League of Legends’ All-Random-All-Mid (ARAM) game mode is a fan favorite, and Riot will be making some changes to it in the upcoming 8.11 patch.
The whole purpose of ARAM is that players are assigned a random champion and then have team fights against the enemy, since all 10 players are in the same lane. One of the most frustrating aspects of the mode’s random champion element is that if you re-roll one champion to get a different one, sometimes the new champion is even worse than the one you had.
Champion randomization will be helped by the first of the changes, which puts any champion re-rolled into a bench of sorts. Players can view those re-rolled champions and pick them instead of the one they currently have. This will also help players that see their favorite champion re-rolled by a teammate.
The next change focuses on giving players more champions to play. The free-to-play pool in the mode will be expanded to include champions from the three latest free-to-play rotations, bringing the grand total of champions up to 42. Pyke will also be made free in ARAM when he is first released.
Players will find it easier to get an S in ARAM once the changes hit (it has been notoriously difficult to get one in the past). There are also some early game changes being made. There are now base gates that will open up at 15 seconds into the game, which will lead to less fighting at the very start of the match. Players frequently will face-check at the start of the game and end up finding the entire enemy team in that bush and give up first blood. Base gates will now make that less likely to happen since teams will typically leave together.
Another change is that instead of just getting level three when you start the game, you will have the experience that warrants level three. Before you would have no experience and it was a tough climb to get level four. The time difference between starting the game and getting level four will be greatly reduced. Surrender times are also getting moved up a few minutes to allow for earlier surrenders.
The rest of the changes will only take place during the upcoming Bilgewater event, which will see the return of Butcher’s Bridge, a uniquely styled ARAM map. These changes may make it into the mode after the event ends but that all depends on player feedback. First, Warmog’s Armor will be completely removed from the mode during the event. Warmog’s is seen as an incredibly powerful item that lets players get back to full health before the next team fight. This is a big advantage because going back to base does not heal you in ARAM.
Dark Harvest will also see a reduction in power since the rune is very strong given you are constantly around the minions and champions that die in the game, thus providing a lot of damage. The healing relics will be changed so that they return a percentage of missing health or mana, providing you with more of either when you are very low. A healing radius will also spawn when you get one. The effect is similar to that of Redemption but will heal players from both teams so it now becomes more of an objective to fight over to receive that healing. You will also now see a timer that indicates when the relics will respawn.
Lastly, three new items will make their way into the game during the event. The first one, called Ghostwalkers, are boots that work very similarly to Kayn’s Shadow Step and will allow you to walk into the walls. Spectral Cutlass is targeted towards AD champions that will bring a champion back to the spot where the player activated the item. Finally, Bloodletter’s Veil works like Banshee’s Veil but will shield you when you deal damage with an ability.
The big gameplay changes will only be available during the event, with players fighting on an updated Butcher’s Bridge that has some new effects and lighting. Riot did not mention when the event will take place but expect it to coordinate with the release of League’s newest champion Pyke.
