemate in the duo lane versus soloing top where all the money is yours.  Duo lane bot will slow your build down a bit and make you fairly squishy if things go wrong.
Whether you are soloing or in a duo lane the concepts are the same for Leona.  Always initiate with your E ability and make sure that you have your Eclipse charged so that upon a successful, Zenith Blade cast, you can use Shield of Daybreak afterwards and follow up with Eclipse’s detonation effect for more burst damage.  This combo is deadly early game to most squishy carry champions and even tanks if they are not careful.  Some combinations you want to try besides that is to just harass with E and W to whittle the opposing players’ health pool down.  This will not only let you win your lane by making them have to go back and play cautiously but may even net you a kill or assist.  When you are laning and have Sheen or Trinity Force, be sure to use your Q or Shield of Daybreak on towers for pushing.  Your Q ability applies extra damage to towers and coupled with Sheen or Trinity Force will do even more.  Most people will ignore you because in most cases you will seem like you lack damage.  But your disruption with CC and your Trinity Force procs, they will think otherwise when you take down their carries.  Leona’s burst from a successful combination of all her abilities is quite deadly in a teamfight and in 1 v 1 situations.  So be sure to try and land all your abilities otherwise you will just be running around waiting for your cooldowns to come back up because you failed.  As for teamfights initiate with your Zenith Blade with your Eclipse charged so as to give you more mitigation.  Then, follow up with Shield of Daybreak to stun the enemy you’re on, which is hopefully a carry, and if they are fairly close together use your ultimate Solar Flare to stun and slow for some decent damage.  Your job as Leona no matter what is to protect your carries, while disrupting theirs and focusing theirs down.  You can easily drop and die as Leona, but that is like any tank when Void Staff or Last Whisper is bought by the enemy carries.  However, what matters most is if you did your job and used your abilities effectively to help your team.
Jungling:

Credit goes to Stonewall008 for this jungle guide.  I will say in my opinion that Leona should not jungle, but only as a last resort as her damage is quite low and therefore her jungling is extremely slow, also this guide for jungling uses different masteries and runes then what I use for laning.
Conclusion:
Overall, Leona is a great addition to League of Legends and definitely is the female tank that everyone wanted.  Leona may seem a bit underpowered due to her low base damage abilities and low AP ratios, but she brings a lot to the table for CC and as a meat shield.  So if your looking for a tank that does some mediocre damage but does a lot of CC and can take a lot of punishment, then look no further then Leona, the Radiant Dawn.  I hope this guide will help those that are still having trouble with Leona, so have fun on the fields of justice summoners with Leona, the Radiant Dawn the newest edition to Runeterra.

