Game Night

Greetings Summoners,

The other evening, I visited my good friend, and the person who introduced me to League Of Legends, RCIECRISPIES. It was a brief night, as I had to work the next day, but we managed to fit in a number of games, all in unranked queues.

Our night started with discussing The Legend Of The Poro King game mode, and its rewards. We discovered that I had nearly completed all the requirements for all the Snowdown events rewards, and committed to fulfilling the last outstanding requirements.

To that end, we played a match of The Legend Of The Poro King. He chose Nidalee, and I chose Ashe. This was a tough start to the night. We lost fairly decisively, with the most credit going to a marauding enemy Gangplank routinely blowing up each of us.

We decided then to play a few games in the teambuilder queue. The first of which, he played ADC as Caitlyn with me supporting as Nasus. This was a fairly respectable game with Caitlyn scoring 7/2/5, and Nasus went 1/1/2-10, and taking the team (along with a hard-carrying Yasuo that went 24/6/8) to victory.

The next match, RCIECRISPIES and I played Kalista and Alistar. We quickly realized this game would not turn out in our favour. We faced an opposing Kalista and Leona in lane, and despite having the support/counter advantage, it was clear that the skill differential between the carries would lead to our defeat.

The highlight of the night, for me, was the next match, where we went Thresh ADC and Shaco support. Big plays were abundant! Check out this beauty:

It turns out that the wind up on Thresh's Death Sentence is a perfect cue to use Deceive to close the distance for the engage, and use a Jack-In-The-Box to cover the escape. The Crowd Control is enough to easily score the kill on the enemy Kayle. What was supposed to be a joke of a bottom lane comp turned into a reckoning force, winning the lane, and winning the match, with Thresh closing out sporting a score of  23/8/13.

[META] Content Generation

Greetings Summoners,

I realize that it is perhaps a bit early to be getting meta with this blog (see what I did there?), but I wanted to take a moment to talk about generating content for it, specifically, video content.

Since starting this blog (since before starting, even), I have been searching for ways to easily capture and share video from League Of Legends. Last night, I waged an epic war on multiple fronts of recording, and screen capture. I have not yet lost the war, but I had to cut my losses and run after last night's battle.

I began with a streaming tool I had used in the past, called XSplit Broadcaster. This is a fantastic tool, and streaming with it was a breeze, but I was unable to get the free version to record a full-screen game as anything more than a black background with mouse movements. (That said, there is a game capture option in the pay-for versions, and a separate product, called XSplit Gamecaster that I may revisit in the future.) For the time being, it seemed, XSplit Broadcaster would not meet my needs.

At that point, I turned my focus to another game-recording tool I had been using for some time called,  League Replay. I have been wildly enthusiastic about this software. Over time, I have accumulated 10+ GB of replays, saved as .LRF files. I've even written and distributed a small batch file script to simultaneously launch League Of Legends and League Replay, so that my every game would be recorded without having to think about it. 

In theory, League Replay is the perfect extension to League Of Legends for saving and sharing game replays. In practice, it is a demon sent from hell to tempt you into eternal torment. The software is in fact, terrible. Just terrible. My 10+ GBs of .LRF files simply DO NOT WORK. 

However, since I was so in love with the idea of this software, I began troubleshooting my problems. This was a fairly big mistake on my part. League Replay is so full of bugs that it is difficult to even find others discussing your specific problem. (Keep in mind that this is a fairly niche application! The online content surrounding it should be relatively easy to navigate, but it is not!) Fortunately, I found a YouTube user called, Tetos who has posted videos pertaining to my exact problems with League Replay. He even managed to correct one of my own mistakes in the usage of the program (you must wait for 3 minutes - sensibly, the exact time of the spectator delay - after a match for the packaging of the replay data to complete, otherwise your replay is NFG), but it STILL WASN'T ENOUGH. At this point, it appears that my next step in troubleshooting League Replay is to fully re-install League Of Legends, something that I am not willing to do on my limited time and bandwidth.

Some good did come from my efforts, though. In troubleshooting League Replay, I re-discovered a program that I had long known about, but hardly touched, called FRAPS. The free version of FRAPS does what I wanted: to capture snippets of game video. It's simple. It's effective. It's what I expected from the get-go. The only downside is that I cannot record more than 30s (which is a good thing, since I don't want to dedicate much of my computer's resources to doing so), and must have the presence of mind to predict the action that I want to capture, and the dexterity to start the recording in time to capture it.

For the moment, this will do. I promise that with time, I will have some nice visuals for you to accompany the discussion.

The Future

The future, for me, seems to be a combination of League Replay (or an alternative called Baron Replays that I have heard high praise of, but have yet to try) and FRAPS to get ingame-video, supplemented with an Xsplit product for streaming/vlogging. Fingers crossed!

Update 26/12/2014: Tonight, I received notice of the release of version 0.8.9.22 of League Replays. With cautious optimism, I downloaded and installed it. To my absolute delight, this update corrected the problem that had been preventing me from completing the creation of my replays. All the replays I have made since this update actually work, and I will be able to get League Of Legends gameplay video in the way that I hoped that I would. Many thanks to the developers for their perseverance.

