Frokat
Ever since the pre-season of the 12th competitive League of Legends year dropped, one of its features always remained above the rest in discussions. Not the champion changes or new items – and if you’re an avid League player, you probably guessed what it is. The answer to that riddle is quite simple – the Chemtech Drake. One of the two newest additions to the Summoner’s Rift’s objective pool, the putrid brother overshadowed its Hextech counterpart in everything – map impact, power of its Soul effect, and, of course, the amount of discussion – and sheer frustration – generated on the forums.
And it wasn’t just the forums – seemingly every part of the player base refused to accept the newest addition as something healthy for the game. Multiple pros have made their point clear on the issue: for sure, unique effects are cool – but sometimes gameplay quality must come first. Actually, scratch that – not sometimes, but always!
After its addition, Riot Games attempted to balance the effects of the Chemtech Drake multiple times. From numbers tuning of its Soul’s Zombie state, to the tank-shredding properties of its stacks, and even interactions of the changed map layout with champion passives – hello to Rengar’s who were saddened by a sudden loss of their natural habitat, bushes.
Apparently none of it was enough as Riot has suddenly announced a complete removal of Chemtech Drake and all its properties, including passive stacks, soul, and terrain layout changes.
We heard your feedback and we're disabling the Chemtech Drake ?
Read all the details ➡ https://t.co/U9XxWvnVw3 pic.twitter.com/Tk079QJyYQ
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 24, 2022
Although the timing of this balancing decision comes as a surprise, it is still a very welcome one indeed. Riot Games once again demonstrate their willingness to listen to the community’s feedback. Although canceling entire champion reworks, as has been the case with projects like LeBlanc, is already a big deal, it doesn’t even come close to the sheer unprecendence of such a sweeping framework change. It is unclear whether the removal of the Drake is temporary – until an adequate fix to it makes way to the Rift – or a permanent one, but Riot admitting their mistakes is definitely a great sign for the upcoming year.