Leona, the Radiant Dawn Review

Leona, the Radiant Dawn is the newest champion to join League of Legends.  Leona is the female tank everyone of the LoL community has been waiting for and is Riot Games’ take on a female tank.  Now did they hit the mark in creating the female tank everyone was hoping for or did they miss the mark?  Well from some player’s perspective they may say they hit the mark while others will say otherwise.  My personal opinion and review of Leona simple as a female tank, I believe Riot Games hit the mark with this one.  Leona is in fact a tank, she does not deal insane amounts of damage but instead disrupts enemy champions by crowd control abilities and is able to become a meat shield absorbing damage like a tank should.
Leona is capable of providing both a tank and utility to her team by just using her abilities due to her passive.  Leona’s passive is Sunlight, which marks the opponent that is his with one of Leona’s abilities and if an ally hit that champion it procs causing that champion to take extra magic damage.  This is great for team fights with some of Leona’s AOE abilities as well as her crowd control abilities.  Leona’s kit revolves around combos and chain stunning opponents to be an effective tank.  Leona is by no means an AOE CC type of tank as her ultimate has a small radius at the center that stuns the opposing champion within.  Most of the time you will slow the enemy champion instead of stun them due to the ultimate itself being relatively small but big enough to still be a key ability.  Leona is a great tank early on especially with her W ability, Eclipse as it gives her Armor and Magic Resistance.  The AOE damage on this ability is nice as well but the resistances you get from this ability is insane making Leona a great tank similar to Rammus with little to no items early on.  This allows Leona to be a great initiator in the laning phase whether in a duo lane or in a solo lane.  Especially during teamfights, which allows her to continually take a beating for awhile and mitigate a lot of the damage as the armor and magic resistance is quite a large amount.  This is a great ability befitting of a tank and this is what really makes Leona shine in comparison to other tanks in the game currently.  Her base health and health per level is great as well allowing Leona to grab gold per ten items to make money and allowing her lanemate to grab all the minions for money at little to no cost to her early on.
Leona’s E ability is a great ability in her kit allowing her to act as the tank and initiate fights when in combination with her Q ability that stuns the opponents on next attack.  All of Leona’s abilities fit well together in harmony and suit well for how a tank, at least in League of Legends should be.  A tank should be able to disrupt and perform crowd control during teamfights and absorb most of the incoming damage.  Leona does all this quite well, however as a trade off Leona’s abilities deal very little damage as a tank should.  A tank with insane amounts of damage and survivability would be overpowered by far, take for example the recent case of this after the Alistar remake and Alistar being able to be a mage nuker.  Just not good balance, while Leona is strictly a tank that deals fairly decent burst damage at the early levels but then fulfills her role well in the late game of being a tank and strictly that.  However, due to the strength of Leona’s W ability, Eclipse, Leona is capable of becoming a Bruiser/Tanky DPS, but not nearly as effective as those that are meant to be.  Leona has ability power ratios on all her abilities despite them being relative low ratios.  This makes Leona in my opinion weak if turned into a damage dealer by some players, but also a very weak mage, but instead a physical damage dealer with a lot of ability power based abilities.  This is ironic to some degree, but understandable as Leona wields the power of the sun, therefore magic damage makes sense.
For those that wish to play a champion that is a tank and has gratification in being a disruptor in team fights then I suggest playing and picking up Leona.  She is a great addition to the League of Legends roster and is essentially what everyone in the community wanted, a tank.  To some however, Leona may seem weak at first due to her low base damage on her abilities.  This may cause some to think she is not a great tank in the sense of maintaining threat, since in League of Legends a great way for everyone to focus the tank would be to have them deal enough damage to be a threat.  Otherwise, Leona fits the tank role well and is a great addition to the champion roster and like any other champion will be enjoyed by some while others will think otherwise.  So try her out and see for yourselves what you think of her.

Yorick, the Gravedigger Guide

Hello everyone! Enryuu here to bring you another League of Legends champion guide.  Yorick is a tanky DPS champion and Riot Games’ take on the necromancers archetype.  Yorick is a neat mix of caster meets melee tanky dps.  However, unlike Rumble who is similar in some regards, Yorick’s abilities scale completely off AD and is a pusher.  Yorick is a great champion for lane dominance especially in a solo lane, due to his abilities and lane sustainability.  Anyways enough of the chit chat and onto the guide.
Champion Spotlight:


Champion Spotlight of Yorick provided by Phreak of Riot Games.

Abilities/Passive:

	Unholy Covenant Yorick’s takes 5% reduced damage and his basic attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active. Meanwhile, Yorick’s ghouls have 35% of Yorick’s Attack Damage and Health.
	Omen of War Yorick’s next attack will deal bonus physical damage and summon a Spectral Ghoul that deals additional damage and moves faster than Yorick’s other ghouls. While the Spectral Ghoul is alive, Yorick moves faster as well.
	Omen of Pestilence Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed.
	Omen of Famine Yorick steals life from his target and summons a Ravenous Ghoul that heals Yorick for the damage it deals.
	Omen of Death Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies. If his ally dies while its revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them and give them time to enact vengeance.

Runes:

These are the runes that I am currently using for Yorick.  I run Physical Damage Marks as this allows me to take advantage of Yorick’s early game harassment and makes last hitting easier.  All of Yorick’s abilities are magic damage and scale off of attack damage so increasing that earlier makes him that much more deadly.  I grab Armor and Magic Resist for Seals and Glyphs so that Yorick is tanky in lane so as to not feel incredibly squishy as well from the enemy’s harass.  For Quintessences I use Movement Speed as this helps chase enemies down as well as run away a bit easier with or without Yorick’s Q ability up.
Masteries:

The masteries that I use for Yorick are the standard 21/0/9 build for DPS as runes cover any form of tankiness that is needed for him in the lane for the most part.  Also this beefs up his lane harass by grabbing some abilities in the Offensive Tree, as well as, experience gain and sustainability from the Utility Tree.
Summoner Spells:
Flash/Ignite
Flash is a great gap closer and escape tool, making it a necessity on Yorick.  Another viable option is Ghost but you already have a built in Ghost with Yorick’s ability Omen of War.  Ignite is great for the laning phase as well as the late game for its healing debuff and picking up early game kills.  Yorick is all about harassing the opposing player and making them pay for overextending for minion kills during the laning phase.  Having ignite on hand makes this even more true by allowing you to pick up some early kills when people think they can go toe to toe with you.
Skill Order/Priority:
Skill Order 1-6:
E>W>E>Q>E>R
or
W>E>E>Q>W>R
The skill order here depends on how you laning phase is progressing.  If you are being harassed quite frequently then level up E more or first.  Otherwise you can split your skill points between E and W to increase your slow utility if you are not being harassed as much, therefore not requiring much lane sustainability.
Priority:
R>E>W>Q – Lane harass heavy lane
R>W>E>Q – Offensive laning for utilty
Items:

This is the end game item build you should try to shoot for.  Start off with a Meki Pendant and 2x Health Potions.  This will give you lane sustainability in both mana and in health if you need to use the Health Potions.  After recalling the first time you should have enough for Tear of the Goddess and Boots.  After that you should farm and use your abilities to get as much extra mana as possible so that on the next recall you can buy Manamune and have some decent attack damage.  Next depending on how the game is going and how well you are farming and doing, you should buy Phage and start building Trinity Force otherwise you should grab Negatron Cloak or Chain Vest depending on what is needed more.  After that you want to finish up Atmas Impaler or Banshee’s Veil if you need resistances more.  However, if you need more health over resistances then rush for Warmog’s in order to farm it up in preparation for Atmas Impaler.
Laning:
During the laning phase as Yorick you want to harass as much as possible.  Constantly you should be spamming your E and W abilities on the opposing champion(s).  Make sure not to spam too often as you can easily run out of mana using these two abilities.  However, you should be using it when the opponent tries to go for a last hit or gets to close to you.  This will not only annoy them and push your lane, but you will also deny the opposing champion from being able to get any money unless they are very good at last hitting by the tower.  In doing so you have be very careful not to get ganked by buying wards whether you are in a solo lane or duo lane.  If you are soloing and have a jungle, solo top lane so you can farm as much as possible and deny the opposing team’s top solo lane.  As long as you harass and use your E and W abilities properly, you should be able to either kill that champion depending how smart they are at calculating your damage output or deny them experience and money.  Another thing to note when playing Yorick is if they opposing champion wasted their flash then know when to jump on top of that opportunity if they overextend with your W and Q abilities.  This will allow you to not only catch up to them with your Q but also keep them slowed with your W so you will get an easy kill.  Also if you know that you are going to lose a 1v1 fight then don’t be afraid to put your ultimate on yourself to add another copy of yourself, in order to increase your damage output and secure the kill.  When it comes to the late game the best thing to do with Yorick is to either ult yourself and take on people with your ultimate or put it on your carry.  This will allow you or your carry to come back if they die and probably kill one or two people.  Otherwise, then that for team fights you want to go in and try to take out their squishy champions such as their carries.  You want to be constantly on them and make sure your ghouls are constantly up so as to take advantage of your passive.  This will allow you to take reduced damage and deal extra damage.
Jungling:


This is how you can jungle as Yorick, this guide is credited to Stonewall008.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Yorick is a fun champion to play and is a interesting take on the Necromancer archetype.  Yorick is great for those players that like to play tanky DPS but also like to be a champion that likes to get into the action.  Yorick doesn’t bring a lot of CC to the team but still brings a good amount of utility by being able to deny farm from the opponents he faces in his lane.  Therefore, if you like Necromancer in general and enjoy having a champion that is revolved around spamming abilities, then, Yorick is your go to champion.

Kayle, the Judicator - Champion Spotlight

Kayle is undergoing a remake and Riot Games’ Phreak has kindly provided for us a preview and champion preview for Kayle.  The rework is a bit interesting as her passive is remade and some her abilities have been remade.  Her passive now shreds armor and magic resistance that stacks.  Her Reckoning now has a lower damage amplification but now has increased missile speed and flow, her heal is nerfed a bit but the movement speed boost is a bit more now.  Her Righteous Fury ability is pretty good now in the fact the splash damage and range is a bit higher but the AP ratio got nerfed as a result.  Overall the remake seems interesting, but only time will tell.

Wukong, the Monkey King Gameplay Preview

Riot Games just released a teaser video displaying and announcing his ability kit.  Wukong is definitely going to be a fun champion to play, seems like a well done mischievous, tricky monkey that fits the folk lore behind the title of “Monkey King.”
Well hope you all enjoyed the video and look forward to his release and playing as much as I am.

