In the most recent preview for League of Legends Patch 12.12, the Riot devs teased some changes that are due to hit the live servers next week. Aside from a list of buffs and nerfs, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, the lead game balance designer, spoke about Grevious Wounds.
He explained that the devs are still looking for a solution to Grevious Wounds following the durability update and will be rolling out further updates on a patch-by-patch basis.
Grievous Wounds is a hard nut to crack, and it’s tough to properly balance, according to Phroxzon. But Riot aims to find a fine balance between Grievous Wounds and healing in the future. “We intend to balance around 40% GW and move towards being a purchase that doesn’t feel great without a critical mass of healing,” he said.
The designer added that “high GW creates a bunch of champion design debt & requires making healing tools really strong to compete.” And he’s not wrong. With Grevious Wounds reducing healing by a full 40 percent, healing-based champions take a big hit. But the devs are working on it. “We’re hitting some heal outliers this patch and re-evaluating others next patch on an case by case basis,” Phroxzon said.
Phroxzon also underlined that players often choose Grievous Wounds over items that suit specific champions, which clearly isn’t healthy for the game. “Grievous Wounds takes away from items that are more exciting for your champ,” he said. “While it indexes high as a strategic, game state choice, it’s only an intellectually satisfying one.”
Patch 12.12 is scheduled to hit live servers on Thursday, June 23.