Shaco Support Part 2 - The Build

Greetings Summoners,

Yesterday, I began a post on the reasons why I believe that Shaco is a legitimate support champion. I described his ability kit, and how it can be utilized as a support, but I ran out of time (read: got distracted by game invites, hahaha) before I could touch on how to build Shaco as a support.

In retrospect, making a second post makes sense since the first got a little long in length, and was more objective, where the build is more context-sensitive, and more about personal preference.

So, without further hesitation, here is Part 2 of the Shaco support post!

Runes

I have to admit: I don't give a terrible amount of thought to my runes and masteries. Most of my pages were setup years ago, following exactly the advice of a particular champion spotlight. Most have never been updated, and get stretched a little (or, a lot!) to cover new champions and roles.

That said, here is what I run for runes on my support Shaco:

Pretty usual support runes. A good support should be mildly gold-starved, giving everything possible to the ADC, and hence the Gold-per-10 Quintessences are necessary. They just make it easier to keep pace in the Gold and XP race. (Hey, I rhymed!)

Apart from that, some flat Attack Damage marks, Armor seals, and Magic Resist marks makes a support a little more capable, and a little more durable, in a general sense.

(To drive home the fact that I don't think about runes often, I'll point out that I have this rune page named, 'Nami' - WTF?!?)

Masteries

My masteries for support Shaco are a little more appropriate. Have a look:

0/8/22 Masteries. I build support Shaco with 3 priorities in mind:

1. Mobility
2. Durability
3. Utility

With any luck, my masteries should reflect these priorities. I have movement speed, defensive stat boosts, gold, mana regeneration, and cooldown reduction masteries. 

Remembering these priorities, let's move on to:

The Item Build

To start, I will typically purchase (using the Wealth mastery to afford it all)

• Relic Shield
• Stealth Ward (x2)
• Sweeping Lens

The only situation that I can imagine that I would want to deviate from this is if I knew that I would be facing stealthed opponents. In that case, I may want to consider a Vision Ward in place of the Stealth Wards. However, I have not run into this situation yet. I prefer Relic Shield to either a Spellthief's Edge or Ancient Coin for the added durability that comes with the HP boost, and utility (and gold!) that comes with the heal on using a Spoils Of War stack.

My early-to-mid game priorities are:

• Targon's Brace
• Boots Of Speed -> Boots Of Mobility + Furor Enchantment
• Sightstone -> Ruby Sightstone
• Oracle's Lens

These items are what I would identify as my "core" support item set. Targon's Embrace extends and enhances the durability of the Relic Shield with more HP, and its utility (and gold!) with 1 more Spoils Of War stack at max, and a halved charge time. The boots are essential for Shaco's mobility. There may be some arguments to be made for and/or against Boots Of Mobility (for example, the flat movement speed boost from Boots Of Swiftness may be preferable, and I may experiment with that), but I am certain that I want the Furor Enchantment on my boots. With this, once Shaco gets in close, he STAYS in close. The Sightstone should be obvious, as the bulk of warding still falls to the support, and not to mention the HP boosts. Oracle's Lens can sometimes be postphoned, but for ambitiously ward-warring summoners like myself, or when facing stealthed or trap-setting opponents, it can become a must. 

Mid-to-late game items are situation-specific, but I'll list some favourites here:

• Zeke's Herald
• Frozen Heart
• Spirit Visage
• Frozen Mallet
• Randuin's Omen
• Locket Of The Iron Solari

Did you notice a theme to the items? HP and Cooldown Reduction! Cooldown reduction is the key to optimizing a champion's utility. Maxed out CDR lets you place more Jack-In-The-Boxes, lets you Deceive and Hallucinate more often, and returns your passive slow to Two-Shiv Poison faster after using its active. Apart from that, the items and order in which you buy them are game-specific. If I'm winning, I will lean towards the (mildly) offensive stats of Zeke's Herald, or Frozen Mallet, or while losing, towards defensive stats, prioritizing armor or magic resist based on the composition of the enemy team.

One last thing I'll mention is that I will rarely keep my gold-item (in Shaco's case, the Relic Shield, or Targon's Brace) in my completed build, opting instead for purchasing another top-tier item once I have accumulated the gold. The only exception is Talisman Of Ascension on supports and teams that need a speed boost. However, I'd love to know your thoughts on this. Please leave a comment. Thanks for following. 

Rough Day/ Shaco Support

Greetings Summoners,

Today has been a fairly rough day for me on Summoner's Rift. I agreed to two ranked games with my longtime League Of Legends friend, bestdeesnuts, and we lost both. I dropped 2 positions in my Bronze 3 division, and lost all League Points I may have had, but I have escaped demotion for now.

In the first game, I played Thresh, supporting bestdeesnuts' Ashe. I had a fairly spectacular game, if I do say so, including a kill with a perfectly placed ult, but midway through the game, our Morgana left in a rage, and the match was a slow descent afterwards.

During the second game, I took on the role of ADC using Tristana. This was an adequate performance, including a positive KDA, and the second-highest CS, but it was not nearly enough to make up for the rest of the team going negative, and ultimately resulted in a loss.