Wukong, the Monkey King Animation and Champion Reveal

The animations and actual champion model for the newest champion to be revealed is Wukong, the Monkey King by Riot Games. So enjoy the teaser video for as long as it stays active on youtube and I hope you’re excited for this champion as much as I am.

Leona, the Radiant Dawn - A New Champion Approaches

Lore:
On the upper slopes of Mount Targon, the warriors of Rakkor live and breathe only for war. However, Targon’s peak is reserved for a special group of Rakkor who answer to a “higher” calling. Members of this group, called the Solari, retire their mantles of war, choosing instead to devote their lives to reverence of the sun. According to legend, the Solari were formed by a warrior who could call the raw might of the sun down upon his enemies in combat. He claimed Mount Targon’s summit, the point on Valoran closest to the sun, for his solar devotion, a tradition which generations of Solari have preserved to this day. Though they maintain their reverence, no other warrior possessed the gifts of the founder – until Leona.
Leona’s parents were traditional Rakkor, both bred for the heat of battle. To them, Leona was a problem child. She was capable of fighting as fiercely as any other – including her childhood friend, Pantheon – but she did not share their zeal for killing. She believed that the true worth of a soldier lay in her ability to defend and protect. When it came time for her Rite of Kor, a ceremony in which two Rakkor teens battle to the death for the right to bear a relic-weapon, Leona refused to fight. For this, the Rakkor leaders ordered her execution, but when they tried to strike the fatal blow, sunlight burst forth, bathing Mount Targon in light. As it faded, Leona stood unharmed and her executioners lay unconscious around her. The Solari immediately claimed Leona, demanding that her sentence be repealed. She donned the golden armor of the Solari and they bestowed upon her the sword and shield passed down from the ancient sun-warrior of legend. The Solari helped Leona focus her abilities, and when she was ready she left to join the League of Legends.
“The sun’s rays reach all of Runeterra, so too must the image of its champion.”
- Leona
Abilities:
Shield of Daybreak – Leona charges her shield with the power of the sun causing her next melee attack to deal additional damage and briefly stun the target.
Eclipse – Leona raises her shield granting her additional Armor and Magic Resistance for 3 seconds. When the effect ends she deals area of effect damage and increases the duration of the defensive bonuses by 3 seconds if she damages an enemy.
Zenith Blade – Leona throws a blade of sunlight that deals damage to all enemies in a line. Leona teleports to the last enemy champion hit by this attack.
Solar Flare – After a brief delay, Leona calls down a beam of solar energy dealing damage and slowing enemies. Enemies in the center of the beam are stunned instead of slowed.
Sunlight (Passive) – Leona’s abilities mark the target with sunlight. Allied champions that damage marked targets deal additional damage and consume the mark.

Looks like the true female tank will soon be upon us!  I will be posting a review for both Leona and Yorick after testing both thoroughly after the patch and release of Leona.

Yorick, the Gravedigger Review

The patch has been released and changes have been made to Yorick as he was deemed underpowered by Riot.  I will review Yorick now pre-patch and post-patch as I have played him in both instances.  Yorick, the Gravedigger is supposed to be Riot Games’ take on a fan favorite, the necromancer.  Yorick is a bit unique in being a tanky DPS as he has 2 ranged abilities, but is also a melee champion.  Yorick’s abilities are also unique in the fact that upon use, Yorick summons ghouls which are minions that take damage over time.  However, unlike minions gain a portion of Yorick’s health and attack damage and prioritize champions over anything else.  This makes pushing a bit difficult for Yorick as there is always a chance his minions will cause the tower to target Yorick over the ghouls.  This makes the player have to be cautious and aware of what is happening with his ghouls.

	Unholy Covenant Yorick’s takes 5% reduced damage and his basic attacks deal 5% more damage for each summon that is active. Meanwhile, Yorick’s ghouls have 35% of Yorick’s Attack Damage and Health.
	Omen of War Yorick’s next attack will deal bonus physical damage and summon a Spectral Ghoul that deals additional damage and moves faster than Yorick’s other ghouls. While the Spectral Ghoul is alive, Yorick moves faster as well.
	Omen of Pestilence Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed.
	Omen of Famine Yorick steals life from his target and summons a Ravenous Ghoul that heals Yorick for the damage it deals.
	Omen of Death Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies. If his ally dies while its revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them and give them time to enact vengeance.

