The design of League of Legends champions has changed so much since its inception that even Riot Games employees have mocked some of the company’s old decisions. Back then, a new champion had to be released every two weeks, which sometimes forced developers to take a simple path. To meet deadlines. As a result, at the start of the game, skill hits were relatively rare and targeted spells were much more common. Since then, Riot Games has retired and they are slowly disappearing.
Simplicity is not necessarily a pleasure
A targeted spell is a skill in which a player directly targets the opponent by clicking on it. When the latter is clicked, its enchantment takes place, and with rare exceptions (E of Sivir, Banshee, Zhonya) it is impossible to avoid it. A great example of this type of spell is Annie’s Q, which is cast by clicking on an enemy champion despite its wide range. Here are some statistics on these targeted spells:
- More than half of the champions (84) have access to such opportunities. The total number of skills with these features in the game is 96.
- Most of the 96 points and clicks have damage as their primary stat (43).
- There are only 20 infinite abilities in League of Legends that can use their powerful control effect on the enemy by clicking on them. 8 of them have additional requirements (hitting a wall, accumulating leads…). Nasus and Zilean are slowed down by a heavy CC.
a slowly disappearing mechanism
The choice of this target focus mechanism is largely explained by its simplicity. The spell went directly to the target, neglecting the terrain and other characters (champions/minions). This will avoid many possible mistakes, but the gameplay is not the same as in the skill shooting situation. Now that the champions are moving further and further away, this selection is almost non-existent. This can also be seen in the champion update. For example, Zion lost a goal in Target Q’s full game update and he’s not the only one. Warwick’s R also required you to simply click on an opponent, which is not the case today.
This disappearance is partly explained by the delight of the players. Well-timed sorcery is satisfying, but it’s even more exciting knowing that you have to aim well to fire at the right time and avoid unwanted elements between your champion and his target. It also allows you to go beyond the limits of the game, for example, it is easier to deal heavy damage with the skill shot because it can be avoided. Dealing massive damage to a spam target spell usually means not coming up with a method of confrontation against an opponent that requires a good magic balance. While targeted spell mechanics are getting rarer and rarer, they aren’t going away entirely. Sylas’ Ultimate uses this mechanic to prevent the champion from stealing the opponent’s ultimatum.
Source : Millenium
