Reign of Gaming

How does Patch 3.7 affect Caitlyn's DPS?

Caitlyn

Base Attack Speed reduced to 0.625 from 0.668
Attack Speed per level increased to 4% from 3%

Contrary to popular opinion right now, Patch 3.7's Caitlyn change isn't a total death sentence. It's still a pretty decent hit, but there was still a buff along with the nerf. The catch is that the nerf is a little more complicated than the patch notes imply.

Every champion in the game has a .625 base attack speed, which is affected by "attack delay"; what really happened to the "Base Attack Speed" parameter is that Caitlyn's attack delay was increased from .935 to 1.00. Riot has designed the game so that given the same items, attack delay makes some champions more suited to being physical damage carries than others.  For example, champions like Morgana and Annie (1.08 delay) will have a lower marginal damage gain from items than  Nidalee (.93) or Ezreal (.94).

In practice, the change means that each standard autoattack will have an additional delay before the missile is released, from .625/.935 = .668 to .625/1 = .625. This change trickles down to any attack speed increases, as any increased attack percentage will be increased by the same factor as the attack delay. 

Keep reading to find out how the AS buff + delay nerf affect Caitlyn's damage per second!

VVinrar's 4-in-1 Megablog

So in case you guys didn't figure out already, not every idea can be hashed out into a full blog post. There are some brilliant ideas that can be explained in a few paragraphs or in a short YouTube video, which means that only ideas that are "the best of the best" will be given their own article. I hate having a post that is less than 1500 words or so, which means there are always some awesome thoughts that can't make it for the extra mile. So here's a bunch of them clumped together in one post, in no particular order of awesomeness:

1. Elixir of Fortitude didn't deserve the gold nerf
2. The difference between good players and great players
3. Underrated and overrated champions
4. The League system is absolute bs and doesn't reflect true skill

Champion Gudes: Gangplank Edition

Yoooooo Reign of Gaming, it was my birthday yesterday and I was feeling hella lazy, so instead of making a normal blog post I decided to take a leaf out of Emeraldw's book and make an article about Gangplank. Coincidentally, I might be the most qualified person to make a GP guide because I'm 90% sure I'm the only platinum Gangplank main in North America right now.  Other top Gangplank guides are either heavily outdated (S2) or are made by low Elo players, so yeah.

If we were to look up the stats for Gangplank, he'd probably be in the top 5 least picked bruisers in the game. Few players are scared of him, and for good reason. He doesn't win any lanes, he doesn't jungle well, he isn't a top-tier support, yet he still has a higher win rate than many popular picks. Enter one of the most underrated champions in the game. This fun guy runs fast, slows people, is almost a ranged carry, has a global ultimate, soft cc, free sustain, debuffs, good teamfights, good split push, good anticarry ability, and the potential to do 1000 damage crits at the 20 minute mark without being fed. Seriously, what's not to love about Gangplank?

Lux's Early Game: Cooldowns or Ability Power?

If you've been following my smurf's progress, I have been rampaging between Silver V and Gold I in the last 3 weeks (lost my first platinum promo series yesterday, hooray!). Apart from the obvious differences that come from different skill levels, I've noticed a huge difference between Bronze/Silver and Gold/Platinum player builds, especially on everyone's favorite AP carry, Luxanna Crownguard, the Lady of Luminosity. Currently picked in almost one-third of all ranked games, Lux is the go-to carry because she is both safe in lane and difficult to kill at all stages of the game.

Despite her immense popularity at all skill ranges, I've noticed that players in the Silver range favor rushing a quick Rabadon's Deathcap, while as you approach the Gold level of play you begin to see more Tear of the Goddess and Chalice of Harmony as the first purchase. Today's edition of #VVinning seeks to investigate the superior build between the two.

Gaming on an IP Budget -- What to Buy

Today's post may not apply to people that have been playing League of Legends for a long time, but rather for those who always seem to run out of IP.  For those who are constantly running out of Influence Points because they need to buy new runes or champions, you should pay close attention. The average summoner earns around 60,000 IP by the time they hit level 30, and many of these players jump straight into ranked. My assumption is that the average player spend 20,000 on bad purchases, which leaves around 40,000 IP for relevant purchases to ranked play. Listed in today's article is my personal recommendation/guide for those players who want to optimize the use of their IP for relevant use into solo queue play.

Most players would recommend not jumping straight into ranked after you hit level 30. My opinion is that as long as you:

1. Own at least two champions in each role
2. Know how to play these champions
3. Have the runepages to play each of these champions optimally

You should be able to jump straight into ranked without hesitation, regardless of number of wins. Especially with the transition from the Elo system into the League system, you have less disincentives to play ranked because you won't be constantly losing Elo; instead, you're more likely to be placed into a division and league that you belong to straight out of your placement matches. This goal of today's edition of #VVinning is to show how an IP-savvy level 30 (or smurf) can jump straight into ranked and be prepared for the horrors of solo queue.