As for laning pre-patch Yorick, was pretty good.  He is capable of pushing in a solo lane and can definitely hold his own against squishy champions like any tanky DPS should be able to for the most part.  Yorick’s lane dominance is all about harassing with his W and E abilities. Above are his abilities and passive for reference purposes.  Omen of Famine is capable of keeping you in the lane as long as you have mana for it allowing you lane sustainability and the slow from Omen of Pestilence is amazing for keeping the enemy champion slowed for some initial auto attack hits.  Also when coupled with Omen of War you will constantly be on top of the enemy champion unless they have flash or ghost.  Yorick’s passive that allows him to take decreased damage and deal increased damage for the more ghouls he has out is great for making him a tanky DPS.  Overall Yorick’s kit fits him well as a Necromancer archetype.  Even Yorick’s ultimate fits this well because you create a ghoul that is similar to Mordekaiser’s Children of the Grave ulitmate but upon the targeted ally dying, control goes to the targeted person and not the owner of the ultimate.  So this is essentially a Mordekaiser pet to start and then turns into a Zilean ultimate except the person is not revived.  Overall a really nice job of Riot to create a champion that uses similar abilities to current champions but takes a different spin on how it is implemented and used in game to fit the archetype of the champion they were aiming for.
As for Yorick in a duo lane, the mana costs and his ghouls lose their strength and purpose.  The ghouls are easily CCed and easily killed when there is another person in the lane.  This causes Yorick to become a squishy melee champion that can only harass and poke for minimal damage.  This eventually leads to him running out of mana depending on how often he casts as the abilities for ranged harass for Yorick is relatively expensive.  Overall pre-patch Yorick felt underwhelming and was a fun concept but it slightly fell flat with the mana costs and the fact his ultimate deteriorated over time similar to his ghouls.  For an ultimate this shouldn’t happen as it makes the ultimate not fun to use and a waste of mana as it will never reach its effect as it can be easily killed on top of the deterioration.

Post-patch Yorick feels more like a bruiser as the Necromancer archetype Riot Games was shooting for.  Yorick’s abilities still feel like you have to wisely choose when to use his abilities as you put more ranks into it.  But, they feel a bit better cost for use wise then pre-patch as before you would run out of mana a bit quicker then needed as you need to juggle your ghouls to make use of your passive.  The increase to his mana per level for base stats also help to increase his mana pool despite how small to be able to throw out another spell cast if needed compared to pre-patch.  Yorick’s W getting increased range for casting helps for harassing even if it was only by a small amount.  The change to ghouls being immune to slows and taking 50% reduced AOE damage helped a lot as well.  This allows his ghouls to survive a bit which is the main part of his kit and actually be able to be useful harass on champions.  However, to some extent this helped the duo lane greatly for Yorick and jungling, but made his solo laning a bit OP.  Yorick can not only deal damage and harass well by poking with his ghouls but sustain very well in lane now.  He is by far no immovable object like Warwick or Udyr but definitely very strong in lane.  Overall the buffs were necessary but I believe that decreasing the cost of his abilities and increasing his mana per level was a bit unnecessary.  One or the other I believe would have been fine for buffs along with the rest.  Therefore, Yorick is a good tanky DPS now if not a hair OP.

Overall, a good addition to League of Legends, and a great champion befitting of the Necromancer archetype.  If built tanky DPS then he can do his job as a bruiser and go for the carries and definitely take them out, however building him as DPS is also viable but making him fairly fragile.  If someone wants to play a Necromancer in League of Legends, Yorick definitely is a champion one should check out as he is a fun champion to play, yet different from the standard Necromancer commonly seen in games.

Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork Guide

Hi all!  Enryuu here to bring you another guide for League of Legends and I apologize for the delay of this posting.  The guide will revolve around on how to play Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork.  Orianna is a support nuke mage.  Orianna’s abilities are a bit different from her mage counter parts because all the abilities revolve around her ball.  This ball is similar to a pet that you need to keep track of based off location so you can deal damage.  This adds for more concentration and intuitive gameplay by making the player aware of his/her positioning to maximize his/her damage output.  In this guide I will be explaining how I play Orianna, which is more of a mage nuke instead of as a support as I prefer to deal damage.


Champion Spotlight by Phreak of Riot Games.

