LoL: AxeC's Analysis Episode 1 - The Tanky DPS Problem

Irelia: a serious problem?

Hello again all, and welcome to my new weekly series overviewing different aspects of League of Legends,  with this being the first. Who am I? I'm a European summoner, not a high ELO, but with a strong knowledge of the game and interest in game design.

Tanky DPS is not a new problem for League of Legends, we all remember the days when a giant, spinning, flaming ball screaming 'DDEEEEMMMMAAACCCIIIIAAAA' would be the last thing you saw before a grey screen. This wasn't to last, and tanky DPS faded before a highly poking metagame. Now it's back, but not in the same way as before.

There appears to be some confusion as to exactly how tanky DPS are so strong, obviously they put out a fair amount of damage while remaining tough, but aren't they counterable in the laning phase? Well, they all are, but to varying degrees, this is where I feel the problem lies - the laning phase.

The difference between the old tanky DPS and the new tanky DPS can be summed up in one game mechanic - lifesteal. Let me name a few problems characters - Irelia, Renekton and Nasus. All are very lane dominant, and extremely hard to shift from it. This is simply because all have low level, instantly accessible and powerful lifesteal abilities. Characters like Vlad have these abilities, but Vlad's Q has a large cooldown. It is also far more obvious because of the nature/animation of the attack, and the amount of life stolen. These three characters are lifestealing constantly, yet not in an overtly noticable way to the opposition. This results in extreme lane dominance, which often ends in the effect of tanky DPS characters appearing fed, even when they are not.

A few other characters fall under this catergory. Olaf and Warwick are similar, but generally jungle. However, try putting Warwick in a solo lane. Last time I played this against a solo Renekton and ended up completely dominating him, mostly by virtue of having the superior lifesteal ability. I'm sure you all know how hard it is to dominate Renekton in a lane usually. I have not tried Olaf in a lane, but the effect may be similar. Other strong laners that utilise aggression based healing include Cho'Gath and Mundo. The reality is, against a solo tanky DPS, you are engaged in a war of attrition. One that, if played correctly by your foe, you will inevitably lose without aid.

Let's look at Garen, the aforementioned pinnacle of tanky DPS. Nowadays, he can still be a fairly good tank-type character, and also fairly good as a tanky DPS. However, he is outshined by the other characters, not by damage, but by durability, yet he is the only one with an actual entirely defensive ability. Again, the answer is lifesteal. If Garen had lifesteal in his current state, I would expect him to be just as powerful as those ahead of him. His health regen passive is one of the most frustrating to lane against in LoL, and achieves a similar effect, but with the undesirable method of avoiding combat. Healing hurts his laning, healing for the others promotes their lane prowess.

Gone are these days....maybe it's for the best.

 Now, the nerf to Spirit Visage seems to indicate an awareness of this problem. Tanky DPS nerfs are also supposedly around the corner, yet I feel if all that is done is some adjustment of stats and damage, the core problem will remain unresolved. Spirit Visage shouldn't be nerfed anymore as it will be borderline useless, the actual lifesteal abilities on the characters need changing.

Jarvan is a great example of my point. Jarvan is new, shiny and a strong tanky DPS. He's nasty to face but is he overpowered? Have I ever played against a Jarvan and thought jesus, this guy cannot be stopped? No. His laning is tough but not invincible, as he lacks the sustainability of the others. He is a great character, but so much easier to stop. When I say easier, I don't mean easy, I mean within the abilities of a decent team.

Generally, when there is a problem people will merely acknowledge it rather than try to determine the source of it, and I hope I've explored a little of whats behind this today. Inevitably when this meta subsides another will rise to take it's place, but such is the nature of this game. Hopefully Riot will continue to keep up their good work and try and keep the game as balanced as is reasonable to expect.

Please leave any opinions you have, any feedback would be nice, as well as different views. If you think I have the brain of a salmon and the argumentative skills of a cheese sandwich then share what you think about the subject.

Hope you enjoyed reading and that I sparked some interest in game design amongst you.