The silver lining thus far has been a third, follow up match in the teambuilder queue. I played Shaco, and proved why he is a legitimate choice for a support, despite many people's initial impressions of the idea. I mean, just take a look at the match summary:



(Thanks to good buddy rekka02 for the awesome Nutcracko skin which I got to use for the first time this match.)

This brings me to the real point of today's entry - I wanted to discuss exactly why I believe that Shaco is a viable support. Here are my reasons for thinking this choice is a hidden gem:

The Ability Kit

Passive - Backstab - Shaco deals 20% bonus damage when striking a unit from behind with his basic attacks or abilities. 

This is a great ability for chasing down kills, which is almost exactly what I gear Shaco towards. Boots Of Mobility + Furor Enchantment combined with the passive slow from his Two-Shiv Poison ability means that Shaco can stick to a fleeing enemy like glue, while dealing bonus damage by attacking their backs while they run.

Q - Deceive - ACTIVE: Shaco instantly blinks to a target nearby location and enters stealth for up to 3.5 seconds. Dealing damage will break stealth early. His next basic attack within 6 seconds is guaranteed to critically strike for modified base critical damage. 

Oh, the practicality granted by Deceive! Stealth gives you SUCH ability to scout out enemy locations. I've even discovered that placing a ward while stealthed does not reveal Shaco, allowing you to ward some otherwise too-dangerous locations. The teleport gives you unprecedented mobility, and with maximum cooldown reduction, walls mean very little to Shaco. Scouting, baiting, positioning for fights, and escaping are all incredibly easy and incredibly fun with Deceive.

W - Jack In The Box - ACTIVE: Shaco summons a box at the target location that stealths after a 2 second delay and lasts for up to 60 seconds. When an enemy comes within 300 units, the box springs open, causing surrounding enemies to turn and flee while it attacks nearby enemies for up to 5 seconds. 

This is the fight initiation, and escape meat and potatoes ability. In lane, Jack In The Box lets Shaco very easily control lane bushes. (Just be sure to place your boxes to the side of the bush furthest from the center of the lane to avoid having the minion wave trip the box.) When starting a teamfight, a well-placed Jack In The Box can fear the enemy team for a crucial 0.5-1.5s. When escaping, placing a Jack In The Box along your escape path can secure your exit.

E - Two-Shiv Poison - PASSIVE: Shaco's basic attacks poison his targets, reducing their movement speed for 2 seconds. It also gives affected non-champion units a chance to miss their attacks.

ACTIVE: Shaco throws a dagger at a target enemy dealing magic damage and applying his slowing poison to them for 3 seconds. The passive is deactivated during the cooldown. 

As I mentioned before, this ability is the escape killer! Slows on basic attacks means that Shaco is incredibily difficult to flee from. Even champions with slow-breakers like Lucian or Evelynn, have a hard time escaping. If they dash away, simply use Deceive to close the gap, and re-apply your slow with Two-Shiv Poison.

R - Hallucinate - ACTIVE: Shaco vanishes for 0.5 seconds, then creates a clone of himself that will last for up to 18 seconds.

The clone deals 75% of Shaco's damage and receives 50% extra damage. This clone deals 50% damage to towers and inhibitors. At the end of its duration or when dying the clone will explode, dealing magic damage to enemies within 250-range. 

Shaco's ultimate is a fantastic tool for tanking, distracting, doubling on-hit effects (yes, both Shaco and his clone's basic attacks will proc Two-Shiv Poison's passive slow - try adding a Frozen Mallet to your build for extra utility!), and dealing a little extra damage in fights. Also, having your clone nearby will allow Shaco to proc the Spoils Of War stacks gained by the Relic Shield, Targon's Brace, and Face Of The Mountain items. This is great for some small, emergency heals and quick gold.

The Build

Continued in another post titled, Shaco Support Part 2 - The Build.

Introduction

Greetings Summoners,

My name is David Layzell, summoner name MiltonSnail, and I welcome you to my League Of Legends blog called, Bot Lane To Gold. Here, I will be sharing my thoughts, strategies, tactics, and match histories on playing the game League Of Legends, specifically as the common-meta bottom lane roles of Attack Damage Carry (ADC), and Support, with the goal of advancing to (at least) Gold Division in mind.

A little about me:

I have been playing League Of Legends since just before the Fiora patch in February, 2012. At the time of writing this, I am ranked Bronze 3 in Solo/Duo queue. To date, I have accumulated 1152 wins in normal games, and 169 ranked wins, primarily in Bot Lane roles.

As support, the champions that I main are (bolded champs include ranked play):

Alistar
Brand
Fiddlesticks
Karma
Kayle
Leona
Morgana
Shaco
Shen
Sona
Swain
Taric
Thresh
Zilean

As ADC, the champions that I main are (bolded champs include ranked play):

Ashe
Caitlyn
Graves
Lucian
Miss Fortune
Sivir
Tristana
Twitch
Vayne

Expect me to write and talk about these champs often.

I'm not sure whether or not I will make it to my destination, but I will be giving it an honest attempt, and hopefully, I can help others along the way, and have others help me.

I look forward to discussing the bottom lane in League Of Legends with you.