Abilities:

	Clockwork Windup Orianna uses her ball as a focus for her spells and attacks. Orianna’s ball automatically returns to her if she is too far away from it.Orianna’s autoattacks deal additional damage plus 20% of her Ability Power in magic damage. Subsequent attacks against the same target within 4 seconds deal an additional 15% magic damage. This bonus stacks up to 3 times.
	Command: Attack Orianna commands her ball to fire toward a target location, dealing magic damage to targets along the way (deals less damage to subsequent targets). Her ball remains at the target location after.
	Command: Dissonance Orianna commands the ball to release a pulse of energy, dealing magic damage around it. This leaves a field behind that speeds up allies and slows enemies.
	Command: Protect Orianna commands her ball to attach to an allied champion, shielding them and dealing magic damage to any enemies it passes through on the way. Additionally, the ball grants additional Armor and Magic Resist to the champion it is attached to.
	Command: Shockwave Orianna commands her ball to unleash a shockwave, dealing magic damage and launching nearby enemies towards the ball after a short delay.

Orianna’s passive is good for when you want to build her as a mage as it scaled with her ability power fairly well.  However, this puts her in danger as you have to be fairly close to sustain auto attack damage for the full effect of her passive.  This provides a risk and reward type of situation for Orianna.  Orianna’s Q ability is a relatively short cooldown ability that is used in order to move the ball.  This allows for good lane harassment as well as repositioning for Orianna’s other abilities.  Orianna’s W ability Command: Dissonance is Orianna’s bread and butter spell.  This ability does the most damage and provides the most support that in my opinion makes Orianna shine.  This ability allows Orianna to speed up her teammates and slow down enemies similar to Nasus’s Wither ability but with the opposite effect of it being the max slow or speed at the beginning.  Orianna’s third ability Command: Protect is another support ability and if used for damage relies on proper positioning.  This adds to Orianna’s gameplay by giving the player a sense of strategy by planning who you want to use the ability on for positioning.  Orianna’s ultimate Command: Shockwave is similar to a gravitational pull ability where it pulls enemies towards the ball’s location after a short delay.  Her ultimate is great for CC and for capturing enemies that run away.  This brings great utility to the team as well as an escape mechanic on top of her W.  Her ultimate also does a fair amount of damage for a champion that is able to play a support role as well making her a capable mage if built in that fashion.
Runes:

These are the runes I use for Orianna.  I take Magic Penetration Marks, Ability Power per Level Seals and Glyphs, 2x Flat Ability Power Quintessences and 1 Magic Penetration Quintessence.
These runes allow for Orianna to deal the most maximum damage possible, but the drawback is being squishy and having poor mana regeneration making you extremely reliant on blue buff or on mana ability power items such as Rod of Ages or Archangel’s Staff.
Masteries:

I build Orianna using standard caster masteries going 9/0/21 grabbing Archaic Knowledge for Magic Penetration in the Offensive Tree and grabbing Utility Mastery in the Utility Tree as well as Blink of An Eye for increased buff duration and reduced cooldown on Flash.
Summoner Spells:
Flash/Ignite
Ghost/Flash is another set up one could use as a squishy caster to allow for more escape potential.  However, I feel that Ignite will net you some good early kills whether you are in a duo lane or solo, while your W makes up for not having Ghost as a summoner spell.  Flash allows you to pull of some nice escapes as well as some good initiations on champions as well as catching up to them.
Skill Order/Priority:
R>W>Q>E
Level 1-6:
Q>W>W>E>W>R
Items:

These are the end game items that you should have by the end of the game with substitutes being made depending on what you need and the team composition of the opposing team.  The first item you should start off with is a Mana Crystal and 2x Health Potions.  This will give you some lane sustainability and a bigger mana pool to allow you to cast and harass bit.  This will aid you in your farming and is a good item to start into for turning it into Catalyst of the Protector on your first trip back.  Grabbing Catalyst of the Protector as soon as possible is great for lane sustainability, which helps further with creep farming and gives Orianna a nice bump in health.  Afterwards you should back and grab boots and finish off Rod of Ages as soon as possible so that you can let its passive kick in.  Sometimes however it is best to instead go quickly for a Rabadon’s Deathcap and grab a Needlessly Large Rod instead.  This allows for a quick AP boost and increases your burst damage significantly, but that all depends on how you game is progressing.  After Rod of Ages or Rabadon’s Deathcap buy a Void Staff then begin finishing off Zhonya’s Hourglass and Lichbane in whichever order is necessary.  Lichbane synchronizes greatly with Orianna’s passive due to the proc effect of Lich Bane when you cast your spells.  Another good item in place of Lichbane is Will of the Ancients for Spell Vamp and Ability Power for yourself and your team.  Ionian Boots of Lucidity are the best boots in my opinion for Orianna because she requires cooldown reduction to be effective since this allows her Q ability to be on a 3-4seconds cooldown if you are cooldown reduction capped.
Laning Phase:
During the laning phase Orianna should be harassing every now and then with her Q due to it being a low mana cost ability.  This should be used to harass minions as well as the champions if possible.  This will help Orianna with last hitting with her passive a bit.  It takes a bit to get the hang of Orianna’s auto attacks on top of her passive’s damage for last hitting minions for farming.  Therefore, I believe you should practice this to maximize your farming capabilities early game as it gets extremely easy to clear creep waves at higher levels with her W ability maxed out.  The best way to harass in lane is to first Q to move the ball into position and then staying relatively close so as to move your ball in short distances so the enemy champion can’t easily dodge the ball.  This will allow you to hit them with your W as it has a fairly short radius.  If you are getting harassed don’t forget to use your E ability to bring the ball back to you for damage if possible, otherwise use it for shielding yourself and giving yourself bonus armor and magic resist so the damage being dealt to you is minimizes as much as possible.  Always remember this as Orianna is a very squishy champion like any other caster especially with this guide and rune page.  Keep an eye on your mana as you harass and strategically plan whether you should go all in or just harass in lane for kills.  Orianna can deal a surprising amount of burst so once you learn how much damage you can deal you will be grabbing kills easily and escaping with your life intact in no time.  Towards end game the best combination I found to use Orianna’s abilities in is to initiate with Q then use her ultimate for a quick CC and burst damage followed up with her W for more burst damage.  Then, if there is anybody in line with your ball for damage from your E ability use that for even more damage.  In most cases you should have landed yourself a kill on a squishy AD Carry or AP Carry or brought most of them to low health for your team to finish off.  This guide pertains to you grabbing a solo lane so you become the AP Carry for your team as well so be sure to call for a solo lane.  If you are in the side lane this laning phase portion doesn’t change much but you may need to play a bit more defensive and supportive.
Conclusion:
Overall Orianna is a high skilled cap champion that takes a little while to get used to.  But once you get the hang of her you will be enjoying her mechanics and dealing damage like an AP Carry and aiding your teammates to victory.

League of Legends Champion Splash Art

Some possible League of Legends skins for champions.  One has already been confirmed which is Viking Tryndamere.  These others are speculated leaks.  So take these with a grain of salt.

Viking Tryndamere

Commando Lux

Executioner Mundo

Yorick, the Gravedigger A New Champion Approaches

Lore:
The work of gravediggers is essential amongst the living, but invaluable in the Shadow Isles. There are many shades of death there, and each is embraced rather than feared or reviled. One can only ascend from one state to the next with the magical aid of a skilled professional. At the end of the first Rune War, Yorick Mori made his living as a gravedigger. His family owned and maintained the Final Rest Memorial, one of the oldest cemeteries in Valoran. The shovel he employed for his work had been passed down for generations. Each gravedigger taught his son that this shovel was imbued with the spirit of every forefather, and that those spirits would protect him during the long lonely nights amongst the tombstones. To his eternal regret, Yorick died without an heir, bringing the proud Mori line to a close. His body was interred with his shovel in the family mausoleum, and the Final Rest Memorial soon fell to ruin. Death, however, was not the end Yorick had expected.
Yorick emerged on the haunted shores of the Shadow Isles – not quite dead, definitely not alive – still clutching his beloved shovel. He soon learned that with it he could act as a ferryman for the Isles’ undead denizens, helping them climb death’s many-tiered ladder. This proved a curse, as a gravedigger must “bury his quota” before he too can ascend, or so the legend goes. No one knows what “his quota” is. Yorick dug tirelessly, waiting in vain for the day when he would be freed of his burden. As decades turned to centuries, the shame of his failures came to a head. He returned to Valoran to find his corpse, convinced that salvation might be buried with it. When he arrived, no trace remained of either the mausoleum or the memorial. Hope nearly lost, he discovered the League of Legends, and there saw an opportunity to immortalize the family name he allowed to be forgotten ages ago.
“Die first, then we’ll talk.” -Yorick
Abilities:
Omen of War: Yorick’s next attack will deal bonus physical damage and summon a Spectral Ghoul that deals additional damage and moves faster than Yorick’s other ghouls. While the Spectral Ghoul is alive, Yorick moves faster as well.
Omen of Pestilence: Yorick summons a Decaying Ghoul that arrives with a violent explosion, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies. While the Decaying Ghoul remains alive, nearby enemies continue to be slowed.
Omen of Famine: Yorick steals life from his target and summons a Ravenous Ghoul that heals Yorick for the damage it deals.
Omen of Death (Ultimate): Yorick conjures a revenant in the image of one of his allies. If his ally dies while its revenant is alive, the revenant sacrifices itself to reanimate them and give them time to enact vengeance.
Unholy Covenant (Passive): Yorick’s attacks deal more damage for each summon that is active. Meanwhile, Yorick’s ghouls deal some percent of Yorick’s Attack Damage and have some percent of his total health.

Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork Review

Hello all, I apologize for the delayed post but I’m here to bring you another review of the newest champion released by Riot Games.  Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork previously known as Orianna, the Clockwork Girl, however some legal issues arose there so the naming had to be changed a bit.  Orianna is a magic casting support/nuke champion.  She is capable of bringing a lot of support as well as nuke potential of a mage depending on how she is built.  Orianna is a bit different from your typical mage and adds a bit of a new gameplay experience and mechanic to the game.  Orianna’s abilities revolve around her “ball” as it is named, which isn’t a pet by any means.  The ball is like another champion that can’t be targeted in a sense or a pet you have to keep an eye on.  Wherever the ball is, is where Orianna’s abilities will occur at, which adds a bit more to your gameplay experience by making you pay attention a bit more to not only your own positioning but the ball as well.  This adds a bit more of a intuitive gameplay experience and one where you have to focus a bit more then normal.

The fact you have to pay attention more allows Orianna to be a fun and unique champion despite some of the abilities being similar to other current abilties or a small new spin on older ones.  Overall it makes Orianna different from a typical support and mage as its not all about point and click with her.  Orianna also can be considered a range DPS of sorts for a mage as her passive allows her auto attack damage to scale a bit higher then a typical mage.  Her passive is effected by ability power and the amount of times you auto attack the same target within a certain time period.  This allows her to auto attack and synchronize well with a hybrid build path or a lich bane/sheen build path opening up unique builds to take advantage of certain abilities and her passive that comes with her kit.  Orianna’s first skill allows her to move her ball which thankfully is on a relatively low cooldown once you are rank the skill up allowing for almost constant movement of the ball.  Orianna’s second ability allows her to have a speed boost and slow area of effect, which takes Nasus’s Wither ability and makes it used here for enemies and the opposite in a speed boost for allies.  This is one of the abilities that I mentioned earlier that takes a small spin on older abilities and makes them a bit different.  This ability however has a small radius and I believe it could be enlarged a bit but I don’t know for sure how balanced that would make it or not.  The radius seems awfully small for it though, I believe the range is a mere 200 radius if that.  Overall the ability is not bad and I like the design of the bubble that is created to show the area of effect of the skill because it is shaped similar to a cog in a clock.  Orianna’s third ability allows her to recall her ball to herself or put it on an ally giving them increased armor and magic resist while on them and a shield for a brief period of time.  Shields seems to go hand in hand with support as it seems like no new champions are being given any kind of heals lately as it adds to passivity of gameplay.  This move is pretty neat as it requires positioning to be useful but the shield and travel time of the ball can make or break a save, which makes Orianna a little less of a desired shield support champion as compared to those that have instance shields like Morgana, Janna, and Karma.  Orianna’s ultimate is the most unique ability that adds a bit of flavor to the game and takes a new spin from other similar abilities.  This ability is similar to a gravitational pull in a sense where Orianna can pull enemies towards the ball similar to a suction effect.  This is a nice AOE ability and takes a spin on older abilities such as Blitzcrank’s grab and Urgot’s ultimate as a pull and swap effect.

Overall, Orianna is a champion that is both fun as support and as a mage.  Riot adds a bit of a twist to the gameplay of this champion by adding in the ball mechanic and how it revolves around her skills.  Orianna is still new and there are some bugs retaining to her gameplay, but overall its not an unpleasant experience by far and is a champion support and mage players should give a try.  Orianna is also a good champion for new players to learn in order to grasp a better understanding of positioning for other champions that require it to be effective.  So all in all nice job Riot on a well done champion that is fun despite using old mechanics and could still use some minor tweaks at least from a player’s perspective but is nonetheless fun and enjoyable to play.